topic OLE producing poor image quality compared to XREF in AutoCAD Forum

OLE producing poor image quality compared to XREF

dave.mawston — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 05:26:10 GMT

Hi there,

I'm getting very poor image quality from OLE, compared to XREF.

Is there a way around this or is it just the nature of the beast?

XREF:

OLE:

(it's a zoomed-in part of the photo so I don't post sensitive information here)

Some context:

We're making a large amount of files with the same photos on the front/intro pages.

Using XREFs means we have a 'ball & chain' reference folder.

We are hoping to embed the common images in the template file using OLE, so a simple dwg file can be sent between different companies working on it.

Even with the reference folder using a relative path up a couple of levels, we still have to tell them where to put it.

Settings used:

OLE properties:

Publish settings:

We're using AutoCAD Map3D 2024, if that makes a difference 🙂

Thanks in advance!

Re: OLE producing poor image quality compared to XREF

Michiel.Valcke — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 12:34:12 GMT

to send files with xrefs you should use the ETRANSMIT command. That will change paths to relative and collect all necessary files in a single .zip file. So the recipient only has to unzip the file and everything will work as intended.

Re: OLE producing poor image quality compared to XREF

pendean — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 12:51:44 GMT

To answer your question, you can't fix your OLE issue. Sorry.

Re: OLE producing poor image quality compared to XREF

paullimapa — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 14:02:29 GMT

As @Michiel.Valcke suggested use eTransmit to automatically have AutoCAD collect all xrefs in the dwg into a single zip file. If you don’t want others to have to deal with folder structures then select the option to place everything into a single folder:

https://resources.imaginit.com/support-blog/how-to-etransmit-autocad-files-to-include-xrefs-and-place-them-all-in-one-folder

Re: OLE producing poor image quality compared to XREF

dave.mawston — Sun, 07 Apr 2024 20:37:38 GMT

Thanks guys, had a feeling this would be the case. I'll give etransmit a go 🙂

Re: OLE producing poor image quality compared to XREF

Michiel.Valcke — Sun, 07 Apr 2024 20:46:31 GMT

In most places I have worked, etransmits are the norm for packing and sending .dwg's to people that cannot access your file server. Incoming files are often also not accepted if they are not a .zip (etransmit) file.

Re: OLE producing poor image quality compared to XREF

dave.mawston — Sun, 07 Apr 2024 21:04:00 GMT

Oh right, so etransmit is more for sending via email? That would make a lot of sense, using zip etc.

We use a commonplace server to pass them back and forward, as we're often moving up to a hundred drawings at a time. Will continue as we were. Thanks for the help!

Re: OLE producing poor image quality compared to XREF

Michiel.Valcke — Sun, 07 Apr 2024 21:14:05 GMT

etransmit is not just for sending by email, I just wanted to illustrate that in many places Etransmit is the only accepted method for transfering files.

Re: OLE producing poor image quality compared to XREF

dave.mawston — Sun, 07 Apr 2024 23:16:49 GMT

Right, gotcha. Thanks for pointing it out 🙂