AutoCAD to WBF 101

[Venchka]

mmd, et al:

Imagestation changed things a bit. What else is new, eh?

AutoCAD (white model space background) export as .WMF file. 790x583

ACDSee convert .wmf to .jpg file. 790x583

Post .jpg file at ImageStation.

The ImageStation Album photo (450x332):

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid150/pf40d8fa0b4c0204db8f6bcc2d6d8067f/f5d7dfd5.jpg

The original (790x583) is also at ImageStation, but the WBF image tag thingie won't display the long URL. You get the dreaded "Sorry, you are trying to view an image from outside ImageStation." Go figure.

Hey, I tried. On my 19" monitor, the black on white text above is legible.

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[ 12-20-2004, 02:09 PM: Message edited by: Venchka ]

[mmd]

Thanks, Wayne. I'll give it a whirl as soon as I finish the report I'm working on.

[Lucky Luke]

Thank you for this information, Wayne smile.gif
However, the calculation on the drawing you show here is wrong: the load (55 Tons)is not the same on both attachments, but proportionnal to the distance between the vertical projection of CG and these attachments on the chassis: the closer from CG projection, the higher the load.... ;)

[ 12-25-2004, 07:04 AM: Message edited by: Lucky Luke ]

[John Kohnen]

GIF is a much better format to use for line art. JPEG hates those vast expanses of white and goes rogue...

John

[Venchka]

Originally posted by Lucky Luke:
Thank you for this information, Wayne smile.gif
However, the calculation on the drawing you show here is wrong: the load (55 Tons)is not the same on both attachments, but proportionnal to the distance between the vertical projection of CG and these attachments on the chassis: the closer from CG projection, the higher the load.... ;) Luke,

You are correct. The notation on the drawing is correct. This is a rigging drawing and the 55T tells our riggers to attach the slings to the padeyes with 55 ton shackles. Hard to see in this small picture.

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[bainbridgeisland]

Originally posted by Venchka:

AutoCAD (white model space background) export as .WMF file. 790x583

ACDSee convert .wmf to .jpg file. 790x583

Post .jpg file at ImageStation.

The ImageStation Album photo (450x332):

:D OK I am confused. Why not simply print to file using "independent JPEG group JFIF (JPEG compression).pc3" while in AutoCad? I usually select "SUN HI-RES 1600.00 x 1280.00 pixels)" for best output. It ouputs a JPEG file to anyplace you send it to. Example:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid152/pa163096e21cb00c64de80f0de175cff0/f5a5b987.jpg

[John Kohnen]

Originally posted by bainbridgeisland:
OK I am confused. Why not simply print to file using "independent JPEG group JFIF (JPEG compression).pc3" while in AutoCad? I usually select "SUN HI-RES 1600.00 x 1280.00 pixels)" for best output. It ouputs a JPEG file to anyplace you send it to.I'm confused. What's with using JPEG for images that would be better saved in another format? Try using GIF, and if file size is important reduce the number of colors to 16. I've had good luck using a custom 4 color palette consisting of black, white and two shades of grey to get the file size as small as possible. For hi-resolution line art images two colors are often enough, and then the file size gets real small. It can be better sometimes to up the resolution and reduce the number of colors... To make a less than 256 color GIF you may have to use your raster image manipulation program after converting to GIF with the CAD program, Paint Shop Pro is the one I use.

John

[John Kohnen]

To Illustrate the point:

http://www.boat-links.com/images/GIFdemo.gif

A 16-color GIF from a CAD file. About 11Kb. Looks good, right?

http://www.boat-links.com/images/JPEGdemo.jpg

A JPEG made from the same image. About 25 Kb -- more than twice as big as the GIF! Looks lousy too...

John

[Venchka]

Thanks all. I guess I'm too busy working-I didn't know about the print to jpeg .pc3 thing. John, old habits die hard. I first became aware of AutoCAD to jpeg output when I was doing photo-real renderings for publication. I'll look into the .GIF thing. I don't do this often-mmd will probably have more use for it. I do occasionally send output to Word. I'll try the 2 color GIF file.

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[cs]

Even us old dogs can learn new tricks. I had never noticted that option in the plot box before. I've always done it the other way, may have to try the plot way.

BTW I usually leave my screen background black and than do the negative image thing. Probably not the best way, but I rather do that than change my background (which is easy enough anyway).

Chad

[Venchka]

AutoCAD doesn't do GIFs. Or I can't find it. ACDSee doesn't do GIFs either. No worries. I'll limp along with JPEGs.

Here's the real deal. My rigging scheme worked. Not as level as we would like, but it's ok.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid152/pfa2bd8ff139680b9abd2fe36b44fa5bd/f5a2a2e1.jpg

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[bainbridgeisland]

Here is a quote from a CAD FORUM for AutoCad:

Q: How to export/print to a .GIF format file?

A: Output to GIF format files is not directly supported in AutoCAD. You can set up a Raster format printer supplied with AutoCAD (and LT) and print/plot your drawing to PNG, JPG, PCX, BMP or TIFF format file. There are plenty of conversion applications which will convert these files to GIF afterwards.

[Venchka]

Photoshop to the rescue. Outputs JPEG to GIF. But the file wasn't a lot smaller.

Wayne
No longer GIF deprived In the Swamp. :D

[ 01-03-2005, 12:23 PM: Message edited by: Venchka ]

[essaunders]

John got the GIF vs JPG thing right. JPG is just a compression scheme to make big pictures take less disk space. The compression routine takes advantage of all the gradual variations in color - variations so slight that the human eye really can't easily tell the difference. There are other image formats, of course, each having a different function or purpose.

So, in short, JPEG (JPG) is good for photographs, GIF is good for line drawings.

PS. For all those Mac fans, give Lemke Software's Graphic Converter a spin for all your picture conversions. It works really well for me.

[ 01-03-2005, 12:56 PM: Message edited by: essaunders ]

[John Kohnen]

Originally posted by Venchka:
Photoshop to the rescue. Outputs JPEG to GIF. But the file wasn't a lot smaller.

Wayne
No longer GIF deprived In the Swamp. :D The trouble is that you converted from a JPEG, which was already a corrupted image. Use AutoCAD to convert to BMP or PNG, then use Photoshop to convert that to GIF. You can use Photoshop to reduce the number of colors to 16 (or even 2) for a smaller file size.

John

[Venchka]

Thanks, John.

File sizes, all monochrome output:

JPEG-194kb
JPEG to GIF-173kb
PNG-129kb
PNG to GIF-36kb

From a commercial production standpoint, the GIF file drops right into MS Word and the Word document isn't huge. I have learned something useful in the real world! The WBF rocks!

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D