Convert scanned paper to DWG

[ConradWSmith]

thread555-166043
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Judge (Mechanical)
22 Sep 06 22:23
I have alot of old 2D drawings on paper, which I am in the process of scanning & saving as pdf files. Is there any way to convert these scanned pdfs to dwg format? I have tried AutoDWG but it only works for original pdf files not scanned pdfs. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thank you
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Judge, I'm using AutoDWG, and I'm converting raster to vector. You may check the version you are using as there are 2 versions of the PDF to DWG converter from AutoDWG. You may download the stand-alone version (

http://www.autodwg.com/pdf-to-dwg-converter/download.htm)

but not the plug-in version. The stand-alone is featured with conversion from paper to DWG.

 

[brandoncdg]

I have seen scanned mylars going into PDF's or TIF's and going straight into DWG's there is nothing you can do. The linework is basically squiggly lines for your straight lines. Please if someone knows how to make this happen, list the program and how to it please!

CDG, Los Angeles Civil Engineering specializing in Hillside Grading

http://cdg-ca.com

 

[PeterCharles]

You need raster to vector conversion software. Here's one

http://www.softcover.com/

But it can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear!

 

[testrun]

If you Google paper to cad conversion, then you could start to parse through the different company websites that provide this service. If you do so, then you will begin to notice that they offer manual conversion, which is to say, someone takes the paper drawing and re-drafts it. The reason for this, is as PeterCharles said, "But it can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear". Software is basically performing a photocopying type operation, and if the paper drawings are hard to read, then it could result in gibberish line-work. ...At least this is my understanding of the topic. I've never fully investigated the possibilities. The manual method has been acceptable, cost wise, for clients that I've done this for. Hence no need to more deeply explore the less costly software route. ...I hope this helps, even though it's obviously not the definitive word on the matter.

http://www.DraftingServices.com

 

[cfee]

There are good raster to vector converters out there.

Many years ago I was fortunate to be able to use a really good one, that converted to about 80% accuracy. I remember we had lots of gaps and squiggly lines until we guessed that we should use the center-of-line conversion option instead of the boundary edge (default)option because the latter gave dual squiggly lines at each edge of the original raster line. Once we did that, and realized that circles were NOT circles, and text was NOT text, but derived line segments we were on our way !

I'm aware that there have been advances since then, especially in the area of optical character recognition, but you're still probably going to have to do the last 20% or more by hand. The input that program accepted was only either JPG or BMP or TIF, but you should be able to jump that hurdle if it still exists. Yes, drawings that were CAD and written out to PDF are easy to back-convert, but that isn't your problem. Yours is a bit more complicated. But the solutions are out there. Try some free-to-try commercial programs, and BUY a GOOD one. Not cheap, but WORTH it!

One suggestion tho- the one we were using also had commands that allowed editing the raster file as if it were a CAD drawing. Pretty cool! Eventually in use, all our raster drawings grew into true CAD drawings, and they were usable right from the start in AutoCAD, even those that hadn't completed the conversion process ! If I can discover which program that was I'll add the name of it to this thread. I hope I've added enough clues tho to help you solve your mystery !

Good Luck !