PDF import problem Autocad 2018

[mbrandt5]

Please advise if anyone has come across this and what they have done to remedy the issue. 

When dragging a pdf into a dwg to import it then select import image as objects, it can create thousands of pdf images that are xrefed.

As you can imagine that can cause a lot of issues with the drawing.

When I try to highlight all of the xrefs at once to attempt a detach the program freezes.

 

Has anyone been able to prevent this from happening?

 

Shouldn't deleting and purging the PDF get rid of associated PDF images?

 

If not what can be done to resolve this issue?

 

Edited September 7, 2018 by mbrandt5

[Dana W]

I am assuming you have "Imported" a multi-page pdf, and ended up with a few extra pages in the drawing?  I think the drag & drop function assumes you want the entire pdf document in the drawing.  There is no option to choose individual pages when you do that, is there?  I never use that function, so I don't know. 

 

The first mistake was importing the entire multi-page document. A better command to use is PDFATTACH.  This command gives you a dialog box within which you can select only the pages of the pdf you want to keep.  The selected pages become an xref'ed attachment.   The dialog numbers the pages 1 to 5,000 or whatever.  It does not display the drawing page numbers from the pdf, so first open the pdf in adobe reader or something like it and make a list of the page numbers you will need from the way the reader displays the document page numbers.

 

When importing as AutoCad objects, first attach the page(s) you want using PDFATTACH.  Then you execute the Import as Objects function.  It will tell you to select  the portion of the pdf you want turned into CAD objects, using the normal select tools of your choice.  You will then be given three choices for what to do with the original paf attachment, Unload, Keep, or Detach.  Detach will obliterate all of the original attached pdf pages, leaving only the new CAD objects converted from it, and leaving you probably some clean-up to do to them.  It leaves no unwanted attachments behind if you choose to do so.

Edited September 10, 2018 by Dana W

[Dana W]

You should be able to use the (command) XREF dialog to DETACH the parent pdf document without hanging the drawing up.  Selecting them in modelspace will probably overwhelm the best video display card.  There is no need to erase them first from modelspace, but you will probably have to go in and erase the leftover placeholders.

 

Just select the file name in the XREF dialog list, right click it and pick detach from the resulting right click menu.

Edited September 10, 2018 by Dana W