Since I have to send so many files to different people in PDF format, I purchased Adobe Acrobat several years ago. Once installed, “Adobe PDF” shows up in my list of available printers just like my HP or Brother printers do. There are also several other programs available online that allow you to create a PDF printer. Although I’ve never used them, I’ve heard good things about CutePDF and Sourceforge PDF Creator and I’ve used Win2PDF in the past. Each of these have a free version but you may end up getting a watermark or footer or 2nd page that states you’re using a Free copy.

Any of these can be installed and will be shown as an available printer in the Plot dialog box of AutoCAD or IntelliCAD. Several years ago AutoCAD started including a DWG to PDF.pc3 file allowing AutoCAD users to use that tool rather than having to purchase a separate application to create PDFs. One advantage of using the DWG to PDF is that there is an option to save all the layers used in the DWG with the PDF file. With this setting enabled, anyone viewing the PDF through a PDF viewer has the ability to make one or more layers invisible. See the image below for an example:

While this is a neat feature, you might not always want your list of layers to transmit with your PDF. If not, it’s easy enough to change the option. In the Plot dialog, set the current plotter to DWG to PDF.pc3 and then pick the Properties button to the right. Under the Device and Document Settings tab, you can change several options such as available paper sizes. You can also select the “Custom Properties” item in the tree for special options that are unique to the “printer”. You can see in the image below that this is where you can find the option for whether or not to “Include layer information”.

This is a great article by Greg Jordan who is currently serving his second term as secretary of the NCS Steering Committee and also serves on the Civil Task Team with me.

NCS: Common Language for CAD Users

The CHSPACE (Change Space) command is simply a lifesaver for anyone using paper space to put together your project drawings.

In AutoCAD, CHSPACE can be typed in at the command line or found in the Modify menu or ribbon panel. In Carlson with IntelliCAD, CHSPACE can be typed in or easily accessed from the right-click context menu after the items have been selected.

This command will move entities from model space to paper space or vice versa. You must be working in model space through paper space in order to move entities from model to paper – it will not work directly from model space. The nice thing about the command is that it will scale the entities (to account for the differences in scale between model and paper space) so you don’t have to. The AutoCAD version of this command actually performs a MOVE command on the entity whereas the IntelliCAD version gives you the option of moving the original or making a copy to the other space. If you’re using AutoCAD, make a copy of the entity before performing the CHSPACE command.

I find this command most handy when I have a linear project such as a water line or force main extension project with many sheets of plan and profile that change direction. In model space, I make multiple copies of the North arrow and place them along the meandering alignment. Then, from paper space, I make each viewport active and use CHSPACE to move one of the copies to the paper space sheet.

The May 2012 issue of Professional Surveyor magazine has been published. This month they are featuring a software review I submitted: AutoCAD and IntelliCAD.

You can order your FREE subscription to the print version of Professional Surveyor here.

You can click here to learn more about Carlson Software‘s offerings that include IntelliCAD.

In case you missed it, here is our April 2012 Newsletter…

I’d like to thank Art Thomas and the Richmond Virginia AutoCAD User Group for inviting Jeremy and me to demonstrate Carlson Software and data collection last night. Our hour-and-a-half long presentation covered the basic tools and Survey, Civil and GIS specific features of the Carlson products.

The RAM User Group has been active for 20+ years and has a lot to offer CAD users in the central Virginia area. Their meetings are usually on the 3rd Wednesday of each month and start after work at 5:30. If you’re based in the Richmond area, I’d highly recommend that you join up with them.

Join us on Monday, May 7th when Jeremy and I will be presenting this part-field and part-office training with SurvCE.

Topics for the day will include:

• Set up and configuration of SurvCE with your equipment
• Managing data files and import/export options between the field and the office
• Field collection for boundary, features and topo including GIS collection
• Working with the Map Menu to import and export .dwg, .dgn, .mxd and shapefiles
• Stakeout techniques
• Overview of Field to Finish

Register Here

SurvCE and Field to Finish Training Announcement

Did you know that, when you’re in AutoCAD or IntelliCAD, you have a couple of different options when it comes to displaying the coordinate position of your crosshairs?

For instance, when you’re NOT in a command, you have two options for displaying the coordinate position of your crosshairs as it moves across your screen: On or Off. If the coordinate display is toggled ON, then the X, Y and Z position (rectangular coordinates) of your crosshairs are displayed and if it’s OFF, then the X, Y and Z display is frozen and doesn’t update as your mouse moves.

However, if you are currently in a command that requires two points be picked to specify an angle and distance (commands such as Line or Move, etc), you have a 3rd coordinate display available to you: polar coordinates. Unlike rectangular coordinates that display X, Y and Z position, polar coordinates report a distance and angle from the original point. For instance, when you start the Line command you can toggle the coordinate display so that rectangular coordinates are ON or OFF. But, after picking the first point of the line, you can toggle the coordinate display so that rectangular coordinates are ON, rectangular coordinates are OFF or that polar coordinates are ON.

The image below on the left shows the polar coordinate display in AutoCAD and the IntelliCAD version is shown below on the right:

To toggle the coordinate display in newer versions of AutoCAD (since 2009?) double-click on the coordinate display. In older versions of AutoCAD and in IntelliCAD, the F6 button toggles the display.

Anyone who has worked with AutoCAD for any length of time can usually create a standard dimension object. However, if you pay close attention to two items in the Object Properties dialog box, you can get very creative with the way simple dimensions are displayed.

For instance, in the image just below, you can see that there are two Object Properties items highlighted in yellow. One is the “Measurement” and the other is the “Text override”. The Measurement is the measured distance between the dimension definition points (DEFPOINTS) and is read-only. You can also see that the current value for Text override is “< >”. Whenever the less-than and greater-than signs are shown as the Text override value, the Measurement will be substituted for the symbols when displayed in the drawing.

To add just a little more detail to the dimension, you can add descriptive text before or after the “< >” in Text override as shown in the next example below. As long as you keep the “< >”, the correct measured distance will always be displayed as part of the dimension text:

And, making it fancier… In the example below, I have added a “P” between < > and “9 SPACES”. This is like pressing Enter to go to a second line and has the effect of stacking two lines of text above the dimension line:

And, finally, one more option. Rather than entering “P”, if you enter “X” as part of your Text override, you will stack the text partially above and partially below the dimension line.

The “P” and “X” modifiers can also be used in combination to create 3 or more lines of text and allowing you to control how many lines appear above and how many appear below the dimension line.

With a post to their blog last night, Bruce Carlson announced that Carlson SurvPC data collection software (Windows version of SurvCE) can now view and write directly to the Esri .mxd and Bentley Microstation.dgn file formats. This is pretty exciting stuff for both survey field crews and those who wish to design-on-the-fly from the field.

Read more here