Question about Adobie PDF writers.

[ryandias]

I know its not quite mechanical Engineering but, it has to do with one of my drawings that i want to export as a pdf.

I want to be able to Search the drawing for Text.
How is it PDF's are created with this "smart" option?

Anyone know?

 

[TheTick]

As long as your text is written as text and not as exploded segments or rasterized (dots), then you should be able to search.

<http:

http://www.pdf995.com>

for PDF writing under $10.

 

[Allen]

there are tons of such convertors for free also:

http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=free+dwg+to+pdf&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

 

[telecomguy]

I use CutePDF (

http://cutepdf.com)

<tg>

 

[kenvlach]

OpenOffice has built-in export capability to PDF.
From File menu, choose Export as PDF. Then, name the file, click Save, and choose the 'Lossless' rather than JPEG compression. -- My documents have test & photos, so can't guarantee that it works perfectly for drawings. Expect that it will for vector-type.

I installed CutiePDF & the necessary Ghostscript converter OK, but it stops operation with an 'Out of Memory Error.'
I have 512 MB Ram, am only running Win, McAfee Anti-Virus, ZoneAlarm firewall & IE 6. Normal? Anyone else?

 

[jbthiel]

I've used free primoPDF with good results. I can select and search text no problem.

 

[Allen]

By the way, I myself prefer to convert the drawings to TIFF file format istead of PDF, so zooming and reviewing of such files are more easier and also printing has better quality.

 

[IFRs]

Aw

http://www heck

- I just bought Adobe and am done with it. The frebies work "most" of the time. Adobe works all of the time. OpenOffice is great for Word, Excel and Powerpoint but ryandias was looking for AutoCAD. If your company won't spend the money they are being short sighted. If it is just you and the expenditure is too much, be sure to compare that against the trial and error time you will spend making it work, etc.

 

[ArbolesAlex]

Try eDrawings it is free and should do what you need and you can publish from AutoCAD

http://www.edrawingsviewer.com

 

[MechNorth]

I've used PDFs for about 10-12 years now, converting CAD drawings to vector graphics for further manipulation. Some CAD packages have the conversion utility right in them (Solid Works for example), while others don't and thus require an intermediary output format (I used eps). TIFF is useless from my experience; you can't re-manipulate it, and it often doesn't print well. Plus, Adobe's PDF format is preferred by many of the top documentation / technical writing groups, and feeds naturally into the other Adobe products (Illustrator, etc.). I dropped a good bit of coin for the Adobe Illustrator CS2 package ... no regrets because of the convenience and fluidity of the products. Similar to IFR, I didn't like the "freebies" either... too inconsistent and costly in the long run.

Jim Sykes, P.Eng, GDTP-S
Profile Services
CAD-Documentation-GD&T-Product Development

http://www.profileservices.ca

 

[rob768]

If I understand the original question of Ryandias correctly, you want to be able to search through a PDF, most likely to look for key words or archive purposes? That's what i am intersted to hear too.

 

[MechNorth]

The conversion software determines the capabilities to search and edit a PDF file using Adobe Acrobat (or Acrobat Reader). Acrobat Reader is the free version and doesn't have all the functionality of the full Acrobat package, so even if the PDF is capable, you may not be able to search it (I don't think Reader has the search capability, but I'm not sure). The conversion utility that now comes with some of the CAD packages provides the right format automatically, and preserves the search capability, subject to the capabilities of the Acrobat or Acrobat Reader software. Converting to PDF using the Adobe utility from eps or other vector formats, does not preserve the search capability as it is no longer text.

Jim Sykes, P.Eng, GDTP-S
Profile Services
CAD-Documentation-GD&T-Product Development

http://www.profileservices.ca