Convert PDF to CAD

Hi All!

Dose anybody can help!!
I'm using Windows ME. How to convert (*.pdf) file to Acad2000 (*.dwg) file?

Thanks in advance

 

I suspect you're barking up the wrong tree. Acrobat files are raster
(bitmaps) and AutoCAD is (of course) a vector format (as are all CAD
files). Easy to convert from vector to raster, but NOT easy to convert
the other way around. There are some applications that can scan raster
files and APPROXIMATE vector graphics from the scan -- but the results
will be quirky and unreliable at best, and you'll spend as much or more
time cleaning up the DWG file as you would by creating the drawing over
again. Why don't you just convert the PDF to something like JPEG or
TIFF, import that file into AutoCAD and then "trace" over it using
AutoCAD entities? However, if what you want is precise graphics you're
better off using dimensions on the PDF drawing (if it's a dimensions
drawing in PDF format that you have) and just starting from scratch in
AutoCAD.

Mark 'Sporky' Stapleton
Watermark Design, LLC
http://www.h2omarkdesign.com

 

Thanks a lot!

 

I suspect you're barking up the wrong tree. Acrobat files are raster

No, they aren't. They can be. Some of the more poorly done ones in
particular.

 

OK, I'll give you that. Let's say that the PDF(s) he has can be read
into, say, CorelDraw (for example) as (partial) vector data, and can be
output again as DXF. And I'd be willing to wager that they wouldn't be
worth opening to look at in AutoCAD. Certainly would be worth nothing
much if precision was a concern, and worth less than nothing, actually
if any cleaning up was needed (which it almost certainly would be). As
I said, he'd end up spending more time cleaning it up than he would
doing it from scratch.

I could be wrong . . . but I don't think so.

 

precision

Interesting point. I wonder if PDF is integer.

 

there are programs out there, like this one:

http://www.trixsystems.com/pdf2vector.html

but you have to pay for them.

there is no easy way to convert. the code that interprets the PDF line
elements and turns them into DXF elements aint easy to produce..

 

OK, I'll give you that. Let's say that the PDF(s) he has can be read

If the PDF is created from a paper scan, screenshot or e.g. a TIFF
digital image, then it will be a raster image.

If the PDF was created straight from the CAD/drawing package using
e.g. Acrobat or other good PDF writers, then it will in most cases be
vector-based. And that is what people can use our pdf2vector software
for, to batch convert such files to DXF for reuse in CAD systems. It
reproduces the vector geometry it finds in the PDF original (totally
different than raster-to-vector conversion). If that's still good,
then the DXF will be that good as well. Cleanup, such as that required
after raster-to-vector conversion, is not an issue. You have to judge
whether the quality/precision of the lines is still acceptable for
your purposes. DXF output is a recent addition to our software, but it
seems to serve people well. If interested, y'all are welcome to send
me a sample PDF (or EPS, by the way) file via email to give it a try.
I'll send you back the DXF results for review.

Regards,

Jeroen Dekker

p.s. Trix Systems, where another poster pointed to, is a reseller of
our software.

 

Here's a free one that will convert .PDF to .DXF or .WMF...

Check out the page http://www.output.tmfweb.nl/ and click the
GhostScript GUI link on the left. To use this program, you will need to
d/l and install GhostScript (http://www.ghostscript.com/) first.

hth

Chuck