Is there a way to scan or copy our existing rowhouse plans onto auto-cad?

Is there a way to scan or copy our existing rowhouse plans onto auto-cad?

the plans are completely finish so we do not need any changes.

we simply want to be able to view these plans thru a cad format.

Thanks alot, Jeff

What file format are we talking? If it is a PDF then use the Insert > PDF Underlay feature in AutoCAD. The command line version is pdfattach.

:lol:Hold on Mr. Machine. (ReMark)

I think Brownstone89 has a hard copy. In that case, it would probably be easier and more economical to pay a CAD draftsman to redraw them from scratch.

He could have the hard copy scanned or he could hire you (Dana) to redraw the plans.

Look in the Yellow Pages under Reprographics for businesses that can scan the house plans.

We use our local printer who can scan large format drawings, he can scan to what ever format we require, we use ether PDF of Tiff depending on what we want to do with it, why you would want to just convert so it can be read in autocad is not making sence as you will not be able to edit it then you might as well open it in a PDF reader as it is only a image once scanned ?

PDF's made by scanning drawings and then converted to dwg create (usually) enormous files, and most of the time they are a mess when finished. Drawings that should be 100k will be 10mb, and they will be next to impossible to edit. Text will be little bits of disjointed lines and arcs, lines won't even be lines, circles will be polygons with 100 sides. I've seen lots of attempts by lots of different software companies, but none of them do an acceptable job, at least in my opinion. You will find folks that think they are ok, and if it suits their purposes that's great. Just don't expect too much.

If you do as Remark suggested and insert the PDF into the drawing, you'll probably have a better result but you can't edit it if you do that. I suggest you search the forum for similar discussions, and judge for yourself. If you just want to look at them on screen, use Adobe or one of the other PDF readers. The file will be smaller and easier to get along with.

thanks all. our only purpose is to put them on cad for the dept. of buildings instead of the old micro fiche format. We would prefer to have them converted in case they ever needed to be edited (highly unlikely) but i imagine it would cost a lot more to convert and proof versus just scan the hard copy at a reprographics place. does that seem correct?

Depends on how good the plans are, if a CADder can import them at a good quality then it shouldn't take that long to convert to DWG. Ofcourse also depends on the efficiency of the CADder. And the number of plans. But yes, probably cheaper to scan them - if you don't want the benefits of having DWGs that is.

I would just scan them for now, then have them traced into AutoCAD on an as needed basis.

thanks all. our only purpose is to put them on cad for the dept. of buildings instead of the old micro fiche format. We would prefer to have them converted in case they ever needed to be edited (highly unlikely) but i imagine it would cost a lot more to convert and proof versus just scan the hard copy at a reprographics place. does that seem correct?

Just to give you an idea, I do a lot of that sort of work. I generally charge $35 to $75 per page depending on the level of detail to redraw from paper plans. When they are finished, you have a cad file that will be drawn 1:1, and can be printed at any scale on any size paper you choose. Errors can be corrected, modifications or subsequent updates to the building can be included. Far better than scanned and converted drawings, in my opinion.