<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<font face="Arial">I normally draw mechanical things so my drawings
are all 3D solid models. Great for feeding to one of our milling
machines or 3D printers, probably not so great for PDF or someone
with a CAD viewer app on their smarty fone. For me STEP is no
problem as long as I chose one of the available dimensioning
formats from the list of [mm, mm, mm, mm, or mm].<br>
<br>
</font><br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/6/19 1:07 PM, jdunfee12--- via
Stagecraft wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:1099045332.4226472.1549487276686@mail.yahoo.com">
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<div class="yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,
Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;">
<div>PDFs seem to be a standard when exchanging the equivalent
of prints. It is even possible to get some dimensions, but
that takes a lot of effort, since you must scale first. Since
I normally use the drawing as part of another drawing, I
greatly prefer DWGs or DXF. <br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>The topic of drawing exchange is also related to the issue
of how to archive drawings and designs.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>PDFs can be converted or imported into many CAD programs,
but the success rate varies depending on how it was
generated. If the view is not a shaded or hidden line removed
version of a 3D model, it often exports as PDF just fine.
though, keep in mind that a PDF line drawing is only 4 decimal
places of accuracy vs. 12 decimal places for native DWG (Keep
in mind that this is starting to get down to atomic precision
for most things). But, as soon as any of the rendering styles
for 3D models is turned on, those exports become raster
images. And those are bad news for using them in CAD drawings.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Earlier in the history of CAD programs, there was some
debate about how best to archive drawings. The DWG format was
not as entrinched, and Autodesk itself was working hard to
keep their drawing files from being used by anyone else. The
courts put a stop to that, and now I think that DWG files are
sufficient to archive files. But, PDFs are probably also a
good idea, since you can view them without any CAD program. <br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div> 3D Parametric programs like SolidWorks and Inventor are
another story. For those, I think it is still a good idea to
produce good drawings, and dimension them, and export as a
PDF. If your vendor were to go out of business, you might end
up with a CAD file that you couldn't use.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>-Joe<br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">____________________________________________________________
For list information see <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://stagecraft.theprices.net/"><http://stagecraft.theprices.net/></a>
Stagecraft mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Stagecraft@theatrical.net">Stagecraft@theatrical.net</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://theatrical.net/mailman/listinfo/stagecraft_theatrical.net">http://theatrical.net/mailman/listinfo/stagecraft_theatrical.net</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Jerry Durand, Durand Interstellar, Inc.
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.DurandInterstellar.com">www.DurandInterstellar.com</a>
tel: +1 408 356-3886
@DurandInterstel
</pre>
</body>
</html>