Autodesk Fusion 360 - Conversion of Files - .pdf to .dwg and .dxf

If you just want to work with the PDF in Fusion 360, say to trace over the image then just convert the PDF to JPG. Converting most PDFs to DXFs has no real benefit as you are still dealing with a raster image not vector therefore the lines will not be recognised by Fusion 360.

@rong Thanks very much for the reply and information.  I've recently seen a YouTube video where somebody took a 'screenshot' of an opened .pdf file and attached it as a 'canvas' to Fusion 360, with the intention of 'sketching' around a part in an engineering drawing.  Tracing over the image is what I had/have in mind. 🙂

Raster and vector file types is all new to me - so I've looked them up. 🙂  From what I've read .dwg and .dxf file extensions are vector file types and Adobe reckons that .pdf is a vector type, also.

I note that you state 'most PDFs' - and not 'all PDF's'.  So, some will convert to .dxf's that Fusion 360 will open successfully and others will not?  Is the only way to find out, to convert the .pdf to .dxf and see if it opens?

Can anybody out there offer any wisdom about converting .pdf's to .dwg and then uploading/downloading them into Fusion 360 and Autodesk's Desktop Connector software?

Cheers

Jeremy Wilkins

@jeremy-wilkins Jeremy

In my experience by far the best results with this kind of work are obtained by manual tracing as Ron described above.

We will have an ITAT session on this tracing workflow very shortly.

Regards

Barrie

@jeremy-wilkins Fusion 360 cannot open PDF files, they have to be converted to another type of image file, usually JPG. Do that then trace around the drawing. As Barry has said, this is going to be covered in a an ITAT session but I will also be doing exactly that in my next ITAT session too, namely taking a wing plan and tracing its outline and using it for the positioning of ribs etc.

Regarding raster and vector, very basically a raster file is an image where's a vector file has 'information' contained within it which can then be used by the like of AutoCad to automatically reproduce the lines etc. You can have raster PDFs and vector PDFs but the latter are very rarely available. If you convert a raster PDF to a DXF then you will need software that converts the image to lines and this is usually a 2 stage process (clean the image then convert the image) and the success of this process is very varied. Having tried various software offerings to do this I have decided that for us modellers the standard of the original PDF images is not good enough to easily convert to a DXF, of course there are exceptions but if you take the plans that now come electronically with RCM&E, don't waste your time! Your best bet is to trace around the image and to do this you only need to convert the PDF to a JPG which most imaging software does (I use a MAC and I just export the PDF as a JPG) then import into Fusion 360 as a canvas then scale it and away you go. Tracing around the outline is a simple matter of drawing straight lines and curves, remember that with the latter for say a former you only need to do half of the curve them mirror that to give you an identical opposite curve.

Posted by: @jeremy-wilkins

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I've recently seen a YouTube video where somebody took a 'screenshot' of an opened .pdf file and attached it as a 'canvas' to Fusion 360

Personally I wouldn't do that unless it's only part of a drawing that you want, I would convert the whole thing into a JPG then import that as per my note above.

@rong Thanks very much for the further reply and information – including that .pdf files can exist as ‘raster’ and ‘vector’.

From your post (and that of Barrie Lever/@pylonuk) it appears that converting .pdf to .jpg is the way to go.  Thanks to you both for this.

I’m running Windows and currently have a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader – which does not have the capability of converting .pdf to .jpg.   There is a free 7 day trial available for a paid version of the software, which will convert .pdf to .jpg.

I’m a constant (but slow) builder – so I don’t think that I’m going to be able to justify a paid version of file conversion software. But I’ve noted that the Zamzar site (which I’ve already referenced above) offers .pdf to .jpg conversion and their free (ongoing?) two a day limit is likely to be more than enough for my needs.

An ITAT session on tracing would certainly be useful for me – so thanks to you both for the advice that one is on the cards. 🙂 

Regarding taking a ‘screenshot’ – there may be no circumstances in which you would consider, for an R/C model, wanting only part of a drawing. For the 1/2A power competition model that is currently on my building board probably the only parts that I would wish to have the ability to laser cut would be the 32 wing ribs and 16 tailplane ribs. The fuselage is sheet (only nose and tail formers) and the other bits and pieces are easily hand cut.

Is there a particular disadvantage to ‘screenshotting’ a complete .pdf document, rather than converting it to .jpg?

Thanks again, in advance.

Jeremy Wilkins

@jeremy-wilkins Adobe have a free on-line converter https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/online/pdf-to-jpg.html  

No problem taking a screen shot of the part (s) that you want, I usually select what I want from the PDF then export that to JPG (but I am using a MAC!)

Hi again Ron Gray/@rong. 

Thanks very much for the additional advice - and particularly about the free on-line converter.🙂  I was basing what I stated in my last post on the highlighted sections in the first attached screenshot and the fact that when I 'clicked' on the 'Convert' button, I was taken to a 'pricing' screen - as shown in the second attached screenshot.

Cheers

Jeremy Wilkins

@jeremy-wilkins yes if you try it from within Reader it will try and make you buy the full version!

the online pdf to pjg converters are really good I use them quite a lot. I just google when i need to convert and use what ever comes up. 

Posted by: @rong

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@jeremy-wilkins yes if you try it from within Reader it will try and make you buy the full version!

That's a bit naughty I think. 🙂 The PC based version of Adobe has done everything that I have wanted of it, up until now.  If I ended up paying for software that had extra features that I did not require and I later discovered that the same software house provided a free, website based, version of the only extra feature that I did require, then I am sure that I would feel a bit miffed. 😀

Hi, yet again, Jonathan and thanks very much for the information and advice. 🙂 

Cheers to you both

Jeremy Wilkins 

@jeremy-wilkins unfortunately that is the way of the software world, they want you on a subscription basis rather than paying out for the software. It just shows that it pays to do a lot of research before committing to anything!

@rong Thanks very much for the reply and further advice.  Adobe will certainly not be getting any money from me, for converting .pdf files to .jpg!! 😀

Cheers 

Jeremy Wilkins

@jeremy-wilkins I think you have to weigh it up, how much are you going to use the software. For example, I have looked at a lot of software developed specifically for creating cutting files for ribs and formers but came to the conclusion that as I don’t do a lot of that type of work (apart from teaching myself new techniques) it wasn’t really necessary, especially as I already have Fusion 360.