Inserting aerial photo's into autoCad

[Joshdp]

What is the best format to insert (if possible) a aerial photo into a drawing? I am using AutoCad LT 2005. Is it not possible with LT? I hate having to use LT, what other limitations will I run past as it relates to 2D functions?

[CADTutor]

I would use the JPEG file format. I'm pretty sure you can do this in LT (someone confirm?). You'll find a number of topics on this board relating to the difference between full AutoCAD and LT. Try a search.

This is the subject of one of our FAQs but we're still waiting for an author. Any takers? :wink:

[Kate M]

I'm pretty sure you can do this in LT. (someone confirm?)
Nope, that functionality was removed for good in 2004. There are some 3rd-party programs that will bring it back (Slingshot, from drcauto), though.

[Vince0115]

CADTutor, Kate M and Joshdp,

Apparently the functionality has been restored in 2005LT. I just tried it for one of our projects, and it works fine.

Procedure:
I opened the viewer software IrfanView (freeware).
Open the needed JPEG picture
CTRL+C to copy it to the clipboard
Close IrvanView
Return to 2005LT
CTRL+V to paste
Mouse click to set the location for the lower left-hand corner of the pic
VOILA!

The picture can be scaled; objects drawn over it can be scaled, rotated, etc.

Joshdp, good luck with your project.
CADTutor, is this what you need for the FAQ forum?

Vince G

[Kate M]

Vince,

Oops -- you're right. Copy-paste has always worked; what is missing is the link to the original image file. The function I was referring to is "Attach Image", which maintains the link to the file (like an xref) -- it's available in full AutoCAD or third-party software.