saving into jpeg format in AutoCAD

[khoshravan]

My question has two parts

 

My issue is, with posting my drawings into forums (Here and few other geometric forums) for getting reply.

 

I have seen some of drawings posted by colleagues here, appear in the body of message. This is easier and better than attaching the CAD file which needs downloading. How can I do this?

So far I am doing this with PrintScreen but the quality of photo is not good and sometimes I have to reopen it in Paint program to reduce the file size.

Totally it is not a good solution and takes more time.

 

Second question

In relation to first question, I wanted to save the drawing in jpeg format, which I think if I attach it, it will appear in the body of the message, but I couldn't find it in the list of supported formats in SaveAs command (in other formats).

 

Isn't it possible to save a CAD file in jpeg format?

Edited July 4, 2011 by khoshravan
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[Organic]

The command JPGOUT can produce screenshots from AutoCad. I personally still prefer the good old PrntScreen method though.

 

Then just use the image catcher function in the Reply form to attach an image.

[haggis102]

Hi there

 

I've found that the best way to to snapshot the screen or an area of the screen is to use screenhunter which is available to download free from download.com. In the options set it up to capture to jpg. Then all you do is press F6 and you can capture all or part of the screen to a Jpg image.

 

As for the second part of your question, Autocad has a print to jpg option. Plot the drawing as normal but choose the the jpg printer from the printers list.

 

Hope this helps

[Jack_O'neill]

There are a bunch of ways to do this. Most of the time, I will hit the "prtscrn" button, just above the "insert" key on most full size keyboards. That takes a snapshot of everything on your screen (or screens, in the case of multiple monitors). I then paste that image into Paint, the little bmp/jpg editor that comes with the operating system. I crop and resize as needed, then save it as a jpg. The only drawback to this is that if you use a black background, you get a black black background in your jpg and that can sometimes make it hard to see. Paint will invert the colors, but that sometimes comes out kinda funky too.

 

Alternately you can use the jpgout command as Dink suggested, that works nicely, and you can still edit and crop with paint or some other photo editor if you have it.

 

There are a number of programs you can download to do screen captures...Jing, screenhunter, and snagit to name a few. As haggis102 says, you can set up a jpg printer in autocad. This is a virtual printer that acts similar to the PDF generator. Go to the file menu at the top of your screen, then down to the plotter manager, and add a plotter. Choose the "raster file formats" under the "manufacturers" list, and then the "independent JPEG Group" in the "models" frame. You can then set up papersizes, linewieghts and all that stuff just as if it were an actual printer. I use this method to make jpgs of finished drawings for a couple of clients. Using this, I get a white background on a jpg instead of the black one a screen capture gives. The file looks very much like a pdf, but it's a jpg instead.

[irneb]

I'd also advise going with some other program.

 

I'd have liked if CT would allow to rather save to PNG - it usually creates much smaller files than JPG with perfect recreation (on screen captures at least). The JPG is a "lossy" format, i.e. you tend to get a blurring effect on straight lines. The PNG is non-lossy and optimized for images where there's large spaces of the same colour. E.g. here's a screen cap in the 2 methods:

PNG (25.7kb): https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1L-Q31hQCxkMWJkODA2MmUtZDFjZC00MjYxLTk2MzAtOTBiZDdjMWM3YTQ3&hl=en_GB

 

But after uploading onto CT it becomes a JPG (85.6kb):

Notice how the linework becomes blurry as well. If I use my image editor (XnView) to save to a higher quality (90% instead of the default 60%) JPG so the linework doesn't become as blurry, then the file is 113.7kb in size. But when I upload that JPG CT again converts it to become 84.0kb and looks rather similar to above.

 

Some other forums (e.g. AUGI) leave the PNG as is, especially if the size would become larger when converting to JPG. The only stuff which should work better as JPGs is images with more "fluid" shades and non-linear shapes (e.g. photographs).

 

I can't even "force" CT to use the original by uploading a GIF - which makes an even smaller file (25.0kb) when using no-dithering to convert from 1195 colours used of 16m in the PNG to the GIF's maximum 256 colours. When uploading that it's also converted to a JPG of about 84.0kb.

 

I'm just wondering how much wasted space is used on CT's server to make images worse than they originally were?

[khoshravan]

Dear folks

 

Thanks for all your inputs.

I tried your methods, except for downloading the programs. I think I have sngit but haven't used it.

Finally I select Dink solution with the jpgout command which is easy and straight forward.

[tmld]

if you have windows 7, there is a "snipping tool" program. to activate, search snip, and it will show in the results. You can then rtclkonit and pin it to the start bar. you can save as png, jpg

[khoshravan]

if you have windows 7, there is a "snipping tool" program. to activate, search snip, and it will show in the results. You can then rtclkonit and pin it to the start bar. you can save as png, jpg

 

Dear tmld

 

Thanks. I didn't know that Windows 7 has such a feature. I used it and it is fine.BTW what is the meaning of "rtclkonit" in your last sentence?

 

One more question in capturing.

Is there any way to capture part of the page bigger than the screen shot but smaller than the entire page? I expect the page to scroll down, when I drag the selection window below the bottom limit of page. This is true for some of capture programs but apparently not for snip.

 

Thanks again

[tmld]

Apologies, I sould have typed it out correctly. rtclkonit = right click on it.

 

To your second question, there is no way with screen print or snipping tool to do anything other than what you see on the screen when you start to program. With time and effort, it is possible to use paint to paste a number of screen shots together.