Designer Chris Micallef sends us a tip on how to create PDF files that can be more useful in AutoCAD than a standard PDF file.
"Although AutoCAD 2010 works very well with PDFs, depending on how they were created, they can be frustrating. An AutoCAD-created PDF has the ability to manage layers and reacts to osnaps. A regular PDF, on the other hand, contains no intelligence and behaves similarly to an image file, such as a JPEG or TIFF. In fact, an image file is much easier to edit using a third-party graphics editor such as Microsoft Paint." Notes from Cadalyst Tip Patrol: PDF files can be referenced in AutoCAD, but they are just image files. However, if the PDF file was created in AutoCAD with AutoCAD's DWGtoPDF.PC3 file, then that PDF file will have "intelligence." That means that the PDF will retain the linework and the layers of the drawing it was made from. In fact, if the file is opened in a PDF reader, the user can turn the layer on or off in the PDF viewer. In AutoCAD, the linework of the PDF can be snapped to, measured, etc. If you can, create PDFs of your AutoCAD drawings from the DWGtoPDF.PC3 file that is included with AutoCAD. |