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About PDF

PDF stands for Portable Document Format. It is a file format developed by Adobe Systems® to facilitate platform- and application-independent exchange of digital documents. PDF files may be viewed and printed using free Adobe Reader software that preserves the layout and formatting of the original document. PDF files can be created using Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Distiller® as well as an increasing number of PDF creation tools from independent software vendors. For more information, visit Adobe's web-site. pdf2cad is full compliant through version 1.6 of the PDF file format specification. PDF 1.7 is supported in all areas relevant to format conversion. 

PDF files can contain vector graphics, raster images and text elements (as well as audio, video and 3D content). In the architecture, engineering, construction and manufacturing industries, PDF is often used as the defacto standard for the storage and exchange of electronic engineering information. Using PDF ensures that all members of a supply chain can view information in the same way and that they can collaborate. Engineering drawings such as floor plans, maps, layouts and designs can be stored in PDF in two ways. It is very important to understand the difference between vector and raster PDF files. pdf2cad can only generate discreet objects and text from vector pdf files.



Vector PDF files. Most PDF file generated directly from an are vector PDF files. This means that the information is scalable, both larger and smaller, without any loss of clarity. It also means that all elements (lines, shapes, objects, text strings and embedded bitmaps) can be extracted and edited using Visual Integrity software such as pdf2cad. pdf2cad will convert the objects in the PDF file into equivalent DXF or HPGL objects. 

Raster PDF files. If the PDF file was scanned, it will be a raster or bitmap PDF file. This means that the drawing has been reduced to a single snapshot and is comprised of nothing more than individual dots or pixels. All intelligence from objects and text has been lost. Running raster-based PDF files through pdf2cad will simply result in a DXF file containing the same raster image, saved as a separate TIFF or JPEG file, placed by reference in the DXF output. You can open the DXF file in an application and the image will display but it will not be an editable CAD file where you can select and edit individual lines and objects. This is useful as a tracing template for manual re-drawing but you might find raster-to-vector software more useful. This is a difficult thing to do well and there are plenty of product available which will not do it justice. we can recommend two solutions that we have tested that do a reasonable job. The first is Scan2CAD from Softcover. The second is TracTrix from Trix Systems. Please contact these companies directly for more information on their solutions.