PDF to DWG

AutoCAD does snap to vector PDF (as opposed to scanned raster PDF) line work. It is kind of handy as a QC tool for layout data prep. I watched the Carlson tutorial, looked pretty slick. It would be convenient when a reticent engineer does not want to provide CAD files, only PDF's. Free, I would use it. Paying $1,500, I don't think so. Will stick with AutoCAD overlay.

Maybe they will add it to their Civil suite bundle down the line if they want to increase the appeal of IntelliCAD.

Keep in mind that PDF files are simply a very popular plot file format. Nothing on the planet is going to turn them back into accurate drawings. The PDF files you receive will be a mix of paths, text, and often (only) images. A lot of times what appears to be text will turn out to be lines (such as two crossing lines forming a letter "X").

Keep in mind the PDF format doesn't even contain a circle object, it is approximated with four bezier curves. The coordinates in the file have been reduced to page coordinates so expect a loss of precision.

Just don't go into the process with high expectations, period.

JFGI - you will find many possibilities. Some are free downloads. Others are online converters. My experience with conversions is that some of the free online services are more robust than the free downloads.

> JFGI - you will find many possibilities. Some are free downloads. Others are online converters. My experience with conversions is that some of the free online services are more robust than the free downloads.

I wonder why the urban expression isn't simply JGI, "just Google it".

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=convert+pdf+to+dwg+online

😀

PDF2DXF works "okay". It will never scale properly, but close enough for most projects IF the pdf you are working with was a "printed" one and not a "scanned" one. If it's a "scanned" one, then all bets are off.

I googled "Where can I get opinions from land surveyors on what PDF to CAD conversion software to use?"
It sent me here.
Now what?

I don't know the original poster but I'm willing to bet he has heard of the internet.

> Keep in mind that PDF files are simply a very popular plot file format. Nothing on the planet is going to turn them back into accurate drawings.

I agree and respectfully (and provisionally) disagree. The exact same thing can be said about paper plan sets and "paper" plans have been used to build the world long before the computer age.

It is my humble opinion that it continues to come down to the quality of the output... I've seen examples of both scenarios (good paper/bad DWG vs good DWG/bad paper) that a trained professional could argue either way in terms of "which is more accurate." It is my opinion that properly annotated plan sets with significant figures shown can (and do) make all of the difference.

I decided to run a test tonight and came up with what I consider to be respectable results. My test steps were as follows:

1. Draw a multi-sided, closed polyline that crosses itself several times in State Plane coordinates.
2. Create a Letter-sized MVIEW layout and scaled the viewport such that the entire polyline figure fit in the viewport (in my case 1/600XP).
3. Issue the IntelliCAD -- Export command and sent the layout to a letter-sized PDF to the nearest millimeter.
4. Snap points to the endpoints and intersections of the original polyline and exported the points to five significant digits as OrigPts.txt (left image below).
5. Import the PDF into the drawing and use the ALIGN command (actually, the Carlson 2D ALIGN command) to align two known locations of the PDF insertion to the corresponding coordinates as specified in OrigPts.txt.
6. Snap points to the endpoints and intersections of the inserted "PDF polyline" and exported the points to five significant digits as PDFTest.txt (right image below).

The results are shown below with differences highlighted in light yellow:

Given that I used large coordinates to a small letter-sized output and was essentially able to match back to the original with minimal loss of accuracy, it would seem to me that PDFs can/could make for acceptable deliverable for a typical land development project if a source DWG is not released. However, if a PDF deliverable doesn't contain significant precision or sufficient redundancy, close collaboration and communication with the design engineer will be critical for a successful project.