Protect DWG File From Being Altered

[Anonymous]

We are required to send our dwg files to a third party so that they may be
reviewd and stamped if approved. The stamp is an Acad block with attributes.
Currently, once stamped hardcopies of the drawings are sent back to us. We
file them as needed. We are discussing the possibility of electronic data
transfer with the above mentioened third party. We could email the dwgs and
they would apply the stamp(acad block). The opportunity is what they send
back to us. If the dwg file is sent, we are able to easily alter the dwg
file. Even if it were read only, we could still alter it and print. Our
only alternative now is to have the third party create a tif or jpg image
and then send us that. However, the clarity is poor and it takes extra time
to do this even though we ccold customize this process to save time.

Is there anyway to "protect" a dwg file so that it may only be viewed and
printed. Thanks for any help.

Chris

[Anonymous]

A DWF file might fit your needs here. Both R14 and AC2K can write those.

--
R. Robert Bell, MCSE
Xtending the Power
www.acadx.com

"Chris Picklesimer" wrote in message
news:E4BA052D762889F15CF0EB6880215EE6@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW...
| We are required to send our dwg files to a third party so that they may be
| reviewd and stamped if approved. The stamp is an Acad block with
attributes.
| Currently, once stamped hardcopies of the drawings are sent back to us.
We
| file them as needed. We are discussing the possibility of electronic data
| transfer with the above mentioened third party. We could email the dwgs
and
| they would apply the stamp(acad block). The opportunity is what they send
| back to us. If the dwg file is sent, we are able to easily alter the dwg
| file. Even if it were read only, we could still alter it and print. Our
| only alternative now is to have the third party create a tif or jpg image
| and then send us that. However, the clarity is poor and it takes extra
time
| to do this even though we ccold customize this process to save time.
|
| Is there anyway to "protect" a dwg file so that it may only be viewed and
| printed. Thanks for any help.
|
| Chris
|

[Anonymous]

You could also print the DWGs to the PDF format. This is a very popular
format and the person that creates the PDF file can set all kinds of
permissions on it. They can make it read-only, non-printable, password
protected, etc. This just requires that they person to print to PDF
purchases Adobe Acrobat, which is about $200.00 (I think).

--
Kevin Nehls
remove -ns- for direct reply
On the other hand, you have fingers.

"R. Robert Bell" wrote in message
news:471B8BDBB79D41B111979C9443F20823@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW...
> A DWF file might fit your needs here. Both R14 and AC2K can write those.
>
> --
> R. Robert Bell, MCSE
> Xtending the Power
> www.acadx.com
>

[Anonymous]

Plus, PDF features digital signitures. I have shakey results creating PDFs
though. When printing directly to distiller, the resulting PDF is squiggley.
I first have to plot-to-file using a (any) post script printer driver, then
run it through distiller. Quite a bear to automate, but I then got good
results.
--
Eric S. eschneider@jensenprecast.com

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info. I'll have to remember that as we are looking at
getting a copy of Adobe Acrobat to create PDF files. So you've gotten the
same quality from any of the available Adobe postscript drivers?

My question. Why can't Autodesk just have the PDF format as one of the
formats to save to natively, for ALL autodesk products, ACAD, MDT, Inventor,
................? The PDF SDK is only about $150.00 from Adobe (or so I've
heard), more and more programs are offering native PDF saving functionality.
I doubt that there are other licenses issues, but there may be.

--
Kevin Nehls
remove -ns- for direct reply
On the other hand, you have fingers.

"Eric Schneider" wrote in message
news:2EC1134F62AEE0275F32FAF4F1D1AB11@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW...
> Plus, PDF features digital signitures. I have shakey results creating PDFs
> though. When printing directly to distiller, the resulting PDF is
squiggley.
> I first have to plot-to-file using a (any) post script printer driver,
then
> run it through distiller. Quite a bear to automate, but I then got good
> results.
> --
> Eric S. eschneider@jensenprecast.com
>

[Anonymous]

I forgot to mention that PDFs can be edited in Illustrator and Draw.
--
Eric S. eschneider@jensenprecast.com

[Anonymous]

Somewhere out there is a utility called "dwfin" which does what the name
implies. It brings a dwf back into autocad in editable form (done it). It
then can be re-dwf-ed.

JPEGs are editable pixel by pixel, but not as linework.

There is a program out there called "cadlock" but it is kind of limited.
--
Eric S. eschneider@jensenprecast.com

[Anonymous]

"Eric Schneider" wrote in message
news:2468478B1E3F0F031D9D20397D1EB951@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW...
> Somewhere out there is a utility called "dwfin" which does what the name
> implies. It brings a dwf back into autocad in editable form (done it). It
> then can be re-dwf-ed.

I've heard the free intellica# can open DWF files. I don't know if this is
true, just what I've heard. I've also seen websites offering the service of
turning your DWF into a DWG.

>
> JPEGs are editable pixel by pixel, but not as linework.

GIF and PNG files give the best raster quality for linework. Personally I
like PNG better. They both can be edited the same as JPG.

[Anonymous]

Is this true even if they have been "protected"? Can you set PDF protection
via the distiller or do you have to open the PDF in Acrobat, Illustrator, or
Draw?

--
Kevin Nehls
remove -ns- for direct reply
On the other hand, you have fingers.

"Eric Schneider" wrote in message
news:DC04234D832560F838B58F5668D01155@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW...
> I forgot to mention that PDFs can be edited in Illustrator and Draw.
> --
> Eric S. eschneider@jensenprecast.com
>

[Anonymous]

Small correction: to view, navigate, print, etc. a PDF requires *only*
the PDF Reader, which is *free* from Adobe (and may even be distributed
freely by anyone executing a free distribution license with Adobe. Only
the *creation* of these "full-featured" PDF's requires Acrobat.
__

"Kevin Nehls" wrote in message
news:9140C4F21478DB57E956C2F271BDBC18@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW...
> You could also print the DWGs to the PDF format. This is a very
popular
> format and the person that creates the PDF file can set all kinds of
> permissions on it. They can make it read-only, non-printable, password
> protected, etc. This just requires that they person to print to PDF
> purchases Adobe Acrobat, which is about $200.00 (I think).

[Anonymous]

The level of protection for PDF's can be set with Acrobat. I'm not sure
how "ironclad" those protections are with other software, but they sure
do work with other Adobe products (e.g. Reader).
___

"Kevin Nehls" wrote in message
news:8DE2E314F9E41EC5043A1202D89AFA3C@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW...
> Is this true even if they have been "protected"? Can you set PDF
protection
> via the distiller or do you have to open the PDF in Acrobat,
Illustrator, or
> Draw?

[Anonymous]

> So you've gotten the same quality from any of the available Adobe
postscript drivers?

Any post script driver works as good as any other as far as I've found. The
poor results come when you plot directly to distiller (it shows up as a
system printer). The key is to plot-to-file using a system printer that is
using a post script driver. When the file is no longer open by the plot
device, then move it into a folderwatched by Distiller. Any post script file
(prn, plt, ps, etc.) will be converted into a pdf. Read about watched
folders in the Distiller docs.
--
Eric S. eschneider@jensenprecast.com

[Anonymous]

Seems to be pretty good. Illustrator 7 and Draw 8 won't open them (unknown
encription). I'll post a few examples in the user-file NG under the haeding
"PDF Plots".
--
Eric S. eschneider@jensenprecast.com

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info. Wouldn't be to difficult to create a LISP routine to
automate the process. I already have a routine that can print a drawing
using a plotter, size, and orientation that are specified as arguments.
Wouldn't be to difficult to set up a printer to print to a file and then
have the LISP routine copy/move that file to the distiller directory. What
does adobe do with the file after it has been "printed" to PDF?

--
Kevin Nehls
remove -ns- for direct reply
On the other hand, you have fingers.

"Eric Schneider" wrote in message
news:A9A270C14A1531439BB33A1A0DBAE91C@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW...
> > So you've gotten the same quality from any of the available Adobe
> postscript drivers?
>
> Any post script driver works as good as any other as far as I've found.
The
> poor results come when you plot directly to distiller (it shows up as a
> system printer). The key is to plot-to-file using a system printer that is
> using a post script driver. When the file is no longer open by the plot
> device, then move it into a folderwatched by Distiller. Any post script
file
> (prn, plt, ps, etc.) will be converted into a pdf. Read about watched
> folders in the Distiller docs.
> --
> Eric S. eschneider@jensenprecast.com
>

[Anonymous]

There is a setting to either leave it in the watched folder or automatically
delete it after it has been processed. Pretty slick. If you get Distiller
and want to dig in farther, I'll be around. There are a few tricks.
--
Eric S. eschneider@jensenprecast.com

[Anonymous]

Cool, I'll be e-mail'n you.

--
Kevin Nehls
remove -ns- for direct reply
On the other hand, you have fingers.

"Eric Schneider" wrote in message
news:92F455159FC673205ED2D7E079FBF396@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW...
> There is a setting to either leave it in the watched folder or
automatically
> delete it after it has been processed. Pretty slick. If you get Distiller
> and want to dig in farther, I'll be around. There are a few tricks.
> --
> Eric S. eschneider@jensenprecast.com
>

[Anonymous]

It appears that nobody has yet mentioned CADLock (http://www.cadlock.com),
which is designed to handle exactly this situation.

jrf
Member of the Autodesk Discussion Forum Moderator Program

In article , Chris
Picklesimer wrote:
> We are required to send our dwg files to a third party so that they may be
> reviewd and stamped if approved. The stamp is an Acad block with attributes.
> Currently, once stamped hardcopies of the drawings are sent back to us. We
> file them as needed. We are discussing the possibility of electronic data
> transfer with the above mentioened third party. We could email the dwgs and
> they would apply the stamp(acad block). The opportunity is what they send
> back to us. If the dwg file is sent, we are able to easily alter the dwg
> file. Even if it were read only, we could still alter it and print. Our
> only alternative now is to have the third party create a tif or jpg image
> and then send us that. However, the clarity is poor and it takes extra time
> to do this even though we ccold customize this process to save time.
>
> Is there anyway to "protect" a dwg file so that it may only be viewed and
> printed. Thanks for any help.
>
> Chris
>