-------PRE ENGINEERING CONCEPTUAL DESIGN AND PROMOTION SERVICES--------     PDF CONVERSIONS   Being able to get CAD drawings into PDF format is something that has been addressed by newer versions of software. Yet, issues involved with the process seem to drive some engineers crazy. (Been there, done that! While this might not make much sense to someone who hasn't tried it, it is a BIG deal to those of us in the industry who provide images to professional bureaus.)   First, there is the issue of perspective 3D views and then adding annotations. Then, cross-platform utilization where we can generate a picture for use on the Internet from that same image. Hidden lines, file management, Internet viewing vs page printing.... and the list goes on.   Bitmaps are of little use in professional printing because of their size to resolution ratio. PDF documents for insertion into high-quality magazines offer much, MUCH higher resolution at the same or even less data size. Even though a PDF image might be smaller than a bitmap, if you print the image (above text line) it should print at 5-1/8" x 6-1/2" with only moderate resolution. Fine for most general uses but not for professional printing.   If you open the PDF and print it at its actual size of 2-1/2" x 3-3/4"(which is the size they would use in the magazine) you see a noteable difference, but not as much as you would by changing your setting in the PDF viewer to print the document to the full size of the page. You are still printing the same image, it just expands vector lines rather than raster pixels so the image maintains it's clarity.   OTHER COMMENTS ON USING THE PDF FORMAT WITH AUTOCAD   If a drawing says 1/8" = 1ft, that is only true if the printer/plotter being used is printing to the same paper size as the original architect used. In todays world of having a printer for every computer that is probably not going to be the case. When we assume that the documents we produce will be going out for review to anywere in the world we embed a scale into the drawing so that no matter what printer is used, if you maintain the same aspect ratio you can use the scale in the drawing to measure with.   In some cases we will get a drawing from the manufacturer and then need to turn around and send it to a client who doesn't have AutoCAD capabilities. In that case, if we want them to see it exactly as we do, we'll simply do a straight conversion and embed the PDF drawing into an e-mail and send it directly. It doesn't take long before that becomes the standard of communicating between our office using the .dwg format and the client.   Sometimes it's not the client who doesn't understand the concept. It might be someone else and while not in the forefront of decision making, still on the team. We can help visualize and communicate the concept using an exploded view without tampering with the original drawing and then send a PDF for you to view, print, or forward to others around the world in a matter of minutes.   This layout from AutoCAD to PDF for letter size printing shows multiple pages of a design in the same document. The first page is not the same scale as the remaining four, however, there is a scale in each page that is relative to that image on that page. If you set the print options in Adobe to "Fit to printer margins" and print pages 2-5, then staple them together directly over each other you can flip through to follow the stairwell down to each level until you arrive in the lower deck.   And then we can take it to another level by embedding the AutoCAD drawing into a Freehand document and marking it up with color and more creative methods. This example can be used for review by others in the design group, or, the annotations could have been geared toward a magazine article to explain features, use magnifed views, and any variety of other options.     © 1997-2016 c.r. watson - all rights reserved The use of any trademarks, trademarked names, and/or copyrighted information is stated as a fact of record and is not intended to imply endorsement of any kind. The use of any pictures, writings, or materials from this site without express written consent of Charles R. Watson dba Watson Enterprises aka MarineImaging.com is forbidden.