6 Replies Latest reply: Jan 18, 2011 7:19 AM by Mike Gondek2 RSS

    Bounding box of placed pdf 'reflecting' objects of parent Ai file... Not what I want!

    andyvisuals Community Member

      As a self-taught Illustrator CS3 user I keep running into confounding issues.  The latest is this:

       

      Artboard is US letter size.  I have a placed jpg image in the top half that extends beyond the artboard on one side.  Only want 3/4 of the jpg content

      in the final product.

      Some text at the bottom.

      All in all a basic poster. 

      A clipping mask hides the part of the image that extends past the arboard.

       

      I save this 'parent' Ai file as a copy PDF - no layers - no editing - no thumbnails ect.  Keep original Ai parent file for later editing.

       

      I want to put this PDF into another ai document, but when I do, the bounding box extends past the pdf content out to

      where the jpg image is in the parent Ai file.

       

      Why?  Why can't I save a pdf that produces a stand alone img/doc without any apparent connection to its 'parent'?  Why can't this just happen without me having to crop the original jpg in photoshop to fit the parent Ai document perfectly and or somehow crop the image in the parent Ai. 

      Oh, and I have tried the crop tool and "make" crop area under the Object menu that contains only what is showing on the artboard.

      Same result.

      PDF that in Preview shows correctly but when placed in another ai file somehow 'becomes' larger with a bounding box that includes much more than what is actually there.

       

      This is maddeningly stupid IMO.

       

      Hope someone can be that patient professor of the design/Illustrator course that I can't afford, but that I need so desperately all the time.

        • 1. Re: Bounding box of placed pdf 'reflecting' objects of parent Ai file... Not what I want!
          JETalmage Community Member

          Why?

           

          I don't know; I just chalk it up as another instance of the sloppiness that permeates Illustrator, and the convoluted multiple nested clipping paths so common in PDFs.

           

          If I place the PDF as a Link, its bounding box corresponds to the clipping mask of the PDF.

          If I place the PDF embedded, not linked, then I get the result you describe.

           

          That arguably sort of makes sense in that, when you "place" (but embed) a PDF in Illustrator, you're really importing its content, including the nested clipping paths; and AI CS3 and prior always displays the bounds and edges of masked portions of clipping paths. When you "place" the PDF as a link, it's a preview that displays on the page, as if you were just linking a raster image.

           

          In CS4 and CS5, Adobe finally fixed the silliness of displaying edges of masked portions of the content of clipping paths, so in those versions, it probably acts the way you want whether linked or embedded. (I only have CS3 on this laptop, so can't verify right now.)

           

          JET

          • 2. Re: Bounding box of placed pdf 'reflecting' objects of parent Ai file... Not what I want!
            Mylenium CommunityMVP

            Have you verified your box settings in Acrobat? You could crop the whole shebang by setting the view box equal to the page box there...

             

            Mylenium

            • 3. Re: Bounding box of placed pdf 'reflecting' objects of parent Ai file... Not what I want!
              JETalmage Community Member

              AI gives you the choice of which box to use upon import. The undesired result occurs regardless. Neither Illustrator nor Acrobat actually crops the overhanging image; just masks it with a clipping path.

               

              JET

              • 4. Re: Bounding box of placed pdf 'reflecting' objects of parent Ai file... Not what I want!
                Mike Gondek2 Community Member

                There is no connection between the .pdf and the .ai file. If you deleted the .ai file form your computer you would have the same problem.

                 

                I did a AICS4>>file >> save as >> pdf   and placed the .pdf into a new .ai. All 5 options cropped to 8.5", most exactly to 8.5" x 11", Art to 8.5" x about 6".

                Picture 3.png

                I did this twice, once as Illustrator Default PDF, and the other time as smallest file size PDF. Try using on of these default PDF settings and let us know what your result is. Are you using distiller or printing to a .pdf, and are you on mac or PC? Try duplicating exactly what I did and let us know the result and what version of AI you are running.

                • 5. Re: Bounding box of placed pdf 'reflecting' objects of parent Ai file... Not what I want!
                  andyvisuals Community Member

                  I am using Illustrator CS3 on a Mac. 

                   

                  Mike I tried your AICs3>>file>>save as>>pdf and Placed... and with any option chosen in the "Place PDF/Crop To" dialog box the annoying bloated bounding box still occurs...unless I "link" it. 

                   

                  Also if I click-'drag' the same file from its folder and over (into) the new AI file - bingo - I get what I want too.

                   

                  JET - your place...link vs place...embed is the key.  Thanks.  Why you would want that difference is beyond me but I'll take what I can for now.

                  Mostly solved.

                   

                  Thanks.

                  • 6. Re: Bounding box of placed pdf 'reflecting' objects of parent Ai file... Not what I want!
                    Mike Gondek2 Community Member

                    Link makes your .ai files smaller and faster by linking to the graphics rather than placing embedding a copy of the graphic into the .ai file. Also helps with consistency in design so if you update a graphic, all instances will update.

                     

                    Embedding is for people who have difficulty remembering where they store their graphic files and have had problems with broken links in the past. There are a few instances where you need to embed a graphic to perform an effect.