[How To] Import PDF or Ai file into Adobe Fresco

[lkk]

how can you import a pdf or ai file from macbook (illustrator) to ipad adobe fresco? Since I want to make adjustment on my vector file on my ipad with adobe fresco.

[Renamed by Mod]

[Ashutosh_Mishra]

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out. Adobe Fresco can only import .PSD (Photoshop native file format) and your projects created on Adobe Sketch or Draw projects.
You may click on https://helpx.adobe.com/in/fresco/faq.html#CanIworkwithmyAdobeFrescoartworkinotherapplications to know more about it.

This is a great suggestion though. You may post your request on adobefresco.uservoice.com and share the link here, so other users can upvote as well. This is the best way of communicating with the Engineering and Product Management teams regarding issues and suggestions so they can be implemented in future releases.

Regards,

Ashutosh

[mechanicalpencil]

So, is there now any way to import a pdf from my Acrobat files into ANY Adobe mobile/ipad drawing app and draw over it, preferably with vectors? I feel like this used to be possible, maybe in Draw? 

[twtomwright]

I relied on that feature all the time in Draw. The only thing I used it for was marking up PDFs from CAD or producing illustrative overlays. Same functionality in Fresco would be a real improvement. One convoluted workaround I've used is to create a new doc in Draw, import your PDF, then import that Draw file into Fresco... not ideal...

[Jeanne5CFC]

That is actually a pointless work around as the PDF does not remain a vector when you import it-- and you can do the same thing with Fresco-- as Sue explains below.

[Sue Garibaldi]

Hi Mechanical.

It was possible in Draw. And it's actually possible to import a PDF into an Image Layer in Fresco too.

To do that:
First make sure that the PDF you want to import is in your Creative Cloud Files folder
Then, from an open canvas, tap the Image icon in the toolbar and from the dropdown menu tap Creative Cloud
On the next screen select Files from the dropdown menu
Tap on your PDF then Open (in the lower right corner) to place the PDF on the canvas.

Then just add a layer above that and draw on that with the Vector brushes. 

Is that what you were hoping to be able to do?

Sue.

[JeffOWork]

It would be nice to import into Fresco a PDF, or at least a converted SVG file with all strokes outlined and even shapes merged, if needed.

[petenawara]

Yeah, this seems like a pretty necessary feature to complete an adobe suite workflow between the tablet and the desktop. Otherwise, I'll just draw in illustrator using sidecar, but fresco UI is so much simpler.

[Sue Garibaldi]

Hi Pete.

Just posted this above and wanted to make sure you saw it.  It is possible to bring a PDF into a Fresco Image Layer. It won't be an editable file but you can draw on top of it.

To do that:
First make sure that the PDF you want to import is in your Creative Cloud Files folder
Then, from an open canvas, tap the Image icon in the toolbar and from the dropdown menu tap Creative Cloud
On the next screen select Files from the dropdown menu
Tap on your PDF then Open (in the lower right corner) to place the PDF on the canvas.

Then just add a layer above that and draw on that with the Vector brushes. 

Is that what you were hoping to be able to do?

Sue.

[petenawara]

Thanks for your reply! This is nice, but obviously maintaining editable layers would be really nice (as well as maintaining vector information). Does the pdf get rasterized? If so this doesn't actually address the issue, as the idea is that you could be using frescos vector tools to make infinitely scalable artworks that you could pass back and forth between illustrator and fresco. I hope this helps clarify! 

Thanks!

Pete

[Sue Garibaldi]

Hi Pete. 

We know that back-and-forth with Illustrator is something vector artists need (require) and we're working on it.

Sue.

[fqart]

Please update this. I see post replies from Adobe employees in other community posts from November of 2019 regarding this issue, so this is something our community has been asking for. Adobe employees suggest making it a voting issue on adobefresco.uservoice.com, but why do that when it's already something that seems intuitive to the app. I used to use Adobe Draw app, and you could bring editable layers in Illustrator. But since Adobe said it was losing support and suggested switching to Adobe Fresco, I did switch over but found out this can't be done. It seems like a significant oversight on Adobe, and not something the community should be creating voting systems to remedy. Just my two-cents. I would love to see this happen soon.

-Thanks

[Jeanne5CFC]

Agreed. Please make this happen. I also switched from Draw to Fresco per the urging of Adobe... I also would like to see this happen soon. I lost a file that was in Fresco (and not yet saved in Creative Cloud because of the switch from Draw). I have an older iteration that I can update but I DO NOT want to draw the entire thing over again as it was hours of work.

[Charlilu]

Well unless something drastic has changed in the last month....

I've managed to bring an ai. file (from Windows 10 laptop)  into fresco (iPad), via Creative Cloud Files Folder.

I wasn't sure how to -- and stumbled my way to this page -- as I rarely use the app (which i love by the way), but followed the same steps Sue gave below for bringing in PDFs using the 'image' icon on toolbar. 

Its a relief because I really needed the vector lines without the white background a PDF brings.

Has there been an update then -- so what files will it accept now?

Thanks

Charlilu

[Sue Garibaldi]

Hi Charlilu. 

It is possible to import .ai files into an Image Layer in Fresco but there isn't that same back-and-forth capability, that Fresco and Photoshop share, with Illustrator files. 

We're working  on it. For now, ,psds are the only files that have round-trip capability with Fresco. 

I hope I answered your question. 

Sue.

[Jeanne5CFC]

Hi Sue,

So I can import an Ai file into fresco as an image layer, but it turns into a raster in the process. Is there any way to have it stay in vector format to edit it and as a vector? Or is this the lack of round trip capabilty of which you speak?

[Sue Garibaldi]

Hi Jeanne. 

Sorry. Not yet. 

Additionally, I suspect that round-trip between Ai and Fresco will happen before it's possible to "edit" a PDF (actually I'm not even certain that PDF editing is something that's planned).

Exporting from Fresco to Illustrator is coming. Soon. Hang in there. 

Sue.

[meghanr85342217]

I'm really looking forward to the ability to pass back and forth between Fresco and Illustrator. I use both of those programs in my workflows. It's frustrating when I can't keep the .ai layers in the file once it's in Fresco. I've also tried exporting a .psd file from my original .ai file, then importing it into Fresco, but the layers get flattened that way, too. I feel like I spend 10x more time on figure out how to make the files play nice than I do actual artwork, and it's a little maddening (especially when I can export from Fresco to Illustrator).

[Emma_41dcdem]

Agreed! On larger projects, my whole workflow is a complete mess, and is ruining the whole experience (and end results). I spend SO much time just figuring out how I should best make a a simple change to my artwork. After it's imported to Illustrator there is no way back, and I keep working with two seperate files, importing from iPad to Mac, and coping strokes back and forth, and its a pain incorporating it into the correct file. 

Sure, we have illustrator for iPad now, but the blob brush doesn't have the same features as in Fresco. Surely it should at least be possible to make the two apps have the same brush features, when they excist in one app but not the other??

[lucykafka]

Oh dear.  I just sold the team on doing the animations of the vector shapes (that we have in illustrator) using the new Fresco animation feature. This is embarassing. . .
Anything new on this?

[lucykafka]

Also I tried to get around it by using Draw, and then opening in Fresco, but as you know, no more Draw.  So, that is extra crazy.  

[RedRoof]

@sue3 , is there any update on this? Now that Draw is officially dead, is there going to be a way to import .ai files into Fresco so this back and forth with Illustrator will finally be possible?

[Michael22705674bno3]

I'm also looking for an answer for this. It seems obsurd that it's not possible especially when  the original post was from 2 years ago. 

Hmmm... "Let's make a vector drawing app that doesn't correspond with our other vector program.... ". 🥴

[linah25485547]

Agreed, why this was not something they thought about from the beginning is beyond me. Vectors go hand in hand and you should at least be able to import an eps or svg and maintain the vectors.

And during the two years this thread has been alive there has been no updates to this issue. I do love Fresco but I need to be able to switch between Fresco and Illustrator for most of my projects.

[DaveJCummings]

Though there's Vector tools, Fresco is not a Vector based program.  At its heart, its more of a Raster program with vector tools, much like apps like Clip Studio.  If you're on an iPad and you really need vector tools, try Illustrator for the iPad