The H-Factor

Converting a PDF to a DWG

Does anyone have any experience with any of the PDF to DWG converters out there?

I have not been able to find any reviews of the half dozen or so converters that came up in a Google search. The ones I have found are:

AutoDWG
AnyDWG
aidecad
pdf2cad

These are all about $180. Sounds like a little cartel action going on

Avoiding Paper Field-Checking

A customer emailed today with the following question:

"We do a lot of work in the field, doing lots of measuring and drawing/checking the buildings where we are working.  I would like to be able to enter the data we generate directly instead of copying to paper and then copying from there into AutoCAD back in the office.

I have never used a tablet computer, but it seems like the right thing.  Does anyone there have experience with and thoughts on what capabilities are required to do the kind of field work that I am describing?  I understand that there are stylus devices that can be used with tablet computers, or if there are other input devices (besides a mouse or trackball) that I should consider I would appreciate your suggestions.

Also, once I return from the field, I would presume that this tablet would also serve as my desktop, so it would presumably be nice to be able to easily dock the tablet to a large monitor and regular keyboard."

I do not know of any tablet PCs that would be strong enough to run AutoCAD. However, one option is to get Autodesk Design Review.

This would let you take measurements and redline drawings and then transfer to changes to your 'real' AutoCAD drawing back at the office.

If any of you have any other ideas, please let us know.

AutoCAD 2009 Performance and the Layer Palette

This one came via a customer for subscribes to Steve Johnson's blog Cad Nauseam

From Steve Johnson, blog nauseam, April 10, 2008.

"If you’ve noticed some normal drafting operations are much slower in AutoCAD 2009 than in earlier releases, try turning off the new Layer Palette and see if the problem goes away. For example, editing viewports with the Layer Palette visible can be completely unworkable. Don’t just auto-hide it, close it altogether.

Another problem presented by the Layer Palette is that any layer changes you make are applied as you make them. This sounds great in theory, but if each operation takes a while to perform then that’s much less efficient than the old method where all changes are made at once when OK or Apply is picked.

I know a non-modal layer interface was a common wish and it sounded like a cool idea, but now Autodesk has actually been kind enough to grant this wish I’m finding I prefer the old method. I generally don’t need access to all that layer functionality all of the time, so it makes sense to only have the interface occupying that big slab of screen real estate when I actually need it. Your requirements may differ, of course.

If you’re a layer Luddite like me, you can use the old interface by issuing the Classiclayer command. Alternatively, if you set the undocumented system variable LAYERDLGMODE to 0, the Layer command will invoke the old interface instead of the new one."

Don't Want to list Armovers?

You wouldn't be the first (or last).

It helps to think of an armover as having three parts:

  A. The 'Up' piece (riser nipple)
  B. The Arm piece
  C. The Drop piece

Item C - The Drop piece is already handled because Drops already go into a separate branch line section in HydraLIST named DROP. Just delete it if you don't want those listed.

Items A and B are easy to handle using an OVERRIDE. Inserting the 'Arm Over' override works differently depending on where it is inserted. If inserted on the head, then the Arm piece B will get listed in a branch line section named ARM1. If inserted on the riser nipple, then the Up piece will get listed in that same section named ARM1.

For both items - Choose the 'Arm Over' override from the Line Fitting - Elbow category. Then check the Insert Multiple Overrides option and pick Insert Fitting Override. For Item A, pick one of the riser nipples to set the filter and then pick a window around all of the riser nipples to tag. One Arm Over override will be placed at each riser nipple location. For Item B, pick one of the sprinkler heads to set the filter and then pick a window around all of the heads to tag. One Arm Over override will be placed at each sprinkler head that matches the head you picked. Repeat for each type of head. 

Another way to do this even faster is to use Autoline to connect your armovers and add the Armover overrides at the same time. The placement rules mentioned in the previous paragraph apply.

Just delete the ARM1 section in HydraLIST to eliminate these from the stock list.

Advanced AutoCAD Topics for Download

Autodesk has advanced programming topics that are recorded and can be downloaded and viewed on their Developer Center site. The site lists upcoming classes (fee based, free in some cases). A couple of weeks after those classes take place, you can see a recording of the class.

Put on your geek hat for these!

Making PAN work with Logitech Mouse and AutoCAD

Logitech makes nice mice. The problem is that they are configured like MS mice when shipped. This always causes problems with the Wheel and Panning in AutoCAD.

This from the great website: CAD Forum

   

Turn off any special mouse wheel settings with the mouse icon in the Windows Control Panel. Under the Buttons tab set "Use MS office Compatible Scroll", or the middle-button setting to "Middle button". For Logitech mice with the Logitech SetPoint software set the mouse button 3 (wheel) - "3. Selected Task" set to Other. Then pick Middle button. Make sure your AutoCAD MBUTTONPAN variable is set to 1 (on). You can also try to hold the CTRL key while Zooming.

Converting Office 2007 Files

If you are like me, you haven't had time to upgrade your Microsoft Office to the 2007 version. But that hasn't stopped people from emailing you 2007 files with extensions like docx and xlsx. What to do?

I Googled on a colleague's recommendation and found this: Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats - just download and install it and you can open whatever you need.Double-click on the files with the new extension to open them. They will not open from within the various applications. The files will then be converted.

Tired of Tooltips?

A had a customer call  recently that didn't like that AutoCAD displayed a tooltip when drawing a line with ORTHO on (see below)

To turn this off:

Go into OPTIONS. Pick the Drafting tab and uncheck the box on the right that says "Display AutoTrack Tooltip"