Accuracy of AutoCAD Data During Export - SmartSketch - Help

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Smart Engineering Manager Version
11
SmartSketch Version
11.1

When you translate your document into AutoCAD data, you are concerned with visual fidelity and data fidelity.

  • To use this functionality, you must install the Translators option.

  • To see the AutoCAD versions that are supported for export, click the General tab of the AutoCAD Export Options dialog box, and click the Version arrow.

Visual Fidelity

Visual fidelity describes the visual accuracy of a picture after it has been translated. Your document preserves the visual accuracy of a file during export to AutoCAD file by providing support for the following areas:

Colors

The software colors map to the closest matching red, green, blue (RGB) color in the default AutoCAD color table.

SmartSketch supports the export of blank color to a .dwg file by translating the color of blank entities to the background color of the foreign application. Although the objects do not display on the screen, they could appear in the printout, depending on how the foreign reader application handles objects with background color.

SHARED Tip Widths can be mapped to an AutoCAD color by using the Line Width tab of the AutoCAD Export Options dialog box. AutoCAD colors are used to determine plotting pen widths.

Widths

Every element in your document has a width value. If the element width is equal to or greater than the polyline width threshold, SmartSketch exports the element as a polyline object with an equivalent AutoCAD width. The Polyline width threshold field is located on the Line Width tab of the AutoCAD Export Options dialog box. Whenever possible, elements that have widths less than the threshold are exported as AutoCAD entities that do not support width.

Linestyles

The default line styles in your document are pre-mapped to the most equivalent AutoCAD line styles on the Linestyle tab of the AutoCAD Export Options dialog box. Line styles other than the default line styles or any complex line styles containing shapes are mapped to continuous unless they are specifically mapped on the Linestyle tab. Linestyles that are not mapped on export are stroked to give them a more correct appearance. The default length of the stroking line is 0.1 millimeters (mm).

Linear Dimension Text and Leader Lines

To export a linear dimension with the dimension text orientation set to Parallel and the text position set to Above, you must place the linear dimension text as far as possible from the projection lines. This prevents the leader line from being removed and the dimension text from being displaced.

In the first example figure below, the .931 dimension text position is set to Above and the text is placed close to the project lines in SmartSketch. The exported view in AutoCAD shows the displaced .931 text with no leader line.

Using the same example, the figure below shows the .931 text placed further from the project lines. The exported leader line and dimension text display correctly.

Fill Styles

SmartSketch default fill styles are exported as matching hatch styles in the resulting AutoCAD files. Blank fill styles are exported as wipeout objects.The boundaries of curved objects with fill styles are exported as polygonal shapes.

Font Styles

SmartSketch default font styles are pre-mapped to their most equivalent AutoCAD font styles (True Type Fonts (TTF)) on the Font tab of the AutoCAD Export Options dialog box. Other fonts default to the txt.shx font deliver with Windows. If the font is not listed in the mapping table on the font tab, it defaults to txt.shx in the resulting AutoCAD file.

Dimension Styles

SmartSketch dimension styles are preserved as AutoCAD dimension styles in the resulting dwg files.

Reference Files and OLE Inserts

AutoCAD .DWG files that are referenced in SmartSketch are saved as AutoCAD Xrefs in the resulting AutoCAD file. Raster reference files in SmartSketch are saved as AutoCAD raster files in the resulting AutoCAD file. Linked and embedded references, including IGR, DGN, DWG and DXF file types, are saved as AutoCAD reference files during export to AutoCAD. SmartSketch translates the inserted OLE objects to the corresponding OLE objects in AutoCAD. This allows you to edit OLE objects and see the resulting edits in AutoCAD. Embedded files are saved in the same location as the master file; linked files are saved in the same location as the original linked file.

The Merge References setting in itacad.ini determines how linked and embedded references are translated to AutoCAD. If set to 1 or 2, linked and embedded references are translated to AutoCAD block references and merged into a single master DWG or DXF file. If set to 0, separate DWG files are generated for each linked and embedded reference. The default value is 1.

Multiple Sheets

Only the active sheet in a SmartSketch file is exported to an AutoCAD file. Exporting multiple sheets from a document is not currently supported.

Data fidelity

Data fidelity is a phrase used to describe how accurately the data is preserved when compared to its original form in the application that created it. SmartSketch preserves the data accuracy of an AutoCAD file during export by mapping data to its most equivalent form in AutoCAD. SmartSketch does not support exporting data such as attribute sets that can be associated with elements in the file.

SmartSketch preserves element and document data support for the following areas:

Units

The subunits of the file being saved as a dwg file determines the model size of the graphics in the resulting AutoCAD file.

Coordinates

SmartSketch data is automatically positioned to matching coordinate positions when you translate to AutoCAD.

SmartFrames and Detail Views

SmartFrames that exist on the active sheet are preserved upon translation to the AutoCAD file; Detail views - whether on the active sheet or on a background sheet - are also preserved upon translation to the AutoCAD file. A separate sheet that contains one or more detail views is automatically created in the export AutoCAD DWG file. The name of the created sheet is taken from the name of the sheet in SmartSketch containing the detail view(s).

Text Box Borders

In order for text box borders to display correctly in an exported DWG file, you must have wipeout objects enabled. In AutoCAD 2002, you can download the AutoCAD Wipeout Object Enabler executable directly from the AutoDesk FTP site. In newer versions of AutoCAD, you can find the Wipeout Express Tool inside the AutoCAD installation.

Layers

SmartSketch layer names are preserved as AutoCAD layer names, but the color and linetype settings are not. The color and linestyle settings are applied directly to Byentity, the resulting element In AutoCAD.

AutoCAD entity colors & linetypes are determined one of three ways on an element:

  • Byblock—a property that specifies that an entity inherit the color or linetype of a block containing it. SmartSketch does not support the entity concept so the Byblock properties are applied directly to the resulting element.

  • Bylayer—a property that specifies that an entity inherit the color or linetype of its associated layer. SmartSketch does not support the entity concept so the Bylayer properties are applied directly to the resulting element.

  • Byentity—occurs when colors and linetypes are directly applied to the entity and override any Byblock or Bylayer properties. SmartSketch supports this concept for all of its elements and preserves Byentity properties for colors and linestyles.

The following is an entity to element map when you translate files:

SmartSketch

AutoCAD

Line

Line

Ellipse

Circle

Arc

Arc

Point

Point

Connector

Polyline

Linestring

Polyline

Bspline Curve

Polyline

Rectangle

Polyline

Complex String

Polyline

Reference

Xref

Text

Text

Leader

Leader

Dimension

Dimension

Group

Entity or Group

Symbol

Block

SmartLabel

Entities

Parametric Symbols

Entities

Multi-representation Symbol

Entities

Raster Reference

Raster Reference

Leader Lines and Terminators

When using arrows to terminate leader lines, the leader lines are exported and display in AutoCAD, but the terminating arrows do not display in cases where the leader line is less than half the length of the entire leader (line and arrow).

See Also

Working with AutoCAD Files