Can not copy (previously inserted images) from a PDF

[FelixPDF]

Problem:
After inserting an image into an PDF file, I cant use the copy command (CTRL+C) to copy the same image from PDF-XChange Editor (Version: 10.2.1.385) to another program. Using Screenshot-Method is not helpful, as it creates enormous images AND/OR results in a loss of details. There is absolutely no reasonable excuse (other than "f*ck the users") to not support it!
Edit(2024-02-24): Images inserted by the user via CTRL+V, are referred to as comments/stamps.

What I want:
I want to be able to insert images into PDF-XChange Editor, and be able to copy the same image from it (CTRL+C) into a nother program. This is the most basic compatibility programs should support! Not having it, kills the productivity completely and shows poor workmanship.

PLEASE, fix/add this feature ASAP, I dont want to change my PDF-Editor again.
All the best!

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Hello, FelixPDF

With all due respect, we have done nothing to deserve the use of such foul language on our forums; censored or not, it is grounds for an account termination, please take that as a warning. The article you linked there is a workaround for users who are unable to paste content using the normal method, most commonly becuase the content they are trying to copy is actually comments (see explanations below)

Now, onto the issue you are reporting, I think you will find that Stefan and David are correct in their replies to your other post here, we have offered this for quite some time.

Base content images most certainly can be copied out of the Editor, you simply need to use the "Edit content" tool, select the image, and Ctrl_C to copy it. Then you are free to paste it into any other application that support direct pasting of PNG images (such as MS word, or paint, or even a web browser if you head to a webpage which supports image upload (such as google image search).

The hard part is comments. If the "image" you have is a comment (most commonly a stamp), than the content copied is not image data, but a comment containers XML data, which is usable inside the PDF-Xchange Editor, and some other apps, but will not give image output in a large majority of external applications. Should the stamp content be actual image data (and not shape/text or otherwise non-image data), you can flatten the comment (right click > flatten selected comment) to convert it to base content, allowing copy as per my previous paragraph.

Kind regards,

[FelixPDF]

Hi TrackerSupp-Daniel,

thanks for your response. As you can surely understand, the pain is quite real. I am, and have been for many years, a great supporter of PDF-XChange Editor. But especially when it comes to the commenting function, and time is of the essence, the limited functions, and (sometimes) perceived unwillingness to improve/fix them, are a real nuisance.

I, and the hole editing staff, would be very happy, if you could talk to the programmers again to see if there is a possibility to provide users with:

• simple mechanism (e.g. context menu) to copy (png, ...) previously inserted images (ctrl+v; comment, stamp,...) without losing quality.

It would also be very helpful if the following functions could be added/fixed.

• A way to scale a selection of comments while maintaining their relative position, size, stroke width, ..., . Currently it is very inconvenient to transform comments, that concist of a mixture of geometric shapes (and/or drawings) and (especially) text boxes. Font-size and stroke-with is not scaled with the rest of the content and so the comment composition is practically broken after the transformation.
• When a text box is given a border spacing (padding) and the text box size is then automatically adjusted, the spacing on the right-hand side is ignored. This can be seen particularly well with text boxes with a background color.

best regards

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hello FelixPDF,

Your problems originate in the way annotations are defined in the PDF specification.
We are simply not able to paste an image as anything other than a stamp object, so that comes with it's limitations and how the actual pixel data is embeded inside the stamp. Also - the original image format is NOT necessarily preserved. The pixels of the image are entered, but what the original file format was - we might not always know. You can "Flatten" the stamp to a base content item, and you can then export the thus flattened image.

Your claim in the other topic that you can "just copy from Adobe" - is not true - at least I could not do that with an image pasted as stamp in Adobe - it would not paste in another product like e.g. MS Paint.
While if you make that image a base content item you can then copy and paste it into Paint using both our Editor and Adobe.
So you were not making the correct comparison in the other topic.

Your scaling of comments with some of them being text - again - this is due to how text annotations are defined in the PDF specification. For them you have two nested objects - one is the container that e.g. defines the border and size of the rectangle, and then there is another one that e.g. carries information about the font size, colour etc.
So when you have a bunch of objects selected and scale them - that will scale the outer border for the text object.
If you "flatten" your objects - resizing would then affect text as well.

It is not that we are not willing to listen to users or make your life easier. It is just that the PDF specification is an ISO standard that we can not just update from our end, and it has some limitations that manifest in the behaviours you have noticed and pointed out. There is no direct solution and that is why we are offering alternative approaches that would allow you to achieve the desired final result.


Kind regards,
Stefan