Problem - Inserted PDF in .idw is pixelated/blurry

[Anonymous]

I inserted a customer pdf drawing into our drawing template so we could keep revision control.  Trouble is, the inserted pdf object is blurry and pixelated.  The original pdf file is clear, even when zoomed in.

Any ideas?

ExampleSource PDF

[kelly.young]

Hello @Anonymous are you using Insert Object for the pdf? Did you select the Link option? Is the pdf image tiny/huge and getting scaled?

Depending on the size of the pdf it might be best to take a clear screenshot/snip of the image to use as they tend to embed much easier with smaller file size. 

Please select the Accept Solution button if a post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

I've tried it with and without the link object checked.  Even not scaled, it remains pixelated.

[kelly.young]

@Anonymous can you attach the example pdf to test internally? (might need to compress as .zip for forum attachment)

I tested and got minimal degradation on insert, most likely due to raster/vector translation, but nothing like you are seeing.

Please select the Accept Solution button if a post solves your issue or answers your question.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! I believe this has something to do with the snapshot Inventor (or Windows) took when inserting to Inventor. Try this. Start a Word doc -> Insert Objects -> pick the PDF. How does it look? Does it look better than the one in Inventor?

Another thing to try is to change the screen resolution. Change the screen resolution to lower than current setting. Then repeat the Inventor Insert workflow. Does it look better in lower Res setting?

Many thanks!

[Streddaz]

I'm having the same issue and lowering the screen resolution doesn't seem to make much difference but the resolution is also fairly low resolution if I paste the same PDF into word.

Unfortunately if I take a screen shot I cannot get the smaller details as you can't zoom in like you can in a PDF.

Below is the PDF import into the Inventor drawing. I am running Inventor 2021.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! I vaguely remember it was resolved recently in an update. Please make sure 2021.3 is installed followed by 2021.3.5 update.

Many thanks!

[dxyu]

I can confirm that in Autodesk Inventor 2024, this has not been fixed. Image quality from an inserted PDF is just as dismal as what was shown in the original post.

[NigelHay]

Is the blurriness just on screen? I've found in the past that, when I insert a PDF or Word .doc, it often looks blurry in the drawing but prints OK.

[johYL6PF]

Hi,

This is still an issue in Inventor 2026. I have tried idw, dwg, linked, printed as PDF and printed. Still bad resolution on the inserted pdf-file.

Best regards

Joakim