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autocad to pdf, pdf back to autocad??

13 REPLIES 13
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Message 1 of 14
tjthomas
758 Views, 13 Replies

autocad to pdf, pdf back to autocad??

We got a virus at work that corrupted all our files.  Our backup system was able to recover the pdf files but not the dwg files.  Since the pdf files are created by AutoCAD, layers included, shouldn't there be a way to convert the pdf files into working AutoCAD dwg files?  

13 REPLIES 13
Message 2 of 14
tjthomas
in reply to: tjthomas

By the way, the files we wish to convert were created by AutoCAD LT 2011, but we started using AutoCAD 2014 yesterday.

Message 3 of 14
jedenton
in reply to: tjthomas

You would need Raster Design to vectorize your drawing. Convert the .pdf's to .tif's first.

Good luck.

Message 4 of 14
pendean
in reply to: tjthomas

Buy a conversion software package, dozens out there: try before you buy, not all are perfect so expect to also spend time 'fixing' stuff.

Sorry for your loss.
Message 5 of 14
darawork
in reply to: tjthomas

http://anydwg.com/pdf-to-dwg.html

 

I find this one quite good, the first 30 conversions are free.

Darawork
AutoDesk User
Windows 10/11, 3DS Max 2022/24, Revit 2022, AutoCad 2024, Dell Precision 5810/20, ASUS DIY, nVidia Quadro P5000/RTX 5000/GTX760

Message 6 of 14
JeffreyCoggins
in reply to: tjthomas

print2cad by kazmierczak technologies is the best i've found.

Message 7 of 14
tedwardspg
in reply to: JeffreyCoggins

If you have Adobe Illistrator you are able to export the file to DWG. If there is text in the file it may turn the text into blocks. After you expode those blocks it will be text again.

ACA 2013
Windows 7 enterprise
Intel core i7 860 @ 2.80GHz
16GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800 - 4GB
Message 8 of 14
franci03
in reply to: tjthomas

inkscape is free and is very good at saving as dxf with direct editing of pdf. also saves as pdf. there is a slight learning curve, but it works well. 

 

1 open pdf in inkscape. 

 

2 ctr+shift+b

 

3 play with settings until you see good lines

 

4 save as dxf

 

5 if step 2 fails, just use save as dxf. the automated engine will make polylines that can be exploded into very nice clean lines and arcs.

Message 9 of 14
BeKirra
in reply to: franci03

Thanks for recommending Inkscape.

I just tried it and found that all texts lost from PDF when converting to DXF.

Did I miss something?

 

BTW in your step 2, what is "ctr+shift+b" for?

Thanks.

Please mark "Accept as Solution" and "Like" if my reply resolves the issue and it will help when others need helps.
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Message 10 of 14
tedwardspg
in reply to: FeleciaW

If you have adobe illustrator you can open the files and then export them out to dwg and everything works great.

ACA 2013
Windows 7 enterprise
Intel core i7 860 @ 2.80GHz
16GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800 - 4GB
Message 11 of 14
JeffreyCoggins
in reply to: FeleciaW

It's a great program, and have been using it since 2012.

Jeffrey D. Coggins
Elkay Southern Mfg
880 Caton Road
Lumberton, N.C. 28360
Phone: 910-737-3081
Fax: 910-737-3110
Message 12 of 14

i also nominate Adobe Illustrator you could probably get by with a trial to get you back on track.

______________________________
~ "if this were /. this would be funny"
Message 13 of 14
ukdxb012
in reply to: tjthomas

ProgeCad has included great PDF to DWG conversion tool. Only draw back with any conversion software is that you can lose accuracy of the data.

Do you not have local *.bak files you could use that are on users machines that you could change back to DWG?


Duncan Brannan
UK/EMEIA CAD Operations Manager
Twitter | LinkedIn

Message 14 of 14
JeffreyCoggins
in reply to: ukdxb012

The best pdf to dwg conversion tool , I've found in Print2Cad, by Kazmierczak Technologies. If Autodesk really wants to do something with pdf. Have the 3d pdf option built in. It should be able to output the layer names and recognize when items are superimposed on each other.

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