Displaying 3D models in PDFs

With Acrobat, you can view and interact with top-notch 3D designs made in professional CAD or modeling programs and embedded in PDFs. You can hide and show parts of a 3D model, remove a cover to look inside, and rotate parts as if holding them in your hands.

Enable playing of 3D content in PDF

When you open a PDF with 3D content, a yellow bar appears at the top with the message, Multimedia and 3D content has been disabled. Enable this feature if you trust this document.

You can enable the 3D content in the document to start playing the 3D content.

To enable content, select Options on the upper right. A drop-down menu appears.

Select either Trust this document one time only or Trust this document always as per your preference.

Enable 3D content permanently

You can learn about enabling 3D content in PDF.

Activate a 3D content in PDF

A 3D model initially appears as a two-dimensional preview image.

You can now interact or play animations in your 3D model.

When you activate a 3D model, the 3D toolbar will appear above it. You can use this toolbar to zoom in and out, rotate, and move around the model. 

To play with the 3D model, you can select and drag the different navigation tools. As you navigate the model, imagine viewing the 3D model from a camera's point of view.

To view other tools, select the drop-down option on the right of the 3D toolbar.

3D navigation tools

3D toolbar view controls

3D Preferences

In the Preferences dialog box, the Multimedia & 3D panel allows you to manage the default display of the 3D toolbar and Model Tree. Additionally, you can specify the default renderer and decide whether animations are allowed.

Multimedia and 3D options

By default, 3D content in PDFs is disabled due to potential security vulnerabilities. To enable the playing of 3D content, select the option “Enable Playing of 3D Content” in the Multimedia & 3D panel.

Renderer Options

Specifies the appropriate rendering engine in the Multimedia & 3D preferences to affect performance and quality. You can select DirectX® or OpenGL option for faster rendering that uses the graphics chip on the video adapter.  If Software is selected, rendering takes more time, but the performance is often more consistent with the model rendering of the originating application.

Forces the use of a hardware accelerator for even video adapters that do not support a pixel shader.

Select this option to render both sides of the model. Deselecting this option renders only the side facing the user to save time and space.

Specifies the PMI mode to use for rendering. You can select one of the following options:

• Use content's setting: The rendering of the PMI uses the setting of each PMI to decide whether it uses the Z-buffer.
• Always render 3D PMI in front of model: The rendering of the PMI ignores the Z-buffer regardless of the setting in the file.
• Always render 3D PMI using Z-buffer: The rendering of the PMI always turns on Z-buffer regardless of the setting in the file.

3D Tool Options

Determines whether the Model Tree is displayed when the 3D model is activated. Choose Use Annotation’s Setting to use whichever setting the author used when adding the 3D model to the PDF.

Determines whether the 3D toolbar is shown or hidden when a 3D model is activated. Choose Use Annotation’s Setting to use whichever setting the author used when adding the 3D model to the PDF.

Lets the user select and highlight parts of the 3D model using the Hand tool. If this option is not selected, use the Object Data tool (Tools > Interactive Objects > Select Object) to select the object.

Selecting this option places the manipulation and navigation tools under the Rotate tool, thereby shortening the 3D toolbar.

Some 3D models include animated transitions between views. Deselect this option if you want to prevent this 3D animation.

Turns on or off an in-scene display of an axis that indicates the current orientation of the 3D scene.

Auto-Degrade Options

Specifies what happens to animations of complex models when the framerate becomes low. None does not compromise the visuals and leaves the framerate low. Bounding Box shows the three-dimensional planes enclosing the parts instead of the parts themselves, which keeps the framerate high. Drop Objects does not show some parts of the model, which keeps the framerate high.

Sets the minimum framerate, either by dragging the slider or entering a number in the value box. If the framerate drops below that number of frames per second, the Optimization Scheme For Low Framerate option goes into effect.