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 scan2CAD
features |
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(click on the logo to visit Softcover international) |
Features marked
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the list below are available in the
Pro version of Scan2CAD only. |
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Scan
| Scan from inside
Scan2CAD using TWAIN (Acquire). |
| Use any
TWAIN-compliant scanner of any size. |
| Use any scanner of
any size whose software saves standard raster files. |
If you have a
desktop scanner, you can scan large drawings as a series of
"tiles" that you can assemble, merge and vectorize inside
Scan2CAD:
- Use Acquire to grab scanner-sized "tiles" from large
drawings.
- Alternatively, load tiles that have been saved as
separate raster files.
- Re-assemble the drawing using accurate move, deskew
and merge tools.
- Tidy up and vectorize the drawing in the normal way.
- Save As DXF to the same size and scale as the
original drawing.
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Load and save raster images
Load and save:
- BMP
- CALS (Type 1 - .CAL, .CALS, .GP4, .CG4, .MIL)
- GIF (not recommended)
- IMG
- JPEG (not recommended)
- PCX
- PNG
- TIFF
- GeoTIFF
Scan2CAD does not support multi-layer/page TIFF files.
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- Load raster PDF files.
If the PDF file contains a single
raster image, it will be loaded in the
same way as any other raster image. If
the PDF file contains many raster
images, you can step through them and
select the one you want to load.
- Save raster images as PDF files
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| In theory the
maximum raster image size that Scan2CAD will handle is
32,000 x 32,000 pixels.
This equates approximately to a 13.3 foot x 13.3 foot or
4m x 4m drawing scanned at 200 dpi or an 8.8 foot x 8.8 foot
or 2.7m x 2.7m drawing scanned at 300 dpi. For most drawings
200 or 300 dpi is optimal.
In practice the maximum raster image size that Scan2CAD
will handle is determined by your PC's system resources -
for example the amount of physical and virtual RAM it has.
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| Load black and
white, grayscale and color raster images - 1 Bit, 4 Bit, 8
Bit and 24 Bit. |
| Convert between
raster file types - e.g. load a raster image as a BMP file
and save it as a compressed TIFF file to save disk space. |
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View raster images
| Zoom into a selected
area; zoom about the cursor position; zoom about the screen
center; zoom extents; step back through the last ten views. |
| Pan. |
| Display a grid of
raster pixels. |
| View the image's
color palette, the colors that are used in the palette and a
histogram of the colors that are used in the palette. |
| View raster image
statistics - file size, color depth, dpi. |
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Edit raster images - raster effects and clean
up tools
| Most raster effects
and clean up tools are color aware and can be restricted to
work on a single color. |
Before |
After |
| Automatically remove
speckles caused by dirt, stains etc. (despeckle) or quickly
erase dirty areas using area erase and flood fill.
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| Fill holes. |
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| Thin lines. |
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| Thicken lines. |
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| Thicken pixels -
useful for filling dithered lines. |
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| Smooth - removes
"hairs" from "hairy-looking" images. |
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| Outline solid raster
areas. |
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| Remove speckles of
color to make colors more uniform. |
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| Detect edges between
different colors. |
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| Simple or Adaptive
Threshold - dynamically convert grayscale and color raster
images to black and white to get the clearest possible image
on the cleanest possible background. |
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| Negate
or invert images to make black areas white and white areas
black. |
| Mirror
images vertically or horizontally. |
| Rotate
images through 90, 180 or 270 degrees, by user-defined
degrees or by fraction of a degree. |
| One
click Auto Deskew, or straighten images to a reference line. |
| Scale
images in the X and or Y directions to make them larger or
smaller. |
| Increase
or decrease brightness and contrast. |
| Crop. |
| Warp
images to user-defined control points (rubber-sheeting). |
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Edit raster images - raster draw and erase
tools
| Set pen / eraser
thickness and pen color. |
| Three cursor options
- Graphic, Pointer or Guide Line (cross-hairs). Cursor
visually shows pen thickness. |
| Draw or erase pixels
(points), lines, ortho lines, rectangles, circles, arcs,
Bezier curves, solid filled areas and freehand sketches. |
| Flood fill. |
| Enter TrueType font
raster text - select font, size, embolden, italicize, move
text into logo layouts. |
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Edit raster images - cut, copy, move and paste
| Move areas of the
raster image. |
| Cut, copy and paste
within Scan2CAD. |
| Paste raster images
from other applications. |
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Edit raster images - color palette editing
tools
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Before |
After |
| Automatically reduce
the number of colors used on the image - makes colors more
uniform for color vectorization. |
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| Manually reduce the
number of colors used on the image. Display a histogram of
colors to help choose which colors to reduce to. |
| Decrease
or increase color depth. |
| Change
one color on the raster image to another. |
| Change
the palette so that it matches the palette in your CAD
program. |
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Vectorization - vector recognition
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Identifies continuous lines, dash and dash dot lines, arrow
lines, hatch lines, polylines, circles, arcs or Bezier
curves and text. |
Choose
from ten supplied default conversion types for quick and
easy results - use the one that best describes your drawing:
- Architectural.
- Electrical.
- Mechanical.
- CNC Profile.
- Site Plan.
- Contour Map.
- Sketch (traces every detail of a raster image using
many short lines).
- Outline (outlines solid areas of black or color).
- Scanline (creates an exact vector copy of the raster
original. The vector image is made up of many closely
spaced parallel horizontal lines).
- User (your own user-defined settings).
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Default
conversion types give good results on most drawings but easy
to use settings let you control the conversion process if
you want to. Settings include:
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Center line
tracking, outline tracking or both.
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Center line
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Outline
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Control whether
vectors follow the raster image loosely (produces
less vectors) or closely (produces more vectors).
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Loose
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Close
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Specify a Gap
Jump Distance - Scan2CAD jumps over any gaps in the
raster image that are smaller than the value you
specify, allowing continuous vectors to be produced
over broken raster lines.
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Gaps
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Gaps jumped
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Specify a Loose
Ends Length - Scan2CAD removes "loose end" vectors
shorter than the value you specify.
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Loose ends
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Loose ends
removed
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Choose to have
vectors join or pass at intersections.
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Join
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Pass
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Align the
vectors to a grid.
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Not aligned
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Aligned
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Snap angled
lines that deviate slightly from 0 or 90 degrees to
0 or 90 degrees.
Snap angled lines that deviate slightly from 30 or
120 degrees to 30 or 120 degrees.
Snap angled lines that deviate slightly from 45 or
135 degrees to 45 or 135 degrees.
Snap angled lines that deviate slightly from 60 or
150 degrees to 60 or 150 degrees.
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0 and 90 degree
snap off
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0 and 90 degree
snap on
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Optionally
identify dash and dash dot lines, arrow lines, hatch
lines, polylines, circles, arcs and Bezier curves.
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Dash line
identification off
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Dash line
identification on
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In the illustrations above the raster image is shown in
gray and vectors are superimposed in black. Where relevant
vector ends are enclosed in small squares. |
| Save
your own conversion settings as default. |
| Convert
the whole raster image, or just part of it. Convert
different parts of the image using different conversion
settings. |
| Convert
vectors separately or at the same time as text. |
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Convert one, some or all the colors in a color raster image. |
Raster |
Vector |
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or
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Vectorization - OCR text recognition and font
training
| Convert text on the
whole raster image, or just part of it. Convert text on
different parts of the image using different OCR conversion
settings. |
| Convert text
separately or at the same time as other drawing elements. |
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Train Scan2CAD to recognize a wider range of fonts,
including your own non-standard (e.g. hand drawn, stencilled)
fonts. |
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Vectorization - batch vectorization
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Specify multiple raster images for conversion at a
convenient time - like during lunch or overnight when you
are not using your PC. |
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Batch process includes pre-conversion raster tidy up options
- Speckle Removal, Hole Removal, Thicken Line, Thicken
Pixels, Smooth. |
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Create vector TrueType font outlines
- Select a font.
- Write some text.
- The text is converted to 100% accurate vector
outlines that you can export to your CAD or CNC program
as DXF.
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View vectors
| Zoom into a selected
area; zoom about the cursor position; zoom about the screen
center; zoom extents; step back through your last ten views. |
| Pan. |
| Display a grid. |
| A single key or icon
click displays the raster image only, vectors only or the
vectors superimposed over the raster image (raster overlay). |
| Fade the raster
image so you can see the superimposed vectors more clearly. |
| View vectors by
color or by type. When viewed by type vectors are shown in
different colors depending on what they are - continuous
lines, dash or dash dot lines, arrow lines, hatch lines,
polylines, circles, arcs, Bezier curves or text. |
| View vector extents
by turning on grab points at vector ends or by highlighting
an individual vector. |
| View vector ghosts -
see the old position of vectors after you've edited them. |
| View vector
statistics - number of vectors, time taken to do the
vectorization. |
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Edit vectors
| Vector editing tools
are color aware and can be restricted to work on a single
color. |
| Guide Line cursor -
large, screen-wide cursor with cross hairs helps to align
vectors to each other accurately. |
| Snap vectors to a
grid. |
| Stretch vectors by
dragging grab points at vector ends and arc mid points. |
| Reshape Bezier
curves by dragging Bezier control points. |
| Click to snap
together all the vector end points within a user-defined
snap distance. |
| Split a line into
two by clicking on it. |
| Join two vectors
together by clicking on the node point between them. |
Quickly convert
vectors from one type to another by clicking on them:
- Convert arcs to lines and lines to arcs.
- Convert Bezier curves to lines and lines to Bezier
curves
- Convert polylines to lines and lines to polylines.
- Convert continuous lines to dash, dash dot or arrow
lines.
- Convert dash or dash dot lines to continuous or
arrow lines.
- Convert arrow lines to continuous, dash or dash dot
lines.
- Convert hatch lines to continuous, dash or dash dot
lines.
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Edit vector colors. |
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Edit vector text
Spellcheck vectorized text for quick and easy editing.
- Includes a 30,000 word UK and US Design Dictionary.
- Add words common to your drawings to the Dictionary.
- Create your own Dictionary in any language.
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| Simply click on
vector text to edit or delete it. |
| Edit text content,
angle, size, origin, color. |
| Make all the text on
the drawing or in a selected area the same height. |
| Move text. |
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Draw and erase vectors
| Draw on new sheet or
trace over raster image (raster overlay). |
| Set pen color. |
| Snap to grid. |
| Drawing tools
include point, line, ortho line, rectangle, circle, arc,
Bezier curve, freehand and text. |
| Erase vectors
individually or in a block. |
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Save vectors
| Output DXF files
that you can read into any PC CAD, CNC or GIS program
including all versions of AutoCAD and LT - no known
compatability problems with any PC CAD program. |
| DXF can be saved to
the same size and scale as the original paper drawing. |
| DXF can be saved
with coordinates assigned to a known point. |
| Attach a raster
image to the DXF file. When you load the DXF file into a 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 use Scan2CAD to load raster images into LT. This is not
normally possible as the image insert command in LT is
disabled. |
| Bezier curves can be
saved in the DXF file as splines, arcs or polylines. |
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Save color DXF files. Each color can be saved on a separate
layer. Layers can be matched to your CAD program's palette. |
| Output HPGL plot
files. |
| Output WMF and EMF
files. |
| Save text as an
ASCII text file. |
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Printing
| Print all or part of
a raster or vector image to fit paper or to scale. |
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Command line
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Automate virtually any sequence of Scan2CAD commands. |
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Run Scan2CAD from other applications. |
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Technical support and documentation
| Optionally supplied
on CD with a comprehensive printed manual. |
| Interactive video
tutorials that run on your PC let you learn Scan2CAD in
minutes. |
| Fast, free email
technical support. |
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System requirements
| Any PC running
Windows 2000 or XP. |
| Minimum 512Mb RAM,
but if you are going to be converting large or color raster
files, the more RAM your PC has the better. |
| We recommend a
minimum screen resolution of 800 x 600. |
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