Why does my PDF, EPS or AI import fail with "This file probably contains only bitmap data"?

What the message means

PDF, EPS and AI are container formats. One file can hold vectors (real lines and curves), a picture made of pixels, or a mix of both. The importer pulls out the text and vector content. When the file holds only a picture (a scan, a photo, or artwork that was flattened on export), there is nothing for it to pull out, so you get this message or an empty import.

Usual causes, most likely first:

1. The PDF is a scan or a photo saved as PDF.
2. The artwork was exported from a design program as a flattened image.
3. The vectors did import, but they sit on a layer you are not looking at. Each page of a multi-page PDF lands on its own layer.
4. No job was open. Import needs a new or existing job first.

How to fix it

1. Create or open a job, then use File > Import > Import Vectors again.
2. Open the Layers list and check for new layers from the import. Turn them on and zoom to see everything.
3. If the file really is picture only, get the picture out of it. Open the PDF in whatever program normally shows it and export or save the page as an image (JPG, PNG, BMP, TIF or GIF all import), or take a screen capture of it.
4. Import that image with the bitmap import, then use Trace Bitmap to make vectors, or draw over it by hand.
5. Better still, ask whoever made the file for a true vector export. From CorelDRAW the documented route is EPS with text exported as curves.

How to confirm it is fixed

Click the imported artwork in the 2D view. Real vectors select and highlight as lines you can node edit. A picture selects as one rectangular image.

Pro tips

• Zoom far into the original PDF in a viewer. If edges turn blocky, it is a picture and will never import as vectors.
• A logo can be part vectors and part picture. The vector parts import normally; the picture part (often an emblem or photo inside the logo) has to be traced with Trace Bitmap or redrawn.
• Very old versions (7 and earlier) could not bring in the picture part of a PDF at all. Picture import from PDF was added in version 8.
• After tracing, see the entry on cleaning up a jagged bitmap trace before you toolpath.