Importing AutoCAD drawings into MS Word

[Darken99]

I am trying to import AutoCAD drawings into MS Word. I have tried plotting as a *.jpg file and inserting it as a picture into Word, but when I print the text is always pixilated. I know there is a way to import drawing directly into word but it is giving me an error when I try to import object and click on AutoCAD drawing file.

Anyone have any better ideas.

Thanks

 

[ctopher]

I have had this problem for years. The best way, print the dwg, then scan it and insert into Word.

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 05
AutoCAD 05
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

 

[AFab]

I found it easier just to open AutoCad and Word then just Pick what you want to put in Word then Paste. Remember to make the background color in AutoCad White or you end up with a lot of another color being printed

 

[chapp333]

Other than printing, scanning and inserting, I've found that I get the best results by picking the items, copying them into MSPaint and saving them as a .gif, then inserting them into Word. And because I use a black background in ACAD, I just convert everything to white that I want in Word, and invert colors in Paint. Things still come out somewhat pixellated, but they look noticeably better than taking a .jpg straight out of ACAD.

333

 

[wgchere]

Use WMFOUT on the command line.
This creates a Word Meta File (wmf). It is a vector object, not raster, so it can be scaled up or down without a loss of quality. The lines are thin and uniform, no varying line weights, but it looks great in Word.

 

[wgchere]

I think you can export as a wmf too.

 

[Darken99]

Thanks for all the idea's guys.

There has to be a way to import a .DWG directly into MS Word. I have about 100 sets of instructions that have .dwg imported into them. There are references on the internet that say you should be able to double click on them and open and modify them in AutoCAD. The problem is as soon as I touch one of these imported .DWG objects, MS Word locks up.

Anyone else have any ideas?

Thanks

 

[TCARPENTER1]

Hi Darken99,

There is, depending on your version of Word, from the insert menu, select Object.... Then click the tab Create from File and then select your AutoCAD file. You can of course, select the option to link to the file so everytime your document is opened, it will re-read the AutoCAD file and show the latest changes.

As for Word locking up on you, you may not have enough horsepower on your machine to handle all the overhead. If you are trying to edit the object, Word will attempt to place the AutoCAD picture from Word into your temp directory - if that's too full, this could cause your machine to lock up. You didn't mention what version of Word/AutoCAD you were running, and it could be a newer version of AutoCAD in the Word document than you have on your machine.

HTH
Todd

 

[Darken99]

I am running AutoCAD 2005 and Office XP Pro.

I have 3ghz with 1.5gig of ram.

 

[cfee]

Sounds like you have enough system resources.

After setting my working background to white instead of the more usual black, I've always just (first) zoom-windowed in on the ojects I want to pick up (thus minimizing the empty extra space around my objects) and used"copyclip" without a basepoint, and ^v into WORD. If the lines are too thin as you print your WORD document with the drawing in it, adjust lineweight settings in the drawing, and re-copy. You shouldn't have any further trouble with any of this.

I regularly use ACAD drawings of one part of the design or another (including 2D drawings, and hidden [dispsilh=1] 3D and shaded and rendered images- whichever is most appropriate for the topic I'm writing) in proceedures, etc. that I might be writing, and then PDF the resulting WORD document, for mass distribution.
Good luck!
C.Fee

 

[JStephen]

Just insert it as an Object as above.

I find that for odd reasons known only to the designers, you have to adjust your AutoCAD window to show exactly the image you want inserted, change black background to white, etc., but then it works great.

What really surprised me is that someone that doesn't have AutoCAD can still open the word file and the image is there- I figured it would need AutoCAD to even see it, but not so.

 

[mjh368]

in cases where save and insert doesnt work. i do an alt+print screen, edit-paste in paint and bam i have converted to the world of microsoft

 

[Darken99]

I have done alt+print screen but when you print the image with text it is all pixilated.

I decided just to copy and paste the drawing directly from AutoCAD into word. You are unable to edit the after doing this but it creates the best printed image.

Thanks all for your ideas.