Convert to pdf 2

[Engineer108]

I need to convert graphics files (e.g.AutoCAD) to pdf or other 'common' format. The SCALE and QUALITY of the drawing must be preserved i.e. it must look like the real thing. What software can I use to do the conversion ?

Thanks in advance...

 

[corus]

You could always do a screen dump and save the picture as a jpeg or whatever, editing off the boundary of the picture you don't want.

corus

 

[Engineer108]

Thanks for your response Corus...

However, I don't think your suggestion would provide a product of the same quality and scale as the original.

The final product should look as if printed from the original application, in this case, as if printed directly from AutoCAD.

Many (all ?) pdf converters downscale the document and also reduce the quality of lines. One can work around the scale problem by playing around with the scale setting when printing to the pdf printer; however, quality remains the problem.

 

[looslib]

Try

http://www.pdf995.com

This will set up a PDF printer and all you do is print, selct the pdf995 printer and you have a PDf file of the drawing.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli
CAD/CAM System Analyst
Ingersoll-Rand

 

[Rich2001]

Try PDF Factory Pro

http://www.pdffactory.com/

. Print to a D or E scale sheet without problems. I use this with good results.

 

[looslib]

There is a difference in pdf995 and pdffactory and that is cost.

pdf995 is free, if you can live with pop-ups.
pdf995 is $750 for a 100 user license
pdffactory is $3600 for a 100 user license


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli
CAD/CAM System Analyst
Ingersoll-Rand

 

[Rich2001]

This topic has come up before on these fora here a re a few of them thread555-44513 thread555-57355 and many more if you search for them.

 

[PeterCharles]

I presume you have the necessary CAD software from which to print a PDF (PDF's are 'printed' not converted).
Make sure you print to the correct scale and not 'scaled to fit'.

If it's AutoCAD, you could always print a DWF?

 

[eemotor]

I wouldn't do a screen dump. I have tried this in the past and the printing output will appear to have pixels rather than smoooth lines as you would see from Autocad.

 

[IFRs]

In my opinion, Adobe Acrobat Pro is the way to go, if you can foot the bill. The free and other pdf makers just don't output the same quality and make much larger files.

 

[AJUK]

I would recommend Jaws PDF

http://www.jawspdf.com.

There is a virtual printer and editor (or as a bundle) and they work perfectly. I started using this fer I was having trouble with the massively bloated Adobe Acrobat. I now use this software for all drawing issues.

 

[DSB123]

Engineer108,
If your Autocad drawings are not too big you can always select it, "Export" it as a wmf. Then load it into a "Word" document. I do this a lot with small drawings.

 

[Engineer108]

Feedback -
I got best results here :

http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/doc/AFPL/get814.htm.

Thanks for your support...

 

[RDK]

Why not just go to the source?

Full version of Adobe Acrobat is $250 US and will allow you to print anything to PDF that you can print to any other printer.

This includes AutoCAD files.




Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[looslib]

Yes, that is an option.

But look at my earlier message.

pdf995 is $750 for 100 users, $7.50 each.
Adobe Acrobat is $250 each.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli
CAD/CAM System Analyst
Ingersoll-Rand

 

[Like2Strike]

Has anyone ever tried this one.
It is free and I was thinking of dowmloading it to try it out.

PDF Creator
It is an open source program.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator

Frank M.
Tradewind Resources

http://www.tr-usa.com

 

[katmar]

Hi Frank,

Yes, I use PDF Creator on a regular basis. I have used it for almost a full year and have had no problems. I have not used any other PDF authoring software so I cannot comment on how it compares with others, but for my purposes PDF Creator is great.

I use it mainly for converting drawings to PDF so that they cannot be edited, and so that they can be read by people without AutoCad. I also use it to convert invoices from spreadsheet format to PDF so that they cannot be changed.

I suspect that it does not have all the options that the commercial program have, but it does what I need.

regards
Katmar

 

[imagitec]

I'll second PDF Creator.

Rob Campbell, PE
Finite Monkeys -

http://www.livejournal.com/users/robcampbell

 

[imagitec]

By the way, PDF Creator uses the Ghostscript library that Engineer108 linked to. It wraps it in an intuitive, printer-based interface. Windows-based Ghostscript tools are also available for viewing PDF and PS files, though I haven't used them.

Rob Campbell, PE
Finite Monkeys -

http://www.livejournal.com/users/robcampbell

 

[RGS1]

I am currently using AutoCAD 2004. Try this option that I believe is a standard feature of AutoCAD.

FILE > PLOT > PLOT DEVICE > (SELECT "ACROBAT PDFWRITER" FROM THE PLOTTER CONFIGURATION)

Please note that if any text and/or dimensions (in the AutoCAD drawing) are yellow, it does not show very well in the .pdf file, so change it to something else prior to creating the file. But be careful, sometimes modifying the color in AutoCAD changes the size and location of the dimensions.

Good Luck.