Photos in a PDF File

[Wallaby]

Hi,

Does anyone know how I can work on some photos that have been emailed to me in a PDF File ? There are about 10 photos, which have been scanned together & sent to me with the plan of me cropping them at this end.

I use an Apple & I've tried importing the photos into iPhoto but they won't import. I have photoshop, but I'm still learning to use it. I know how to crop them up but is there a way of changing the PDF File into JPEG so I can work on the photos ? Or, will I need to ask the sender to email them again as a JPEG ?

Thanks

Wallaby

[Cloggie]

Hi Wallaby,

It's very easy to do in Photoshop Elements 6:
Save the file to your computer, and then use "Open with" to open it in Photoshop Elements.
You should then have an option of importing the images or pages into Photoshop Elements. If you choose images, you can then edit and save in .jpeg or another format.

I only have an older version of the full Photoshop (version 7), and although I can't get the "Open with" option to work with that, I managed to open and convert PDF as follows:
Save the file to your computer, and then open the Photoshop program.
In Photoshop, click File > Open, and then select the file you want to open. It will then ask you to select a page to open. Once opened you can click File > Save As, to save as .jpeg.

Newer versions of Photoshop may have an easier option similar to that in Photoshop Elements.

[MarionH]

Hi Wallaby,
This is only a thought - I have worked with pdfs and Photoshop - not on a Mac though OH has a Mac. Can you open a new file on Photoshop, then select one of the pictures in the pdf file, copy it then paste it into the Photoshop file. It sounds fiddly and you may have to fiddle with the size of the new file on Photoshop - it just depends on what it opens up as but trial and error is the only way. Have you checked on the mac forums - every time OH has a problem with his one (quite regularly it seems!) that's the first place I go for him.
Cheers, Marion

[Wallaby]

Hi Cloggie & Marion,

Thanks for your response.

I have Photoshop Elements 4. But, I've worked out, that if I press Apple command key & shift key together & then press the Nº4 key to turn the curser into a camera, I can then drag that over the photo & it takes a photo or the picture, so I then have a copy, & I can then import the copy into iPhoto & work off that. LOL! So, chuffed with myself for working that out in my little brain!

My only problem now is I think the sender of these photos has scanned them on a very low quality because they are so grainy & I don't think I can improve them at this end. Do I need to ask him to scan & send them again on a higher quality ? Or can I improve the quality at this end in Photoshop ? I've had Photoshop for ages, but still learning some of the tools that I don't use often.

Wallaby

[bobdonk]

You should be able to open pdf files directly into photoshop:

http://livedocs.adobe.com/en_US/Photoshop/10.0/help.html?content=WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-78fa.html

Bob

[Cloggie]

I have Photoshop Elements 4. But, I've worked out, that if I press Apple command key & shift key together & then press the Nº4 key to turn the curser into a camera, I can then drag that over the photo & it takes a photo or the picture, so I then have a copy, & I can then import the copy into iPhoto & work off that. LOL! So, chuffed with myself for working that out in my little brain!

My only problem now is I think the sender of these photos has scanned them on a very low quality because they are so grainy & I don't think I can improve them at this end. Do I need to ask him to scan & send them again on a higher quality ? Or can I improve the quality at this end in Photoshop ? I've had Photoshop for ages, but still learning some of the tools that I don't use often.

Wallaby

It may be that he has sent low-resolution copies, or it may be because you're taking a screen shot of the pictures, in which case the resolution is never going to be any higher than what you're viewing on screen when you see it (i.e. you can't zoom clearly).

Have you tried the second method in my above post:
Save the file to your computer, and then open the Photoshop program.
In Photoshop, in the menu at the top of the screen, click File > Open, and then select the PDF file you want to open. It will then ask you to select a page to open. Once opened you can click File > Save As, to save it as .jpeg.

[Cloggie]

You should be able to open pdf files directly into photoshop:

http://livedocs.adobe.com/en_US/Photoshop/10.0/help.html?content=WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-78fa.html

Bob

Yes, this is the same as the first method described in my post above. But this is for a newer version of the full Photoshop (CS3). It doesn't work in the older Photoshop 7, and might not work in Wallaby's older Photoshop Elements 4 either. However, the second method I described should work.

[MarionH]

Hi Cloggie & Marion,

Thanks for your response.

I have Photoshop Elements 4. But, I've worked out, that if I press Apple command key & shift key together & then press the Nº4 key to turn the curser into a camera, I can then drag that over the photo & it takes a photo or the picture, so I then have a copy, & I can then import the copy into iPhoto & work off that. LOL! So, chuffed with myself for working that out in my little brain!

Wallaby

Well done Wallaby - and thank you for that tip - OH is delighted to find he can use the mouse as a camera!!!!
If the resolution is low I don't think you will be able to do too much no matter which way you try but fiddling may help!

[Cloggie]

If the resolution is low I don't think you will be able to do too much no matter which way you try but fiddling may help!

The low resolution may be caused by the screen shot though, as it only captures what is shown on screen. Make sure to zoom in as much as possible (so making the pictures as big as possible on the screen) before taking a screen shot, as you can't enlarge them clearly beyond what you've "captured" from the screen.
Do the pictures remain clear when you zoom in on the PDF (increase the view size beyond 100%)? You may be able to zoom in further than what can be displayed on screen. In that case, a screen shot is going to have a lower resolution than the actual picture. I hope that makes sense?
Opening and converting the pictures in Photoshop (Elements) should produce better results than a screen shot, but it does depend on the resolution of the images in the PDF.

[Wallaby]

Thanks for your suggestions everyone, I'll try them all when I get home from work tomorrow night, so that I have another alternative than the one I found with the camera, as that way solved the problem for me with the photo, but it might not be suitable for other things.

Thanks everyone.

Wallaby

[cheran]

Wallaby

I have used the method of open ing the PDF file in Photoshop and then saving as a JPeg after working on the Photo and articles where I don't want the whole page. It works a treat for me!!

[Wallaby]

Hi everyone,

I've had time to play around with the PDF file & I can open it in Photoshop as you have all explained. Thanks for your help everyone, I've learned something! I'm ok at the arty side of photography, but not very technically minded.

Thanks

Wallaby