Scan2CAD raster to vector eNewsletter - October 2005

10TH BIRTHDAY ISSUE!
Celebrating ten years of consistent software development.

"Our birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time." - Jean Paul Richter.

What's in this Newsletter

Scan2CAD v7.4 now available

We've released an updated version of Scan2CAD, v7.4. Benefits include:

  • Improved recognition of arcs, circles and Bezier curves. In particular, the recognition of circles that intersect with other elements has been significantly improved. Click here for some examples.

  • Attach raster image to DXF. When you save a DXF file from Scan2CAD you can now include a reference to the raster image in the file. When you load the DXF file into AutoCAD (or any CAD program that can accept attached raster images), both the DXF file and the raster image will be loaded, correctly overlaid. You can also assign a color to the raster image so that it is easily visible beneath the vectors.

    (A side benefit of this feature is that AutoCAD LT users can now use Scan2CAD to load raster images into LT. This is not normally possible because the image insert command in LT is disabled. See our Quick Tip below.)

  • Improved zoom and pan:

    • You can now zoom and pan using your mouse scroll wheel, as in AutoCAD.
    • The zoom and pan have been made dynamic so you can use them while using the raster and vector drawing commands.
    • The area of the screen covered by the image is no longer reduced when you zoom or pan (the gray area no longer appears).

  • Close All. New option to close both the raster and the vector image at once.

If you are a registered user of Scan2CAD v7, you can upgrade to v7.4 free of charge - click here for more information.

If you are a registered user of Scan2CAD v6.1 or earlier, you can upgrade to v7.4 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.

Scan2CAD is ten years old!

Scan2CAD is the brainchild of George Kennedy. George was born the oldest boy in a large family. On leaving school he joined the British Post Office Telecommunications division which eventually became British Telecom (BT). He became a manager in the regional headquarters with responsibility for external network planning and drawing office practices.

In the mid 70's George was given time-share access to the IBM mainframe facilities at BT's research department at Harmondsworth to develop costing programs for network design planning. A passion for computer programming was born. Over the following years George rose higher in the BT managerial chain but still retained an interest and involvement in developing new computer packages for use within BT.

In the mid 90's George's brother John, an architect, had a requirement to convert many original paper drawings to CAD. At that time raster to vector converters were extremely expensive. John asked George if he could write a simple raster to vector converter for him. George obliged and the first version of the program, which primarily vectorized straight lines, was successfully used by John to reduce redrawing time.

Scan2CAD was released commercially in August 1995. It was the world's first truly low-cost raster to vector converter, aimed at CAD users who needed the best possible raster to vector conversion quality but could not justify the high cost of existing products in the market.

Shortly after Scan2CAD's release George left BT. Since then Scan2CAD has gone from strength to strength through seven versions. It has been fundamentally rewritten three times to give it the greatest possible flexibility and power. Development is ongoing and is driven by user feedback and George's determination to make Scan2CAD the best raster to vector converter available. We look forward to many more birthdays!

Where were you ten years ago?

Here are ten reminders of what was going on in the world when we released Scan2CAD v1 ten years ago:

  • Autodesk released AutoCAD R13 for Windows '95. 8Mb RAM was considered standard, 16Mb a luxury.
  • Tom Hanks received an Academy Award for the film Forrest Gump (one of Andrea's favourites)!
  • Broker Nick Leeson caused the collapse of the UK's oldest investment banking firm, Barings.
  • British actor Hugh Grant was arrested in Sunset Strip, Hollywood with Divine Brown.
  • The 'Trial of the Century' ended with O J Simpson's aquittal.
  • 'Superman' Christopher Reeve injured his spine in a horse riding accident.
  • Jerry Garcia - guitarist and co-founder of the Grateful Dead - died.
  • Massive earthquakes struck Kobe, Japan and Neftegorsk, Russia. The US Midwest suffered an unprecedented heat wave.
  • 168 people were killed in Timothy McVeigh's terrorist attack in Oklahoma City.
  • The presidents of Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia signed a treaty to end three and a half years of genocidal war.

Who's using it? - Chris C Markides, Cyprus

Chris Markides is a civil engineer living in Nicosia, Cyprus. He has used Scan2CAD for many years, always upgrading through different versions. Chris' business, C & C Markides Estates Ltd, specializes in land development. He scans land registry maps and uses Scan2CAD to convert these into vectors. Once the vectorized maps are in his CAD program he is able to divide fields into residential plots and to add roads, parks and other infrastructure. "I am very happy with Scan2CAD", he says. "I always recommend it to my colleagues and clients. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Scan2CAD!"

Quick tip - use Scan2CAD to load raster images into AutoCAD LT!

When testing the Attach Raster Image option in Scan2CAD v7.4, AutoCAD LT user Alan Darbyshire discovered an unexpected benefit: He found he could use Scan2CAD to load raster images into LT, something which is not normally possible because the image insert command in LT is disabled.

Alan says that this feature opens up a whole range of possibilities for users of Scan2CAD with AutoCAD LT. For example you can:

  • View and edit the vectors in LT with the raster underneath in a different color (Raster Overlay).
  • Vectorize only the parts of a drawing you need to change - and leave the parts you don't need to change in raster format.
  • Load just the raster image into LT without any vectors - and trace or draw over it in CAD.

To load just the raster image into LT without any vectors:

  1. Load the raster image into Scan2CAD.
  2. Select the Attach Raster Image option as follows:

    1. Go to File Menu > Vector > Export Options.
    2. Select the Attach Raster Image option.
    3. Select a raster color by entering a number into the CAD Color Index box. Good colors to choose for LT are:

      2 (yellow)
      8 (dark gray)
      9 (light gray)

    4. Click OK.

  3. Create a blank DXF file by clicking the red "E" icon.
  4. Save the DXF file.
  5. Open the DXF file in AutoCAD LT.

Quick tip - scanning physical items, revisited

Many of you have contacted us about scanning physical parts - like gaskets - then converting the scans to DXF using Scan2CAD.

Scanning a physical part can be problematic. Because parts have a thickness they produce shadows when you scan them. Once in Scan2CAD it can be difficult to tell where the part ends and the shadow begins.

We have previously suggested that you can get around the shadowing problem by placing a black sheet of paper or card over the part in the scanner. When you scan, the shadows disappear into the black background. This method works even better if you can spray paint the part white before scanning.

Here's another, simpler solution:

  1. Lay the part on a piece of white paper.
  2. Carefully trace around it with a fine, sharp pen to get a tight fitting profile.
  3. Scan and vectorize the trace.

And finally ...

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." - Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." - Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, 1977.

"640K ought to be enough for anybody." - Bill Gates, president, chairman and founder of Microsoft Corporation, 1981.

And finally ...

For two weeks over the summer Softcover were enthralled by a single parent blackbird bringing up her young in a nest right under our office window! Here are some pictures:

Mom Day 1
Day 4 Day 6

Collecting worms
Feeding the kids Day 7
Day 9 Very hungry!

Day 14 - ready to fly