PDF. file import?

[lgswe]

My client sent me a pdf. file of a large industrial lot that is showing many new building additions and roadways. The client wants me to show where the new office building I'm designing will be placed on the lot. I also have a dwg. file of the survey of the lot showing only the elevation data and other items pretaining to the land survey (no buildings or roadways). My thought was to copy the pdf file into it's own CA file. I then would trace over roadways and other pertinent info I need from the pdf. file and then copy the cad lines into the industrial lot dwg. file which I downloaded into another CA file. To me this seemed like the best way for me to go about getting info off the pdf. file and into the dwg. file. The problem that I'm having is that when trying to move around in the pdf. file to trace my lines it is unbelievely slow and I think I have a decent computer setup. I checked the size of the pdf. file after importing it to CA and it's about 2.5 megs. The pdf. file before importing was 1.2 megs. Is there a better way to go about getting the info I need from the pdf. file to the dwg. file? I had seached to see if this has been brought up before and found a thread where the sloweness was noted, but it wasn't quite the same situation. It would be great if I had a dwg. file of the industrial lot, but that doesn't seem possible at this time.

[Joe Carrick]

Larry,

Convert the PDF to a JPG or Bitmap. Use that as the background to trace over.

[lgswe]

Joe......Sorry for the lack of knowledge in this department, but how do I go about that. I also started looking online and I see there are programs to convert pdf to dwg files. Are this worth looking at?

[Joe Carrick]

I use PDF Converter Pro. It's only $99 and well worth it.

http://shop.nuance.com/store/nuanceus/DisplayHomePage

[Joe Carrick]

Another option is to simply display the PDF and use the Windows Snipping Tool. Save the snip as a JPEG.

[kenoeightspot]

They have a special going on.

[lgswe]

Joe...What are your thoughts on converting pdf to dwg? Any suggestions on which converter to use? I saw one that was a plugin for ACAD for $180. I do have ACAD 2010, which I quit using for the most part. I'm trying real hard to wean off of ACAD and us CA only for my cad work. It seems, "on face value", that converting from pdf to dwg would be less time consuming than going from pdf to jpg then tracing the jpg and sending on as a dwg. I'm alos seeing stang alone converters from pdf to dwg. There must be pros and cons on this subject.

[HumbleChief]

They have a special going on.

Just went to the web page and couldn't find the special. Called and they honored it. Looks like a great product. Thanks.

[Tommy Blair]

Joe......Sorry for the lack of knowledge in this department, but how do I go about that. I also started looking online and I see there are programs to convert pdf to dwg files. Are this worth looking at?

Larry, another way to create an image file from the PDf is to open the PDf with any Acrobat Reader. You should find a tool "Snap Shot". Use that and draw a marquee around the area of the PDf and it will save it to your clip board. Now open any photo editing program and paste it into a new file. Now you have a jpeg you can import to Chief.

[HumbleChief]

Wow, went to Amazon and many many SCATHING reviews of the above product. Hope it works better than the users there. Should have gone there first, but live and learn and I'll post with my experience.

http://www.amazon.com/Nuance-Communi...owViewpoints=1

[Joe Carrick]

Larry,

I've been using it for about a year and a half and have no complaints. It will even convert a PDF to a DOC which can then be edited in Word. I can only imagine that some people just expect too much or don't take the time to figure out what they need to do. I find that most of the time with software it's only the dis-satisfied that post reviews. Those of us that are happy don't bother.

[ccrane]

Another way is to convert the PDF to PNG using a free screen capture software like JING. I am unfamiliar with WIN snipping tool, is it a part of WIN 7?

I tried to trace a PDF from our county's GIS information on the county web site. They have topo lines at 5', which isn't great, but alright for prelim drawings. Awful experience.

I used JING and went on about my business.

[Joe Carrick]

Hi Cheryl,

Yes Window Snipping Tool is a part of Windows 7. You can find it in Windows Accessories - aka - Windows/System32/Snipping Tool

[William H Lynch]

They had a deal just recently, I got OmniPage Ultimate ($499), Paper Port Professional 14 ($199) and PDF Converter ($99) all for $99. A good deal. Yes, support is not good and interface is somewhat clunky but it works pretty good once you get familiar with it... The deal probably had a lot to do with their sucky customer service and me being a previous customer....

[HumbleChief]

Larry,

I've been using it for about a year and a half and have no complaints. It will even convert a PDF to a DOC which can then be edited in Word. I can only imagine that some people just expect too much or don't take the time to figure out what they need to do. I find that most of the time with software it's only the dis-satisfied that post reviews. Those of us that are happy don't bother.

The software crashes when converting to Word, Excel etc. on my machine as well as many others on the web with problems. I've talked to tech support and have begun the long arduous task of troubleshooting the software. Hope that's not expecting too much and not meant to lessen your experience - just sayin'