Looking for an easier solution

Hi All,

I'm not sure if anyone else out here is doing the same kind of work I do,
but thought I'd post this problem anyway. I design and develope for a
furniture company and use 3 main software packages...Accumark(with Pattern
Design), Corel Designer9, and AutoCad 2004. I use these programs in sync
most effectively for what I do, but from the start ran into a problem. When
I open up a piece that was digitized in AccuMark to Autocad (and the process
for getting it to AutoCad is this: from Accumark Explorer-send to plotter as
dos file, change file type from .000 to .hgl, import the file with Corel
Designer9 and export the file as .dxf or .dwg and from there take it to
AutoCad) the piece loses it's full size and I have to stretch it back out
and only if it's a large piece, the smaller ones do well enough. The
software reps want to sell me yet another piece of expensive software (which
is why I have the Corel program) that may or may not work and I just can't
see the need for that when I can do what needs to be done with the software
I have now. You may ask why I don't draw from Autocad in the first place and
the answer is TIME! Does anyone know of a faster way to get what I need
done? I'd like to use just the Accumark and AutoCad and bypass the Corel
program which is what I believe is shrinking my pieces.

 

Try rhino from www.mcneel.com

 

I'm not sure what exactly you're looking to do but if it's to get scanned
images into Autocad you could just insert them. If you want scans that
could be modified you could look into Autodesk Raster Design.

Maybe it's just me but I don't understand what you're trying to get into
Autocad (is it a scanned image? something from a different program?). Once
in Autocad, do you need the ability to modify it?


Michael (LS)

 

I am guessing that the hgl format you are using is actually the data
the program normally sends to a plotter. I am guessing it is actually
the HPGL format.

It has been many years, but I thought there was a command to
directly import the HPGL files, and I just tried to see if my memory
was correct. I entered the HPGLIN command, but it is definitely not a
command that AutoCAD 2002 supports.

Actually, the HPGL file is not really the raw drawing data... but
rather a series of instructions to the plotter motors about how many
increments to move. If the X and Y movment is at a differnet scale,
then when you use that method to transfer files, the item will be out
of scale in one direction.

Is there ANY other format you can use to get the stuff out of
Accumark? Here are some of the other vector formats AutoCAD will
support...

3DS- 3D Studio MAX Format
WMF-Windows Metafile Format

Also, inside AutoCAD, if you make your pattern drawing into a block,
you can change its properties to scale its size differently in the X
and Y directions. This way you can scale it evenly. Once you figgure
out the percentages to scale it, you probably can use the same
percentage all the time.

 

Michael,
No, it's not a scanned image...it's the digitized full scale piece from
another program, and to go through the process of converting it so that
Autocad will recognize it, there seems to be some shrinkage when the part
goes beyond a certain size. I do this because there are many different
angles and curves on some of the pieces, otherwise I'd draw them in AutoCad
to begin with. The AutoCad format is neccessary for the suppliers I send my
drawings to because they don't have the equipment or software for my other
program.

 

Thank you, I'll check this out.

 

Install plotter drivers, convert the image to a plt file

Import the plt file