"It would appear that we have reached the limits of what it is possible to achieve with computer technology, although one should be careful with such statements, as they tend to sound pretty silly in 5 years." - John Von Neumann (1903-1957)
We've released an updated version of Scan2CAD, v7.5. Benefits include:
Multi-level Undos for both raster and vector.
New Preview Window dialogs with full zoom and pan.
These eliminate trial and error in functions like Despeckle. Simply move a slider bar and watch the speckles disappear!
Easier to use, more flexible Reduce Colors dialog.
Make multiple reductions without the need to return to the main image.
Command line option updated to include new commands - Auto Deskew raster images in a batch!
Direct support for new Colortrac SmartLF Cx 40 large format scanner.
New shortcut keys.
If you are a registered user of Scan2CAD v7 (any release), you can upgrade to v7.5 free of charge - click here for more information.
If you are a registered user of Scan2CAD v6.1 or earlier, you can upgrade to v7.5 at the upgrade price - click here for more information.
You can see which version of Scan2CAD you have by going to the Help Menu then choosing About Scan2CAD.
We've updated our Hints and Tips sheet with a new Raster Text Quality checklist that you can use to tell whether text on your raster images is suitable for OCR recognition. Our Hints and Tips sheet is available as a PDF file and is downloadable from here.
We've also updated Scan2CAD's video tutorials to reflect changes in Scan2CAD. The video tutorials are downloadable from here.
A leading US risk management and insurance company recently became our largest US user of Scan2CAD. This company (it's their policy to remain anonymous) first contacted us because they needed to replace their existing Preditor raster editing software.
Their main interest in Scan2CAD at that time was not automatic raster to vector conversion but raster cleanup and editing. They told us that Scan2CAD and a very expensive "intelligent Raster Editor" were on their short-list. Ultimately they decided to buy Scan2CAD because, they said, the other program "does more than we need and costs more than we're prepared to pay".
The insurance company has around 350,000 facilities and building plan drawings in various formats with new projects arriving at a rate of up to 500 a week. Using Preditor all changes to these drawings were made on the scanned raster image. The alternative was to redraw the drawings by hand in full or in part. By purchasing Scan2CAD they received an up-to-date raster editing capability and gained the benefit of automatic raster to vector conversion which allowed them to quickly vectorize all or part of a drawing.
Some parts of the drawings - such as fire equipment, sprinkler systems, power points and hazards - are critically important and need to be converted into a vector format suitable for editing in the insurance company's MicroGDS CAD program. As they wanted to see the raster image in MicroGDS while working on the vector file they asked us to add a new feature to Scan2CAD - the ability to export a DXF file with attached raster data. This was a practical suggestion which would be of great benefit to other Scan2CAD users as well.
We added it for them. Now, when paper drawings arrive they can be scanned into a raster format. Scan2CAD will clean up the raster image and convert all or whatever part is needed into DXF. The converted vector file with its attached scanned image is then exported to the vector world of MicroGDS where the vector data can be seen against the raster image and edited.
"You folks continue to make me feel good about our decision to go with Scan2CAD. I have been impressed not only with the software but the way you do business and work in partnership with your customers" says TG (Assistant Vice President - CAD/GIS Department Manager). "One of the best features of Scan2CAD is its simplicity, and the raster to vector conversion that you have developed is the best we've seen from anyone (and we've been looking for over 20 years!)".
RW (CAD Supervisor, Engineering Plan Services Dept) writes: "I received a color PDF from a client. As it was PDF'd directly from CAD it was of very good quality. When I saved it as TIFF within Acrobat it resulted in a 363 Mb file at 200 dpi. Scan2CAD was able to open the TIFF and reduce the colors from 16.7 million to 8 in a few minutes. I then used the View/Edit Palette feature to ensure that some of the lighter colors that needed to be saved were converted to black. Then I reduced the color depth to 1-bit. I selected the Site Plan option under Type, tweaked a couple of settings, hit the VEC button and had a near perfect vector translation in a few seconds. My guess is that we reduced the total project time by nearly a day on something that would normally take about 32 hours to create from scratch".
We will add features to Scan2CAD on the request of any user, however large or small, so long as the feature is one that will be of use to other users as well. Please let us know what you need!
The Colortrac SmartLF Cx 40 is an impressive new generation 44" wide (40" image width) large format scanner. It has formidable specfications and price/performance.
Launched in February 2006, it replaces the SmartLF 4080 series and resolves all the 4080's shortcomings (our main gripes were the lack of a full Rewind and awkward paper handling). It adds 13 new features, among them 600 dpi optical resolution, advanced 2+4 wheel-drive Active Paper Transport to improve the scanner's handling of fragile and folded drawings and DNA (dynamic normalisation application), a feature Colortrac have lifted from their high-end reprographics scanners to improve image detail.
If you have a requirement to scan AEC and CAD technical drawings in monochrome, grayscale or color, take a look at the SmartLF Cx 40. It has all the width, resolution and speed you need for archiving or raster to vector conversion.
UK buyers can expect to pay under 5000 pounds for a SmartLF Cx 40c monochrome/color scanner with floorstand, scanning software, a 2 year warranty and free delivery.
As well as converting raster files to vector, Scan2CAD is a raster editor.
We've been in contact with a lot of Scan2CAD users who are using Scan2CAD to re-type and edit raster text on scanned images.
Rather than using Scan2CAD's raster text writing tool to do this, we suggest the following.
Write your new or edited text using Scan2CAD's VECTOR text writing tool.
Writing text as vector instead of as raster gives you the advantage of being able to easily change the size of the text, correct any errors you make and move the text around after you have written it.
There's information on writing, editing and moving vector text here.
After you have written all your vector text (and deleted any raster text beneath):
Go to File Menu > Vector > Rasterize.
This will convert the vector text to raster.
You can also rasterize individual bits of vector text by windowing them or zooming into them, then choosing File Menu > Vector > Rasterize.
How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?
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Correct answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do
simple things in an overly complicated way.
How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?
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Wrong Answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant and close the door.
Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your actions.
The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend except one. Which animal does not attend?
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Correct Answer: The Elephant. The Elephant is in the refrigerator. This tests your memory.
OK, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your abilities.
There is a river you must cross. But it is inhabited by crocodiles. How do you manage it?
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Correct Answer: You swim across. All the crocodiles are attending the animal conference ...
Don't use JPEG or GIF files! Click here to find out why these file types are unsuitable for most raster to vector conversions.
"I am very impressed with the speed, accuracy and value of your product. I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone."
C. Bell
"Scan2CAD is simple, uncomplicated, inexpensive and does the job as well or better than programs costing much more."
D. Silverman
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Scan2CAD support is free.
If you have a question about Scan2CAD or are experiencing a problem, please email us.
If you have a question about converting a particular raster image please attach it to your email and we'll have a look at it and advise.
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