by R. Kamalathasan, Assistant Manager (Projects), The Magnum Group

When you do a paper to CAD conversion, the input document is often a scanned paper print (also known as a “raster image file”). It is usually in TIFF, JPEG, BMP or PDF format.

You will usually attach the raster image file to a new AutoCAD drawing and start tracing over it. You may sometimes get frustrated if the raster image file is too large: panning, for instance, takes an extended period of time because of the large size of the raster image file.

So what’s a solution to make it easy to work in AutoCAD when raster image files are attached?

The best way is to convert the raster image file to PNG format and then insert it into AutoCAD!

Photoshop will help you to convert the raster image files from any format to PNG. If you don’t have Photoshop there are some free programs that do the job. You can easily find one by Googling.

You will definitely have a better AutoCAD working experience with PNG files since they are smaller and have transparent backgrounds.

Hope this helps!

Technorati Tags: AutoCAD drawings, AutoCAD drafting, raster images, PNG, outsource AutoCAD, CAD services

By R. Kamalathasan, Assistant Manager (Projects), The Magnum Group
We experienced another strange problem in AutoCAD this week.

THE PROBLEM

We received a base plan file from our client with several layouts and xref files to attach.

After finishing work on the drawing we tried to plot the file and found that…

AutoCAD hangs during previewing or plotting certain layout tabs!

WHAT WE DID

When we tried the ‘Audit’ command on the base plan file, we found 2 errors and repaired them. But when we tried to preview that particular layout tab, AutoCAD still hung.

Then we tried the ‘Recovery’ option on the same file. This revealed 2 more errors, which we repaired. But AutoCAD still hung during previewing or plotting that particular layout tab.

We decided to unload the xref file attached to that particular layout tab and again tried previewing the layout tab. The preview worked fine!

So the problem was due to the particular xref file attached to the base plan drawing. We decided to drill down into it.

When we tried the ‘Recovery’ option on the xref file, we found 21 errors! We fixed all of them, loaded the recovered xref file into the base plan and tried to plot the layout tab.

It worked great!

CONCLUSION

Please make sure that all the xref files as well as your working file are error free before plotting.

This will save you a lot of time and avoid getting into a nerve wracking situation if you are in a hurry to submit the drawings!