PDF to Drawing Converter

It would be easier for the sender to re-send, with the original files attached. Presumably the sender has some sort of document control and submittal record system?

He says he's tried to extract DXFs but couldn't. I've asked what CAD system he's using to see if there's a translator. He sent me STEP files of some parts & it may be that he does not have models of everything. This design was a collaboration between several parties so the input could have been in various forms. We are now tasked with producing a commercial version of what was an experimental system.

Good luck!

if your going to spend money, why not get the same software your sender is using?

The problem files are from an old version (they're not sure which version) which would not migrate into their newer version of the software. I tried searching for old I-DEAS CAD versions but could not find any. I've contacted Siemens who sell I-DEAS CAD (now called NX) & they might be able to get someone to convert the files for me.

NX (UGS) is Unigraphics bought from UDS by Siemens.

I think you can migrate from I-deas to NX by using Siemens or UDS programs.

In my experience it is faster and accurate to remodel to your CAD system and do the analysis.

All translations have losses in spite of contrary claims

That's right, I spoke to Siemens yesterday & they put me in touch with their local agent. I've sent them 1 of the .MDF files & they are looking to see if they can open it & export it as a .DWG file.

I like this site for various programs. It includes capabilities and reviews.

Thanks for the reminder about Cnet Kamarat, I've downloaded Aide PDF to DXF which works well. It still converts arcs to segments but at least I can open the drawing in AutoCAD. Although I have lots of drawings they were in 4 multi-page PDFs which I was able to convert in one go & the free trial lets me run Aide 20 times with no restrictions.

I may have a better solution, I have found that the university was using I-DEAS CAD which, for some reason, they can no longer run. If their version of I-DEAS was in the right version range I should be able to take their native files & open them in Inventor, fingers crossed....

Hope it works!

Free: Inkscape

Expensive: Adobe Illustrator

Thanks for your nice sharing. But I wonder whether the free pdf converter will add watermarks on the files it converts?

We get this all the time, the best software for opening these files without them changing is Corel X5, however the original file exported in eps format is by far the most stable way.

If the pdf's have the vector information in them, which isn't always the case, I agree that Coreldraw works in that it will extract the vector information. This can then be exported certainly as an .eps, which is far more useable, possibly as .dxf, (i'm not at the machine with corel on so I can't check).

CNC jim

I have more information from the university, it seems that the PDFs they have sent us are archive files. When they changed to a later version of I-DEAS CAD they had some 2D files that could not be migrated so now they have the native files in .MDF format which they cannot open & the archive PDF copies. My Inventor & AutoCAD will not open the .MDF files & the PDFs do not contain vector information.

I think I will just have to bite the bullet & re-model the parts in Inventor.

Why not contact Chrisg288?

He can do magic. He might be busy at the moment but he is incredibly helpful if he has the time. He could do it all from scratch. Tell him I told you to pay him well .

'Magic iso' for the .mdf's??

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/258101/how_to_open_mdf_files.html?cat=59

cnc

I've looked at file converters & it seems that the .MDF extension is used for more than one file type. The most common is a media file which is the one that can be converted to an ISO file but it's not the same as these 2D drawing files.

I have been working at a large site and have been asked this same questiion various times. In simple terms PDFs are mostly raster images (some with vectors) and have not had much luck having them translated. Been working with .dgn, .pdf, .dwg , etc. I have had IT types saying sure you can. Usually turns out, as you have found, just kinda-sort-of. If you are working with inventor, I think you really need to rebuild them yourself and you can define the constraints as you require. In the early days AutoCad was used as a drafting tool, and when I was checking others work, I found they hadn't even attached the lines to each other, or even used othographic projection. So, their vectors wouldn't be much good. They were only interested in the paper deliverable.

To be honest, I'm also only interested in the paper copies for now. We need to get parts out to quote so that we can submit a bid for this equipment. If we get the order I know I will have to re-model everything.

I use Any PDF to DWG Converter http://anydwg.com/

However I doubt the issue with converting circles to splines is the fault of the converter. Likely when the PDF was created the splines were produced.

I agree, I don't think I will get any better unless I can convert the source files.

Talk to your local Autodesk (also known as AutoCAD) representative. They have the most versitle drawing converters on the market. AutoCAD is expensive but it is unmatched.

I did that but they couldn't find any way to open the .MDF files.