CAD and PowerPoint

[HSKINNER]

Hello to any one who reads this!

 

Arrghhh this is causeing my a lot of greif. I do have another account Minty99 but cannot remember my password right now nor access personal e-mail at work.

 

I have been trying for the last hour to insert a drawing into a slid on AutoCAD. Easy right? When the drawing is inserted the text looks like it has holes in it. Its hard to explain. It looks slightly fragmented but only the text.

 

I have tried saving as a pdf. and inserting this but the quality is terrible, although this does provide a hyperlink to the pdf. so that when clicked it opens in Adobe Acrobat but this is not exactly desirable mid presentation.

 

I have tried saving the drawnig as a JPEG but the quality is terrible as expected.

 

This is a LARGE drawing showing the entire plan of a palace at first floor level.

 

To re-cap My main issue is the illegibitly of the draing once inserted into PowerPoint. Inserting smaller sections of the drawing works fine. I suppose I could print it out and hand it out but this is not ideal when presenting to large scale audiences.

 

I do not know whether this is the right place to post this but I thought it cannot hurt and maybe someone will have my answer.

[ReMark]

Have you tried the Windows MetaFile format? File type is wmf.

[HSKINNER]

How do I do that? I cannot see an option in AutoCAD to save the drawing as a wmf. Nor can I see that option in Adobe Acrobat. I would also ask if I import it as a wmf but that, to me, does not seem likely if it does not already exist as one.

[ReMark]

Use the Export command in AutoCAD. MetaFile (*.wmf) is the first option. I don't know a darn thing about Adobe. You're on your own there.

[ReMark]

MetaFile

 

"A Windows Metafile is a form of vector art used in all Microsoft Office programs. Vector art is made to be scalable so that you keep image integrity when you make the image larger or smaller. Non-scalable images pixelate and distort when they are re-sized."

 

Description of a metafile as posted by Heather Kinn on the answerbag.com website.

[HSKINNER]

Under the assumtion I insert to PP as an 'object' all I am ending up with is a WMF icon with the file name written underneath. I appreciate your thought though.

[ReMark]

I used the technique sucessfully once for a class I took and don't recall any problems. Well anyway...good luck.

[HSKINNER]

Right I insert as an image not an object. It shows everything except the contents of my viewport as I ma taking my CAD data from paperspace. NOt great.

 

The result looks similar to ( I am using Office 2007) when select object and insert the dwg file to PP. The TEXT seems fragmented (not sure if that is the best word to explain it). I am going to have to try this on a projector and see what results I get.

 

I wish this was easier. Perhaps an unwise statement as if things were easier they might soon become dull. Its very annoying.

[eldon]

When you export to make a WMF file, it is like taking a screen grab. Everything that you want must be visible on the screen in model space. Then when asked to select objects for the WMF export, you merely type all, and it will select only what is visible, even trimming to the screen edge.

[ReMark]

There is a way to crop a .wmf file's image. This was discussed within the last month here. Check similar threads (below) or search on the word "metafile". Don't bother trying to search on "wmf". The system doesn't like three letter words.

[HSKINNER]

Do either of you have experience with PowerPoint2007 and beyond?

 

If you go to insert and select object it will let you insert a dwg and the quality of the result loooks identical to a wmf. It still does not look quite right on my screen though. Viewing in AR or AutoCAD looks a million times better.

 

I can only assume this is beacuase it is such a large drawing.

[HSKINNER]

Are either of you familiar with PowerPoint 2007 or beyond?

 

When you click the insert tab along with having the option to insert a picture you can insert an object. Under the list of objects you can select Autodesk AutoCAD. The result is something identical in quality to a wmf. However I am still having the same issue as before and have not yet had the chance to plug in a projector to see if this is still the case on a larger screen.

 

I can only guess this is happeneing because of the size of the darwing I want to show on 1 slide.

[eldon]

I do not have any experience with Power Point 2007, but regularly use Word 2003 with WMF inserts.

 

There seems to be a limitation with the resolution brought over by the WMF file. I can get readable text when it is sized at 0.05% of the total screen export size, but it is illegible at 0.02%. You will have to experiment like I did until you get an acceptable format.

 

I have been testing by reimporting back to AutoCAD where I can get all the magnification that I need. In Word 2003, the zoom maximum is 500%. Perhaps 2007 version is more powerful

[HSKINNER]

Thanks guys. Got it sussed out. :wink:

[ReMark]

Thanks guys. Got it sussed out. :wink:

And how did you accomplish this amazing feat? Please share; others may benefit from your new found wisdom.

[HSKINNER]

Indeed, apologies I was dead tired. I exported the drawing as a WMF file type. It just took a bit of playing about to fully understand how it works.

 

 

You need to try and fill the screen with the part of the drawing you wish to export so that there is a little white space around the drawing as possible. Adjust toolbars and increase or decrease the text dialogue to do this. Or change the size of the AutoCAD application.

 

Once done you are ready to export as a WMF. It will ask you to select the objects you wish to export so select everything visable.

 

Once saved you can import into any Office application and retain the high quality of the vector based graphic. Something which is lost when inserting as a JPEG or PDF.

 

 

note: saving as a PDF and viewing in Adobe Acrobat Reader presents no loss in quality. Its only when inserting this to an Office based application that the drawing degrades in legibility. (This might not be the case with smaller drawings but certainly with the larger ones you will notice this more.)

[ReMark]

Thank you for your reply. Knowledge is power. Sharing that knowledge is even more powerful.