SketchUp is so commonly used for turning 2D plans into 3D models that i’d have thought this would be a core feature a long time ago.
Even if SketchUp rasterized the PDF and imported it at a user-selected page size, scale (and resolution/quality), that would be a very useful step up from having zero PDF import capability.
It may also be nice if SKP could import PDFs in layers, or isolate text and images from a PDF (so people can import just the vector linework).
I have converted few times PDF with online converters but I think this feature is dangerous for daily use. After this conversion I got thousands of small lines, even straight lines were divided into smaller pieces. I spend few hours with autocad for cleaning and searching different lines by length color etc.
with SU f. Windows already using the PDF export library (“pdflib.dll”) made by the ‘PDFlib GmbH’ their advanced ‘PDFlib+PDI’ version enabling a PDF import would be a nice extension of the already used library additionally using the same API.
Hi Eneroth3 you’re right about that. Unfortunately there are a huge number older plans that were hand drawn and scanned as PDF’s.Up until 1996 there were plans still being drawn by hand at some offices.Today what you say is true. Ask someone to show you a set of plans from 1995 and you will see a difference. Today is very different from when some plans were drawn up. What is the oldest set of plans that you’ve seen? 1960, 1940, it’s tough but there out there. Some of my clients are wineries built in early 1900’s . . . hand drawn. I find them fascinating.
For Everyone, I guess the “PDF to SketchUp” problem hit a nerve for me because I worry that if we can’t convert without loss of accuracy today what can we hope for tomorrow? With every new version they are handing us a new file format. Not to mention all of the file formats that have come & gone. I have libraries beginning in 1985! I wold like to have some assurance that in the next 15 years that the digital work done today will not be tossed away like our hand drawn plans are being dealt. If you are creating digitally that means to me there is no loss of information no mater the future. I just hope there’s an easier way to share & retrieve. Thank you for listening. MK
In my work, we use Tekla Structures (a Trimble product) for the bulk of our modeling. Tekla has a utility built in that imports vectored .pdf files into the model. It does this by converting them to .dxf. The converted files are generally as precise as the original .pdf.
For those saying “just get the CAD file from the Architect”, maybe it’s different where you are, but as a contractor that’s not always an option. Especially in the estimating phase.
Anyway, maybe somehow SketchUp could make use of Tekla’s converter. It would be handy for some of us at least.
@jbacus I can maybe understand why it’s not included from the standpoint that it would likely entangle Trimble with Adobe or whoever and drive the cost of SU higher. And people already whine about the cost of SU while comparing it to programs that cost WAY more. But the fact of the matter is that PDF is a de facto standard and we need compatibility with it. Countless work arounds congest the process.
Hi Sean, That is exactly what has been happening here. People want to rebuild their homes, and the architects are out of business also because of the fires that we had. So they might get a blue print, or a drawing but if it’s before 1995 then you need a magic trick.
The creation of a 3D model from a 2D plan has been core to SketchUp’s capabilities since the earliest builds. The difficulty here is that folks want to use PDF for the input rather than DWG/DXF. That’s the new part.
Since PDF was not designed to be a precise CAD file transmittal format, or for that matter a file suitable for editing at all, the challenges are different. It sounds like the primary challenge here (the main use case for us to resolve) comes from the growing trend towards the delivery of non-editable drawing files (from Architects, for example) in PDF format rather than editable drawing files in DWG/DXF format.
For most users downstream from the Architect (estimators, trades, contractors) the fact that the document is not editable is not a problem. For the Architect, whose liability risk increases if their drawings are altered by anyone other than them, non-editable drawing exchange is a big advantage.
For ArchViz folks, however, a measurable/snappable vector representation of the project is still needed. But maybe those of you who are asking for us to support PDF import don’t have the leverage to ask for DWG/DXF or some other natively editable format from the Architect?
Editable PDF files are a backdoor on the natural process of data exchange on a project. I know how frustrating data exchange is in the AEC industry, though. Amazingly complicated problem with a 900lb gorilla controlling all the most popular formats. Unrelated to this thread, but there are similar arguments for/against treating IFC files as editable input to SketchUp models.
One of the core challenges in conversion from hand drafting to digital design. But only if your expectation is that you should be able to measure and snap to vector lines in the imported data. Better to think of this sort of data as a non-editable reference? Something you’ll use to create a unique derivative work from.
Not really the main issue. We have friendly relations with Adobe already, and we do license PDF libraries from 3rd parties for use in LayOut.
For me the bigger question has to do with use of non-editable PDF drawings from Architects in SketchUp modeling projects. Either for ArchViz or for pre-construction modeling for estimation or some other related purpose. Actually, it seems to me a little spooky to use a converted PDF in pre-construction modeling… if I could get it, I would much rather have something to work from that didn’t have to be re-scaled before I used it.
I guess there will always be a need to work from low-fidelity drawings (hand drafted, scanned to PDF, etc.) in renovation work. Drawings like that don’t have any vector data in them, anyway. Just raster data. So I don’t see how we would be able to give you measurable/snappable vectors from these drawings in SketchUp anyway. This feels like a different use case than the original poster asked us to support.
There are algorithms which can be user to automagically convert raster linework (from a scanned drawing) into editable vectors (in a CAD file), but they are in no way precise enough to model from. That’s a tough problem to get right.
Hi Jbacus, you’re right, the original spark was to just simply be able to import a vector PDF into SketchUp and to have a base to build from. I understand that this is not an easy answer. Having a
drawing of something in a digital format is a start, then to convert it into a workable vector format is next. I’m not expecting Sketchup to do high end translations & conversions. I was hoping that if something is already in a solid file format like the PDF that I would be able to transfer it into SketchUp so that I could begin without having to redraw everything from scratch. If SketchUp could import other than a dwg or dxf that would be great. As was said earlier, SketchUp isn’t asking a high price for the software so we need to appreciate it for what it is. But how much more would it raise the cost? If people knew to costs maybe it could be an option.
My experience with those sorts of documents is that even if the linework in them was selectable, it wouldn’t be usable. Rarely are the dimensions correct in both directions on the page. I frequently get both PDF’s and printed sheets that were scanned from old plans and even new hand drawn stuff. Not once would I have been able to use the linework directly even if I could import it as vector because the dimensions are wrong. Usually the errors are not even consistent over the length of a page.
I assume many of us are smart enough to understand the risk/benefit. If it scales right, it’s the same as an on-screen takeoff from a pdf. But in our case at least, if we are using SketchUp it’s often for something conceptual anyway. We would use a parametric modeler (like Tekla) for a constructible model.
I saw this when I did store design/planning for Krispy Kreme back in '01 to '05. The other store planner and I would get PDFs from either franchise owners or corporate execs and they would want us to design a store in the existing space. Usually the locations were too far away to field verify and of course NO CAD files were available. I was using SU 3 (iirc) and back then it was a pain. I did have the Adobe Suite (Illustrator) to help with PDF to DWG. We’d also have to use PDF cut sheets to model various equipment for interior models.
Curious. Reading the discussion I wonder what people are referring to in each post.
Any way to import any pdf to Windows SketchUp.
The desire to do this for vector pdf (instead of bringing in a bitmap translation).
The desire to get a vector pdf in and use it for drawing with snaps or inferences maybe even use the edges (some programs can do this). (and some discussion of the suitability of this data).
I believe you are talking about different things…
Regarding getting pdfs from Architects and others that are not releasing dwg to you:
Some of these are going to be bitmap based pdfs whether or not they were made in CAD. They never will be identifiable vector objects.
At present we can bring vector pdfs into Mac SketchUp. They are not identifiable vector objects. They are simply very crisp vector versions of the image.
I can bring vector pdfs into my CAD package and explode them into lines. The result is often usable, but often a mess of broken lines–depends on how it is made. We’ve often used this in review of structural or other consultant drawings. Now our engineers have added a feature that prevents this–and that is a trend too. Don’t expect this feature, however it is done, to be able to keep up with encryption.
Which brings up another point. I think that the work is proprietary and I would not be too upset when I cannot get any digital work from an architect or other professional. They are always provided to the design and building teams. But it’s not for you to use on another project or even rebuild or remodel the original. Professional concept, design, and the drawings are copyrighted.
