topic Re: PDFSHX comments? in AutoCAD Forum

PDFSHX comments?

randyspear6624 — Sun, 12 Dec 2021 02:26:41 GMT

Has there been any further development on this? We'd like to have SHX fonts searchable in PDF's without being converted to comments. We use comments (markups) in bluebeam quite extensively and dealing with the AutoCAD SHX's in the markups panorama and unintentional selections in the drawings is quite annoying. Additionally, using TTF isn't really an option as most of our client's cad standards use shx fonts.

If not, can we get this as a wishlist item and we'll stick with using PDFSHX = 0 for the time being?

Thanks!

Re: PDFSHX comments?

vladimir_michl — Sun, 12 Dec 2021 10:42:11 GMT

It would be hard to achieve that. A PDF format file can either use TTF or PS fonts for real texts. SHX is just a bunch of lines there. Comments are one workaround for this. Another one is to replace SHX fonts with TTF before publishing the PDF file. There are 1:1 replacements for many standard fonts.

The PDF will look the same. No font standards are needed anymore to view a PDF. And the texts will be searchable.

Vladimir Michl, www.arkance-systems.cz - www.cadforum.cz

Re: PDFSHX comments?

randyspear6624 — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 12:59:58 GMT

Thanks for the reply.

We've looked into using TTF replacements for our Revit users but they still looked quite different.

Even if they did appear identical, we'd be forced to change back to shx for CAD submissions.

Re: PDFSHX comments?

pendean — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 14:04:32 GMT

You can post your own wishlist here and maybe in 1-5-10-20years it will come true https://www.autodesk.com/company/contact-us/product-feedback

BUT... SHX fonts are a dead-end, Autodesk is not going to develop them any further, they are a legacy product that is stuck in this 30-year-old CAD program and will not be migrated anywhere else in the Autodesk Universe.

You, like the rest of us who use tools like BB and others, need to make the switch to TTF, or pretend SHX are nothing but drawn lines with no intelligence (aka turn that comments feature off).

Re: PDFSHX comments?

randyspear6624 — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 16:48:37 GMT

I don't disagree but I don't see our clients changing standards anytime soon. They all work in metric but still use the imperial linetypes, hatches and blocks so having said that, changing fonts would be a tough sell lol.

Re: PDFSHX comments?

pendean — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 16:51:13 GMT

Agreed.

Then the only possible fix is the one you already identified: turn off all ability to interact with SHX as text in the PDF.

Re: PDFSHX comments?

ntclmain — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 17:38:53 GMT

@randyspear6624

AutoCAD 2024 has an additional value 2 for PDFSHX: Creates hidden text from text objects that use SHX fonts.

https://help.autodesk.com/view/ACD/2024/ENU/?guid=GUID-56EA988C-A1DA-4E85-8765-B3F31A01AB02

I've printed a test drawing to PDF with PDFSHX = 2

No more box around SHX text, and more important, the SHX text is now searchable.