I was expecting to be able to select lines/arcs in a drawing, copy them to the clipboard and then paste them into Word as a Word-drawing (or Windows metafile). However, when I switch to Word, there isn't anything on the clipboard to be pasted. Is this not possible, or am I missing something?
TIA John Harland
You have to "export" the drawing file and save as a metafile, then you can paste this file into Word. Use Open Office, which is free!, to edit these metafiles if you need too. Better than Coral paint shop pro X
So how do I "export" the drawing? The only command I see is file/save-as, and there is no metafile option.
Even then, it seems an unnecessary step that you don't need to do with Autocad or I-Deas.
Regards, John Harland
Oops! Missed a procedure there. I save as a dfx file, open with autocad LT and export from there to a metafile. Sorry about the confusion! :-) Long winded I know, but the only way I can find to get sharp graphics.
John, I don't know what the reason is for going to MSWord, but whenever I do it, I use SnagIt as a screenshot.
You can't get much quicker than this.
Bo
Another method I like for sharp images is printing to a postscript file (eps). Word XP and newer can import EPS file. You can download a free Adobe postscript printer driver from
Bill
I quite often want to add a very simple diagram to a Word or Excel document, and the built-in drawing capability is just right for this.... or it would be if the interface weren't so crap. I find it much easier to draw the diagram in CAD, and then copy/paste the lines/arcs/text into Word. If I need to change it slightly later, I can still use the drawing tools in Word to edit it.
At other times, I might want to include a small portion of an "official" CAD drawing in a technical document, and the same method works well.
The problem is that for some weird reason, SWX doesn't support copy/paste into other apps - Autocad does, and even I-Deas does, and it was originally a Unix app!!
If I were trying to add a shaded image to a Word document, I'd probably use something like Snagit, but generally the increase in file size resulting from addiing raster images is not justified.
Regards, John Harland
If you have an easy way to print/save as PDF from SW, you could try our pdf2picture tool to convert it to a Windows Metafile for scalable and editable import into Word. See
Jeroen Dekker Visual Integrity Technologies snipped-for-privacy@visual-integrity.com
For pasting into Word or Excel, I like the PNG format. It supports vectors, so nothing is lost when scaling or zooming.
Currently, I get my PNG's this way:
I have full Acrobat (not just reader), so I am not sure if reader-only has export to PNG functionality.
Otherwise, GhostScript (free) or Hijaak (low cost) are quite capable of the PDF-to-PNG conversion.
Hey, if you want to save a PNG then do a PNG screen shot from SnagIt.
Doesn't get any easier than that.
Save to the clipboard or a file.
Sheesh.
Bo
Don't have SnagIt. Don't have the privilege to install anything at work.
Does the SnagIt screenshot preserve the vector data? If not, there is no advantage.
Whatever PNG gets is what you get.
PNG is a bit map format as far as I know.
Bo
We save our drawings in autocad dwg format and use our autocad with an add-in called Better WMF (trial version on
\/\/im
"John H" wrote...
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