Powerjen Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 My old architects did a full survey of my house as is. They only gave me a pdf of the work not the CAD file. We didn't part on the best of terms. I used an online convertor to make it into a CAD file and from my nonexistent knowledge thought it looked like it gave all the info you would need to work with it as a basis for a new plan. However my new Architect Tech says they can't access the measurements and needs the original files. The drawings say they are 1:500 scale and should be printed at A1 so I'm a bit lost what the issue is. But I'm no expert! The first architects won't give me the CAD file even though paid for so can anyone here please help or convert the file into a CAD file that will definitely be something measurements can be taken from? Don't really want to post it here as it has the old architects details on it. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 I'm afraid that one of the snags when converting .pdf files to CAD format is that most of the data that was in the original CAD file just isn't there in the .pdf, so cannot be recreated. All any of the .pdf to CAD format file converters can do is convert the lines on the drawing into vectors that may or may not make sense in the converted CAD format. I recently converted some .pdf files to .dxf format, then opened the .dxf files in AutoCad to work on them. All of the material properties were missing, and every single converted vector had dimensional errors, with lots of the vectors not even closing at junctions with other vectors (typically there would be a few mm of positional error at the start/end of every vector). Also, when text in a .pdf is converted to a CAD format, it ceases to be text, and just ends up as loads of individual vector objects making up each letter, often with no connections between the various objects, so the easiest fix is just to retype every label in the CAD package, deleting all the old vector objects that were trying to be text. The final problem is that all the layers in the original CAD drawing just aren't represented in the .pdf format, so when a .pdf is converted back to a CAD file every single object ends up on the same layer, which is a real pain when trying to work on a complex drawing. It is possible to tidy up a converted .pdf file, but it takes a few hours to check every single element in the drawing, correcting the small positional errors, adjusting scaling factors to get the drawing to be accurate, and tidying up objects that have been split into multiple parts during the conversion process. I'd guess you could pay someone to do this tidying up work for you, as it's not hard, just pretty tedious, especially for drawings with a lot of detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_r_sole Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 (edited) . Edited September 26, 2019 by the_r_sole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney12 Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 (edited) Have you considered posting a request on PeoplePerHour? www.peopleperhour.com Stick to one of the well reviewed freelancers and you'll be amazed at how cheaply you'll get it done. Here's just one example of someone offering exactly what you need: https://www.peopleperhour.com/hourlie/redraw-pdfs-old-drawings-blueprints-or-sketches-in-dwg/46058?ref=listings Edited September 9, 2019 by Barney12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex C Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 I have played this sort of game a lot over the years. I suspect the new architects want nothing to do with the converted files even though they can read them as they are likely to cause endless pain over the coming months of being worked on. They might look right when printed but could cause problems with inaccuracies and errors that will make working on them very slow and cause further potential mistakes. I hate working on drawings that have been started by someone else and I am sure I am not alone in that. Just re read your post. If it is a basic survey drawing not construction drawings it may be easiest to just trace over the drawing in the cad file so all lines are created from scratch, rather than try and modify existing vector lines that may have glitches in them. That wouldn't be a massive job. There hopefully is a scale bar or dimensioned line somewhere that can be used to check the scale is right. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 There are raster to vector packages like Scan2Cad that purport to convert. Yes they'll produce a .dwg but unless they've massively improved since I Iast tried don't bother. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 (edited) Free trial here: https://www.scan2cad.com/ Vague recollections of trying it in the early 2000's. Looked OK until you zoomed in then it was all broken lines. Edited September 9, 2019 by Onoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 (edited) Let an Ukrainian/Sebian/Moldawian/.... archiect do this . I had some done. Go to upwork.com and post it as a job. Will get plenty of response and shouldnt cost the world. Edited September 9, 2019 by Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 15 minutes ago, Patrick said: Ukrainian/Sebian/Moldawian Goes by the name of Cadamir... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 1 hour ago, Onoff said: Free trial here: https://www.scan2cad.com/ Vague recollections of trying it in the early 2000's. Looked OK until you zoomed in then it was all broken lines. This has been my experience of converting .pdf to .dwg or .dxf formats. Objects end up broken, there are no layers, and there are lots of scaling and positional errors. I recently spent a few hours tidying up and rationalising a fairly simple set of drawings that had been converted from .pdf to .dxf, but for anything other than a fairly simple outline drawing I'm inclined to think that just doing a new drawing from a print out of the .pdf, with reference to some known dimensions, would be quicker and easier. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temp Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 With some cad packages you can import an image and trace over it on another layer, then hide or delete the image. However the problem really is that this means you are scaling or measuring from the drawing and that's not recommend. You should used measured dimensions to create the drawing. One possibility is for you to measure the house and mark up dimensions onto the pdf so they can recreate the cad drawing accurately - in effect doing the survey for them - but don't expect them to accept liability for errors later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyscotland Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 I remember once taking a show into a venue and the set didn't fit round a couple of pillars sticking out from the wall. This was a surprise, as our designer had carefully overlaid CAD drawings of all the venues on the tour to make sure it would work everywhere we were going. Turned out the designer had converted the CAD from a PDF the venue sent so he could do his overlay. That PDF had been drawn in CAD by a keen work placement who'd helpfully imported and traced the venue's original scanned pen and ink drawings to make them look "more professional". He hadn't had time to re-survey anything, though to his credit he also hadn't dimensioned anything. Our designer had seen the main width and depth of the space matched the tech spec and assumed the rest of the drawing was to scale... Sadly professional indemnity insurance is fairly uncommon in the theatre, and wouldn't have paid out by that night anyway. So we made some "adjustments" with a saw and a Glasgow screwdriver... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex C Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 10 hours ago, andyscotland said: I remember once taking a show into a venue and the set didn't fit round a couple of pillars sticking out from the wall. This was a surprise, as our designer had carefully overlaid CAD drawings of all the venues on the tour to make sure it would work everywhere we were going. Turned out the designer had converted the CAD from a PDF the venue sent so he could do his overlay. That PDF had been drawn in CAD by a keen work placement who'd helpfully imported and traced the venue's original scanned pen and ink drawings to make them look "more professional". He hadn't had time to re-survey anything, though to his credit he also hadn't dimensioned anything. Our designer had seen the main width and depth of the space matched the tech spec and assumed the rest of the drawing was to scale... Sadly professional indemnity insurance is fairly uncommon in the theatre, and wouldn't have paid out by that night anyway. So we made some "adjustments" with a saw and a Glasgow screwdriver... I have worked on the design and roll out of a lot of commercial interior jobs including high street fashion and banking. This sort of thing came up all the time and 100% why you cant rely on other peoples drawings. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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