I need to update a stand-up banner, which I have in PDF. Can I use images from that PDF in Illustrator?

If so, can somebody suggest a proper way to do this? I really didn't imagine that's could be possible, but now I see that objects from PDF can be editable with AI.

  • Without knowing what is contained in the PDF or the elements it's made up of, it's impossible to say if you can use it. Are the images raster, or vector? Illustrator can certainly edit vector images. If you want to edit a raster image, use Photoshop. It will also depend on things like if there are fonts which are outlines, you won't be able to edit the text directly by retyping. – Billy Kerr Apr 4 '17 at 14:36

A good way to get images out of a PDF is to import it into Photoshop and select "images" in the opening dialog. enter image description here

That's a the the maximum resolution you've got in the PDF, so you can see if it's good enough.

  • Wow! that's nice, thanks. So now I am thinking it will be easier to directly edit PDF in AI, but AI says "Could not find the linked files"... – Olenia Apr 4 '17 at 14:19

Jeremy's answer is good for getting the images out (like you requested). You can also open the PDF directly in Illustrator and work from there. Your file should be the proper size if the banner stand is the same size as before.

  • So I can copy images or vector from opened PDF in AI and just paste it in the new AI document? – Olenia Apr 4 '17 at 13:55
  • @Olenia yes, but do not expect useful editability. Texts, photos and vector graphics can be splintered to so many pieces that the puzzle is unmanageable. The content of the PDF is prepared for rendering as bitmap, not for reuse and editing. – user287001 Apr 4 '17 at 14:09
  • Understood, thanks... but now faced with another problem - when opening PDF in AI, there is a message "Could not find the linked file "xxx.JPG" Though, when trying to edit images using PS (from PDF) it opens the image... – Olenia Apr 4 '17 at 14:12
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    @Olenia There many possibilities. If it is a press quality PDF as you suggest in the title the images should be there. You should be able to copy/paste images (or you can try to Save As… the PDF that is opened in Illustrator as an Illlustrator document and work from there). Do you have Photoshop? If so try Jeremy's answer and see if the missing image shows up and can be extracted. Which image is missing? Is it a major image or something you can reproduce? Good luck! – ispaany Apr 4 '17 at 14:26

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