PDF's as XREF's = very slow AUTOcad

[Bogbadbob658]

I have a Pdf XREF'd into my model but it slows down AutoCAD to the point that I can't work. There is up to a 30 second lag on entering commands. I have shut down all other programmes I have running but it doesn't help. Are there any setting I can change that may help?

[rkmcswain]

Is it a rather large vector based PDF?

Can you unload it until it's needed for printing?

[Bogbadbob658]

It is rather a large file at just under 4mb and I need to keep the pdf loaded to work on the job.

[ReMark]

Are you drawing on top of the PDF?

 

It looks like you have enough system RAM although your graphics card is about on par with an entry level card. Not sure if that has anything to do with your problem.

[RobDraw]

This is not uncommon with PDFs. Convert it to TIFF and your performance will be much better.

[ReMark]

Is it that a TIFF file will be smaller (size-wise) or that it is just much more efficient? I'm leaning towards the former not the latter.

[RobDraw]

In this case, I'm not sure if size matters.

[ReMark]

Would you recommend using an online (free) PDF-to-TIFF converter like the one found at Zamzar?

[RobDraw]

I can't make any recommendations for online converters as I have not used any.

[Bogbadbob658]

I'm trying to align the PDF with the CAD file for checking. I agree raster images are a lot faster but I lose the ability to snap to an object in the PDF. I have an old copy of photoshop express which will allow me to convert to tiff so I'll give that a try. I was hoping some bright spark might be able to point at some configuration which would reduce the memory usage.

 

At the moment I feel like printing the 2 drawings and holding them up to the window.....Perhaps I should invest in a new light box!

[RobDraw]

Isn't there a way to convert a vector PDF to dwg?

[SLW210]

Yes, PDFs are horrible. It may help to close everything but your AutoCAD session particularly any ant-virus. You might look into UOSNAP and PDFOSNAP and set snap off until needed.

 

I either try to get the .dwg file or convert them to a .dwg or insert as an Image, doesn't seem to matter if JPG, PNG, TIFF, etc. should be ok for checking.

[Bogbadbob658]

There are lots of PDF to DWG converters out there and I have one but there are not great and tend to not to be very accurate.

[RobDraw]

That would be for raster PDFs. From what I've heard, vector PDFs convert very accurately and I thought there was a tool in AutoCAD that converts vector PDFs. I may be mistaken though.

[rkmcswain]

Isn't there a way to convert a vector PDF to dwg?

 

There are several. We use this: http://www.dotsoft.com/pdfimport.htm

[Dana W]

I'm trying to align the PDF with the CAD file for checking. I agree raster images are a lot faster but I lose the ability to snap to an object in the PDF. I have an old copy of photoshop express which will allow me to convert to tiff so I'll give that a try. I was hoping some bright spark might be able to point at some configuration which would reduce the memory usage.

 

At the moment I feel like printing the 2 drawings and holding them up to the window.....Perhaps I should invest in a new light box!

You know you're an old draftsman when.... You know what a light box is.

 

If you can re-plot the pdf, try not including the layer information in the pdf.

[ReMark]

A light box is one where you've removed four dozen pairs of your wife's shoes before bending over to pick it up.

 

I'd spare the expense of buying a light box and tape the drawings to a window that gets a good amount of sunlight and start tracing really, really fast.

[Dana W]

A light box is one where you've removed four dozen pairs of your wife's shoes before bending over to pick it up.

 

I'd spare the expense of buying a light box and tape the drawings to a window that gets a good amount of sunlight and start tracing really, really fast.

Use a North facing window.

[Amalgama]

In our office we use "Aide PDF to DXF Converter".

http://www.aidecad.com/pdf-to-dxf-converter.html?gclid=CLntmeW98boCFfA7MgodFgoAWw

 

Works very nicely. After converting to .dxf file could be saved as .dwg

[f700es]

Can't snap to points on a tiff can you? I really haven't tried but I can on a vector PDF.