PDF to Vector

[Bert2]

Hi, i currently have a program that converts PDF's to dfx file for autocad.

However im wondering if anyone knows of a programme that can pick up vectors from PDF's that dont already have them?

thanks

 

[MikeHalloran]

You mean lines in PDFs that were saved as bitmaps (typically very large files, scanned)? I forgot the name, but I had one that was $35 shareware and worked better than anything else I found. ... but it still wasn't good enough.

It put dots or lines on what were clearly smudges or dirt, and didn't correct for slight misalignment in the scanner. You wound up with straight lines with steps at regular intervals. Dotted or dashed lines came in as short line segments.

We bought it because a customer sent a P&ID in PDF form, but wanted it back revised to suit our equipment in DWG form, with our title block. They absolutely refused to provide DXF or DWG copies, even with their title block removed. Bastards. We basically had to redraw everything from scratch. There was no money or time in our quote for any of that.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[Bert2]

Sound like a very similar situation i have here with clients.

I use a program called CADKAS and that converts PDF's (only those which have vectors in them) to DFX for DGW's in autocad.

Works a treat easy to use and fast, think its 50$, but i can only convert dwg's that have been scanned from autocad.
and was wondering they must be a program which can generate the basic outline from a scaned document or piece of paper then i could convert that to dwg.

 

[MikeHalloran]

I think the one I used had a real clever name like PDF2DWG or something like that. Even the best of them are aggravating to use. Least awful tactic: Change layers and build an AutoCAD drawing from scratch, using the imported stuff as a sort of guide.

Then erase and purge the imported stuff. Trying to use the imported stuff directly will just drive you crazy with corners that cross or don't quite meet, and lines that are not quite continuous or not quite orthogonal.





Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[beakerboy]

I've used Inkscape in the past. It's free and open source and available for mac, PC and Linux. You can take a PDF or even a jpeg and convert it to a vector format. Then you can save it as a DXF file which is able to be opened by AutoCAD.

 

[PeterCharles]

Get a copy of Scan2CAD v8 that includes conversion of PDF's.

 

[cfee]

AutoDesk sells a product that takes RASTER IMAGES (JPG,TIF, etc) and treats them as NATIVE AutoCAD entities. They're really still BITMAPS, but it RASTEREDITS the drawing, making only the changes you want, can blank out stuff like title-blocks and erase smudges, and YOU DON'T HAVE TO REDRAW ANYTHING but what you want to! We used the product with HUGE success years ago before ADESK bought them out, and it LITERALLY opened up our ENTIRE VAULT of Scanned TIF images ! I don't recall the product name now that its owned by ADESK, but they offer it on their web site as a purchasable product.

On the PDF thing- I just
INSERT OBJECT-PDF into ACAD, reposition it, rescale it, and go from there, if it doesn't have native vectors. Even Bitmaps if they were scanned well look FANTASTIC, and as long as either the save-path to the bitmap PDF always stays the same (vault folder, etc) or the bitmap PDF stays in the same directory as the ACAD drawing you inserted it into, you're good to go.

It can even be used as a tracing underlay.

Otherwise, if there are native vectors you can either extract them to dxf (fine choice - editable, of course) or insert the PDF directly. It'll show up beautifully, but of course you can't edit it. This is really valuable only if you need a PDF image as a detail in your drawing, and don't want to redraw it or ever expect to need to edit it. Otherwise, convert the PDF to vectors via your favorite DXF converter. If you HAPPEN to have ADOBE ACROBAT, you can even select layers in the PDF you want on & off .

If bitmap only tho, either insert it as an underlay and trace it or get that ADESK product I mentioned above.

GOOD LUCK ! Let us know how it goes !

C. Fee