Monday, November 14, 2011

PDF to DWG to the Rescue

Manufacturing and Engineering firms all across the world depend on designs. These designs bear the very shape of things to come and are detailed in every property and configuration of the product/property/technology they illustrate.

Although, the modern world depends on computers and CAD programs to create and edit these designs, there still are a lot of paper, film, and vellum based drawings which require management and handling in almost every organization.

Why handle old drawings?
Just because these are old / legacy drawings, it does not go on to mean that they are 'useless'. Building's, Structures, Machines of the yesteryears are still pretty much in use and functional today as well. Just imagine having to destroy all the bridges of the world, just because their drawings are on paper?

Problem of handling Physical drawings
Physical drawings (those based on paper, film, vellum types of media) also take up a lot of storage space and management efforts because unless stored and managed properly, they would be practically untraceable at times of need.

Life of the physical storage medium
The life and longevity of mediums like paper, blue prints, tracings, etc. have long been another problem faced by many engineering and manufacturing firms worldwide.

Scanning them to JPG / TIF / PDF format
One of the solutions to this problem offered by old/legacy drawings has been to scan them into TIF / JPG / PDF formats so that they can be stored digitally and the handling and sorting capabilities be improved due to the use of document management tools available on the pc.

Raster based drawings are largely un-editable
There still exists one major problem with scanned drawings that are stored in JPG / TIF / PDF formats, the problem of easily editing these drawings for the many revisions and changes that need to be performed over time. These changes may be due to additions and revisions, which are imperative to take place over time.

PDF to DWG
One service that has come to the rescue of these engineering and manufacturing firms globally is that of PDF to DWG conversions. This service helps perform accurate conversions of scanned formats like PDF, Tif and JPG to accurate and easily editable CAD drawings.

These CAD drawings are delivered in CAD formats like DWG, DXF, etc. so that they can be easily opened in popular CAD tools and edited like a normal CAD drafted drawing. Easy and normal editing possibilities make the drawings perfect replacements of their paper-based legacy, thus leading to easy storage, handling, and editing as well.

The Author is highly experienced in the field of CAD Drafting and PDF to DWG Conversion.