Importing from MacDraft

[koks]

I am currently looking into the possibilities of doing some work in Illustrator instead of MacDraft. We have .DXF floor plans and are drawing separate translucent layers on top, at various places of the building.

MacDraft functions well for this, but as we would like to interchange the files on both PC and Mac, Illustrator is a better alternative.

Anyone have any tips on how to import our previous work from MacDraft into Illustrator?

.DXF have so far not been a successful way, as the closed paths are broken down to small segments.
Also, the layers/layer names should be preserved.

I am thankful for any help

 

[blueark]

I think most CAD packages convert to Illustrator poorly. I don't use them myself, so I could be wrong, but I've received a few DXF files from AutoCAD in the past, with exactly the same problems. Maybe you'd be better off looking for a cross-platform CAD solution rather than an illustration program?

 

[itchybug]

There are tricks you can use to connect all those little path segments into longer paths.

Here's one:

1. Select all paths;

2. Copy and paste onto a new layer; Lock original layer;

3. Draw a rectangle, larger than the entire path selection, fill it, send to the back;

4. Select rectangle and paths, then hit "divide" in the pathfinder palette;

5. Ungroup the result, and delete only the outermost (rectangular) path, that should leave you with connected shapes instead of loose paths.

HTH

Bert

Bert Philippus -

http://www.itchybug.com