I have bitten the bullet and decided to outsource a couple of our projects for CD production. I avoided this for as long as I could. We have always had NO PROBLEM exporting to ACAD, now that I need to amend some plans that I have had our drafters RETURN trip the plans back to us in .dwg format and the results are nearly indecipherable. PDF's are fine, but I am tired of redlining their work and now it would be easier for me to make the changes. I realize that ACAD is not part of the Open DWG Alliance and that seems fairly obvious now.
Does anyone have any BMP's (Best Management Practices) to get ACAD users to write BACK to DCAD (in .dwg)?
You might check that the consultants are actually using Acad and not Revit. Over here the majority of firms seem to have migrated across to Revit and it creates a DWG which is quite messy compared to the standard Acad. Some suggestions to improve round trip interoperability include using TTF over the older CHR fonts and request a R14 DWG (older format). Using Selection Sets on the return file can quickly edit large areas of common information and change their attributes whilst keeping everything on their original layers, ie, line types, hatching, dimensions, colours etc. which can be different in the DWG than when sent out. You might also explore using custom color tables for export/import to DWG. Another option is to create a test file of all entities you use, send to the consultants to edit/add info and return, then import and compare what has changed. You might then narrow down what entities are more 'stable' visually from the round trip and adopt these and let go of what doesn't translate the best. The simpler you keep everything the easier it should translate. Another option you could explore is to Bind Current the MSP sheet to a symbol layer which more or less represents the PDF but the recipient needs to edit the symbol layer (made up of sub symbols) to access the information, but it does retain clipcubes etc. and is the closest option to exporting the MSP sheets made of multiple details....but, we haven't trialed them on a round trip, only export to consultants. Hope this helps.
I started this thread as I am migrating new waters here and trying to avoid the "Evil Empire" as much as possible. I learned long ago you can't avoid ACAD you have to learn how to work alongside it. I have concluded the best way I have found to migrate the consultants work product from CD to CA POST permit use, here are some tips:
Forget migrating the CAD file, they are good to have if you need to "clip" some linework to migrate. Beyond that they are relatively useless.
1. Copy Record .PDF file into a CA subdirectory and relabel accordingly (integrating CA into your file labeling is sufficient, ex: 310-2210-CA-A11). Open in a reader and "save-as" jpg. Do not compress file size yet, let it default.
2. Import .jpg into PS (or eq.) and erase offending items to be edited. Erase the Title Block, but KEEP register marks on opposite diagonal sides of Title Block in .jpg. as register handles. Rewrite over the .jpg in item 1 above and compress file size to something that is manageable (+/- 5mg) in the next step. Save you PS file on your 1st attempt in case you need to back up a step or two, once you do this a few times - don't bother.
3. Create a Master file from your project Title / Titleblock. These are usually x-ref'd into all your plans from the get go (to the consultant) on the project anyway. If you work "to Scale" you can make sure the scale on this base conforms with the sheet you are prepping. Add a layer in here for your Jpg Import. OR once you have this Master Title Block set up you can use it to import as an x-ref and "set plot" scale as you normally would. There are a TON of work arounds on Scale issues, so I will just leave this to everyone's individual approach.
4. Import the .jpg and register the pdf sheet size to the new cad file border, this is an EASY process and if it takes more than 5 minutes you are making it harder than it needs to be. Using standard layer coordination you can expand, amend and edit info easily on an ongoing overlay basis as needed. Print to PDF (compression may be required as the .jpg can mushroom the file size) and voila you done it!
I have never needed a consultants file to "round trip" and everyone I have worked with since 1989 have been able to import DCAD just fine, this appears now to be a ONE WAY road, thanks to AutoDog! Anyway, I am hoping that any of you who are getting on the older side or suffering from what COVID did to our firms and are having to consider outsourcing your production that this might HELP a bit. There are a ton of considerations that I would be happy to discuss (and learn) if there are any like situated trail bums out there.
Glad you found a workable solution. It appears a bit long winded but if it works for your situation, then okay. I'd still look at a method where you are able to update CAD files in the event you need to hand DWG files over rather than just PDF's. At least this is a fallback option.
We've been using it since 2018. Not as intuitive to use as it could be, but it does work and is good for opening stubborn DWG files that won't open in DataCAD. There is also an on-line version for RVT files too.
