Converting AEC File Formats - Adobe Acrobat and PDF for Architecture, Engineering, and Construction - page 54

Creating Round-trip PDFs - Tim Huff, Adobe Systems

Creating round-trip PDFs from AutoCAD and Acrobat are as easy as 1-2-3, but what do I mean by “round-
tripping” ?
The term describes exporting an AutoCAD DWG file as a PDF file, sending the PDF file out for
review, and bringing those comments back into the DWG file within AutoCAD. The round-trip process
works with AutoCAD 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006. Users can participate in the review using Acrobat
Professional 7, Acrobat Standard 7, or if allowed by the initiator, Adobe Reader 7.
There are substantial benefits to using a round-trip method:

x Participants do not need AutoCAD to be part of the review process, which allows field personnel and
“non-CAD” users to add comments on the design.
x It allows for a true review process that is easily done with any MAPI-compliant email system (for this
chapter we will assume Microsoft Outlook).
x It allows the comments to be brought back into AutoCAD for ease of editing.

Practice File

This demonstration uses a file named WestSidePoliceStationACAD 2000.dwg available from the topic's
Web site. The drawing used in this demonstration is © 2004, John TeSelle of JT Architects.

Publishing the Drawing

We will start with an AutoCAD Drawing. Figure 6.1 shows a drawing of a police station, but it could easily
be any DWG file, of course.
The steps we are going to take follow the standard procedure for the conversion process. We will
publish the PDF file from AutoCAD using the PDFMaker buttons.
The three buttons represent three ways of creating the PDF from AutoCAD:

x Convert to Adobe PDF . This method creates a PDF file from an AutoCAD DWG and saves it

locally to your hard drive
x Convert to Adobe PDF and EMail . This method creates a PDF from the AutoCAD DWG and
saves it locally, then invokes your email client, places a standard notation about the PDF in a new email
message, and then emails the PDF to the selected recipients
x Convert to Adobe PDF and Send for Review . Use this method to create a PDF file from the
AutoCAD DWG file and save it locally. Then your email client is invoked, and dialog boxes display for
you to set up a review cycle by adding users to the list. The command also places a standard notation
about the review in the email message.

Follow these steps to convert the file and start the review:

1. Open AutoCAD and the DWG file.

2. Click the Convert to Adobe PDF and Send for Review button on the PDFMaker toolbar (Figure 6.2).

3. The Acrobat PDFMaker wizard opens and lists the layouts defined in the AutoCAD drawing. You
can add both Model and Paper space views to your PDF file (Figure 6.3).