You’re right. They don’t really end up as vector in SketchUp.
yeah, it’s wierd how PDFs are getting more common, where we assumed it would get gradually phased out as CAD/BIM took over. The reverse is true.
I definitely see AEC pros working in BIM much more careful about liabilities and data management. The amount of information that gets lost in conversion to DWG then to SKP is crazy.
Also with BIM it is usually more effort to export a 3d BIM model to DWG compared with a PDF ‘sheet’ . Even for those with leverage to ask for source files have to wait for the creator to get around to exporting and sending it through; usually a PDF is on hand right away.
I’ve done my share of converting PDF to DWG using Adobe Illustrator, including using vectorising on a raster image. The results can be surprisingly good!
Not really related, but interesting…we are getting to the point where software can now create 3d models from 2d images. Here’s a cool description: PyTorch - deep learning
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HI.
Just import the PDF to Autocad and then export DWG to Sketchup.
I do this on a daily basis.
for evaluating the vectorization of raster data to vectors the free WinTopo version might be interesting. Import of raster formats as PNG/TIFF/JPEG/GIF only, i.e. if a PDF the raster data needs to be saved first (prefer a lossless format as PNG if feasible).
Be aware that, at least with the free version, everything curved gets interpolated by a polyline, i.e. no true arcs… what shouldn’t be a big deal in polygonic SU anyhow.
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I find it’s just quicker to have the pdf open on one screen and sketchup on the other. Refer to the dimensions and just draw it.
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WOW, I’m seeing a lot of antidotes for working with PDF’s in conjunction with other programs, but I guess the question is would you want SketchUp to handle it or are you comfortable with the way it is?
Yesterday I took SVG files and converted them to dwg’s in Illustrator so that I could import them into SketchUp. They came in just fine & clean. There are many ways to go about it. I was hoping that SketchUp could import PDF’s and maybe I’m asking for the wrong program file to be imported. So to refine the question, what other file types would be better suited for our use in SketchUp to import? PDF’s as common as they are seem to bring too much baggage with them. DWG’s are common and importable, but that’s assuming everyone is using Autocad or can output a dwg file. What would be the other options? Thank you for having such a robust discussion. MK
Hi AK_SAM That was very interesting. A step up from photoprogrametry. Is there any news of it
since the last article? (Dec. 2108). I’ve been playing with neural net chips that hold 1,000 neurons and operate without software to identify patterns. Everything runs on the chip and it’s like lightning. I may have to test this one out. Thanks. MK
For 2D vector data, as for a plan, section or elevation, DWG/DXF is the best option. It is a proprietary file format, belonging to Autodesk, but there isn’t really a viable substitute for it on the market today.
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When it’s a raster PDF, yes it’s hard to beat this way.
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Something to know about exporting to DWG or DXF its that if you export 2D you get the camera’s view of things, and arcs and circles are line segments. Exporting as 3D will give you a top down view, and arcs and circles are true curves. For example, a 5 segment circle would look like a pentagon as a 2D export, but a perfect circle as a 3D export.
Also, turn off faces, those would add a line segment outline on top of the true curve.
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And there in lies one of the rubs, if I remember all the way back to the original post, this was about importing Vector PDF’s. Be we seem to have often missed and wandered off the original question.
Even the OP seems to have muddied their own water.
Are we talking about a vector import?
A very useful edge related file.
Or yet another image import that you can use for tracing?
Too many people appear to think they are one and the same.
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A few years ago I took a stab at writing a 2D vector PDF importer for SketchUp. I eventually abandoned it for two reasons:
- There were some technical challenges that I didn’t see how to handle at the time. Most people are not aware that 2D vector PDF is more akin to CNC G-code than to a model file. That is, a 2D vector PDF consists of a sequence of instructions telling a rendering engine where to apply ink to a page. There is no structure organizing the drawing in terms of where anything exists on the page; two objects located at the same spot can be drawn by code sections far apart on the file and with no cross-reference to each other (note: see footnote below about 3D PDF). The bottom line was that there were some PDF elements I could see no way to import and other technical issues with the SketchUp model not quite matching the PDF. I have no idea how other apps that import PDF as vectors may deal with these issues.
- On the forum I requested sample files on which to test it, but only got one response and that file was a terrible mess of inaccurate drawing and contained numerous annotations that have no equivalent in SketchUp. It seems that many apps that produce PDF are geared toward artists not precision draftsmen. They tolerate conditions like lines that look like they meet but don’t really, lines that look parallel but aren’t, duplicate lines drawn atop each other, etc. The as-rendered page looks fine, but the source data can be imprecise and messy.
Footnote: 3D PDF actually embeds a geometry model format that was conceived to enable 3D interactive viewing in a document presenter. In that way it is quite different from 2D PDF.
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Hi Box, thank you. Yes I am trying to focus on the solution to importing a usable vector form. It began
with Vector PDF’s, because that was what I was trying to import at the time. But it could be any vector solution. DWG’s are autocad and even though they are universal. Autodesk could change that on their own whim and we’re back to square one again. ( seeing that autodesk will modify their dwg standard with every new release, I am leery of that solution). Could there be an open source solution?
Don’t ask me, I have long since understood that you need to fully understand how to work with what you have been given before you start asking for more. Something I learnt as an apprentice at the knee of a master. There are not many users who understand how to use what they have been given.
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You’re right, they are different things, but CAN be one and the same in some instances. Additionally, when people think of a vector file, they often lump in anything with useable edges or anything that isn’t raster, period. Seeing how simple it is to convert a vector adobe file (pdf or illustrator) into a dwg and back with no loss of data seems to bolster the idea that they really aren’t that different, when in fact they are.
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They are never one and the same, they are either vector or they aren’t.
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Hi Slbaumgartner, First of all I’m sorry no one replied to you. It’s a lot of tedious work going through code. I really like the explanation of why it didn’t work and the problems you found. Part of my learning
here has been that there isn’t a solid solution to sharing vector files among all of the Cad programs (other than dwg & dxf, alias Autodesk). If you’re willing to attempt it again I will gladly try and help as I can. MK
Hi Box, I understand.
Isn’t it handy the way forums allow you to pick and choose who you answer when and how.
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dxf is an import/export option in the majority of both open and closed source vector drawing programs…
if you have concerns about Autodesk owning ‘dxf’, you should bare in mind that Adobe own ‘pdf’…
splitting a pdf into ‘fonts’, ‘rastor’ and ‘vector’ for use in other software is subject to Adobe’s terms…
john
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