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geospatial PDF

Geospatial PDF is a set of geospatial extensions to the Portable Document Format (PDF) 1.7 specification to include information that relates a region in the document page to a region in physical space — called georeferencing.{{cite web|url=http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Acrobat/9.0/Standard/WS6EEDE163-B76A-49b8-BC66-8B60C75F58B0.html |title=Acrobat DC Learn & Support |website=Help.adobe.com |date= |accessdate=2016-02-17}} A geospatial PDF can contain geometry such as points, lines, and polygons. These, for example, could represent building locations, road networks and city boundaries, respectively. The georeferencing metadata for geospatial PDF is most commonly encoded in one of two ways: the OGC best practice; and as Adobe's proposed geospatial extensions to ISO 32000. The specifications also allow geometry to have attributes, such as a name or identifying type.

ISO 32000-2 (PDF 2.0), completed in 2017, incorporates geospatial PDF features.

Overview

The popularity of geographic information systems (GIS) and geospatial technology amongst its users has increased the need to share information.{{cite web|url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/articles/adobe-acrobat-and-reader-now-support-geospatial-data-sharing |title=Get started Adobe Acrobat - Learn Adobe Acrobat - Adobe Acrobat |website=Acrobatusers.com |date= |accessdate=2016-02-17}} However, an obstacle to sharing geospatial data can sometimes be the large file sizes or that the end recipient does not have the appropriate software or reader. The PDF format is widely accepted and is considered the de facto standard for printable documents on the web. This means that users do not require the any proprietary plug-in to read geospatial PDFs created following the PDF 1.7 specification, which was published as ISO 32000-1 standard.{{cite web|url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/pdfs/PDF32000_2008.pdf |title=Document management — Portable document format — Part 1: PDF 1.7 |website=Adobe.com |accessdate=2016-02-17}} In this vein, some features commonly associated with geospatial PDF are simply features of PDF:

  • Graphically represent vector and raster information (content and imaging model, PDF 1.0)
  • Separate graphics content into different layers (optional content, PDF 1.5)
  • Associate of tabular information with graphical features (user properties, PDF 1.6)

Uses

There are many uses for a geospatial PDF. After importing geospatial data into PDF, one can use the data in a variety of ways:

  • Find and mark location coordinates.
  • Measure distance, perimeter, and area.
  • Change the coordinate system and measurement units.
  • Copy location coordinates to the clipboard, and then use them to show locations in several web mapping services.
  • Register a raster image to create a geospatially aware PDF.

Support

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|+ Application support

scope="col"| Name

!scope="col"| Read

!scope="col"| Create

!scope="col"| Edit

{{rh}}| [http://www.canvasx.com/en/products/canvas-x-16-gis ACD Canvas 16 w/ GIS]{{dunno}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| Adobe Acrobat Professional Extended{{dunno}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| Adobe Acrobat version 9+{{yes}}{{dunno}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| Adobe Reader version 9+{{yes}}{{dunno}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| Asseco [http://www.giswiki.org/wiki/LIDS LIDS]{{yes}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| Avenza Geographic Imager{{yes}}{{yes}}{{yes}}
{{rh}}| Avenza MAPublisher{{yes}}{{yes}}{{yes}}
{{rh}}| [https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/avenza-pdf-maps/id388424049 Avenza Maps for iOS]{{yes}}{{dunno}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Avenza Avenza Maps for Android]{{yes}}{{dunno}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| BAE Socet GXP (via TerraGo Publisher for Socet GXP){{dunno}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| Bentley Microstation{{dunno}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| Cadcorp SIS{{dunno}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| CARIS Bathy DataBASE{{dunno}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| Exelis ENVI{{dunno}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| ERDAS IMAGINE (via TerraGo Publisher for IMAGINE){{dunno}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| ESRI ArcGIS{{dunno}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (GDAL){{yes}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| GeoEye Analytics EarthWhere{{dunno}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| Global Mapper{{yes}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| Hexagon Geospatial GeoMedia (via [https://www.hexagongeospatial.com/shared-content/add-ons/geomedia-pdf GeoMedia PDF]){{dunno}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| i-cubed DataDoors{{dunno}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| Memento PDF Viewer ([http://www.northavenue.net www.northavenue.net]){{yes}}{{dunno}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| Precisely MapInfo Professional{{dunno}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| QGIS{{yes}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| TerraGo Composer{{yes}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| TerraGo Mobile{{yes}}{{dunno}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| TerraGo Publisher for ArcGIS{{yes}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| TerraGo Publisher for Raster{{dunno}}{{yes}}{{dunno}}
{{rh}}| TerraGo Toolbar{{yes}}{{dunno}}{{dunno}}

There are several software developers that adhere to the PDF 1.7 specification for writing geospatial PDF files:

  • Avenza Systems
  • Bentley
  • Cadcorp
  • ESRI
  • Precisely
  • QGIS
  • SAFE Software
  • TerraGo Technologies
  • Hexagon Geospatial
  • SDI

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See also

References

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External links

  • [https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/geospatial-pdfs.html Geospatial PDFs (in Adobe Acrobat documentation)]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20100723015055/http://www.avenza.com/mapublisher/geospatial-pdf Avenza MAPublisher and Geographic Imager Geospatial PDF Export]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20100702051408/http://www.esri.com/technology-topics/standards/whats-new.html ESRI Technology Topics]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20100705011558/http://reference.mapinfo.com/software/mapinfo_pro/english/10.5/MapInfoProfessionalUserGuide.pdf MapInfo Professional User Guide]
  • [https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/avenza-pdf-maps/id388424049 PDF Maps app for Apple iOS]
  • [http://www.safe.com/reader_writerPDF/pdf2d.pdf SAFE Software PDF writer specification]

Category:Adobe Inc.

Category:GIS vector file formats