Adobe 3D PDF Writer

FME can write Adobe® Portable Document Format (PDF) files embedded with interactive 3D annotations.

Adobe 3D PDF Product and System Requirements

Format

FME Platform

Operating System

Reader/Writer

FME Form

FME Flow

FME Flow Hosted

Windows 64-bit

Linux

Mac

Writer

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

- Linux Intel: Yes

- Linux ARM: Yes

- macOS Intel: Yes

- macOS ARM: Yes

The Adobe Reader software version 7.0 and above has included support for interactive 3D annotations in PDF files. These annotations allow users to visualize 3D models. For example, users can view the models from different angles and select sub-elements of the model by picking them with the mouse.

The writer represents the 3D models in the Adobe Product Representation Compact (PRC) file format, which become embedded in a PDF document. The 3D model can be viewed by PDF viewer applications that support PDF’s interactive 3D annotations. (See Compatibility, below.)

The 3D model has a hierarchical structure of Nodes, which are elements of the model:

  • Feature types become Nodes with no geometry.
  • Features become Nodes that may have geometries and attributes.
  • Feature Nodes are children of their corresponding Feature Type Node.

Compatibility: U3D and PRC File Formats

How FME maintains backwards compatibility between the older U3D and the newer PRC file formats:

FME Version

File Format

All FME versions before 2015 U3D
Older workspaces generated before FME 2015, running 32-bit FME 2015 or 2016 U3D
Workspaces generated in FME 2015+ PRC
All other FME versions (2017+) PRC

Writer Overview

The writer outputs PDF version 1.7 files. The document will have one page that contains the 3D annotation.

The 3D model has a hierarchical structure of Nodes, which are elements of the model:

  • Feature types become Nodes with no geometry.
  • Features become Nodes that may have geometries and attributes.
  • Feature Nodes are children of their corresponding Feature Type Node.

FME Community

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