February 11, 2005

3:56 PM

I can't seem to figure out how to make an image that is in .pdf format into the wallpaper on my desktop, OS: XP. I've tried saving it in another format and it doesn't seem to work. Any ideas?
posted by pinkkitty to (13 comments total)

In Acrobat, zoom in as much as you can (before it distorts the picture). Press 'Print Screen' (key above Insert on a standard 102-key keyboard). Open your favorite photo editing app. Start New Canvas/Image/File/whatever. Paste. Clip image. Save.
posted by Gyan at 4:08 PM on February 11, 2005

Acrobat Reader can copy images in PDFs to the clipboard. In the latest Reader (7): Zoom in as far as you can before the image gets pixelated. Select "Select Image" from the toolbar (it's hiding within the "Select Text" button). Then drag the selection marquee across the image you want. When you let go it'll be copied to the clipboard. You can then paste that into any graphic application. Even Paint will work. If the whole page itself is the graphic you want, it's even easier: just click the Snapshot Tool button (Picture of a camera with a dotted line around it) and the entire page you're on will be copied to the clipboard at the zoom level you're currently on.

The nice thing about both of these methods is that they will grab all of an image, even if it's larger than your monitor at 100% resolution. You just have to drag enough to get the document to scroll with the "Select Image" button and
posted by zsazsa at 4:12 PM on February 11, 2005

Try opening it in Preview. Then, under the file menu, select FILE and then select whatever format you like.

Then switch your desktop to the new image as you normally would.
posted by synecdoche at 4:14 PM on February 11, 2005

I just forgot: "Selct Image" can be easier than above, depending on the layout of the PDF. Try just clicking on the image you want. If the entire image you want inverts, it's been copied to the clipboard in its entirety, no marquee dragging required.
posted by zsazsa at 4:15 PM on February 11, 2005

zsazsa's method works without having to zoom.
posted by Gyan at 4:39 PM on February 11, 2005

I get the image to invert in Adobe, but I can't find the "clipboard." I did find it yesterday, a window on the left of the screen, but now it's gone. And yesterday when I tried to paste the clipboard image into paint I got an unsupported format error.
posted by pinkkitty at 4:47 PM on February 11, 2005

The clipboard I'm talking about is the Windows clipboard, the thing that all stuff that you copy to and paste from in all applications resides. Using Select Image/Snapshot Tool will copy that image into the clipboard for you. Then go immediately into Paint, paste and things should work. If this really isn't working for you, try Gyan's method. Though cropping really is a pain in Paint.
posted by zsazsa at 5:55 PM on February 11, 2005

Can I assume that right-clicking on the image and choosing "Set as wallpaper" doesn't work?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:01 PM on February 11, 2005

Kirth: Yes. She's using Acrobat (even if within a browser window).
posted by Gyan at 6:06 PM on February 11, 2005

The most flexible way would be to open the PDF up in Photoshop, or some other pro-level Adobe product and save out an RGB .bmp file from there.

But if you're stuck with the free stuff, I found this in Acrobat Reader 6: Zoom your document to the appropriate size in Reader, choose Tools -- Basic -- Snapshot Tool, select the area of your PDF you want (the image will be copied to the Windows Clipboard), open Paint, Paste, save as 24-bit BMP, and you've got a usable file. The tough part will be setting the view scale in Reader to get the right number of pixels selected.
posted by jaut at 6:13 PM on February 11, 2005

Didn't Preview work? It works fine for me. Even with Adobe installed, right click on it and say "Open with..." and pick Preview. There is the export under the file menu. I think that is the easiest way.
posted by synecdoche at 9:14 PM on February 11, 2005

synecdoche: Your method works with OS X while the original questioner is asking about XP, no?
posted by gyc at 10:28 PM on February 11, 2005

gyc: Now I feel dumb. :) I saw OS: X and totally missed the P.
posted by synecdoche at 9:22 AM on February 12, 2005