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Why PDF?


Blam

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I'm not sure what there is to learn since DWG Trueview is not going to start opening other types of files on a whim.

 

I'm pretty sure your clients have been known to download proprietary software from time to time so I think that excuse is pretty feeble.

 

I think you underestimate how smart some of your clients really are. Case in point. Ask them to take out their whiz-bang cell phone and demonstrate all the features they use on it.

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I can't recall anyone ever asking for a .dwf and have only been sent one a couple of times before. Many people request pdfs. Some request .dwgs. The odd one requests .dxf. Very few request dgn or some other format.

 

In my experience in the civil engineering industry, it is just that not many firms use dwfs.

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Case in point. Ask them to take out their whiz-bang cell phone and demonstrate all the features they use on it.

 

Bad example, I can get a 16 year old to do that. Now ask them to change their oil or a flat tire. ;)

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The biggest advantage I can tell with plotting to a PDF is the versatility of use.

 

While its true that .dwgs will plot faster, a PDF can hit more platforms than AutoCAD or DWG True View can, plus the file size is generally smaller.

 

A good example is that we had a client who needed to get one of our service techs into the field. Our service tech needed to have a copy of 327 electrical and mechanical drawings. Instead of having us print them out full size or even B-size, he just took the PDF, loaded it into his Android tablet, and used a PDF editor app to mark up the PDFs if needed.

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PDF wasn't easy in the beginning. Every time you sent a PDF you had to include a link to download Adobe Reader. Wasn't real popular till it came already loaded on new PCs.

 

New PCs can view DWFs with no downloading. For markup, etc. DWFs are better, for emailing a drawing for someone to plot, PDF is usually sufficient.

 

CAD professionals should use DWF IMHO, leave PDF for the non CAD savvy.

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Really? Apples and Oranges, I say.

 

Take a look at this thread (http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/showthread.php?74920-3d-rotatable-PDF-plot) for a better discussion on the subject.

 

Well I did not start the comparison to a smart phone user, did I. Anyway, I have been down the DWF rode before back around 2001. I tried to send DWF file to outside people and the headache was not worth it. You'd either get users too stupid to understand how to install a simple program or without the user rights to install the program. I remember seeing Acrobat Reader on Win 3.11 machines and even more so on Windows 95. I will not argue that for CAD drawings DWF is not a superior format, it is. It is just when you are faced with non technical users it starts to become a problem. Each situation is different but to try to make one solution fit all needs is in my opinion a non starter.

IMHO as always

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Doesn't that translate to mean the client :?

 

Depends on the "client".

 

I am the "client" here, manufacturing, we have the work to be bid on, play by our rules or you don't get the work. I prefer .dwgs

 

If the "client" was an engineering firm, I would think they would prefer DWF or the Actual drawing file.

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I have two types of clients.

 

Architects, who like a DWG file,

and property owners and solicitors, who could be said to be non-technical, and like a PDF file.

 

You have to adjudge your client and send a suitable format. There cannot be a hard and fast rule.

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I have two types of clients.

 

Architects, who like a DWG file,

and property owners and solicitors, who could be said to be non-technical, and like a PDF file.

 

You have to adjudge your client and send a suitable format. There cannot be a hard and fast rule.

 

That is correct.

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DWF and the such may indeed be better, and I'll readily acknowledge that PDF isn't necessarily superior, but... sometimes "better" isn't what the client wants. If they know PDF, and PDF works for their needs, then PDF it is. You and I may know it's easy to learn something better, but they don't care. They don't feel the need to learn something else when what they already have does what they want/need.

 

In the end, does PDF work? Yes. It may not be technical cutting edge, but it works.

 

The only client I have ever experienced wanting DWF was Walmart. Their development and construction division required DWFs. In my over 20 years I cannot recall another client who specifically insisted on DWF.

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PDFs have a place in our world and probably will never go away in our lifetimes. My issue is that so many people are willing to stick with the status quo and not advise their clients or superiors of a better option. We have a responsibility to at least advise people that they can be better served with a different format that is just as easy to use as PDF. If we don't, we are doing a disservice.

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The only client I have ever experienced wanting DWF was Walmart. Their development and construction division required DWFs. In my over 20 years I cannot recall another client who specifically insisted on DWF.

 

I have my own war stories with them from back in '03-'04. Worst company I have ever dealt with. It's funny to hear what they require. All we could get from them were scans. They basically told us "tough sh*t" about it too.

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Autodesk gave in when they integrated PDF capabilities. Had they not done this they probably would have had more of a fighting chance to push DWF/DWFx. I may be wrong but I guess we'll all never really know.

 

:)

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I have my own war stories with them from back in '03-'04. Worst company I have ever dealt with. It's funny to hear what they require. All we could get from them were scans. They basically told us "tough sh*t" about it too.

I didn't think they were that bad. They have their own idiosyncricies, of course. They always paid their bills on time, something I cannot say for some other large corporate clients.

 

Overall, I mean, there always some egotistical jerks that would float in and out sometimes. The worst ones were those who acted like you should bow to them because they worked for Walmart. :notworthy:

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Sine the OP asked "Why PDF?" I can answer that it's because most of the people paying for services request PDF. At least in my experience.

 

Now, personally I really like PDF format. Especially when you use it with software like Bluebeam Revu. We did a job recently where the shop drawings were submitted, reviewed and marked up by the A&E consultants, returned to us, revised and resubmitted, then formally approved....and all without printing out a single page of paper. Now, add to that the original quotes and proposals were prepared using PDF files, and the counts for materials were actually electronically marked and recorded on the PDF drawings, for checking and retrieval later...etc...PDF have sold me as a very concised and efficient way of doing our work. And you can e-mail them to your contacts in an instant.

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