markf Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 Hi, I'm looking for advice on the best way to e-mail drawings to someone who doesn't have ACAD and isn't real computer literate. I am thinking of .jpg or .pdf(acrobat) I am familiar with plotting to an eps file and importing into illustrator. This, however, doesn't preserve line weight or line type which is not good for my purpose. What do you do? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernest Burden III Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 I'm looking for advice on the best way to e-mail drawings to someone who doesn't have ACAD and isn't real computer literate. I am thinking of .jpg or .pdf(acrobat) PDF The files will be small because ACAD will output vectors, and all your screen layouts will appear as if you had printed them on paper (so make it look good on paper first). The files are easy for the other party to see and print. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgarcia Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 You could have them download and install Autodesk Express Viewer and send them dwf format drawings. Don't know if that's too complicated for a computer-illiterate person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markf Posted October 3, 2003 Author Share Posted October 3, 2003 Ernest, .pdf sounds like what I want to do. It's probably obvious but I can't seem to figure out how to save or plot to a .pdf file. Would you be able to describe the process? Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernest Burden III Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 .pdf sounds like what I want to do. It's probably obvious but I can't seem to figure out how to save or plot to a .pdf file. You have to use the 'full' Acrobat software, meaning the pay version. There are some free alternatives, for which you can search the web, but the regular Adobe software is a program worth what it costs, so I don't look for free alternatives--but they do exist. Acrobat installs as a printer, so you print your drawing to that 'printer' and it creates the file. For the purposes you describe you can probably use the defaults, but there are settings to set and they affect quality, file size, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francois Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 Try a Google search cute pdf printer it's free and works fine for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Nelson Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 If you have photoshop, you can create a .pc3 file in Autocad that will save an eps file. Then open the eps in PS and save as a pdf. Works great at my company that is too cheap to buy Acrobat, but takes longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaz Posted October 4, 2003 Share Posted October 4, 2003 Go to File, then Export and save as WMF. Maybe they will be able to read that format. Chaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbr Posted October 4, 2003 Share Posted October 4, 2003 You can make a PDF file from Illustrator or Freehand (Freehand is great because you can output multiple pages). I have not used Acrobat, so I don't know it, but from what I hear the only advantage to buying the full version is flexibility and better compression (it's at least several hundred $$). But it would be overkill, imho, if you are only email a few files, now and then. Acrobat is great for a company that passes a lot of info. That's just what I hear, so it could be wrong. There are also cheap programs that make PDF files, like $30-40, maybe even a shareware. Look at http://www.pcmag.com , they did a review of them a few months back. Those will work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kid Posted October 4, 2003 Share Posted October 4, 2003 Used to be free but is now adware - PDF995 Free - Cute PDF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markf Posted October 4, 2003 Author Share Posted October 4, 2003 Thank you all for your replies. I think I'll give cute a try and if that doesn't work I'll by the full version of acrobat. I don't need to e-mail ACAD drawings like this very often but have a unique situation at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ingo Posted October 4, 2003 Share Posted October 4, 2003 As Ernest mentioned, buy the full Acrobat version, its worth every cent. Additionally you can send out proposals or portfolios by email without worrying if someone can read this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 We used to plot drawings to a .png file then insert it into a word doc. We now use Acrobat Distiller, which is the printer that gets installed when you load full acrobat. PDFs plot so much nicer. but look ordinary on the screen (unless im doing something wrong) G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerry Thompson Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 Hi I would use the dwf version 6. The AutoDesk Express Viewer is about 2Mb to download and easy to install. Plots can be produced to scale. The dwfs can be published with one file holding multiple plotted sheets. Layer control can be activated if required. The file size is small with say, 12 sheets of A1 working drawings, with no rasters, contained in a file of 1Mb? I also have Acrobat 6 Pro but find the output harder to deal with from a CAD authoring point of view and the file sizes far bigger – that said, the Acrobat reader is pervasive through out the Internet compared to dwf viewers. Dwf authoring is included as part of your AutoCAD and the AutoDesk Express Viewer is also free. Kerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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