http://www.officeformac.com/ms/blog <blockquote><a href="http://www.officeformac.com/blog/Office-for-Mac-2008-is-Here/#comments">Comment from elliot: Jan 15, 2008; 6:22 PM</a><br /> <br> I am a scientist and I produce a lot of vector-based graphics. [&hellip;] For the last many years (since OS X has arrived) PDF is the default vector-based graphics format. PowerPoint and Word imported these but automatically transformed the in the raster format PNG. [&hellip;] What about Office 2008? [&hellip;] It must be possible to import PDFs without translating them in something else? Please say yes! </blockquote> <p>@elliot: Yes!</p> <p>Office 2008 for Mac imports and renders PDF images in all their native glory, vector-based or otherwise. This level of support is new, so for Windows Office or earlier versions of Mac Office, we save a PNG representation of each PDF image side-by-side with that PDF image. If the document, spreadsheet, or presentation is opened in Windows Office or an earlier version of Mac Office, then the PNG is rendered. If the file is opened in Office 2008 for Mac, we render the native PDF.</p> <p>Single-page PDF documents import directly as native PDF images. When importing from any multiple-page PDF document, the user is prompted to select a single page. A dialog displays a large preview of the PDF document one page at a time; you can scroll through the PDF document in this dialog or jump to a specific page. When the desired page is selected, click &ldquo;Insert&rdquo; and that page is inserted as a single-page PDF image.</p> <p>Of course, any PDF can contain raster as well as vector data. A raster-based PDF will be subject to any limitations imposed by that format. If you use the Paste Special command to paste a raster-based image as PDF then a raster-based PDF is pasted.</p> <p>There are a handful of image manipulation operations in Office 2008 for Mac that will rasterize a vector-based PDF. The effects in the Image Effects dialog (Formatting Palette | Picture | Effects&hellip;) always replace the original image, in this case PDF, with a PNG. Duotone image recoloring (e.g.: Accent Color 1 Dark, et al.) also rasterizes PDF images, though Grayscale, Sepia, Contrast, Brightness, and Transparency effects do not. Finally, using a PDF image as a 3D texture will cause that image to be rasterized.</p> <p>File size is obviously a concern since we&rsquo;re storing PDF and PNG data side-by-side for compatibility. We chose a DPI setting for our PNGs that we think balances well between file size and cross-platform fidelity, though you may find that print outs and other vector-based renderings look better using Office 2008 for Mac than using other version of Microsoft Office. We also suggest that you manipulate vector-based PDF images using Office 2008 for Mac when you can (as opposed to other versions of Microsoft Office) to help minimize or eliminate potential rasterization effects.</p> <p>Finally, password protected PDF documents are not supported, though vector-based EPS are now supported through the Apple-provided PostScript-to-PDF API.</p> <p>Hope this helps!</p> Mon, 25 Feb 2008 05:02:29 GMT Web Crossing(r) Unix-v6.4 built Jan 14 2010 18:50:13 (source:1372 2010-01-14 15:39:31 -0800)/Unix-6.4 (http://webcrossing.com/) http://backend.userland.com/rss