topic PDF Transparency in Drawing in AutoCAD Forum

PDF Transparency in Drawing

AllenJessup — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 15:15:54 GMT

I have a PDF Underlay with an image in it. Is there any way to make it transparent? I need to align it with another image but I need to be able to see the underlying image.

Allen

Re: PDF Transparency in Drawing

h_s_walker — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 15:39:41 GMT

Doesn't FADE work from the properties menu?

Re: PDF Transparency in Drawing

AllenJessup — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 15:42:18 GMT

FADE Fades the PDF but you can't see anything below it. As a workaround I'm tracing a building in each image and using that as a reference.

Allen

Re: PDF Transparency in Drawing

h_s_walker — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 15:53:29 GMT

Is sending the PDF to the back not an option?

Re: PDF Transparency in Drawing

AllenJessup — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 16:02:21 GMT

No. Because then I can't see through the image to the PDF.

Allen

Re: PDF Transparency in Drawing

m_kingdon — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 16:05:01 GMT

PDFs are documents not images and are not treated like images. When you insert an image (jpg etc) a "Background Transparency" option is available that allows objects behind the image to be visible. If you can, convert the PDF to a jpg or similar

Re: PDF Transparency in Drawing

BrianBenton — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 18:55:03 GMT

Have you tried turning on transparency and setting the transparency of the PDF to 50%?

Re: PDF Transparency in Drawing

AllenJessup — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 18:57:35 GMT

I don't remember. I'll see if I can try that later. Past that point right now. I'm only doing 3 things right now but it feels like 5.

Allen

Re: PDF Transparency in Drawing

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 09:10:43 GMT

How about converting it into an editable DWG file? Try this converter, I thinks it may help.

http://www.autodwg.com/download/PDF2DWG-SA2015.exe

Re: PDF Transparency in Drawing

willXXXDP — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 16:54:17 GMT

PDFs now have transparency in the properties tab. You can adjust there.

Re: PDF Transparency in Drawing

ryan_rinconesBGVVS — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 19:23:28 GMT

Sorry for the necropost, but I don't see where Allen followed-up, and I KNOW there's a way to have a pdf xref with the background removed - I'm looking at another pdf xref that's like this, and all properties are the same but this new one has a solid black background. WTH??? I feel like I've done this 50+ times in the last 5 years but can't find the solution now!

I hope Mish, Bouz, and Tim are still in the game!

Re: PDF Transparency in Drawing

AllenJessup — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 13:40:33 GMT

Have you tried setting Background Transparency to Yes in the Properties Palette?

Can you share the PDF?

Re: PDF Transparency in Drawing

ryan_rinconesBGVVS — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 14:24:12 GMT

Hi Allen. Yes, I've tried toggling/tweaking all settings available, both in Properties dialogue and contextual ribbon . . .

Can't share pdf due to NDA, but I did look at both pdfs - the one that has fully empty background and this new one - and both are vector graphics. Didn't dig into properties beyond that, but I'm thinking it might have something to do with the way each of them were produced.

ALSO (separate issue but involves both pdfs), I can no longer snap to linework in either pdf, and I know in the last month I was able to, at least in the first one (with no background). Is there a setting for this? I searched pdf reference commands/settings and nothing fit the bill.

Re: PDF Transparency in Drawing

AllenJessup — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 15:05:08 GMT

If you have a PDF editor. You could try inverting the background there.

Check if PDFOSNAP is set to 1.