Save PDF graphic elements using Preview no longer works

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Level 1

18 points

Save PDF graphic elements using Preview no longer works

How can I export a shape from Keynote or Pages into a vector graphics PDF file?

What I used to do is selecting the shape, copying it to the clipboard, and then in Preview select New from Clipboard. That would produce a vector graphics shape that I could save as PDF.

I've been using this feature for years, but not sure when it stopped working.

In the latest macOS/Keynote/Preview, when you copy the shape and do New from Clipboard in Preview, the shape becomes a bitmap. You can save it as a PDF, but it's still a bitmap. If you zoom in inside the PDF, you can see the pixels...

Is there a hidden setting somewhere?

Not sure if it's an issue at the moment of copying (Keynote and Pages copy it as a bitmap), or an issue with Preview.

Any ideas?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS High Sierra (10.13.4)

Posted on Apr 6, 2018 3:26 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

PeterBreis0807

Level 8

41,235 points

Apr 8, 2018 3:29 PM in response to hawkfb

That is a Pages 5+ (problem.

Prior to the new iWork Apps introduced in October 2013 you used to be able to copy objects/text in an iWork document switch to Preview, go cmd n (New from Clipboard) and you would have a neat vector version of what you copied.

Apple ruined that as it did most things in Pages 5 etc, converting the selection to a crude 72dpi bitmap, which suggests you have only recently upgraded.

As pointed out the only way now to retain the vectors is to Print or Export to pdf.

I suggest making a suitable smaller size custom document to place the object/s before making the pdf if you do not want the excess page size.

Or continue to use the iWork '09 Apps which should still be in your Applications folder and still retain vector shapes as they always have, even in the latest macOS.

Peter

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Answer 2

Apr 7, 2018 7:45 AM in response to hawkfb

How can I export a shape from Keynote or Pages into a vector graphics PDF file?

In Keynote: File > Export > PDF

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Answer 3

Apr 7, 2018 8:44 AM in response to hawkfb

That exports the whole presentation

If you want a single object on a single page in a PDF, then either create a single slide in Keynote with the content you want or drag and drop an existing single slide from Keynote into a new Keynote then export to PDF.

it kinda makes the problem worse, because it's very difficult to select a shape from a slide in a PDF.

Why do you want to "select" an image in a PDF file, isn't the PDF the end product?

I could make the shapes the size of a whole slide, and insert exactly one shape per slide, although all the shapes then need to be the same size...

What's the problem with doing that?

You haven't explained what your trying to achieve, it would help if you described what the end product is going to be.

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Answer 4

hawkfb Author

Level 1

18 points

Apr 7, 2018 9:03 AM in response to Gary Scotland

The end product is a small PDF with a single shape, of any given frame. It could be 40x72 mm or 10x10cm.

I used this feature since I first got a Mac in 2006, and there are several use cases, not limited to Keynote. The most common ones I use,

* Copy a graph from a Numbers project, paste in Preview, export as PDF/vector graphics, and attach to a latex file in a paper/thesis.

* Create a Keynote where you draw all the icons of your iOS app, which can be of different size and aspects, and copy each one into Preview, and export as a small PDF each. Then, you can import each small PDF as vector graphics in Xcode, instead of having to generate several PNG files, one for each resolution.

Because this is broken now, I'm using big PNGs for icons at the moment. And about graphs, I'm not writing any papers at the moment, that's why I posted this in the Keynote forum.

It just feels silly that I can do this with a Mac laptop from 2006 and I can't do this with the latest MacBook Pro.

This featured appeared in one of the "Mac OS X" hints of 2010: http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20101218054230569

so I reused the title hoping it would make sense. I hope with the use cases it's a bit more clear.

I tried creating a single presentation per icon, but it's not possible to adjust the size of the presentation to something like 100x100pt. In fact, I can only select standard or wide?

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Answer 5

hawkfb Author

Level 1

18 points

Apr 7, 2018 7:56 AM in response to Gary Scotland

That exports the whole presentation and it kinda makes the problem worse, because it's very difficult to select a shape from a slide in a PDF.

I guess that if the Keynote is the only option left, though, I could make the shapes the size of a whole slide, and insert exactly one shape per slide, although all the shapes then need to be the same size...

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Save PDF graphic elements using Preview no longer works

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