Q: Is pdf2cad also available for Linux or UNIX?
Is pdf2cad also available for Linux or UNIX?
A:
Although pdf2cad is not available for UNIX or Linux, the PDF to DXF conversion capability is part of PDF FLY which is available on Sun Solaris, HP-UX, IBM AIX and Linux (Red Hat). The Red Hat Linux version also runs successfully on other Linux implementations, such as FreeBSD and SuSe. For all of the UNIX/Linux platforms, the PDF to DXF functionality is accessed via is a straightforward command line tool, offering the same core functionality as pdf2cad on Windows. For more information, visit www.pdf-fly.com.
Q: Is my PDF file a vector or a bitmap?
How can I tell if my PDF file is a vector or a bitmap?
A:
As easy way to see if your PDF file contains vector or bitmap content is to magnify the drawing to more than 800%. If you see smooth curves and straight lines, it's a vector file and the conversion results will be successful. If what you see on screen looks jaggy or ragged, it is a bitmap file and you will only be able to create a drawing template t aid in redrawing the file in your engineering application.
Q: Blank page when opening results from pdf2cad in AutoCAD
I tried to convert a scanned drawing and just get a blank page – where’s my drawing?
A:
Your drawing is probably scanned. This process flattens it into one bitmap, or raster, image which removes all the information about how the drawing was created or what it even is. As a result, it can not be redrawn or exploded into objects by pdf2cad. The most we can do with scanned image files, is to create a high-quality copy to be used as a tracing layer in your CAD program.
If you look in the directory where the file was saved, you’ll notice that two or more files were created – a DXF and at least one TIFF or JPEG image. The DXF references the images and assembles them on-screen when loaded. They must be in the same directory as the DXF file or the DXF file will look empty. This will also occur if or if your CAD package does not support raster images
If you want to try to create vector objects from a scanned drawing, you need a different class of software called “raster to vector”. This is an extremely difficult thing to do well and we can recommend two companies that do the job as well as can be expected – www.softcover.com and www.trixsystems.com.
Q: Scale of CAD drawing is not correct
The DXF drawing looks fine but it is not to scale. Can this be improved?
A:
The DXF file format does not define physical dimensions using absolute measurements from a ruler. Instead it uses units which the user defines. When you create a PDF file from a CAD drawing, it is transformed to paper/print dimensions and the meaning of the original CAD units are lost in the process. As a result, pdf2cad does not have information available to restore the intended dimensions but it does preserve the scale. This means that you can calculate a scaling factor to apply during the conversion to achieve the size drawing you want. By default, pdf2cad uses 1mm(0,03937 inch) in the PDF = 1 unit in the DXF. You can change this under the DXF Options tab. You can also scale the DXF after import into your CAD application.
Tip: Sometimes pdf2cad delivers better precision and more accurate coordinates if you change one of the values in your pdf2cad.ini file. Please try setting the ctm_scale to 10.0 instead of 1.0 (default) in the pdf2cad.ini file. If this does not help, please send us the file to diagnose.
Q: Text is not editable in AutoCAD
I can’t edit the text when I open the DXF file in AutoCAD. Why not?
A:
If the PDF file contains characters, pdf2cad will convert them and map them as MTEXT objects in the DXF file. Unfortunately, when creating a PDF file from a CAD drawing, the text is not always retained. Sometimes it is "plotted" as pen strokes or turned into curves. When this happens, the intelligence is lost. There is nothing that pdf2cad can do about this - it can only reproduce the curves (=SPLINES entities) in the DXF file. What looks like text in the original file is actually just an object, comprised of a series of pen strokes that looks like a word.
By default 1 DXF unit = 1 mm. The DXF file uses mm and decimal as units (INSUNITS, LUNITS). There is an configuration setting under Options ... DXF tab where you can specify that Paths (= SPLINES) should be rendered as polylines/polygons.
Tip: to see if the text in your PDF drawing is still searchable, open the PDF file in Acrobat (Reader) and use the Text Select tool. If you cannot highlight any words, the text is already outlined to curves. If a PDF file contains searchable text, pdf2cad will reproduce it as searchable/editable text MTEXT in the DXF file, preserving the fonts and styles.
Tip: To create a PDF with searchable text from AutoCAD, make sure to use TrueType fonts in the drawing and ensure that your printer driver is set to retain text as text instead of converting it to curves. See how to create a PDF file with searchable text from CAD Digest.
Tip: to create a PDF file with included text from AutoCAD, make sure to use TrueType fonts in the drawing and have your PS/PDF printer driver set to keep text as text instead of graphics. Text can be lost in either of these two steps in creating a PDF file.
Tip: if your PDF files contain non-Roman font text (such as Chinese, Arabic or Cyrillic), or if the text looks garbled in the DXF output, try using the "Convert characters to curves" option in the General tab of the Options menu of pdf2cad. This outlines the text during conversion to ensure WYSIWYG rendering (not editable).
Tip: To create a PDF with searchable text from AutoCAD, make sure to use TrueType fonts in the drawing and ensure that your printer driver is set to retain text as text instead of converting it to curves. See how to create a PDF file with searchable text from CAD Digest.
Tip: to create a PDF file with included text from AutoCAD, make sure to use TrueType fonts in the drawing and have your PS/PDF printer driver set to keep text as text instead of graphics. Text can be lost in either of these two steps in creating a PDF file.
Tip: if your PDF files contain non-Roman font text (such as Chinese, Arabic or Cyrillic), or if the text looks garbled in the DXF output, try using the "Convert characters to curves" option in the General tab of the Options menu of pdf2cad. This outlines the text during conversion to ensure WYSIWYG rendering (not editable).
Q: Can I convert PDF directly to DWG?
Can I convert PDF directly to DWG with pdf2cad?
A:
pdf2cad generates the DXF interchange format developed by AutoCAD. In order to produce AutoCAD's native format, DWG, you can use a free utiltiy called EveryDWG which converts DXF to DWG and DWG to DXF. It does a great job and can be downloaded for free from The Open Design Alliance at the following address:
Q: Can I use pdf2cad in a batch process?
Can I run pdf2cad as an automated batch process on a server?
A:
pdf2cad will convert a "batch" of files when requested by the user. It's as easy to convert an entire directory of files as it is to convert one file. Tat said, sometimes, companies want to use a watch folder or use scripts to automate conversion. When this is required, you'll want to use FLY Batch. PDF to DXF is one of the modules in FLY Batch, a command line driven batch conversion engine that’s easily scripted for automated, central, high-volume or real-time processing. It runs on Windows, Linux and UNIX platforms.
Q: Some converted files open and some do not
It seems like files that convert from true vector files actually work better in my host program....the ones that are converted from rasters don't even open in the program.....why?
A:
pdf2cad is designed to convert PDF files, generated as scalable files from an application, into editable CAD objects. Since scanned drawings have been flattened and reduced to bitmap images, we can not reassemble them into objects. We do however convert them into a tracing layer which is referenced in the DXF file and supported in programs such as AutoCAD. If you need to create a vector file from this file, you can use the tracing layer as a guide for redrawing the file or use a different class of software called raster-to-vector to try to generate objects. An example of this type of software is Scan2CAD. These are the files that either will not open or show up as blank files in your target software. In order to see or use the tracing layer, your target application must be able to open DXF files and display referenced images. Our conversion of a scanned PDF produces a blank DXF file and one or more image files in either the TIFF or JPEG format. They referenced images must be located in the same directory as the DXF file to be displayed.
Q: When converting a CAD drawing, can I preserve the layers?
When converting a CAD drawing, can I preserve the layers?
A:
When a CAD drawing is saved as a PDF file, it is flattened. When converting, pdf2cad looks at color attributes to create layers. If the option to recognize layers is turned on, pdf2cad gathers all objects with same color and put them on one layer. If the PDF file has three colors, the resulting DXF file will have three layers. It is then easy in AutoCAD to turn off a complete layer. This setting can be found in the Options->DXF tab of PDF FLY or simply under Options in pdf2cad.
Q: Removing width dimensions during conversion
When I convert PDF files to DXF, the lines in the converted file appear to have a width dimension associated with them. When the converted file is then brought into Revit and then rescaled, the line width is magnified and I end up with really fat lines everywhere. It is possible to remove the width dimension from the lines?
A:
Yes, it is possible to turn off (reduce to zero) the line weight. Change the value of the function zero_linewidth from 0 to 1 in the pdf2cad.ini, which is in the installation directory of pdf2cad and rerun the conversion. The installation directoryby default is C:\\\\Program Files\\\\Visual Integrity\\\\pdf2cad.
Q: Convert circles to circles rather than to a string of short lines
Looks good, but is there a way to convert circles to circles rather than to a string of short lines that look like a circle?
A:
We are developing a intelligent mechanism to "recognize" circles/ellipses out of a set of polylines or bezier curves.Please contact us if you want to receive more information about this feature.
Q: Line Segments
Hidden/dashed lines appear to have been separated into individual objects. Why is that?
A:
When the PDF file was created, the dashed lines were created as small individual line segments. Because of this attribute in the PDF file, pdf2cad converts them as small line segments in the DXF file. pdf2cad does not yet have an option to recognize these segments. as a line with a certain dashed-line attribute.
Q: Conversion of Hatching
When I convert my PDF file to DXF, the hatching does not translate properly. Why?
A:
The hatching in your PDF-file is done with a pattern fill. Patterns fills are not recognized or supported in the DXF format. Since it can not understand the hatch, pdf2cad maps it to a grey value which can be manually modified once in AutoCAD or whatever editing application you use.
Q: Does pdf2cad convert pdf arcs to cad arcs?
Does pdf2cad convert pdf arcs to cad arcs?
A:
Not yet, but it is a frequent request and we have added it to the development schedule. We do not have a release date scheduled. Please email support@visual-integrity.com for an update on availability.