Convert Characters to Strings

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Convert Characters to Strings

Combines characters into words and words into one-line text strings
Default: On

Selecting this option will combine individual characters into words and words into one-line text strings. It works for both horizontal and vertical text. Improvements are planned for handling diagonal and curved text strings (as typically found in GIS maps) as well.

When to use this feature: If you plan to edit the text in your file, converting characters to strings will make this efficient. Choosing this option will also decrease the file size which is often beneficial with DXF since it is a demanding file format.

When not to use this feature: When characters are concatenated into text strings, slight differences in spacing and placement may be introduced. This effect becomes especially apparent with long lines of text, fully justified lines, when multiple fonts are used on one line or when fonts are substituted. In such cases, if a WYSIWYG reproduction is more important to you than editing capabilities, you should leave the option unchecked so that all characters are placed precisely in the output.

Caution: If the text in your PDF file has been "plotted", it will not convert to editable text. Plotting generates each character as a series of pen strokes. Although the output from pdf2cad may look like text, the characters are comprised of curves and are actually just graphical representations of the intended characters. You can judge whether your text has been plotted by magnifying to more than 800% to see if you can recognize the strokes. Another tip is to try and select the text in the PDF file using the "Select" tool. If you can mark the text, it can be converted. If you can not, it is plotted and will be converted into objects.

Learn More: See advanced options for more tuning options regarding text strings.