PDF Manager - Editing and Resizing Sheet Boundaries

In the video below we show you how to use Smart Edit - Insert Segment or TBC Grip Edits to change the shape of PDF image boundaries created by PDF Manager command for an alignment project. The same process applies for site project sheets also.

You can edit the sheet image boundaries prior to extracting PDF data, so that the extracted data edge matches perfectly, allowing for faster joining of linework across sheet boundaries prior to data prep and takeoff.

The video shows how to

  • Convert alignment boundaries (From Station, To Station, Left and Right Offsets) to linestrings that can be manipulated using Convert to Linestring command
  • Using Grip Edits to manipulate existing line nodes or line segments
  • Using Smart Edit - Insert Segment to add nodes into the boundary lines that can be further manipulated with grip edits.
  • Ensuring your edges match correctly after the edits.
  • Extracting the PDF data using PDF Manager
  • Joining linework across match lines between sheets

Video shows you how

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Can I just share a tip for managing a ton of PDFs, especially the way I handle it?

I often work with large sets of PDFs for highway projects—Roadway, Grading, Drainage, Landscape, etc.—sometimes in the hundreds.

Here’s how I manage them:

  1. Separate the PDFs into their respective sets from the package.

  2. Import one set of PDFs and georeference them. This creates boundaries on an “Image-Boundary” layer.

  3. Rename the layer:

    Double-click the Image-Boundary layer name in the Filter Manager.

    Rename it to match the set you imported (e.g., Image-Roadway Image-Grading).

    Move it to your Image Management group.

    image

  4. Repeat the steps for the next set of PDFs.

This way, each image set has its own boundaries, and I can create a View Filter for each set as well.

It makes adjusting boundaries much easier on the fly—especially if I realize I forgot to include part of a page I need.