PDF files

[sbd123]

Is it possible to vectorize native PDF files within the AutoCAD 2013 environment. If yes how? Sample PDF file attached.

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi,

you can attach the PDF, then scale it to the scale you want/need, and then use object snaps to draw geometry above of the PDF. That's the way how you can do it with plain AutoCAD.

There is no way I know to get it vectorized automatically without any application for vectorization.

One of these options may be >>>Autodesk Raster Design<<<, but I have not played with that for a long time, so I don't know how it works with vector-PDFs. Also there are a lot of vectorization-software out in the www, search for it.

Sorry, - alfred -

[neilyj666]

you would be better requesting the cad files although some companies are very reluctant to supply these.
Even if you did vectorise the pdf it would only be in 2d so may not be of much use anyway

[TerryDotson]

While many PDF files need to be vectorized, the PDF file in your example contained vectors and can easily be imported.  Click here to download your file imported by DotSoft's ToolPac product which also contains a decent automatic vectorizer in the event it had been image based.  Vectorization is far from perfect even with the most expensize products and unless it's changed recently, Raster Design won't extract the images from the PDF anyway.

However, "neilyj" makes a good point about quality.  The results of all PDFs have been flattened and their coordinate precision has also been reduced.  Anybody that designs on top of an imported PDF is asking for big trouble.

Lastly, if you underlaid this and attempted to trace, it could take days when it could be done in a single minute.  Any firm that would do that and charge by the hour should be run out of town.

[antoniovinci]

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sbd123 wrote:

Is it possible to vectorize native PDF files within the AutoCAD 2013 environment

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As mentioned, you cannot directly.

With free tools, here's my 2 cents:

1. convert your PDF to raster image with "PDF-X CHANGE VIEWER"
2. vectorize the raster automatically with "WINTOPO"