pdf to jpg problem

[steveward]

I created a pdf from a program called MicroStation (similar to AutoCAD). I opened the pdf in Xara Xtreme Pro and saved it out as a jpg - 100% quality setting. (See first image.) I didn't care for the quality of the image, even after fiddling with different settings, so I opened this pdf in various other programs and saved to jpg, but got similar results. Then I opened the pdf in Photoshop and saved it as a jpg, which looks really nice. (See second image.) Illustrator will also create a jpg similar to Photoshop.

So my question is: What am I doing wrong? Shouldn't Xara, Acrobat, etc. be able to produce quality jpg images from pdf files? Is there a setting that I need to enable/disable? I have attached the pdf file in case others wants to experiment.

Thanks.

- Steve