file reading/writing question.

I'm using 4.2.2 on a Linux 7.1 system. The problem that I am encountering is copying the contents out of a pdf file and writing them to a new file. I've tried fopen() in concert with fread() and fwrite() with no success. The file is created, but the file size is markedly smaller. I've also tried file() and then write the array to a string and write that string to a new file. This has come the closest to success. Any ideas??? Simply copying the files won't work because I will be performing an ereg_replace() with the contents of the copied file. This works on a pdf file with no graphics, however the file I am using has graphics embedded in it. Any ideas??? Thanks in advance, Tim Nields