Stardraw Forums

Import PDF / How to get it monochromatic

http://forums.stardraw.com/Topic19121.aspx

By Hughes - 7/1/2024 1:03:13 PM

Hi SD Team,

I'm familiar with the Import PDF feature and I'm looking for a workaround to have an imported PDF being monochromatic (showing only one color). 
One reason is that the imported PDF should be visible as a background and should not be confused with the added SD symbols.

My issue is that if I select all objects of an imported PDF, changing Fill Color, Line Color and Font Color won't give the expected result. eg a rectangle without a Fill color becomes filled.
And it's practically impossible to select all objects one by one to change the relevant color attribute because of the large number.

I'm looking for the similar feature of the "Black & White" option when importing a DWG file but with the choice of a color in addition.

Is there a way to achieve this in the current version ?  otherwise can you put this feature in a future version ?

Thank you,


By Rob Robinson - 7/1/2024 1:10:54 PM

Hi Hughes,

Currently there is no option to import PDF as grayscale but it should be relatively simple to change the colors of your PDF before importing it: open the PDF in a PDF Viewer, print to PDF using a grayscale option and simply import the new, grayscale PDF. 

I  hope this is helpful.
By Hughes - 7/1/2024 4:52:38 PM

Hi Rob,

I'd like to clarify, I would like to have a monochromatic importation of a (colored) PDF, not a grayscale PDF. Plus, having the selection of the unique color would be fantastic.
I've already tried to re-print the PDF before importing into SD but, as you mentioned, the output is grayscale. I didn't find a way to convert a PDF into monochromatic.
By the way, in SD Print Dialog Box, the Monochrome option is by definition rather a grayscale option.

I hope you understand the distinction I see between grayscale and monochromatic (or unicolor).

Regards,
By Rob Robinson - 7/1/2024 5:02:50 PM

Hi Hughes,

Just to be completely clear, you want a monochromatic rendering with a color that you can choose, from any possible color e.g. make everything blue (RGB 0,0,255).
You do not want different shades of blue showing the different 'lightness' of the colors being imported (like you would get with grayscale, which delivers different shades of black) but everything, everywhere, in this example, would be 0,0,255.
I assume White is ignored so the source color 255,255,255 would stay as 255,255,255, but the color 255,255,254 would become 0,0,255.
Is this all correct?
By Hughes - 7/1/2024 6:54:39 PM

Hi Rob,

Yes, your explanation is exactly what I'd like to achieve into SD.
An by extension, this feature could also be very useful when importing DWG files or when printing drawings.

Thank you for your attention,
By Rob Robinson - 7/2/2024 6:16:00 AM

Thanks Hughes, we'll endeavor to add such functionality to a future release.