Rastered pdf

[olecarman]

Hey Guys:

A question a little out of the realm of Autocad, but I have several "rastered" pdf drawings that I got from another engineering firm years ago that I would like to copy some of their sections from onto my Autocad drawings. This would save me a ton of time not to have to "redraw" what has already been drawn. I don't really care about the text in the sections so much as just the lines structures in the sections, I can add the text back quickly. I have tried a couple of pdf conversion "Trial" softwares but they really didn't work to well (squiggly lines) due to it is a rastered pdf. I tried this Inkscape trial software but I kept getting an error message each time it tried to trace out the pdf.. Just wondering if anyone had any success with this type scenario in the past and how they did it..

Thanks

olecarman

[f700es]

You might just be better in redrawing the items as opposed to raster-to-vector conversion.

[ReMark]

The CAD world's use of PDFs is it's own Achilles heel.

[RobDraw]

Contact the firm and ask them to send them to you.

[Murph_map]

Contact the firm and ask them to send them to you.

 

Hello NASA, can I have the dwg files for the ISS.

[olecarman]

Most engineering firms either refuse to give you their files, OR they want so much money for them it is just not feasible.. It is just frustrating to have to "REDRAW" things that have already been drawn project after project.. Just wish there was a simple way to trace, copy, scan, another drawing and incorporate into AUTOCAD for editting and for use incorporating those sections into my drawings.. I can "redraw" them, but it is time consuming and "BORING".... Are there any good pdf "Editor's" out in the market that allow you to copy, erase, edit, add text and dimensions to an existing pdf ??? I have ADOBE PRO X, but the editting function is very minimal (adding text only)..

[RobDraw]

Most engineering firms either refuse to give you their files, OR they want so much money for them it is just not feasible.

 

That is right. A lot of those details have been around for years and have been updated along the way and represent a lot of time and money. On the other hand, any good drafter can recreate them in far less time and call them his own. That's why we make the big bucks.

[tzframpton]

Most engineering firms either refuse to give you their files, OR they want so much money for them it is just not feasible.. It is just frustrating to have to "REDRAW" things that have already been drawn project after project.. Just wish there was a simple way to trace, copy, scan, another drawing and incorporate into AUTOCAD for editting and for use incorporating those sections into my drawings.. I can "redraw" them, but it is time consuming and "BORING".... Are there any good pdf "Editor's" out in the market that allow you to copy, erase, edit, add text and dimensions to an existing pdf ??? I have ADOBE PRO X, but the editting function is very minimal (adding text only)..

The dill in your pickle is nothing new. I think every one of us here at CADTutor has asked this same question at one point, lol. We all have accepted the plain and simple fact that you cannot feasibly convert PDF to DWG, let alone a rasterized PDF.

 

Tracing is the only logical option, unless you use a company that provides a service with a fee. But even still... if a drafter makes $20/hr, and you can recreate an entire sheet in a few hours, you've done great and it can be set to your company's standards.

 

If you are still using AutoCAD 2005 like your profile suggests, then PDF will not work but you can easily convert to TIFF by using this free online service: http://pdf.my-addr.com/free-online-pdf-to-tiff-convert.php

 

IMAGEATTACH is the command IIRC, then you can scale the sheet and get right to tracing. I always enjoyed tracing files. I saw it as easy work, and I challenged myself to make it "better" in my own way. I get paid by the hour so boring it my be, but I'll take easy work all day long to make up for the days I'm bustin' my arse.

 

FWIW.

[Bill Tillman]

My experience with this is that the scanned drawing comes in and it all looks fine, most of the time, but the problem is that lines which could and should be continuous are often broken up into segments. The same goes for circles and arcs. Once you're printing it, you can't really tell the difference but working with it in AutoCAD is a PITA.

[cadvision]

the trouble with raster PDF files is the low resolution. (it is an electronic print) Can be as low as 72DPI. You may get a better result printing the PDF and rescanning to TIFF at 400DPI (2nd Gen scan will have problems also) Good raster editing software really needs 300+DPI to make your life easier. Have a look at WiseImage from CSoft (www.csoft.com). This is not cheap software but they have been leading the raster field for a long time. Rasterex's viewer RxHighlight (www.rasterex.com) can convert file formats too.

[SLW210]

If you can post one here, I'll see what Illustrator can do with it.

[bigtopsteve]

Has anyone used Raster Design software? You can import a TIFF image into your drawing and clean it up that way. You can also move things around and draw on top of it. It is a autoCAD add on. It will also turn all text into multi line text. I use it all the time.

[GrothElaine]

I have worked with Aide PDF to DWG converter (http://www.aidecad.com/pdf-to-dwg.html) and this program converts Rastered PDF and vector PDF to CAD.