PDF Import
Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 11:02 am
Is anyone using the PDF import feature advertised? Is it working? Any issues? We've been waiting to upgrade and if this is truly working it could seal the deal for us.
dirtsailor2003 wrote:Thank you very much. We have multiple items that we need to add to our plans from our local jurisdictions and they are in PDF format. What I have to do now if convert those to a jpeg and import using the bitmap function. It would be great to remove that step.
We also have to submit plans as one pdf not multiple sheets.
One issue that we've always had is the PDF files size DC creates when plotting to PDF. Wish that could get smaller initially without having to use another program to reduce the file size. What type of files sizes are you seeing when binding the files in DataCad?
Mark Bell wrote:dirtsailor2003 wrote:Thank you very much. We have multiple items that we need to add to our plans from our local jurisdictions and they are in PDF format. What I have to do now if convert those to a jpeg and import using the bitmap function. It would be great to remove that step.
We also have to submit plans as one pdf not multiple sheets.
One issue that we've always had is the PDF files size DC creates when plotting to PDF. Wish that could get smaller initially without having to use another program to reduce the file size. What type of files sizes are you seeing when binding the files in DataCad?
The Import PDF is straight forward. I'd suggest starting at a low DPI, (I think it defaults at 300) but whether it loads depends on your PC and the size of the source PDF. If you load it at the lowest setting (100 DPI) it's more than likely to import, then ctrl-right mouse click to convert it to a higher DPI, which happens real time. You'll get an error message noting not enough system resources once you reach your PC's limit. Obviously the higher the DPI the clearer the image. It's a good feature to add with the other import options available.
Combined output PDF sizes all depend on the individual source PDF sizes. We've noticed if PNG images are used in lieu of JPG's there is a reduction in PDF file sizes, but nothing of great significance. We haven't come across a file size limit from combining PDF's into bound sets. The largest bound set was about 90mB made of sheets with hi res renders. Normal bound sets for A1 drawings without any images average around 300kB - 1.2mB per sheet, and over 4mB for more complex drawings. Overall there appears a minor decrease in the total bound set compared to the total individual sheets. We use Dropbox and One-drive to transfer the PDF sets rather than attachments to emails and just copy the download link into an email.