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PDF To TIFF

Summary

Exports an existing PDF file to a Tagged Image File Format (TIFF). If the PDF has georeference information, the TIFF can be a GeoTIFF. These TIFFs can be used as a source for heads-up digitizing and viewing in ArcMap. Both GeoPDF and ISO standards of georeferenced PDFs are supported.

Usage

  • If the PDF consists of more than one page, PDF Page Number lists the pages in the PDF. You will get an error if you try to enter an invalid page number.

  • PDF Page Number can only be one page; it cannot be a range of pages.

  • If the PDF doesn't contain a spatial reference, PDF Map and Write GeoTIFF Tags are disabled.

  • 3D GeoPDF version 1.0 is not supported. The tool will output a TIFF but it may not be georeferenced.

Syntax

PDFToTIFF_conversion (in_pdf_file, out_tiff_file, {pdf_password}, {pdf_page_number}, {pdf_map}, {clip_option}, {resolution}, {color_mode}, {tiff_compression}, {geotiff_tags})
ParameterExplanationData Type
in_pdf_file

The path and name of the PDF file that is going to be converted into a TIFF.

File
out_tiff_file

The path and name of the output TIFF file.

Raster Dataset
pdf_password
(Optional)

If the PDF is password protected the tool requires an appropriate password for processing. Different passwords can be provided based on the security setting embedded in the PDF. If the PDF is protected by restricting access to

  • Open the document—enter the PDF open password.
  • Copy contents—enter the PDF file's permission password.
  • Open and to copy contents—enter the PDF file's permission password.
Encrypted String
pdf_page_number
(Optional)

The page number containing the content you want to export to TIFF. You can only enter one page, not a range of pages.

Long
pdf_map
(Optional)

In a PDF file, a map is a defined container of graphics on the PDF page that has a spatial reference. A PDF map is equivalent to an ArcMap data frame in that it is the container for spatial data. A PDF may have one or more maps. For example, a page may have a main map and an additional smaller overview or key map.

The PDF Map is used for setting the output spatial reference of the TIFF, if the Write GeoTIFF Tags setting is enabled.

The PDF Map is also used to define the extent of the output TIFF, if the Clip Output to Map option is enabled.

You can specify the map you wish to use by name. You can also use LARGEST to use the largest map in the PDF. This will also be the default if the parameter is not specified.

String
clip_option
(Optional)

Specifies what should be clipped/extracted.

  • CLIP_TO_MAP —Only extracts the map you choose in the pdf_map parameter.
  • NO_CLIP —Converts the entire page you specified into a TIFF. This is the default.
Boolean
resolution
(Optional)

A number that defines the resolution of the exported TIFF in DPI (dots per inch). The default is 250.

Long
color_mode
(Optional)

This value specifies the number of bits used to describe color. The default is RGB_TRUE_COLOR.

  • RGB_TRUE_COLOR —32-bit RGBA color. When you choose this option with the JPEG compression, it will produce a 24-bit RGB color.
  • CMYK_TRUE_COLOR —32-bit CMYK color.
  • RGB_PALETTE —8-bit RGB palette.
String
tiff_compression
(Optional)

The compression scheme for the output TIFF. The default is LZW.

  • LZW —Lempel-Ziv-Welch, a lossless data compression.
  • DEFLATE —A lossless data compression.
  • JPEG —JPEG lossy compression. Quality setting is 100 and cannot be changed.
  • NONE —Compression is not applied.
  • PACK_BITS —Pack bits lossless compression.
String
geotiff_tags
(Optional)

If the PDF contains a spatial reference, you can choose to add GeoTIFF tags.

  • GEOTIFF_TAGS —Adds GeoTIFF tags to the output unless the PDF has no spatial reference. This is the default.
  • NO_GEOTIFF_TAGS —Does not add GeoTIFF tags, even if the PDF contains a spatial reference.
Boolean

Code sample

PDFToTIFF example 1 (Python window)

This sample runs the required parameters using ISO PDF.

import arcpy

#Define variables
inPDF = r'C:\Project\export.pdf'
outTIFF = r'C:\Project\export.tif'

#Export PDF to GeoTIFF
arcpy.PDFToTIFF_conversion(inPDF, outTIFF)
PDFToTIFF example 2 (stand-alone script)

This sample loops through each page of a multipage OGC PDF, exports each page with some optional parameters set, and finally builds pyramids and calculates statistics on each TIFF.

import arcpy
import os

# Define variables
inPDF = r'C:\Project\OGC_DDP.pdf'
outTIFF = r'C:\Project\TIFFs'

# Create PDFDocument Object from inPDF
pdf = arcpy.mapping.PDFDocumentOpen(inPDF)

# Loop through each page in the PDF and create a name based on the page number
for page in range(1, pdf.pageCount+1):
    name = str(page) + ".tif"
    outTIFFpath = os.path.join(outTIFF, name)

    # Export each page to TIFF using 96 DPI, CMYK color mode, and JPEG compression
    arcpy.PDFToTIFF_conversion(inPDF, outTIFFpath, '#', str(page), '#', '#', 96, 'CMYK_TRUE_COLOR', 'JPEG')

    # Build pyramids and calculate statistics on each output TIFF
    arcpy.BuildPyramidsandStatistics_management(outTIFF)

    print "Exported " + outTIFFpath

print "Done"

Environments

Licensing information

  • ArcGIS for Desktop Basic: Yes
  • ArcGIS for Desktop Standard: Yes
  • ArcGIS for Desktop Advanced: Yes

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