Softcover International announces the release of Scan2Cad v7.5 for automatically converting scanned laboratory paper drawings into DXF files for editing in any PC Cad program
Scan2Cad v7.5 is a three-in-one solution for the scanning, raster editing and raster to vector conversion of technical drawings and diagrams, schematics, maps, site plans, sketches, artwork and CNC profiles.
It converts monochrome (1-bit), greyscale (8-bit) and colour (24-bit) raster images into monochrome or colour DXF files for export to any PC CAD, CNC, or GIS, etc, design-type program.
Scan2Cad v7.5 now allows a raster image to be included with the DXF file as an attachment in a user-specified colour.
If the DXF file is opened in a Cad program that can accept attached raster images, like Autocad LT, etc, the DXF and raster image files will open correctly overlaid.
This provides Cad users with a convenient raster background for editing Scan2Cad's vectors against and or tracing-over the image in Cad.
Scan2Cad v7.5 opens all popular raster file types, like BMP, CAL, JPG, PNG and TIF, etc.
It will open all sizes of scanned images, from a postage stamp or smaller up to A0 or larger.
Images can be acquired via a Twain interface from scanners like the 36inch Contex Hawk-Eye, etc, or directly via dedicated drivers that support professional large format scanners, like the new 40inch Colortrac SmartLF Cx 40.
Scan2Cad v7.5's scanning is supported with simple and adaptive thresholding integrated as a standard raster editing tool.
Thresholding automatically cleans dirty raster backgrounds while at the same time strengthening the foreground drawing detail.
Drawings which are cleaned and strengthened with thresholding offer the user the prospect of much better vectorisation results.
Scan2Cad v7.5 is one of the first raster to vector converters to offer this indispensable raster clean-up tool as a preparatory aid to enhanced conversion quality.
Among Scan2Cad v7.5's usability improvements are new preview window dialogs that allow the user to see in detail the effect of a raster editing function on all or part of an image.
The new preview windows have full zoom and pan support and a positioning mini-birdseye view.
Following requests from Autocad users standard Autocad-style mouse scroll-wheel support for zoom and pan actions is also included.
The new preview window dialogues make the process of removing speckles, filling holes, thickening lines, etc, and enhancing images using simple and adaptive thresholding quicker and more intuitive.
For example, by moving a slider bar small speckles followed by increasingly larger ones can be seen to dynamically disappear from the raster image within the despeckle preview window dialog.
Once the required editing effect is achieved the slider bar setting can be applied to the entire raster image or just a part of it.
Straightforward colour reduction of technical drawings, maps and artwork is another benefit of the new preview window dialogs.
Since 1999 Scan2Cad v5 users have been able to automatically reduce 16.7m colour images down to 256, then reduce them further using an automatic or user-defined process.
User-defined colour reduction had to be done within the confines of the colour palette.
In Scan2Cad v7.5 users can now select multiple colours directly from a 256 or less colour image displayed within the new reduce colours preview window dialogue.
By taking colours from the real world, Scan2Cad v7.5's colour selection and reduction is made more accurate and more flexible, as well as faster and easier.
In a well scanned and clean image Scan2Cad will recognise lines, including arrow lines, continuous and dashed lines, lined hatch patterns at different angles, arcs, circles, Bezier curves and text (OCR) where the individual characters are clear and separated and in the same orientation.
Scan2Cad v7.5 also offers an OCR font training capability based on neural network artificial intelligence.
Scan2Cad v7.5's core raster to vector conversion capability sees improved arc, circle and Bezier curve recognition.
In particular, it now has more accurate recognition of shallow, almost flat curves, like those found on the wings and fuselages of aircraft and the hulls of ships.
Scan2Cad v7.5 can be automated to tidy-up the contents of a folder of dirty raster images and or vectorise them.
It can do this as a Batch Run or using a more powerful, updated command line option which now has the ability to automatically Deskew or rotate raster images.
New keyboard shortcut keys have been added to make Scan2Cad quicker and more productive to use, largely as a result of user feedback.
Scan2Cad v7.5 also includes a multiple raster and vector editing undo capability.
The program is available with an optional CD and a comprehensive 342 page manual.
All of Scan2Cad v7.5's raster editing features are available for free in the evaluation version.
The restriction in the evaluation version is that only part of the vectorized image can be saved and exported as DXF.
Attached raster images will be exported in full.
The Scan2Cad evaluation version is therefore a handy, free raster editing program with the ability to attach and export a raster image within a DXF file to PC Cad programs, like Autocad LT, etc.
