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#64486 by CADwk
Thu Jul 10, 2014 11:00 am
Hello DataCAD Pro's,

I have a scanned image in a PDF of a hand drawn floor plan and would like to reproduce it in DataCAD. I was thinking about importing it somehow into DataCAD and then drawing over the top of it...maybe by saving it as a JPEG and then inserting it as a bitmap into DataCAD. However, my question is what is the best way to go about this?

Also, I would like to be able to scale it so that my drawing units are correct.

Thanks in advance for your help,

CADwk :roll:
#64490 by joshhuggins
Thu Jul 10, 2014 11:35 am
Just how you said it, save/export to an image file (150-300 dpi, depending on the size of the area of the image you want to use, a large image at a large resolution might have a hard time printing on some print drivers). Import it as a bitmap. If you are using the Pen Table to print, I suggest setting in the pen table under Bitmaps and Fills to 'In Order'. Then make sure your image is drawn in a color that is a lower number than the pen color you wish to draw your CAD linework with. Nice thing about using In order, it allows you to use multiple images with multiple layers of CAD drawing if needed. If your not using the Pen Table for ordering, then using layer order and display order and the Move to Front/Back commands will be used to get things in the proper order.
#72718 by MtnArch
Wed Nov 15, 2017 5:18 pm
I would suggest inserting it into a blank file and save that new AEC file. Then xref THAT into the file that you will be creating your drafting over. This will allow you to scale the xref file to a known dimension/feature, AND it will allow you to rotate the image however you'd like - otherwise the JPG won't rotate if you need to tweak it a few degrees or 180 degrees.
#72728 by GuyS
Thu Nov 16, 2017 11:07 am
Example_0001.jpg
Funny thing is I have done this before and had no problems (although normally I use PDF files inserted into DataCAD, not sure if that would make a difference). I import a bitmap scan of (in this case a site plan) and then draw over the image in a color, a boundary that represents the area of work. I do commercial TI's.
I've tried the move front to back and vice versa but my boundary remains hidden behind the bitmap. The red L shape is under Building B (I made a duplicate just for explanation purposes).
#72907 by GuyS
Tue Dec 19, 2017 11:27 am
I have tried everything. Why is this drawing so much different from countless others in the past (and even other current projects I am working on in DataCAD? I cannot get my polygon (outline of the area of work) to appear over top of the bitmap I inserted into Datacad.. The only difference I can think of this time (although I'm sure I done this before) is that I drew the outline out side of the bitmap and moved it to the bitmap. But the outline just keeps going behind the bitmap no matter what I do. I've tried the Move "in Front, Behind, To Front, To Back.
#72911 by GuyS
Tue Dec 19, 2017 2:26 pm
Hi Neil thanks for asking but I think this is going to be one of those mysteries George Carlin talked about....in "Losing Things".

I tried switching the order through the pen tables, and via the Move function. Adding layers and then reordering the layers and could not get the polygon to superimpose over the bit map.

Finally I deleted the bitmap from the drawing and brought in a new bitmap. Seems to be working now.
#72931 by artmanvt2000
Wed Dec 20, 2017 12:03 pm
Here are a couple of things that need to be done when drawing over images.
1) The image and line work must be on separate layers.
2) The image layer needs to be at the top of the layer list.
3) After inserting the image (on the image layer), make the lines layer the active layer.
4) If you can't see the lines, it may be that your image layer is your active layer. The active layer is always regenerated last, hiding anything behind it.

I hope this helps.
#72934 by Paul Nida
Wed Dec 20, 2017 2:56 pm
artmanvt2000 wrote: The active layer is always regenerated last, hiding anything behind it.


This is not exactly true. It depends on how the layer display is set in the Display menu under LyrOrder. If it is set to display last, which I believe is the default, then it acts as you describe. If it is set to display first then the active layer displays first and everything else on top of it. If it is set to InOrder then all of the layers are displayed in the order they appear in the layer list. That is why, in my opinion, it is best to set the LyrOrder to InOrder and then move the layer the bitmap is on to the first layer in the list. That way everything else would display on top of the bitmap no matter what layer is active.

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