Any Adobe users, graphic designers able to help out?

Not Games
1

I have a print file, pdf, from which I want to export PNG images cut along the trim lines.

I have experience using Photoshop, but this doesn’t do the job.

I’m experimenting with Illustrator, but I can’t work out how to do this.

Which software should I use and how can I do this?

I have 7 days worth of free Adobe software trials to get this done.

2

You can decompose a PDF file in Inkscape or CorelDRAW. I assume the same is possible with Illustrator.

Ultimately it depends on the PDF file was created; it’s possible each page of the file is 1 embedded bitmap-style big image, or it’s possible that the entire thing is composed of vector graphics, and any combination or permutation of the two (such as a background layer bitmap with one or more layers of vector primitives) – it’s really a crapshoot.

That said: I’m willing to take a look at the files and let you know what level of decomposition is possible and, if feasible, perform the necessary operations.

3

If I had to do this:

  • pdftoppm to turn each PDF page into a bitmapped image at the resolution of my choice
  • then gimp (you’d use Photoshop I guess) to trim those bitmaps manually

If that sounds like something you actually want, I’d be happy to run the pdftoppm and send you back some PNG files.

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4

OK, what I don’t want to do is simply export entire pages - trim lines become part of the image, and manually trimming all the pieces would be massively time-consuming. Photoshop can already do this.

What I also don’t want to do is export all the images embedded in the pdf - without the trim lines, manually trimming all the pieces would be massively time-consuming. Photoshop can already do this.

I need to be able to select the paths (trim lines) and export the images bounded by the trim lines.

5

OK, that sounds like Inkscape / Corel Draw / Illustrator, and alas I only know the first of those. (And its PDF rendering is not perfect.)

6

Are the trim lines in the same place on every page? Gimp will open a PDF with each page as a layer, then you could crop the image to the desired size, and there’s a plugin that will export the layers as a batch of PNGs.

7

What gimp can’t do is say that this is a trim line that’s not to be rendered in the final image, while that is desired content…

8

In the pdf, the trim lines are also paths, which should make the whole thing quite easy. I, however, have no clue how to get those paths to define the limits of the images for png export.

9

Inkscape is able to trim by the line using the “Set Clip” feature.

10

Thanks to pillbox’s help, I am on my way to getting this done.

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