Importing Tif file

Hi JG,

Many thanks for your prompt and full response. I am running Version R14. I can copy a section of the scanned drawing and paste it into a new AutoCad drawing but I am not able to edit it or scale it, etc. Is it like having to use OCR in a scanned text application? Regards, Ken Rock

in Autocad use the command: image make sure the tiff file is in your project directory.

After *Ken Rock* sat >> What version are you running? Easiest method is grab the file in

I am not experienced at version 14. (skipped that one, company I was at used 10 then I moved to a company that hand-drafted until they went with low end drafting software and finally came over to cad on 2000)

When you drop the tif on the drawing, are there no grips on the block? If there are grips you should be able to drag and stretch. Precise scaling may not be possible.

As to your comparison to ocr, it is slightly. When you scan the sheet, you have multiple dots, but your ocr interprets the dots as lines and compares the lines to its "dictionary" of how letters look. The problem with cad is worse. If your tiff has a resolution of 200 dpi and was drawn at 1/8"=1 foot then each dot is .48 inches, and you cannot resolve between dots, so precision should not be set realistically closer than

1". Any closer precision would be you fooling yourself. Of course 1/4" scale or scanning at 400 dpi would allow 1/2" precision. Combining original at 1/4" and scan at 400 dpi allows 1/4" precision, BUT you still have to consider what the original resolution was when the original was created. For example: created on an HP inkjet plotter circa 1998 and plotted > JG wrote:

In the meantime, instead of being insulting, are you aware that the image command is not available in all versions? That is why I gave a generic method of drag and drop and asked for his version. In the mean time, what he is trying to accomplish won't work with the image command since what he really wants to do is convert the image to a vector. So just grow up and don't think you are so smart because your stupidity is showing.

Jase wrote:

Hi JG, I really appreciate the effort you have made to explain the problems involved in trying to convert the scanned files. An architect friend who has been dragged screaming and protesting into the digital world has been sent some drawings which he wishes to modify. Rather than redraw them, he hopes to scan and modify them. He has had a course of lessons in AutoCad and is running AutoCad 2005. I assumed that if I can open the files on an older AutoCad 14 system, he should have no problems with his system. Is it possible to convert these scanned files? Surely the problem is an old one with, hopefully, a practical solution. Again, thank you for your thoughtful response. Ken Rock

Many thanks for your input. No, it is not a silly question and indeed, if it were possible, the answer would be copies of the original CAD drawings. Unfortunately, this cannot be. From what you and JG have written, perhaps the only way forward will be to redraw all of them. Regards, Ken Rock

Use 'Insert' 'Raster Image' 'Attach', then navigate to the tif file. 'Scale' it either on insertion or after insertion. It might be very small on insertion, so take care to find it! 'Insert' should be one of the headings across the top of your screen.

You cannot edit the image other than to scale it. you can draw over it and create your own copy, but that's all.

Brian Salt. Remove NS from address before email reply.

silly question:

you call them scanned drawings. is it not possible to get some sort of cad file format from the people who produced the originals (which were scanned)?

I have seen lots of threads for raster to vector conversion, and it seems to be a lot of work. I always wonder if it would not in many cases be ultimately easier to read the drawings with your EYE and draw them. If they are very complex drawings, you won't be getting control over layers or line types or any PRECISION to speak of from an image.

so I wonder, why this way?

if you just need an image, why bring it into CAD at all? caveat, a MAP for a site plan makes a great deal of sense. sometimes.

Briefly, no. Not with any degree of precision or trustworthiness. Have him ask the original drafter to send the files. If he can't convert them to 14, take them in an alternate format and download acmecad convertor to convert them to 14 (assuming they're not 2007 format) or go to autodesk web site and download their convertor. Acmecad works better IMHO but Autodesk is the only one who can convert 2007 files. If 2007 you may have to convert to an intermediary format and then use Acmecad to get it back to 14.

Thank you, folks. You have done me proud! It is a pleasure to visit such a knowledgeable Newsgroup. Best wishes, Ken Rock

Ken Rock wrote in news:C1x1g.11927$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe3-win.ntli.net:

If I am understanding what I read it sounds like you could use a raster to vector program. We use a program where I work so that I can scan in a drawing of somekind and the use the raster to vector program to trace the scan. Then you can save that trace as a dxf. most of the time it's very uneven but it saves a lot of time.

well he said he was using R14... Image command is part of R14...

and I was wasn't being insulting, like you, I was answering his question... talk about stupidity... your picture must be next to that word in the dictionary.

Get a life...

After *JG* sat on the keyboard the following *crap* showed up here:

We bring in alot of images, and occasionally have to redraw them, but I've found the align command to be useful in getting a scanned image to a correct scale. Usually we are adding to an existing drawing, i.e. a site plan, and need to scale the image to true scale to add some detail from the image. Not perfect, but pretty close.

Now ya'all play nice.

JG wrote:

Indeed so, but I find that I need to choose the colour of the trace lines with some care, so that they can be seen on top of the image. Then, of course, there is the need to alter/scale the lot to match the real object. Can be a deal of work involved for a complex item.

Brian.