Options for 2D output to Word documents.
I submitted this as an SR (feature request). But thought I would ask in the forum to see what others are doing....
On occasion, I output a 2D view of my designs to a *.PDF for our engineering department. They import the PDF into a Word document (product datasheet). Until recently, this process worked great. However something has happened. The PDF's look ok when viewed with Acrobat reader. But when they are input into Word, they lose lines. I could not figure out how to fix the Word PDF import. But when I used a third party application (Inkscape) to convert the PDF to a *.PNG bitmap, the Word import looked fantastic.
So this is my question.... Is there any way to output a high resolution JPG, PNG, etc. of a 2D view (in model space) WITHOUT using a 3rd party application? I tried rendering the 2D views to a file, but only one layer was visible in the JPG. Autocad LT had print drivers that could be used to output to JPG and TIFF files. It also had a driver to create EPS files, which I believe were also easy to bring into Word documents..
Comments
-
Here's something worth trying. Use the BricsCAD EXPORT command to write the geometry to a WMF file. You can then drag/drop that into Word and it should remain crisp even as its scaled. If this works for you, try experimenting with resizing the BricsCAD editor window to minimize the white space around the geometry.
Of course if you want to go the raster route, BricsCAD has a BMPOUT command.
0 -
Terry,
Thank you for your reply. I exported to *.WMF, and *.EMF formats, then to *.BMP using the BMPOUT command. The resolution of all three is very poor - too poor to show the fine lines and dimensions in our 2D views.
I am still curious why the PDF exports (which are vector based and have superior resolution), lose lines or appear as an icon when inserted as objects into Word documents. Probably a Word Issue.
For the time being, I guess using the 3rd party app to convert the vector PDF to a high resolution *.PNG bitmap is the way to go. I am hoping Bricsys provides a way to select specific drawing views and export directly to a high resolution raster image.
0 -
I think the disappearing lines are due to the fact that the image is being treated, or somehow converted to a raster image internally to Word. Then when it is scaled, it only samples some of the pixels, and either throws out the other pixels or averages them. The lines may still be there, but are so faint they are not noticeable.
In my v14, I gave up trying to get a acceptable image using the methods you already tried. There was no reliable way that I could find. I ended up just using a screen grab utility that put the screen grab into my clipboard and then pasting that into Word. I also turned on the lineweight screen display to make the lines a bit bolder. I made sure to preset the view to be approximately the size that they would be on the Word document. But, in the end, it was never a straightforward, and reliable process.
-Joe
0 -
Joe,
Thanks for your advice. I keep remembering the high resolution TIFF and JPG drivers I had access to in Autocad LT. They were kind of awkward to setup, but gave me a high resolution output that looked great in Word. The method I have settled on for the time being seems to work reasonably well. I export to a PDF, then I process the PDF into a PNG using Inkscape. Inkscape is freeware. I attached one of the files to show you.0 -
You can also get drivers that will print a raster image. Paperless printer is one of them. It does a zillion different output types, including TIFF.
-Joe
0 -
Your original drawing looks like it's all 2D vectors so it's a shame to revert to raster for this. If you have the newest version of Word 2016 it supposedly allows you to drag/drop SVG files which BricsCAD can create. When you use all vector the results in Word should be super sharp even if you printed to a movie screen size piece of paper.
0 -
Do you know how the SVG format treats line weight? Does Word 2016 recognize line width?
-Joe
0 -
I wasn't able to get it to work on the single seat of Word 2016 here (even though it's on subscription and I downloaded updates), that's why I said "supposedly allows". However I can't blame BricsCAD because the output file looks pretty good when dragged/dropped into FireFox. You can drag/drop a SVG file into notepad to look at it's content and I see lots of "stroke-width" values, whether it was from lineweights on objects or polyline width.
0 -
@Joe Dunfee said:
just using a screen grab utility that put the screen grab into my clipboard and then pasting that into Word>Yes - and what I'd like but haven't found is a way to specify the resoilution (or total size) of the grabbed image. Seems the total size is fixed whether the grab box is tiny or full-screen - so when pasted somewhere a tiny grab comes out clear but a big grab is blurry when you zoom in on it.
0 -
I should have mentioned that I do a similar technique. In my case, I am using the "snipping tool" provided by Windows 7. The size of the grab is the same as the number of pixels you select on the screen. By grabbing while the image is smaller, you end up with lines that seem bolder, because they occupy a larger percentage of the image than if you choose a large area.
-joe
0 -
Thank you all for your suggestions...
Our server has been down, so I lost access to my files. Joe, I'll try the snipping tool as soon as I can, and let you know how it worked. What raster drivers were you referring to?
Terry - Where is this "all vector" option? In BricsCAD or Word 2016?
0 -
Thanks Joe - I get it
0 -
The printer driver that I have used for creating images is called Paperless Printer. However, I am not particularly fond of the fact that to choose your type of output, you must print first, and then use the dialog box that appears to choose the output type. Its strength is that it has a very long list of file types that it can create.
I will note that I have read that JPG is the best for "continuous tone images". But, PNG is better for line art, which you typically create in BricsCAD. If you go back a few decades, TIFF was the go-to format for line art, but it is not nearly as popular now. PNG has multiple modes of compression, and does include a loss-less version, like TIFF can do. But, it does not generally compress as well as JPG. Both JPG and PNG will let you use how much compression you want. But, of course, there is a trade-off. As you compress more, the image degrades.
-Joe
0 -
Just to add a few penny's:
If you want bitmaps with lots of pixels, a way to go is:
- Settings, search BMP > attach a scale (up) factor like "4".
- Do BMPOUT
- Install ImageMagick (open source) , got to a terminal - dos command prompt , "cd" to directory and do "convert my.bmp my.png" (or something else)
If you want reasonably good vector based documents:
- BricsCAD export to SVG. SVG's from BricsCAD are focussed on visual reproduction. That is good but does have drawbacks in the sense of inefficient XML code.
- Optional Inkscape post editing.
- Insert SVG in LibreOffice Writer.
- Export to PDF or RTF to maintain vectorized information.
I have not tried importing the RTF in Word, I don't have it.
An example in ODT, DOCX, PDF and RTF is included as attachment in the next post.
0 -
If you want to upload a file that is not one of the approved types, you can simply zip it.
-Joe
0 -
-
I did some testing a while ago but don't have all the information on exporting from BricsCAD to SVG. I will write it down in a nice way some day. But for now the following could be helpfull.
BricsCAD entity -> In Inkscape
Line, Circle, Arc -> Okay
Hatch patterns -> Terrible when using "Solid", if you're in a hurry, accept many(!) triangles. Outset them in Inkscape Ctrl+). You want a proper SVG? Then put those hatches on an "off" layer and don't export them, fill closed curves in Inkscape.
Polyline -> Just plain accept or... A fast way and in most cases acceptable: Select only one Polyline -> Path > Object to Path. Now you can see that the Object has many nodes. -> Path -> Simplify Ctrl-L. Check nodes. Not happy? -> Edit -> Preferences -> Behaviour -> Simplification threshold -> 0.0010 is often okay. As alternative you can explode plines in BricsCAD, accept the result in Inkscape or join nodes there again.Why all this trouble? Mainly because most browsers support SVG, very popular in Wikipedia for example. And for people making menu's: Consider making icons in SVG with a grid set to 16*16px and use a shell script to export them to 16x16.png and 32x32.png. Getting off topic, sorry...
0 -
Thanks to everyone for the great ideas here. I have a strained relationship with the IT department, and they won't let me install any apps on my own. So I think for the time being, I will continue using the method I discovered (converting an exported PDF to a PNG with Inkscape, and importing that into word). I'd still like to know however why my direct pdf imports into word no longer work.
0 -
hi all
Here's something worth trying. Use the BricsCAD EXPORT command to write the geometry to a WMF file. You can then drag/drop that into Word and it should remain crisp even as its scale. If this works for you, try experimenting with resizing the BricsCAD editor window to minimize the white space around the geometry.Of course, if you want to go the faster route, BricsCAD has a BMPOUT command.
Quote
0 -
EMF works nicely and seems to be vector to me. Missing linewheight.
0 -
-
Exported EMF dropped in Word 2016 Changed to greyscale by rightclick. Needed this for my own purpouses.
0 -
I played around with the WMF and EMF formats but they didn't seem to have the resolution I needed for a large drawing.
0 -
I use .png for anything I need to import into another program. I use the DocuPrinter driver for this, but there are many other options. I don't use Word, but .png produces high resolution images in WordPerfect and in LibreOffice.
0 -
@H Martin Shoemaker said:
.... .png produces high resolution images in WordPerfect and in LibreOffice.I agree with you Martin. I just wish our engineering group would agree to use the *.png format for their datasheets and other documentation. They want the PDF's.
0 -
Jim,
In that case I'd throw this back to them. Send them a .png and a .pdf and let them use (and be responsible for) whatever they do. As an engineer I think most engineers are reasonable people, although I have friends who have a slightly different opinion. Most engineers I know want the best outcome with the least work. it is possible to get high resolution output with inserted .pdf files, but it takes significant effort. "I'm [an engineer], but I can change, if I have to, I guess."
0 -
Strange the file I submitted seems to be vector EMF. You can easily zoom and expand the file by cropping without loosing resolution.
0 -
@ Patrick, you were right, it is vector format. However, most external programs (Inkscape, CorelDraw,... ) convert it to bitmap or use a bitmap preview. I saved your file as ODT, unzipped it and could edit it with LibreOffice Draw as vector file. Next question is: Does it get rasterized when creating a PDF?
@ Jim, is it that users want PDF in order to be able to zoom in deeply?
0 -
WMF (Windows Meta File) can contain both a vector drawing, and a bit map, or just one of them. It is up to the application that opens it which it will use.
-Joe
0 -
@Wiebe van der Worp said:
@ Jim, is it that users want PDF in order to be able to zoom in deeply?
I would say that is the case.
0
