Exploding a raster image

[Anonymous]

Autocad 13 had the unique ability to insert a raster image (like a scanned bitmap of a drawing) and allow you to explode the image like a block. All of the bits would become little plines which would allow you to erase them as you redrew the drawing. I used this extensively to create detailed drawings of steam locomotives and would like to do more, but as far as I know, no subsequent version of Autocad has this ability. Am I correct?

[imadHabash]

Hi and Welcome to AutoDesk Forum,

>> ...and allow you to explode the image like a block <<

Really..i doubt that it could be !!!

regards,

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi,

>> All of the bits would become little plines

I think that were not polylines,instead solids (>>>click<<<) were created.

But I have not understood what for that should/could be needed nowadays. You might use Raster Design to find lines in the image or to edit the image directly in AutoCAD. But to create a new geometry on top of the image the fastest was (I could imagine) is to just draw on top of the image. Let the image be the background, start the PLINE command and draw your lines based on the image.

HTH, - alfred -

[Anonymous]

I have tried the method you describe, but I find that drawing on top of the image skews the image and requires constant refreshing to keep it in its original form. Attached is an example of a "before" image from Autocad 13 and an "after" drawing. Obviously, they are not the same drawing, but you can see what I am working towards.

[TerryDotson]

Really..i doubt that it could be !!!

Don't doubt it.  The commands were called TIFFIN, GIFIN and PCXIN and they were available before AutoCAD added the ability to attach raster images as external files.  To the OP, this functionality exists in DotSoft's RasterWorks in it's Raster Blocks tool.   Unlike the old ??IN tools, it discards near white pixels and consolidates similar colors across/down to minimize the number of resulting 'pixels'.

[Anonymous]

Terry,

Thanks a lot. DotSoft has a PDF2DWG utility that looks like it will do exactly what I need and supports older versions of Autocad. 

J. Evans