Projecting a .pdf into a sketch

[ktiry]

Hi, I was talking to someone about inserting a .pdf file into a sketch for a reference in the sketch. I know there is a way to put it in there as a reference and then scale it up, but I'm not sure how. If anyone knows what I'm talking about or how to do it, I would really appreciate any advice.

Kenny Tiry

Kenny Tiry

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Check the Help file for sketch tools, picture

You can insert a picture (.bmp, .gif, .jpg, .jpeg, .tif, and .wmf) on a sketch plane. Pictures can be used as an underlay for creating 2D sketches. The Sketch Picture PropertyManager controls the picture's position, size, angle, orientation, aspect ratio setting, and transparency.

​

Helpful SW websites faq559-520​

How to find answers ... faq559-1091​

SW2006-SP5 Basic ... No PDM​

 

[Beggar]

You could also convert it to a JPG and then use a raster-to-vector converter like WinTopo and then insert the entities as sketch entities.

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[ktiry]

Cool. I will have to take a look at those two ideas and see what would work best. Do you know if there is a raster-to-vector converter that you can get online? I don't have any, but that might come in handy someday.

Kenny Tiry

 

[Theophilus]

Photoshop can do a sort of reverse (which is what I do in cases like this). Import the PDF into Photoshop at a given dot/inch and save it as a JPEG (or other raster format mentioned above). Import this into a SolidWorks sketch and you can stretch/drag it to the size you want, or specify particular units while editing the image within the sketch.

From there, you can trace the lines with sketch elements (I normally start a new sketch instead of doing this within the image sketch). This works great with photos, hand-drawn work, etc. and is a great way to incorporate things around you into SolidWorks.

Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

Reason trumps all. And awe trumps reason.

 

[Beggar]

There is a free version of WinTopo that does a good job. Go to

http://www.wintopo.com.

--------------------
How much do YOU owe?

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

--------------------

 

[cbosch]

You can't insert a PDF file directly, but you can insert a bitmap sketch picture as others have said.

I don't have Photoshop, but use Paint Shop Pro. It has a screen capture function that works very well and by enlarging a PDF file and then capturing the screen, I can get a very good bitmap to work from.

If you need a good raster-vector converter, have a look at Magic Tracer:

http://www.magictracer.com/.

Download and use 30 or so times for free and, if you decide to buy, it's only about $50. It's got alot of options and tuning features that seem to work better than any other converter I've seen.

--Colin--

 

[Beggar]

I haven't used Magic Tracer but the free version of WinTopo has always served my purposes -- and met my budget!!

--------------------
How much do YOU owe?

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

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[EEnd]

If your PDF contains a vector image as opposed to a bitmap, and you have access to Adobe Illustrator, you may want to try opening the PDF in Illustrator and then saving it out as an .AI or even .DXF file. Then you can try importing those into SolidWorks.

Eric