a lot of my coursemates asked how to transfer autocad drawings to photoshop to create presentation boards, and of course according to scale. very well, hereby I present you how to plot or transfer autocad drawings to photoshop; the foolproof step-by-step guide with pictures!
ok; before that let me summarize all the steps so that those that hates extremely dummy guides will learn this faster;
- go to file> plotter manager
- select add plotter wizard
- continue with ‘my computer’ settings
- select adobe>postscript level 2 for the plotter
- skip the import pc2 step
- select ‘plot to file’
- name the new plotter with whatever you like
- now, plot a drawing and select postscript level 2 for the plotter
- pay attention to the paper size, landscape/portrait format and dpi settings
- open new file in photoshop and input the same settings as the plot before this
- place the EPS file, DO NOT rescale/resize the drawing
- duplicate the layer for backup
step 1.
as usual, open autocad and select file> plotter manager.
step 2.
a window should pop up and you will see all your plotters/printers names. nevermind all that, select ‘add-a-plotter wizard’.
step 3.
another window pops up and introduces you to configuring plotters. hit ‘next’ and now you would have three choices. make sure you select ‘my computer’ before you continue.
step 4.
you will be asked which plotter model you’re going to use. since adobe owns the postscript format, select adobe > postscript level 2 and continue. basically postscript level 2 is the more recent language than level 1. unless you’re using very ancient photoshop, you should not be worrying about this.
step 5.
now the wizard requests an optional file to import the pc2 settings. if you have used older version of autocad and wished to maintain the previous page settings, import the pcp/pc2 file. so, I assume you’re still new to autocad, so just hit ‘next’.
step 6.
alright now you’re going to choose the port for your plotter. since we are going to plot to a file instead to an external plotter, select ‘plot to file’ and click ‘next’ to continue.
step 7.
now you have the chance to name the plotter you have just created. I prefer to keep it that way, but if you want to remind yourself this is the plotter for photoshop, key in ‘photoshop eps’ or something like that. ‘next’! alright, you have created a new plotter, in future you can plot straightaway and it is not necessary to add new plotter again, duh.
step 8.
OK, now open your drawing that you wish to transfer to photoshop. now go to ‘plot’. of course you can either type PLOT at the command prompt, hit ctrl+p together or simple go to file>plot. right, select the ‘photoshop’ plotter you recently created, in my case the plotter’s name is postscript level 2. now configure plot settings as you normally do. also, make sure ‘plot to file’ box is checked. *you don’t expect me to teach you how to plot, do you?*
step 9.
now, pay attention if you don’t want your drawing scale to go away. remember these; paper size, drawing orientation and paper size. yes, if possible write them down, in my case it’s 297 x 210mm and 300 dpi.
btw, DPI basically means dots per inch. well, the more dpi you have, the more pixels/dots in your drawing. of course the higher the dpi, the quality is better. but sometimes dpi that is too high will slow down your computer. right, 300 dpi should be the maximum, while 100-200 dpi is reasonable.
ok, after previewing your plot, you may plot the file.
step 10.
well, by now you should have the EPS file in your hard disk. if you have PDF instead, make sure you plot with the ‘plot to file’ box checked. WAIT, it is not done yet. importing to photoshop sometimes might cause your drawing scale to sway.
step 11.
do not open the EPS file straightaway. instead open a new file in photoshop. and fill in the settings you wrote/remembered before this. so, in my case this would be 297 x 210, 300 dpi. right, I did not choose the a4 paper settings preset because I plotted in landscape format, remember? after double-check, click OK.
step 12.
now place the file by going to file>place… browse for the EPS file and click ‘place’. a new layer should be automatically created with your autocad drawing.
step 13.
the X across the drawing should be in the corners of the rectangle. then, leave the drawing alone by selecting the selection tool (the cursor icon in your left toolbar).
step 14.
a caution window came up. just place the drawing.
important: DO NOT rescale, resize or do anything that will disturb your drawing scale/size. this is what you SHOULD NOT do.
same goes to transforming the drawing with skew, perspectize and other transforming tools. if you want to preserve the drawing scale, follow the last step.
step 15.
duplicate the layer for backup in case, you edited the original drawing. right click the layer and select ‘duplicate layer…’. you may copy the drawing to a another file, but please remember to make sure the dpi is the same, and also remember do not resize the autocad drawing.
a good way to render the drawing is creating a new layer below the drawing layer. and start using brush from there. you might also want to duplicate the drawing to easily fill the colors using ‘paint bucket’ tool.
so.. that’s the end of it. anyone having problem with the tutorial might as well email me.
p/s: while printing the photoshop file, remember to request from the printing staff to not use any margins- or risk ruining your drawing scale. also saving the file as a jpeg reduces sizes of the file and reducing the risk of ‘font type not found’ kind of a crisis. but still, we only use either arial and verdana right?
