Select Page

CATEGORIZE A GRAPHICAL
ELEMENT In A PDF FILE

Categorize a Graphical Element in a PDF File
(Create PDF Standard Snapshots)

The following video demonstrates how to categorize a graphical element in a PDF File, in other words, how to create PDF Standard Snapshots,.

Categorize a Graphical Element in a PDF File

This tutorial page describes how to categorize a graphical element from a PDF Document, also known as creating a PDF Standard Snapshot.

PDF Snapshots capture graphics and other visual element from a PDF Document, unlike a PDF Quote which captures text from the PDF.

To the right, we see a page from a PDF Document. We can see that several selections from the PDF have already been created.

We want to highlight the two sponsor logos in our analysis, so we take the following steps:

  1. We change the mode of the PDF Window from Review to Code Image.
  2. We select the Keyword we want to apply, Analytic Codes : Sponsor Logo, to visually highlight these items in the PDF Snapshot we are creating.
  3. We select the combination of tool shape, color, line width, and line style we want to use for this Keyword.
  4. We use of combination of resizing, zooming, and repositioning to get the PDF Window to look exactly the way we want our selection to appear.
  5. We draw our coding shapes on our PDF selection.
  6. When everything is set the way we want, we double-click the Collection in which we want to place the new PDF Snapshot. This triggers PDF Snapshot creation.

The Add PDF Snapshot for appears on screen.

We enter the Snapshot ID Sponsor Logos and have the option to add whole image coding at this point. We have already used Coding Shapes to code the two sponsor logos, so we choose not to add additional coding at this time. Finally, we press OK to complete the PDF Snapshot creation process.

The new PDF Snapshot will appear in the selected Collection.

You may wish to press the Restore Last Save button in the PDF Window Toolbar to show your whole PDF page, including your newly coded selection.

Analytic Memos

It’s now a good idea to create more analytic memos. No action in Transana should be considered finished until you have written about it in an analytic memo.

Right-click (Ctrl-click on macOS) the PDF Snapshot you just created and choose Add Snapshot Note from the popup menu. Name the new Note for your snapshot and enter your initials as NoteTaker. Press OK.

Press Ctrl-T on Windows or Cmd-T on macOS to insert a date-time stamp in the note. You might want to write about why you made the selection you did, why you included the coding you did, how you see this snapshot fitting in with your overall analysis, and any questions you might have, among other issues.