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Export CAD Drawings to Word
Tip# 3290 By Brad Hofman On 25-Oct-2009
3
 Rated By 1 users
Categories : Export
Software type : AutoCAD 2010
Rename File To : No Files to download.
This tip shows you how to capture linework from AutoCAD drawings and paste it into Microsoft Word.

Brad Hofman sends us a tip on capturing linework from AutoCAD drawings and pasting it into a Microsoft Word file.

"Print the DWG layout to PDF. Copy the desired information in the PDF to the clipboard. Paste the DWG/PDF information from the clipboard to Word.

"That's it in a nutshell, but here it is again in greater detail: Open the desired drawing in an AutoCAD-based product, v2008 or later. Print the layout containing the desired information to PDF using the "DWG to PDF.pc3" setup file (consider creating a custom variant to get your linetypes right).

Open the resulting PDF file in Adobe Reader. Use the Snapshot tool to select the desired area.

Zoom the view to 400% (experiment with the level of magnification; 300% may give you sufficient image quality and reduce the size of your finished document).

Right-click in the selected area and copy the selected graphic to the clipboard.

Paste the selected graphic into Word and use grips to size the graphics window."

Notes from Cadalyst Tip Patrol: You can skip the step of printing to PDF, but you might not get the results you want. While in AutoCAD, select the objects you want to see in the Word file. Use the Windows Copy command (Ctrl+C), open Word (or any similar program), and paste into the file. This will take a snapshot of the area you selected and paste it into your file. The background of the image will be the same color as your background in AutoCAD.
 

Average Rating:
3


User comments
Comment by Anonymous
Posted on 2009-10-26 17:26:34
Hey Brad, Nice Tip. But why take sooo many steps? You can copy right from AutoCAD and paste into Word or Excel (or, dare I say, Adobe) without even touching a PDF. I learned this trick back in Release 14. Here's how: Set your background color to white. Set all layer colors to black. (unless you prefer a colored copy) Use 'Zoom' 'Window' to get exactly what you want to copy. Use 'Copy' (I also like to Copy with Basepoint). Select everything you want to copy. Open Microsoft Word or Excel and hit 'Ctrl+V' and the image is now copied into Word or Excel. When you're done copying, just go back to AutoCAD and hit 'Undo' until it's back to normal, or just Close without saving. You can double click on the image you just copied and it will open up an instance of AutoCAD for editing if you like. (Be careful to save back to Word or Excel before you close AutoCAD or you might get some strange results). Try this one and see if it's a bit faster. Enjoy, Gypsy
Comment by Anonymous
Posted on 2009-10-26 17:28:09
Oops, forgot my email in case you wanted to sk questions. jcotey@firstsolar.com
Comment by Vuchkova,Galina
Posted on 2009-10-27 03:50:10
I think that it would be better to print to JPG and then insert the image into Word. I do this only I set the lineweight to 1.8mm and more (ISO drawings) I works excellent!
Comment by Fitz,Milt
Posted on 2009-10-27 12:40:47
I agree with the first comment post, I.E.: just change the background, use cut & paste, (or Ctrl.C & Ctrl.V) to select your graphic / drawing and paste into word, or excel. It's simple, and easy. It's not like I don't want to use Adobe PDF. I actually prefer to use it when I'm trying to send, or transmit information to other co-workers, or customers however, if I'm in a rush to get information to someone, you can't beat the cut & paste tools into word, or excel. And "JUST LIKE PDF" it sort of makes it tough for someone to change your drawing around. (Refer to my tip)
Quick-Graphics-For-NonAcad-Users0.pdf
Comment by McSwain,R.K.
Posted on 2009-10-27 15:06:32
Galina, JPG is a lossy format and not at all suited for vector linework. You should get much better results using PNG or WMF. Back to the original tip, you should be able to accomplish the same thing with equal or better results by using WMFOUT in AutoCAD, and then inserting this as an Image in MS Word. The resulting image can be scaled without loss of quality.