Vectorial PDF issue

[Tim West]

Hey all,

I have encountered an interesting issue.

I was asked to trace a sign (as the internet jpeg blown up didn't look so great) to discourage smokers! (see attached)

I used filled regions and printed to pdf, expecting the curved and straight lines to be translated into nice clean vector art. The reality is that I got jagged vector art with many extra nodes added. I had to export to dwf to get clean lines, even then the curves were converted to segmented lines.

Has anyone discovered a way to get vector data out cleanly?

Thanks for your time

[Twiceroadsfool]

Ours plot fine, using a few different PDF writers. Check the settings in the PDF writer you are using.

[Dandharma]

As a last resort you could export out to DWG/DXF then bring into Illustrator.
You can be sure of decent vectors then

[mark b]

Have been using free bullzip with great results.

http://www.bullzip.com/products/pdf/info.php

[Tim West]

Thanks for the replies...

As a last resort you could export out to DWG/DXF then bring into Illustrator.
You can be sure of decent vectors then

Funny you should mention my workflow. This is what I did, which worked well, except for the curves being segmented lines.

In reality, the signs are seen from a distance so you don't notice, I would just like my favourite tool to work how I want it to!

Ours plot fine, using a few different PDF writers. Check the settings in the PDF writer you are using.

For print purposes, they are fine. I have tried cutePDF, PDF creator, and the Acrobat print driver with basically the same results. If you look closely (<ctrl>-mouse wheel to zoom in reader) at your output vector pdfs (with lineweights turned off) you may notice that they are not that great (especially curves). Walls create clean vectors (curves are still segmented). Curves in floors/roofs/filled regions are terrible.

Different settings Low/Medium/High/Presentation do not seem to affect vector output. They do however affect resolution when rasterising.

Revit seems to have issues converting 3D images to flat vectors also. A view (orthagonal or perspective) of a 3D scene with curved extrusions creates interesting results where straight meets curve...

[iru69]

Hey Tim,

Did you do this in a family or as a drafting view or something else?

What's the literal size of your revit drawing of it. Full scale? Is the drawing super tiny? That can sometimes cause issues.

But in general, like everyone else has mentioned, I don't have any problems with getting clean prints or pdfs of something like that.

(Also a bullzip fan here!)

[Tim West]

iru69,

I have tried both family and project; drafting view, plan and elevation; small and large scale; filled regions, floors, walls.
The 'NO Smoking' was drawn about 3m (10') across at a drawn scale of 1:50. I have encountered super tiny issues in revit, which is why I use 'reasonable' size.
horizontal and vertical lines seem unaffected (that wot most documentation sets contain) and the effect I am seeing often happens in logos in title blocks...

[Twiceroadsfool]

I was zooming in, when i looked at mine to verify them.... But i was making the idiot mistake of zooming in on text, since its pretty small on the plotted page. But thats an entirely different set of rules, which i forgot. Yeah, even at 1200 DPI there is no effect on it, it definetely segments the heck out of them. Thats unfortunate... Time for some Support Requests, in a big way.

[Tim West]

But i was making the idiot mistake of zooming in on text,

Yep text tends to be handled differently. I was shocked (harsh word but apt) to see how badly things converted.

I did discover another workaround (an expensive one) export dwf then open with Deep Exploration. This will accurately output about 12 vector formats. I was a little disappointed to learn that 'curves' are segemented into straight lines by Revit...

Support request coming...

[thetragicjoy]

Did anyone ever find a solution for this? It seems Revit just generates curves/circles as segments...