PDF Export with Vector Images

Scott Selberg

Hi All,

We currently are producing documentation with vector diagrams using Framemaker.  When searching for terms in the resulting pdf, the text in the diagrams can be found.  Also, when zooming in, the diagrams retain their sharpness.  

I'm trying to figure out if there is a way to have Confluence embed a vector format image (svg, gliffy, pdf, ai ) into the exported PDF file.  Does anybody have any insight into this problem?

-Scott

Bill Bailey

Well being a decade-long user of FrameMaker, and Illustrator, I know of no way to do what you want. The workflow I have adopted is the create the drawings in Illustrator, then export to PNG and attach/embed that file in Confluence. The I use Scroll PDF to generate the PDF. The results are "acceptable" I would say.

Generally, I think you can get 80 to 90% of the quality in a PDF using Confluence and Scroll, but you have to know a lot about CSS and Velocity to get things to work properly. AND I would only go this route if online is your primary doc delivery method with PDFs as a nicety. If quality of the final PDF is a must-have, then you will probably be disappointed.

That being said, I am a huge advocate for using Confluence due to the speed of collaboration, content reuse, and general speed of content development (not to mention you can create an automated workflow).