Image copied from PDF is black

[oceanclub2]

Normally I find I can extract an image from a PDF by selected it, copying it, then pasting it into an image program such as MS Paint.

However, I have a series of PDFs where, if I try this, the image is black.

The Snapshot functionality is not appropriate here since that can only be used to select a viewable area onscreen and in this case the image is much bigger than the screen (and if I zoom out, the resulting image is low resolution).

Any help appreciated,

P.

[~graffiti]

It seems like you may be using the full version of Acrobat? Is that correct?

If so, you want this forum: Acrobat

This is the Adobe Acrobat Reader forum. Reader cannot "extract" images.

[oceanclub2]

No, it's for Reader. Yes, one can indeed copy and paste images from Reader.

P.

[~graffiti]

Sorry. "Copy/Paste" and extract are two different things. Copy/paste will work yes but "Extract" is an actual feature of Adobe Acrobat that will pull images at their set resolution. "Copy/Paste" won't do that.

It could be that the image has a transparent layer on top of it. PDF's can have several layers and they can be on top or behind the image. If it's on top, you may have to us the snapshot tool.

[Little Amber]

The link above to "Forum" does not work.

[~graffiti]

That's because this is an old thread. They have completely rebuilt the forums since this was posted.

You can find the Acrobat forum HERE.

[Erik5F97]

I'm experiencing the same. Did you ever find a resolution to this? Thanks!

[Elio Mattia]

This worked for me: right click on the area you selected, then instead of "copy image" hit "copy with formatting".

[Jeff5ED3]

The only way I could fix this issue was to scan it to myself and then do the image copy off of the scan. 

[farzana2018]

I was having the same issue. The only time I was able to copy without seeing the black box was to select: "Edit--> Edit text and images" on both documents. Then Edit--> copy the desired object/image, and then paste on the destinattion file. I'm using Acrobat though.

[Barb Di.]

The black box issue has been aggravating me for months! I tried all of the solutions proposed in other users' posts without success. Every item I copied turned into a black box when I pasted it to the destination. 

This worked for me:

On the original document, go to "Tools", and open "Rich Media". When you click/copy your selection, you can see it being uploaded to the clipboard. From there, I was able to paste to the destination without any issues (I didn't have the media tool open on the destination document).

I hope this is helpful!

[ThanksItWorked]

Perfect! This technique worked for me the first time I tried it. Thanks

[Enc0re]

Thank you so much, you saved my life. I had to paste-in-place an image on 60 different pages on a document and this is the only solution that worked for me. shift+paste never worked.

[Maysa31734081y2br]

Instead of selecting, copying and pasting directly, one has to go to edit -> take a snapshot --> right click =copy selected graphic and Voilà 🙂

[AkanchhaS]

Thanks for sharing your findings with us @Maysa31734081y2br 

This workaround would help other users who are experiencing the same issue. 

~Akanchha

[RobertNewton719]

An alternative to the 'snapshot' method is to "save image as" a .tiff file.  Then copy the tiff file into whatever document or application you're working in.