squareknees Posted December 18, 2015 Posted December 18, 2015 I inserted the same object 2 different ways and I get 2 VERY different results. The first image is an Xreference of a PDF and this is how it turns out. the second image is when I copy the image from the PDF and paste it into AutoCAD. I got this PDF and it is really light and I need to take dimensions off of it. when I try to create a PDF the top image ends up lighter then seen here and the bottom image ends up black or white with no details at all. HELP! I have already spent too much time on this I just need it to print out dark enough to be able to read it! Quote
TheCADnoob Posted December 18, 2015 Posted December 18, 2015 I inserted the same object 2 different ways and I get 2 VERY different results. The first image is an Xreference of a PDF and this is how it turns out. the second image is when I copy the image from the PDF and paste it into AutoCAD. I got this PDF and it is really light and I need to take dimensions off of it. when I try to create a PDF the top image ends up lighter then seen here and the bottom image ends up black or white with no details at all. HELP! I have already spent too much time on this I just need it to print out dark enough to be able to read it! Id be tempted to massage it in another program first and get a good contrast then bring it into CAD with a better image. Quote
squareknees Posted December 18, 2015 Author Posted December 18, 2015 that is part of the problem I don't have another program to get the contrast. I have tried PDF editors online and downloaded (company won't pay for Adobe Acrobat) I created these with Print screen and Microsoft Paint. I would use Microsoft Paint to clean it up but I still need to print to a PDF and I can't get the resolution I need to be able to take dimensions off of it and then print so I can show my co-workers that 'this what the trim looks like and this is the sizes of the trim' Quote
TheCADnoob Posted December 18, 2015 Posted December 18, 2015 Gimp is free though there is a little bit of a learning curve if you are not used to that level of graphic editing software. https://www.gimp.org/ I frequently have to recover old sepias and various other garbage duplication formats which have faded horribly over the years. I use gimp. I switched to gimp from Photoshop for the price tag. If you load the original i can see if i can help. Quote
RobDraw Posted December 18, 2015 Posted December 18, 2015 First, make sure there isn't any fading applied to the XREF version. Second, check out this link that I found while I was looking for the XDWGFADECTL command. http://docs.autodesk.com/ACD/2010/ENU/AutoCAD%202010%20User%20Documentation/index.html?url=WS1a9193826455f5ff44c205df11d7d1722df-7582.htm,topicNumber=d0e155988 Third, consider converting the PDF to a different format. IMHO, referencing PDFs into AutoCAD should only be done as a last resort. Everytime I try it, there is a noticeable performance hit. Quote
Cad64 Posted December 19, 2015 Posted December 19, 2015 Third, consider converting the PDF to a different format. IMHO, referencing PDFs into AutoCAD should only be done as a last resort. Everytime I try it, there is a noticeable performance hit. I agree. I never insert pdf's. I always open them in Photoshop, clean them up and save them as jpg format to insert into Autocad. You can do the same with Gimp. Quote
hlammerts Posted December 19, 2015 Posted December 19, 2015 There is a world of pdf that difference. If the pdf is of good quality and came out of a CAD it can be used. The advantage is that you snap to lines and objects. Autocad is getting better with pdf in newer releases. I also convert and edit archive drawings as images .jpg. OLE i never use. Bad experiences. Quote
TheCADnoob Posted December 21, 2015 Posted December 21, 2015 I'm a fan of PDF is they are in vector formats. CAD is making some major head way in this area, an i think within the next few releases worrying about PDFs in CAD will be a thing of the past. When dealing with Raster PDFs and CAD i still use PDF, though given some of the suggestions here i think next go round i might try another route and give it a look. Quote
Cad64 Posted December 21, 2015 Posted December 21, 2015 I can understand using pdf's if they are vector pdf's, but I never receive those. Mine are usually scanned copies that look like the one the OP posted. I take them into Photoshop to remove noise, touch up areas that didn't scan properly and crop out only what I need. Then I save to jpg format so I have the smallest possible file size. Quote
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