AutoCAD to Photoshop

[john.vellek]

I want to export my drawing so I can use it in Adobe Photoshop or other raster editing application.

[john.vellek · Accepted solution]

There are many ways to produce files from AutoCAD that can be imported into Photoshop. These include:

• Print to TIFF (Good, High Quality Image) TIFOUT
• Print to EPS (Vector based so can be used also by Illustrator or in Photoshop)
  • Export > Encapsulated postscript
• Print to Postscript (High Quality Graphics and Text) using an Adobe print driver

The method I use most often is to Print to PDF (High Quality vector/raster format that works well in Photoshop) using AutoCAD PDF drivers or by third party drivers.

Here are things that I use to get high quality and consistent results in my Print to PDF from

• Layering

Photoshop uses layers in a similar fashion as AutoCAD. It can be very useful to organize the drawing to assist in controlling display order in Photoshop and also in applying materials. It is a good practice to follow a consistent standard in naming layers (such as AIA guidelines) to identify objects to placed on them.

For architectural plans as an example, I group walls, furniture, annotation, etc. onto their own designated layers so that I can display only what I want for a variety of documents.

• Objects/areas

Make sure that all items are closed so that they can be easily selected using the Magic Wand in Photoshop.

• Output Pen Settings

Create a custom Plot Style if necessary that allows you to assign desired line weights and to use Monochrome (B/W)

Note: If you are seeing colors in your output it is likely because you have assigned non-Index colors to your objects.

• Output Size

Best to print to the final size you are going to use in Photoshop. Select the appropriate paper size, scale, and area (I use Layout).

• Layouts

Set up a master layout and then duplicate it into additional layouts. In the additional layouts, use Freeze by Viewport in the Layers Property Manager to isolate unique data.

• Create a named Page Setup that can be applied to your layouts

• Publish

Finally, use the Publish command to print all of the desired layouts using the named Page Setup. I suggest that you also make sure that in the Publish Options you clear the Multi-Sheet option. This will make it easier to import each layout into Photoshop separately.

Here are some videos on YouTUbe that will help you too!

Video 1

Video 2

[stingers80-cgarchitect]

Very helpful tips.

But.... Since photoshop now supports 'Links' which is sort of like 'Xref' in Autocad, I was wondering if it is possible to export Autocad file to a kind of vector file and work on it in Photoshop and be able to update it as design changes. That would be a great deal. Unfortunately I don't have Illustrator so AI and EPS is out of question. I can't open EPS made in Autocad in photoshop for some reason.

Thanks

[john.vellek]

Hi @stingers80-cgarchitect,

I haven't explored the LINK option in newer Photoshop as I haven't made a jump to their subscription plan for personal use yet.

Theoretically the work flow you describe might be possible. In my experience though, if I insert an image into AutoCAD and then edit the image outside of AutoCAD, when I reopen my drawing file the image rarely is displayed properly. It gets rubber-banded or pixelated or broken in other ways.

Let me play with the EPS out for you. What version of Photoshop are you using? I know that when going to Illustrator I usually save the drawing down to an old version of dwg and then let Illustrator do the conversion. I have had much better success than when trying to EPSOUT and then open that in Illustrator.

[stingers80-cgarchitect]

Thanks John,

We have a subscription to photoshop so it should be Photoshop CC 2017. We actually have Illustrator as well but I have zero experience on it. If this procedure going to work with illustrator then I will start on it.

by the way I could eventually open EPS in photoshop a a link but it is not better than PDF as it seems to be converted to pixels when inserted.

I know opening vector file in photoshop opens a whole more questions with line weight, layer,.. but it is a good option if possible.

[john.vellek]

HI @stingers80-cgarchitect,

This is really an interesting topic. If you have time to check it out and then post you results that would be great for the Community.

Even with your lack of Illustrator experience, I am guessing that is the best way to handle vector data between programs.  The real question will be what file version of DWG will work the best for this transfer to happen to Illustrator.

Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you test this workflow.

[stingers80-cgarchitect]

Tried my hand on Illustrator.

-It opens DWG up to 2010.

-The only thing is that it brings in the whole drawing which in our case has usually more stuff than what I need so I would need to delete,scale,.. to make it proper for Photoshop.

-It recognizes Layers which is good.

I can then link the AI file in photoshop (updatable in future) and work on it although I can't turn off/on layers in photoshop which is a bummer.

It seems that Illustrator approach is not a good one since changing the design and updating it is not easy.

I think I will go back to PDF. Because I can have a complete layout of Autocad without need of scaling and deleting.

If ONLY it was possible to have Layers of PDF recognized in Photoshop.... That would be the only thing I need

[john.vellek]

HI @stingers80-cgarchitect,

So you got me thinking on this exercise.

I did all my testing on my Mac because that is the license for Illustrator for Mac that I have.

I created two drawings and saved in 2007 format as that is the most current my Illustrator can handle. One of the files I xreferenced into the other.

I opened the slave file in Illustrator and made some changes to the vector geometry. I saved the file for maximum editability. I then opened my master file and i was happy to see that the xref'd slave drawing loaded right up and accurately showed the changes I had made.

So this experience leads me to think that at least part of this workflow can work. When I have tried this with raster based images it was basically a nightmare dealing with the results.

So, if you need something similar to this workflow, the key might be to keep the data you want to edit in a smaller file that can be xref'd into the master. That way you wouldn't have to bring in as much data (whole dwg).

[Ged_Trias]

Autodesk had a product called Impression that allowed you to open up dwg files and layer render with colors and styles similar to photoshop or even save out to actual layered PSD files. It's still available, under subscription but has not been upgraded for years and probably won't work with newer versions of AutoCAD or windows.

[stingers80-cgarchitect]

I don't have Impression. But from my searches on web, people say that it doesn't save DWG layers to PSD layers.

Have you tried it before?

The thing I need most is the ability to turn off/on DWG layer sin photoshop

[john.vellek]

Hi @stingers80-cgarchitect,

I don't have Photoshop in front of me but if you plotted to a PDF from AutoCAD you can have it include the layer information. Doesn't Photoshop allow you to turn on and off layers from a PDF?

[stingers80-cgarchitect]

Autocad exports layers to PDF but photoshop doesn’t recognize the layers.

[john.vellek]

Hi @stingers80-cgarchitect,

Right you are!  I have been doing a bit of reading on the Adobe site and the general conclusion seems to be avoid the rasterization that occurs when bringing the PDF into Photoshop and use Illustrator instead which will respect the CAD layers.  When I tried this I was not able to do it successfully bringing a layered PDF into Illustrator.

I found this article on the Adobe site regarding layers in PDFs.  It indicates that perhaps the workflow is to use Acrobat Pro to get the layers into InDesign.  Apparently Photoshop just isn't an option.

 [EDIT] Perhaps using Acrobat to export to HTML could be a workaround. My understanding is that each layer would be created as a unique image. Then each image could be imported to its own layer in Photoshop.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Ged_Trias]

I can confirm that Impression did indeed save out dwg files as layered PSD files. As someone who has tried a number of methods to get dwgs into Photoshop, Impression was by far the easiest and the quickest especially if you aren't an Adobe Illustrator ninja. I think you can still download impression from the site if you're on subscription. You will need to apply a win7 hotfix to get things to save properly. Also you may need to save down to an earlier version of the program to get impression to open your file as it hasn't been updated in many years. If you can't get it to open your dwg Impression will open DWF files which Autodesk still inexplicably supports which is a useful workaround.

Good luck.

[stingers80-cgarchitect]

Thanks for reply.Can you tell me which version of Windows you are using?It seems that Impression won't install on Windows 10. I have tried compatibility mode,too.

[stingers80-cgarchitect]

InDesign as well doesn’t support PDF layers. You can turn them off and on when importing pdf to indesign but they all come in one layer.

using acrobat pro for making images one by one may be one solution but ikd rather print pdf’s in autocad with layers isolated and merge them in photoshop.

maybe this thread should be marked as unsolved. There should be a work around for this.

thanks

[john.vellek]

HI @stingers80-cgarchitect,

The original post still provides valid methods to get AutoCAD into Photoshop.  When I use these methods i am very careful on what I take out of AutoCAD do to the limitations on the Photoshop-side for reading layers in PDFs.

I will leave this marked as a solution because layering pdfs being brought into Photoshop was not part of the original topic. I still think this post will help others get their AutoCAD data into Photoshop.

Thanks for your input however. If I find any other utilities or methods to get any layered PDFs into Photoshop I will add a post.

[Ged_Trias]

Autodesk saw fit to release a hotfix for Win 7 before they stopped actively supporting it. That's what we're using it on. However ,dwg imports have been periodically hit or miss into Win 7 and we can't get it to run at all on Win 10. If all else fails, you can convert to DWF and bring it into impression that way. Either way you'll still need a Win 7 machine.

One of the nice things about Impression is the ability to dynamically adjust lineweights before exporting to PSD.

If you want to see them update it, put your support  behind an upgrade:

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/exchange-apps-ideas/update-autodesk-impression-to-current-os-and-auto...

Good luck.