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Special Topic: Raster2Vector

Raster-to-Vector scanning: Its application to CAD


Problem #1: you have old paper drawings that are taking up valuable storage space. You're also concerned about their fragility and susceptibility to damage. Also, you'd like to share copies of the drawings with your co-workers, but feel that making paper copies is too cumbersome. Solution: scan the drawings and archive the images electronically. By making backup copies, you add permanency and security, not to mention peace of mind. In addition, once in electronic form, the drawings can easily be shared with others by using CD-ROM's, your company's intranet, or the Internet.
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Special Topic: Raster2Vector

Raster-to-Vector scanning: Its application to CAD Problem #2: you're working on a remodeling project and have a set of blueprints showing existing conditions. You need a composite drawing showing what stays, what's to be demolished and what's new, but you don't want the expense of redrawing the original blueprints. Solution: scan the existing bluelines and use them as background images in the new CAD drawings.
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Special Topic: Raster2Vector

Reasons of converting paper drawing to CAD


There are millions of drawings lying all around the world. These are invaluable pieces of paper, which have created monuments, buildings, machines and infrastructures. As the time passes by, these paper drawings are endangered being lost to disaster or being lost. There is an urgent need to make sure that all the paper drawings which are lying in offices, and secured places to be restored in a manner which will enable them to be with us for a long time

Special Topic: Raster2Vector

Ways of converting paper drawings to CAD The various means by which to convert the old paper drawings to CAD are: Automatic conversion using software Manual conversion by draftsman Precision redrafting Scanning and storing

Special Topic: Raster2Vector

Raster-to-Vector scanning: The steps Raster-toVector scanning: The steps


Using TWAINcompliant scanners

despeckling, deskewing,

Vectorizing DXF file Open the DXF file in CAD then save in native format
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Special Topic: Raster2Vector

Raster-to-Vector scanning: 1st step


Scan or load the image. TWAIN-compliant desktop scanners such as Epson, HP, and etc, Large format scanners, like Contex, Colortrac, Oce, etc. Large drawings can be scanned on desktop scanners as a set of tiles, then reassembled and vectorized in the software. The technology allows scanning/saving A1 or A0 drawings as BMP, TIFF, etc.

Special Topic: Raster2Vector

Raster-to-Vector scanning: 2nd step


Clean the image. Dirty images can be automatically despeckled. Skew drawings can be straightened. Once the scanned drawing is clean and square it is ready to be converted into a vector DXF file.
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Special Topic: Raster2Vector

Raster-to-Vector scanning: 3rd step


Vectorize. Software is normally supplied with default conversion settings. Select the one that best describes the required drawing Architectural, Map, CNC, etc. Vectorize the scanned image. Settings can be adjusted to fine-tune the results.
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Special Topic: Raster2Vector

Raster-to-Vector scanning: 4th step


Edit the vector file. The software can save black&white and color DXF files. Open the DXF file in CAD. Edit the opened file as required and save it in the native CAD format eg., AutoCADs dwg files.

Issues in implementations

Layers as per client standards,

Dimensions with the respect to input,


Scale as per client requirement, CADD standards like line type, line thickness, text height, arrow type, Nomenclature, general notes, dimension text & arrows etc,. Title Block in relevance to drawing, Annotations as per client standards,
Special Topic: Raster2Vector
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How to scan a drawing for raster to vector conversion


Not all drawings can be scanned to create a raster image that can be used for raster to vector conversion. For example:
Some drawings are so faint or so dirty that whatever you do you will not be able to create a clean enough scan for conversion. Some drawings or drawing details are too small to scan well enough for vectorization, regardless of the scanning resolution you use. Some drawings contain so many overlapping details - for example text written over drawing lines - that even if you get a perfect scan no raster to vector converter will be able to unscramble the information

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Color, grayscale or monochrome? Most scanners give you the option of scanning in color, grayscale or monochrome. These options have different names depending on the make of scanner you have.

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Color
Most scanners color option will normally create a raster image that contains 16.7 million colors. Only use this option if scanning a color drawing with a view to converting it to a color DXF file.

Do not use your scanner's color option if scanning a black and white drawing.

Scanning a color drawing with a view to converting it to a color DXF file entails experimenting the scanner's settings until the colors on the raster image are as high contrast, vibrant and saturated as possible. Warning: Color images can be very large. An E/A0 size drawing scanned in color at 300 dpi will take up about 385Mb of memory.

Special Topic: Raster2Vector

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Grayscale Most scanners grayscale option (often called black and white photo) will normally create an image that contains 256 shades of gray. Grayscale images are not normally suitable for raster to vector conversion.

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Monochrome A scanner's monochrome option (often called line art, black and white drawing or 1 bit) will create a much smaller image that contains two colors - black and white.

This is the option one should normally choose when scanning a drawing for raster to vector conversion.

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Thresholding
When scanning a drawing in monochrome, the scanner or scanning software has to make a decision about which parts of the drawing to set to black in the raster image and which to set to white.

If your drawing has faint lines or a dirty or tinted background a user will have to experiment with the scanner's settings to get a raster image where, as far as possible, the parts of the raster image that are supposed to be black are black and the parts that are supposed to be white are white. If the scanner or scanning software sets too much of the drawing to white, it may contain breaks and holes and faint parts may be lost. If your scanner or scanning software sets too much of the drawing to black, text characters may "bleed" so that white spaces within them or between them become filled and speckles and dirt may appear in the background

This is called thresholding.

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Thresholding

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Resolution
It is not true that "the higher the scanner resolution, the better the vectorization results".

In fact, a high resolution scan can sometimes give worse results than a low resolution scan!

Be aware that decreasing the resolution of an image after scanning will prevent increasing it later.

Increasing resolution after scanning will not regain any lost detail. It will simply exacerbate "steps" in the image that will decrease the quality of any raster to vector conversion.

For most drawings, a scan resolution of 200 to 400 dpi is optimal.

Special Topic: Raster2Vector

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Resolution

Note that the separation of close together

entities is dependent on selecting an appropriate threshold (see above) as well as on selecting an appropriate resolution

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Edit raster images - raster effects and clean up tools

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Edit raster images - color palette editing tools

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Vectorization - vector recognition

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Vectorization - vector recognition

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BENEFITS OF CAD CONVERSION


Perfect drawings, which can be modified as and when required in the fastest possible manner. Able to access drawings at a click of a button Storage of the drawings becomes very easy Can make multiple copies at no cost Transmission of document is very fast Multiple print can be taken as a very high speed Thousands of drawings can be stored in a single DVD / CD A new file, we can create as many layers as you require. We generate separate layers for dimensions, text, body, hidden lines, and centerlines, etc. Text is separated and has its own layer and is recognizable as text Dimensions are intact and are shown by a separate layer.

Special Topic: Raster2Vector

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ContdBENEFITS OF CAD CONVERSION


High accuracy Normally create a drawing as a new file; the final output is editable and will be in DXF, DWG, DGN or any other CAD formats Cost effective hand-drawn conversions. The converted drawings are manually drawn with precision and are fully editable and contains:
Accurate layer information Accurate text (editable) Accurate line types (editable) Associative dimensions (adjustable) Symbols & blocks of standard components Title blocks (as per scale) Associative hatch patterns (editable)

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Raster-to-Vector: Examples

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Special Topic: Raster2Vector

Raster-to-Vector: Examples_a

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Raster-to-Vector: Examples_b

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Raster-to-Vector: Examples_c

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Raster-to-Vector: Examples_d

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Raster-to-Vector: Examples_e

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