Inserting a .pdf or .tif on/in an ACAD border

[jamesmauro8614]

We have a new addition at the refiner, a scanner capable of scanning D+ size drawings (manual pencil drawings 22"X34" and larger). The client wants these drawings scanned and put on an ACAD border. We use ACAD r.2011. We have software available to render scanned images (Raster Design). Question is, should I have these manual drawings scanned as .pdf, or .tif ???

An anwer to that question will then present another question.....what's the proper procedure once I have the scanned drawing file and I'm ready to insert it in a new drawing ???

[pendean]

PDFATTACH and IMAGEATTACH (for TIFF files) commands, why not scan and try both formats and see which one works best for your needs.
Just realize you are referencing in these file and not actrually inserting them into the DWG file: you never want to do the latter unless youo want to put up with huge DWG files that will bring down average to low end PCs.

[dgorsman]

Choice of format will depend on what you are doing with the drawings.  If this is only for drawing-of-record (e.g. logging into a drawing tracking database), then PDF would probably be the best (small size, easier to work with).  If you are expected to make changes/additions to portions of those drawings, then TIFF is required.  When major work is being done in the area covered by those drawings, have project control try to scrounge some budget to conver the raster format to pure CAD format.  Future designers and document control personnel will thank you for your foresight.

[TerryDotson]

Scan straight to the image file (TIF or PNG) instead of embedding the image inside a PDF that AutoCAD is only going to have to extract again.  Embedding in a PDF is like going from your work location to home through the next town.

Performance suffers slightly with multiple large images, it suffers greatly with a quantity of (especially large) PDFs.

[rkmcswain]

Pretty much what dgorsman said.

If you're simply attaching the scan to a drawing, then printing and saving it -- then PDF has a slight advantage in that you can easily open and view the PDF external from AutoCAD, on a variety of devices.

If you have to edit the scanned image at all (and plan on doing so using Raster Design), then scan to a 1-bit TIFF image.