Trace pdf site plan

miikka1978 · 19 Apr 2011, 04:16

I would need to bring layout of the site into Sketchup and trace all the buildings and contour lines. The layout is in pdf-format and when I take a snapshot of the layout and import it into Sketchup the quality suffers quite a lot.

Do you have any ideas how to import pdf with better quality? Are there differences between image formats or other possible workflows?

d12dozr · 19 Apr 2011, 04:44

Try this...use Comet Docs to convert the plan to DWG, then import into Sketchup

utiler · 19 Apr 2011, 05:50

Nice find, Marcus!!

d12dozr · 19 Apr 2011, 05:54

Thanks Andrew...Comet Docs works remarkably well as a PDF/image converter

utiler · 19 Apr 2011, 06:02

certainly going to use it often.....

mozzie · 19 Apr 2011, 07:28

I have found that importing PDF into Inkscape (open source) is sometimes helpful, especially if the pdf has been created from CAD program. It can then be saved as a DXF file for import to SU (or as a native svg if you want to make changes in a vector drawing program).

Also, some of the programs based around Ghostscript can do a similar conversion, but I've had less success with these.

simon le bon · 19 Apr 2011, 11:14

thanks Marcus for your CometDocs link

hum!
Not the subject but related:
How to bring layout of a site coming from Google Earth into Sketchup

@unknownuser said:

To extract approximate contours for an area, zoom into the location in Google Earth. Ensure your view is head-on and north-oriented. Go to Sketchup, and click on the Get Current View in the Google Earth Toolbar. Once imported, turn on the Toggle Terrain option....

http://www.architectionary.com/TutorialsExtractingContours

[flash=480,350:1og8h5jl]http://blip.tv/play/AYHJgyYC[/flash:1og8h5jl]

*S

mitcorb · 19 Apr 2011, 11:53

Thanks, Marcus-- and thanks, Simon

Dave R · 19 Apr 2011, 12:02

Marcus, thanks for that link. How long does it typically take to get a conversion back?

focpt · 19 Apr 2011, 13:17

Alternateley, Open the PDF in photoshop and save as .jpg at the resolution desired.

Gaieus · 19 Apr 2011, 13:23

I use PDFCreator as a virtual printer and it can also "print" into various raster image formats.

HFM · 19 Apr 2011, 14:13

If you happen to have Illustrator installed on your machine you could export the pfd to dwg that way. It also gives you the option to clean up the pdf before exporting...

miikka1978 · 19 Apr 2011, 16:17

Thanks for all the great suggestions! I tried the Comet Docs but I always get error when trying to convert the pdf to dwg. Also, there seems to be the same problem with quality when converting the pdf to image file. In the future I will be using this conversion tool for other purposes for sure. So, thanks a lot for the link.

Wintopo looks promising but the layout needs be converted to image because the software can't open pdf-file. I believe that this is the reason why contours get broken when creating dxf-file.

I don't have Illustrator and so I don't really know how well it could work in my case.

Here is the map that I am trying to trace in Sketchup:
http://www.golfpirkkala.fi/images/stories/pdf/gpi_layout.pdf.pdf

d12dozr · 19 Apr 2011, 19:01

You're welcome, everybody.

@dave r said:

How long does it typically take to get a conversion back?

~15 minutes for the documents I tried

wyatt · 19 Apr 2011, 19:44

I think that file will be difficult to vectorize. There are lots of overlapping lines that are typically difficult for PDF-to-CAD programs to handle. You could try Scan-2-CAD http://www.scan2cad.com . They have a free trial (14 days I think) with full features enabled. I've had good luck vectorizing sketches, grading plans, contour maps, etc. When drawings get complex though, the program has had difficulty distinguishing which lines should be connected.

Do you have any kind of image editing program? If you open the PDF in something like photoshop, gimp, or corel, you should be able to save it as a higher quality image. Taking a snapshot captures the image at screen resolution and will thus be lower quality than you can get from other programs.

Dave R · 19 Apr 2011, 19:47

Funny. I've tried with three different PDF files--even signed up with them--nothing back from them in over 6 hours. I just checked and supposedly the last file I sent to them is still "processing".

JuanV.Soler · 19 Apr 2011, 20:04

here are the dwg and the skp file
I did it with Aide Pdf to Dxf Converter
hope it helps yousiteplan.rar gpi_layout.rar_____________________________________
and here is the skp file exploded, so to work better on it.
download the three compressed files to open it.siteplan-exploded1.part01.rar siteplan-exploded1.part02.rar siteplan-exploded1.part03.rar

It takes ages to explode ¡

good luck.

miikka1978 · 20 Apr 2011, 11:17

Juan, thanks a lot for doing the work form me. I didn't know that you can get the contours that nicely from pdf.

Dave R · 20 Apr 2011, 11:38

Late last night I got the DXF files back from the PDFs I submitted to CometDocs. Unfortunately the single lines were all doubled so they weren't usable floor plans. Ah well. It probably works for some.

bjornkn · 20 Apr 2011, 12:04

@dave r said:

Late last night I got the DXF files back from the PDFs I submitted to CometDocs. Unfortunately the single lines were all doubled so they weren't usable floor plans. Ah well. It probably works for some.
That's the problem with many pdf site plans etc; that lines with a thickness (which is often all of them) gets converted to double lines.
When I get pdf files I usually load into PS, with a resolution like 100 dots per cm. Then it's easy to get it into SU with the exact size/scale maintained.
That's OK for us metric guys anyway, which according to a report I just read, is every country in the world except Liberia, Burma and USA