Improved conversion for scanned CAD images

Scan2CAD v7 is an improved version of the low-cost raster to vector convertor which allows design engineers to turn scanned drawings into accurate DXF vector files for editing in any PC CAD program.

Scan2CAD v7 is a much improved new version of the market leading low cost raster to vector convertor which allows design engineers to turn scanned drawings into accurate DXF vector files for editing in any PC CAD program, like AutoCAD 2004, LT or similar, as well as CNC and other design programs.

Softcover claim that by extending Scan2CAD v7's drawing element recognition to include dashed lines, lined hatch patterns, Bezier curves and arrow lines etc, and by improving its overall conversion accuracy, Scan2CAD v7 now offers design engineers the least expensive way to achieve the most accurate, professional quality conversion results from scanned engineering drawings.

A Scan2CAD evaluation program can be downloaded from the Softcover website.

The evaluation program is small, just 3.3Mbyte.

For those new to this application Softcover offers a Scan2CAD v7 "hints and tips" sheet containing useful getting started information, as well as advice on how to avoid the pitfalls and achieve the promise of raster to vector conversion.

The hints and tips sheet can be downloaded as a 295Kbyte PDF file.

Scan2CAD v7 is available in two versions, Regular (GBP 179.78) and Pro (GBP 297.28).

Scan2CAD Regular converts monochrome (black/white) drawings only, whereas Pro converts monochrome and colour raster files and adds extra features like batch processing, OCR font training and an OCR text editor.

Scan2CAD Pro removes the complexity from colour vectorisation by automatically reducing the 16.7 million colours in a 24bit scanned image into a manageable set of 256 colours or less, as required by the AutoCAD standard.

Scan2CAD can open and vectorise any size of paper drawing saved in a variety of popular raster formats, like BMP (bitmaps), CALS, GIF, IMG, JPEG PCX, TIFF, (including GEOTIFF with coordinate data for mapping etc) and PNG (Portable Network Graphics).

It supports the Twain standard allowing users to acquire (scan) drawings from inside Scan2CAD using any size of Twain-compliant scanner up to A0-sizes.

A tiling feature allows large paper drawings to be scanned on desktop scanners as a series of "tiles".

Tiles can be assembled and merged inside Scan2CAD using drag-and-drop tools, vectorised and saved as DXF to the same size and scale as the original paper drawing.

Scan2CAD has comprehensive raster editing tools, like scale, mirror, rotate, crop etc, to manipulate the scanned image before vectorisation, as well as tools for tidying it up.

These include clean to automatically despeckle an image, smooth to remove "hairs" from lines, and thicken to fill badly holed lines.

A warp (rubber-sheeting) command allows drawings to be "pinned" down around control points and stretched to fit in a required direction.

Scan2CAD has ten default conversion settings to simplify the vectorisation process.

The user simply selects the setting that best describes their drawing - architectural, electrical, mechanical, site plan, contour map, CNC profile etc.

At any time the user can edit the conversion settings to influence the results.

All setting parameters are found in just four simple dialogues - general, angle optimisation, object identification and advanced settings.

Scan2CAD includes OCR (text recognition) of standard fonts like Arial, San Serif, Times New Roman etc.

Scan2CAD Pro adds a neural network-based OCR font training capability to extend text recognition to other text fonts, hand-printed text, stencils etc.

It also adds an OCR text editor with spell-checker and 28,000 word user-definable design dictionary to facilitate editing incomplete OCR strings.

Vector lines can be drawn as centre lines or outlines.

Design drawings will typically be tracked as centre lines while scanned artwork, logos, signs, etc, will be outlined.

Based on their own detailed tests of 13 rival raster to vector converters Softcover claims that only a very expensive German program matches Scan2CAD v7 for conversion accuracy.

Scan2CAD outlines typed-in TrueType fonts with 100% accuracy and saves them as a DXF outline.

The Bezier editing is unusually competent and flexible and very useful when tracking the outline or a free-flowing or organic shape.

By adjusting the deviation factor in the general settings menu it is possible to achieve an outline that tightly fits the image.

Bezier curves are exported from Scan2CAD as splines or as segmented polylines or arcs.

A new raster grid allows users to edit the raster image with pixel-by-pixel accuracy.

Vectors can be displayed over the raster image (raster overlay) and accurately moved using Scan2CAD's powerful SnapTidy vector editing tools.

These purpose-designed tools snap to grab handles placed on the end of vector lines, arcs, etc, and can automatically snap a disjointed vector back into alignment with one mouse click.

Scan2CAD Pro's batch file facility allows multiple raster files to be converted en masse by directory.

A batch run can include raster tidy-up commands like despeckle, smooth, rotate etc.

It also includes a command line which allows the user to run it from other applications, like AutoCAD etc, which have their own programming language.

Technical support is free.

Readers who download the Scan2CAD evaluation receive an e-mailed licence key on receipt of payment that turns the evaluation into a full working version.

A 300-page manual, CD containing interactive video tutorials that guide and talk the user through the program's use and hints and tips sheets are also available.

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