Drawing to CAD

• Drawing to CAD, from a vector PDF

  Available now (beta)

  Open a vector PDF and get back an editable, layered DXF or DWG. Lines and arcs come through at their drawn geometry, real PDF text stays editable text, and solid fills stay filled areas. The walls, doors and windows it recognises go onto named layers as readings, the dimensions it reads are used to check the scale, and what most needs a look is brought to you first.

  1. Open. Open a vector PDF. Pick the sheet if there are several.
  2. Check the scale. A scale printed on the sheet is used only once you confirm it. A scale estimated from the drawing itself is used straight away, and the file says it is an estimate to check. Otherwise, measure one dimension you know.
  3. Export. Download the layered DXF or DWG. It records what its scale rests on.

  It reconstructs the drawing, not the building, and does not check the design. The PDF is read in your browser and is not uploaded. A file without a scale is written only when you ask for one, and it says so. Marks it cannot recognise stay on their own layer and are never deleted. Known limitations are listed below.

  Open Drawing to CAD

• Named CAD layers on export

  Available now (beta)

  Walls, doors and windows it recognises go onto a small, fixed set of layers named for what they are. A new kind of object never adds a layer: what it is travels with it in the file.

  Only ArchResolved’s own layer standard ships today: no office standard or ISO 13567 profile yet.

ArchResolved creates editable DWG files using its own export implementation. Tested in AutoCAD on ArchResolved’s own test drawings (DWG files): the files opened and AUDIT reported no errors, measured dimensions and wall thicknesses matched the source, and text stayed editable.

What it does not carry:

• Plot styles are colour-dependent.
• Dimensions come through as text and lines, not as CAD dimension objects.
• No preview thumbnail.
• One layout.

Measured on ArchResolved’s own test drawings. Check your file against the original.

• Dimension values and lines come through as text and lines, not as CAD dimension objects. ArchResolved uses the dimensions it reads to check the scale; chained dimensions are not recognised.
• Line hatching comes through as individual lines, not as a hatch pattern. Solid fills come through as filled areas.
• In a vector PDF, a title block of usual size in a corner of the sheet, drawn as a closed frame with ruled rows and its usual labels, such as the scale and drawing number, stays on the unrecognised layer. Hatch lines drawn inside walls, and any other title block, can still land on the wall layer: check the wall layer before you rely on it.
• A curve drawn in pieces is written as a polyline with arc segments, and a curve drawn as straight runs stays as straight runs. A curved wall is not recognised as a wall and stays on the unrecognised layer.
• Layer names from the PDF are not kept: marks go onto ArchResolved’s own named layers.
• Text uses AutoCAD’s standard font, not the PDF’s typeface, so the length of a line of text can differ.
• Very large sheets can take up to a minute to open. Plotted whole at 1:100, a large A0 sheet needs a full-bleed A0 paper size.