Autodesk Raster Design Manual

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Autodesk Raster Design ®

Getting Started

2004 34004-010000-5000A

March, 2003

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Third Party Program Credits This work is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. Its use is subject to the terms of the license agreement included with this software and agreed to during the installation process. © 1982-2002 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved. Typefaces from the Bitstream ® typeface library © 1992. Typefaces from Payne Loving Trust © 1996. All rights reserved. International CorrectSpell™ Spelling Correction System © 1995 by Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products, N.V. All rights reserved. ACIS (c) 1989-2001 Spatial Corp. All rights reserved © 1996-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Active Delivery™ 2.0. © 1999-2000 Inner Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Portions © 1991-1996 Arthur D. Applegate. All rights reserved. Portions of this software are based on the work of the Independent JPEG Group. AnswerWorks 3.0 © 1997-2000 WexTech Systems, Inc. Portions of this software © Lernout & Hauspie, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Copyright (c) 1999-2000 The Apache Software Foundation. All rights reserved. This product includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation. (http://www.apache.org) subject to its license terms and conditions. (http://xml.apache.org/dist/LICENSE.txt) PANTONE(R) Colors displayed here may not match PANTONE-identified standards. Consult current PANTONE Color Publications for accurate color. PANTONE(R) and other Pantone, Inc. trademarks are the property of Pantone, Inc. (c) Pantone, Inc., 2002 RAL DESIGN (c) RAL, Sankt Augustin, 2002 RAL CLASSIC (c) RAL, Sankt Augustin, 2002 Representation of the RAL Colors is done with the approval of RAL Deutsches Institut für Gütesicherung und Kennzeichnung e.V. (RAL - German Institute for Quality Assurance and Certification, reg. Assoc.), D-53757 Sankt Augustin. Please note that the representation of colors on monitors can only approximate the actual color shades as they are registered as lacquered samples. Neither the quality of the present software nor the hardware used is responsible for it. (c) Stade de France - Macary, Zublena et Regembal, Costantini - Architectes, ADAGP - Paris - 2003 © 2001 ScanSoft, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright © 1995-2003, LizardTech, Inc. MrSID technology protected by U.S. Patent No. 5,710,835 and patents pending. Portions of this computer program are copyright © 2000 Earth Resource Mapping, Inc. Licensing Technology Copyright (c) Macrovision Corp. 1996-2002. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

GOVERNMENT USE Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in FAR 12.212 (Commercial Computer Software-Restricted Rights) and DFAR 227.7202 (Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software), as applicable.

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Contents

Part I

Working with Autodesk Raster Design

Chapter 1

Welcome to Autodesk Raster Design 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 What’s New in Autodesk Raster Design 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Autodesk Raster Design Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 When to Use Autodesk Raster Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Who Should Use Autodesk Raster Design? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Autodesk Raster Design Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 About This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Online Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Autodesk Raster Design Home Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Chapter 2

Getting Started. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Minimum Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Software Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hardware Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Network Installation of Raster Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using Autodesk Raster Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Starting Autodesk Raster Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Configuring Autodesk Raster Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Accessing the Raster Design Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Image Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using AutoCAD Imaging Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Image Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Image Insertion and Correlation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

16 16 16 16 17 17 18 20 20 24 25 25 26 26

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Image Manage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Using AutoCAD Commands on Your Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Exiting the Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Chapter 3

Creating, Inserting, and Saving Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Creating New Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inserting Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pick Correlation Source Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modify Correlation Values Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Insertion Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Saving Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exporting Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 4

Setting Image Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Setting Up Your Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Changing Layer, Color, Linetype, and Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Applying Transparency Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Masking Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 5

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Contents

54 55 57 61 63 64 65 68

Working with Raster Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Editing Raster Using REM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . REM Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Region Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Enhanced Bitonal Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selection Options for Enhanced Bitonal Region Objects . . . . . . . . . Primitive Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using REM Objects to Edit Raster Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edit Mode Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Merging REM Objects into Existing Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Converting REM Objects to a New Raster Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Merging Vector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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44 46 48 50

Image Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Correlating Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rubbersheeting an Image After Correlation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Enhancing Images Using the Histogram Editing Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Enhancing Images Using Image Processing and Cleanup Commands . . . Managing the Image Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selecting Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Removing (Rubbing and Cropping) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Merging Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 6

32 34 36 37 37 39 40

72 72 75 76 77 82 84 85 86 86 87

Snapping to Binary Raster Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Chapter 7

Converting Raster to Vector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Vectorization Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 The Follower Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Using Vector Separation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Chapter 8

Converting Raster Text to AutoCAD Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Converting Raster Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Part II

Appendices

Appendix A Installing Autodesk Raster Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Choosing Your Installation Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Stand-Alone Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Network Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Client Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Single User Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 The Autodesk Raster Design CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 The Raster Design CD for Customers in the United States and Canada (Domestic) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 The Raster Design CD for International Customers . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Checking System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Minimum System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Hardware Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Requirements for Sharing Data in a Network Environment . . . . . . 118 Preparing for Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Installation Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Unique Installation Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Installing Single-User Raster Design.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Installing Raster Design on a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Associating Raster Design to Your AutoCAD Desktop . . . . . . . . . . 121 Raster Design Program Group Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Raster Design Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Licensing Raster Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Stand-Alone Licensing Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Network Licensing Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Appendix B

Supported Image Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Supported Image Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

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Appendix C Autodesk Raster Design Command Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Command Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

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Contents

Part 1

Working with Autodesk Raster Design

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| Part 1

Working with Raster Design

1

Welcome to Autodesk Raster Design 2004

Autodesk Raster Design 2004 converts scanned paper

In this chapter

drawings, blueprints, aerial photographs, and maps into

■

New features in this release

data you can edit and manage in AutoCAD® drawings.

■

Basics of using raster and vector images with Raster Design and AutoCAD

■

How to use the documentation

You can insert binary, grayscale, and color raster images into your AutoCAD drawings, then correlate, edit, manipulate, convert, save, and export the data.

3

Autodesk Raster Design 2004 enables you to convert scanned paper drawings, blueprints, aerial photographs, and maps into data you can edit and manage in AutoCAD drawings. You can insert binary, grayscale, and color raster images into your AutoCAD drawings, then correlate, edit, manipulate, convert, save, and export the data. This release can increase your efficiency and accuracy by providing improved access to tools and commands, a full array of vectorization tools, and the ability to share image and correlation data on the Internet.

What’s New in Autodesk Raster Design 2004 Autodesk Raster Design 2004 is the most powerful imaging application yet. With new features, you can improve the appearance and standardize the use of color images, and interactively convert scanned text to AutoCAD text. Improved features also allow you to correct distortions in images with greater accuracy.

What’s New in Autodesk Raster Design 2004 Function

Enhancements

Improved installation CD browser provides improved installation experience and gives options you more power over the installation process . Improved color management

Enhanced graphics tools include access to 24-bit True Color and Pantone and RAL color systems.

Improved text recognition functionality

Better preserves original formatting such as indenting.

To use Autodesk Raster Design 2004, you must have AutoCAD 2004 or another AutoCAD 2004-based product, such as Autodesk Map® 2004, installed on your computer.

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Chapter 1

Welcome to Autodesk Raster Design 2004

Autodesk Raster Design Basics You can use Raster Design to edit and manage raster data. Raster data is a series of dots, or pixels, that represents an image. This type of data is produced when you scan a paper drawing, blueprint, or photograph. There are three types of raster images:

Binary

Two-color line drawings, also called bitonal

Grayscale

An image with several different shades of gray, such as a scanned black and white photograph

Color

An image with multiple colors, such as a color satellite image

Vector data, on the other hand, is a group of mathematical equations that generates lines, arcs, and other AutoCAD objects. Vector data is typically made up of points which are used to define precise geometric shapes. This type of data is produced when you draw objects in AutoCAD.

Raster

Vector

If you use AutoCAD without Raster Design, you can insert raster images into a drawing and modify image display values such as brightness and contrast. However, you need to use a raster editing program like Raster Design to do any of the following: ■ ■ ■ ■

Permanently edit the raster data of your images Insert images that include correlation data into a drawing Save images to another format Export images to create external correlation files

Autodesk Raster Design Basics

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Key Concepts: Autodesk Raster Design Basics ■

■

In Raster Design, image frames, also called boundaries, are defined as AutoCAD objects, which means you can assign a frame to a layer and change its color. In this documentation, the term raster entities refers to the lines, arcs, and circles, including text, that make up a binary raster image. Each line, circle, and arc in a binary raster image is a raster entity

Raster entities ■

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■

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Chapter 1

Raster data refers to the pixels that make up a binary, grayscale, or color image. All references to a raster image refer to an image file or to the representation of that image after it is inserted into an AutoCAD drawing. Converting raster to vector makes modifying a drawing easier and may result in reducing the total file size of your project. After you convert raster data to vector entities such as lines or polylines, you can edit the vector entities using AutoCAD commands. To convert raster to vector, you can use the Raster Design vectorization tools. You can use the Raster Design REM commands to edit individual raster entities and raster areas directly. You can create a selection set of a raster area or raster entities, and then you can move, copy, or delete the selection set using native AutoCAD commands. You can use vectorization tools to convert raster data to vector. Vectorization tools replace raster geometry with vector geometry that can be manipulated like any other AutoCAD objects, and vectorization tools can even remove the raster data as you proceed.

Welcome to Autodesk Raster Design 2004

When to Use Autodesk Raster Design You can use Raster Design to: ■ ■

■

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Insert images that respect correlation information from various sources Permanently adjust image brightness and contrast, convert color images to grayscale, and convert color and grayscale images to binary images—all by using a histogram Trace the raster lines, arcs, circles, or even contours on a binary raster image, converting the raster geometry to vectors interactively or semiautomatically Modify the display order of images Merge two or more raster images Remove parts of images Merge vectors into a raster image Read, save, and export images to different names, locations, and formats Move, delete, and copy binary raster entities and areas on raster images using the REM (raster entity manipulation) commands Make vector additions to raster entities by using raster snap modes to snap the new vectors to existing raster entities Correlate images with AutoCAD coordinates or vectors Select a color in an image and make it transparent Clean up areas in raster images such as blueprints and floor plans Correct distortions in images

Who Should Use Autodesk Raster Design? Anyone who wants to edit, manage, and correlate raster images with AutoCAD can benefit from the capabilities of Raster Design.

Architects

To incorporate photographs and old hand-drawn plans into new vector data for planning and presentation purposes before remodeling, renovating, or doing historic reconstruction.

Cartographers

To take advantage of real-world coordinate support. When running on AutoCAD’s GIS based desktops, such as Autodesk Land Desktop 3, and Autodesk Map® 5, Raster Design gives you the ability to perform coordinate transformations.

Environmental specialists

To generate groundwater contours, locate wells, plot contamination values, and use scanned soil maps and georeferenced data for support of risk assessment.

Autodesk Raster Design Basics

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Geo-exploration specialists and engineers

To use remote sensing data for exploration planning, strata mapping, and geo-technical applications.

Land planners

To integrate imagery, maps, and terrain models into base maps that depict change analysis.

Mechanical engineers

To easily update scanned drawings using raster entity manipulation (REM) commands.

Photogrammetric and Remote Sensing Firms

To use many image formats, including GeoTIFF and GeoSPOT. Also, to use rubbersheeting and other correlation commands to integrate images into base maps.

Resource managers To use remote sensing data, scanned forest cover-type maps and soil maps, and geo-referenced data and images for impact studies in forestry, soil science, hydrology, and wildlife management. Surveyors

To perform deed analysis using images for photogrammetric control by using the vectorization tools to convert raster to vector.

Town, city, county, municipal and state mapping agencies

To use scanned tax maps and ordinance surveys as references for detailing city systems and GIS tasks.

Autodesk Raster Design Documentation About This Guide This manual provides you with the information you need to get started with Raster Design. Part I presents the fundamentals of Raster Design 2004. Part II provides general installation and upgrade information as well as summaries of supported formats and Raster Design commands. The glossary provides definitions of terms used with the software. When a feature is described in this guide, the associated dialog box is shown along with instructions for using it. Key concepts summarize the feature’s main points, and brief procedures outline step by step how to use the feature and direct you to topics in the online documentation. If you needed to insert an image, for example, you might check the table of contents or the index. You would find that Chapter 3 contains the information you need, with numbered steps to follow to complete the task. Some steps include references to the Help.

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Chapter 1

Welcome to Autodesk Raster Design 2004

For example: To insert an image Step

Use

1 Select Image ➤ Insert.

Inserting Images

to locate

or type iinsert.

In the left margin of many sections in this manual, you will see the following format that contains topics in Help with more information.

Search Help for… Inserting Images Correlating Images During Insertion

Online Documentation In addition to this Getting Started guide, the following documentation is provided on the Raster Design CD or installed with the software: ■

■

■

Stand-alone and network installation, licensing, and deployment information is provided on the Raster Design CD ROM and is accessible from the Raster Design CD browser. Online tutorials contain lessons to familiarize you with how Raster Design works. The lessons include actual drawing files for you to work on. It is recommended that you run through the tutorials for an understanding of how the Raster Design features are applied to real life scenarios. The online Help contains all the information you need to work with raster images and vector geometry.

Installation, Deployment, and Licensing Information The Raster Design CD has it's own built-in browser, which enables you to easily and quickly locate the installation, licensing, and deployment information you need for a quick and efficient installation.

Autodesk Raster Design Documentation

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■

■ ■

For details about the stand-alone product installation, click the StandAlone Installation Guide link under Step 1 on the Install tab of the browser. The Install tab also provides access to the product Readme and Software & System requirements information. For details about stand-alone licensing, click the Stand-Alone Licensing Guide link on the Documentation tab. For details about network setup, configuration, and licensing, refer to the Network Administrator's Guide and Network Licensing Guide, which are accessible from the Network Deployment tab of the CD browser.

Online Tutorials Each Raster Design tutorial contains a series of related lessons. A folder containing the images and drawings used in the lessons accompanies each tutorial. In each lesson, you work with various images to explore particular features of Raster Design. The lessons are organized based on how you would typically work with the those types of images. You can complete the lessons in any order you choose. The images and drawings used in later lessons do not require you to have completed the earlier lessons. As in online Help, most tutorial topics feature two tabs that separate the information into different content types. The default tab displays procedural information, while the second tab displays conceptual information about the feature. To move between tabs, simply click the new tab. You can access the tutorials by selecting Help on the Image menu and choosing Autodesk Raster Design Tutorials.

Online Help The Help files can provide you with detailed reference information about options, commands and dialog boxes. You can access Raster Design Help files by using several different methods. Each method takes you to a different place in the Help file, and each method has its own benefits.

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Accessing Help Method

Result

Benefits

From the program group, select the Raster Design Help Files icon.

Displays a help window with two panes. The navigation pane, on the left, includes Contents, Index, and Search tabs. Use these tabs to display information in the topic pane on the right side of the Help window.

This method can be useful when you are not sure which topic has the information you need. Since the navigation pane remains open while you view the topic, the context in which the current topic is located will often direct you to the information you need.

Click the Help button when you have a dialog box open.

Displays the Help topic that describes the options in the dialog box.

This method takes you directly to the information you need while you have the dialog box open.

Press F1 when you are in the middle of running a command and the command line prompts you for input.

Displays the Help topic that describes the command you are running.

This method takes you directly to the information you need while you are using a command.

From the Image menu, select a command and press F1.

Displays the Help topic that describes the selected command.

This method takes you directly to the information you need.

Click a Help button in a dialog box.

Displays the Help topic that describes the options in the dialog box.

This method takes you directly to the information that you need while you have the dialog box open.

or Select Image ➤ Help.

Many topics in online Help feature three tabs that separate the information into three content types: Conceot, Procedure, and Reference. To move between tabs, simply click the tab.

Autodesk Raster Design Documentation

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The following procedure describes how to locate a topic title in the Help file. To use Help to locate Raster Design Help topic titles Steps 1 Select Image ➤ Help to display the main Help contents window.

2 Click the Search tab. If you have not previously used the Search tab. 3 Type the keywords you want to search for, then click List Topics. Topics with a similar title are listed. 4 Click the name of the topic you want to locate, and then click Display to view the Help topic. 5 When the Help topic is displayed, you can print the topic by selecting Options ➤ Print Topic or you can view related topics by clicking the blue, underlined text.

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Key Concepts: Help When you open the Help file, the Help window is divided into two panes. On the right is the navigation pane, where the Contents, Index, Favorites, and Search tabs are displayed. Main topics are indicated on the Contents tab by book icons. If you double-click, or open, the book icon, individual topics are displayed under each book. To view a topic such as “Insert Images,” select the page icon. ■ ■

■ ■ ■

The Help window has four tabs: Contents, Index, Favorites, and Search. Click the Index tab to view a list of Help topics. You can click any index entry to view the topic for that entry. If more than one topic shares the same index entry, then you can choose the topic that you want to view. Click the Search tab if you want to search for specific words, for example, to search for Help topic titles that are listed in this guide. With a topic open, you can move to other relevant topics or definitions by selecting the blue, underlined text. You can click Back to move back to the previous topic.

Autodesk Raster Design Home Page If you have an Internet connection, then you can find additional information about Raster Design on the Raster Design home page. The Raster Design home page includes information about technical support, purchasing information, and how to access the Raster Design news group. To access the Raster Design home page Step 1 Select Image ➤ Raster Design Home Page. or Click the

icon on the Raster Design toolbar.

or Open http://www.autodesk.com/rasterdesignuser from your Web browser.

Autodesk Raster Design Home Page

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2

Getting Started

Autodesk Raster Design 2004 can read scanned and pho-

In this chapter

tographic images, including GeoSPOT satellite images

■

Minimum System Requirements

■

Starting and configuring Raster Design

■

Accessing the Raster Design commands

■

Using Raster Design and AutoCAD together

■

Using AutoCAD commands on your images

and wavelet compressed images. More than 80 percent of the world’s engineering drawings still exist as paper drawings, which are sometimes damaged or misfiled and can be difficult to update. Raster Design provides an effective, low-cost method for archiving and updating these drawings.

15

To use Raster Design, you must convert your paper drawing to raster data. You can use a large document scanner, a desktop scanner, or a hand-held scanner to save the raster image to a file type that Raster Design can read. File size is determined by the scan resolution (dots per inch), the file format, the complexity of the drawing, and the size of the paper drawing being scanned.

Minimum Requirements To run properly, Raster Design 2004 requires a minimum of the following hardware and software. If your computer does not meet the minimum requirements, upgrade your computer before installing any software, to avoid problems later.

NOTE For complete instructions on installing Raster Design, see Appendix A, “Installing Autodesk Raster Design” on page 109.

Software Requirements One of the following AutoCAD 2004-based products: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

AutoCAD® 2004 AutoCAD® Mechanical 2004 Autodesk® Mechanical Desktop 2004 Autodesk® Architectural Desktop 2004 Autodesk Map™ 2004 Autodesk® Land Desktop 2004

Hardware Requirements You should have 75 MB of disk space available in addition to the minimum system requirements of AutoCAD 2004, or the AutoCAD 2004–based product upon which Raster Design is installed.

Network Installation of Raster Design System administrators planning to install Raster Design on a network must have TCP/IP installed and functioning on the computers that are running Raster Design.

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For more information on installing Raster Design on a network, see the Network Administrator’s Guide, which is available from the Network Deployment tab of the Raster Design CD Browser.

Using Autodesk Raster Design You can use Raster Design to insert, edit, correlate, and convert raster images in any AutoCAD drawing. Using Raster Design you can: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Update existing paper drawings by scanning them, then adding vector information or editing the raster entities. Insert tiled quadrant sheets into a drawing using the correlation data saved within the files. Convert a grayscale contour map to a binary image you can then vectorize and use to create a digital terrain model surface. Correlate images so that they are positioned correctly within the AutoCAD coordinate system. Move, delete, and copy binary raster entities and areas on raster images.

Starting Autodesk Raster Design Raster Design runs seamlessly with AutoCAD. The Raster Design setup program automatically creates an icon that you can use to start both programs. To start the Raster Design programs Steps

Use

to locate

1 To initialize AutoCAD and Raster Design, select the Raster Design icon. 2 Select Image ➤ Insert to insert an image or select Image ➤ Options to configure Raster Design.

Inserting Images Configuring Raster Design

Using Autodesk Raster Design

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Configuring Autodesk Raster Design Search Help for… Configuring Raster Design

The options in the Raster Design Options dialog box control Raster Design settings, paths, memory, and the default correlation information for new images, image masks, and vector merge. These settings affect the entire drawing and all images that are inserted into the drawing. To access the Raster Design Options dialog box, and select Image ➤ Options, or type ioptions.

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Key Concepts: Configuring Autodesk Raster Design You use the Raster Design Options dialog box to configure Raster Design. The dialog box consists of the following tabs: ■ ■

■

■ ■

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

■

■

Paths sets the path for correlation files and the AutoPaste feature. User Preferences controls image detachment, message display options, and the mouse settings. This tab also allows you to set default Startup options. Feature Settings sets the option to save a thumbnail with your image. This tab also controls locking settings, Remove Under settings, and the rub/crop line width. Image Defaults sets the default correlation information for an image, such as insertion point, scale, rotation, and density value. Memory specifies a temporary swap file for Raster Design to use if it runs out of RAM. This tab also allocates the amount of system RAM to be used for images. New Image sets the default values for the creation of a new image, including image properties and default color type. Vector Merge sets the default behavior for future vector merge operations, including expanding an image and respecting the display order. REM sets the default properties for REM Objects, including clipboard settings and REM Object color. Raster Entity Detection sets the default values for detecting various types of raster geometry using either single-pick or multi-pick methods. Image Mask sets the default property values for future image masks, including turning the mask on and off, showing how the mask affects the images in the drawing, and defining the mask boundary. VTools General sets the default options for most of the vectorization tools, including the removal method; Line, Circle, Arc and Polyline settings; and the vector separation table which allows you to assign layers and polyline widths based on the width of the raster being traced. VTools Follower sets the default options for the follower-enabled vectorization tools, including the follower color, and the settings for contours and 3D polylines.

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Accessing the Raster Design Commands You can access the Raster Design commands from the Image menu, the shortcut menu, the toolbar, or the command line. We suggest you experiment with all options to determine which you prefer.

Image Menu All Raster Design menu commands are located in the Image menu. The following chart outlines the commands you can access through the Image menu, with sources for more information. Image menu commands Command name

Functions

New

Displays the New Image dialog box, which you can use to define the frame and properties for an image you want to create. In this manual: see “Creating New Images” on page 32. Related Help topics: ■ Creating New Images ■ New Image Tab ■ New Image Dialog Box

Insert

Displays the Insert Image dialog box that is used to insert images into your current AutoCAD drawing. Here you can also access the Correlation Function, which also allows easy image correlation through the Correlation Wizard. In this manual: see “Inserting Images” on page 34. Related Help topics: ■ Insert Image Dialog Box ■ Inserting Images ■ Correlating Images

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Image menu commands (continued) Command name

Functions

Save, Save As, and Export

Commands that you can use to export an image to a different file format, save an image without saving the drawing, save an image to another file name, location, or file type, or export the correlation data associated with the image. In this manual: see “Saving Images” on page 39 and “Exporting Images” on page 40. Related Help topics: ■ Saving an Image by Exporting ■ Saving Images ■ Saving an Image to Another File Name, Type, or Location

Correlate

Commands you can use to correlate your image, by matching, moving, scaling, or rubbersheeting. In this manual: see “Correlating Images” on page 54. Related Help topics: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Manage

Changing the Image Scale and Rotation Moving an Image Deskewing an Image Scaling an Image Rubbersheeting an Image

Displays the Image Manage dialog box you can use to display information about images or insertions, to change display order of your insertions, to zoom to an image, to erase an image, to change the active or saved path, and so on. In this manual: see “Setting Up Your Data” on page 44. Related Help topics: ■ Managing Images ■ Managing Images and Insertions

Cleanup

Commands you can use to correct errors that may occur during the scanning process. You can deskew, despeckle, invert, mirror, or adjust an image’s bias. In this manual see: see “Enhancing Images Using Image Processing and Cleanup Commands” on page 61. Related Help topics: ■ Modifying Images ■ Cleaning Up Images

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Image menu commands (continued) Command name

Functions

Image Processing

Commands you can use to enhance the appearance of your image or convert an image to a different image type: histogram, convolve, bitonal filters, Change Density, Change Color Depth, and Palette Manager. In this manual: see “Enhancing Images Using Image Processing and Cleanup Commands” on page 61. Related Help topics: ■ Modifying Images ■ Image Processing

Raster Entity Manipulation

Commands you can use to define and manipulate raster entities. REM edits binary, color, and grayscale raster data. Unlike commands such as mirror, histogram, and invert, which operate on a whole image, REM commands can be used to edit small sections of an image. In this manual: see “Editing Raster Using REM” on page 72. Related Help topics: ■ Modifying Images ■ Overview of Raster Entity Manipulation (REM) tools ■ Manipulating a REM Object

Mask

Displays the New Image Mask dialog box that is used to create a mask. In this manual: see “Masking Images” on page 50. Related Help topics: ■ Modifying Images ■ Masking Images

Crop

Commands you can use to crop images. Options are provided for cropping a line, a circular region, a rectangular region, a diagonal region, and a polygonal region. In this manual: see “Removing (Rubbing and Cropping)” on page 65. Related Help topics: ■ Modifying Images ■ Cropping Images

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Image menu commands (continued) Command name

Functions

Remove

Commands you can use to rub a raster line, rub multiple line segments, rub a donut, rub an arc, rub within a polygon region, rub within a diagonal region, rub within a rectangle region, or remove using existing geometry. In this manual: see “Removing (Rubbing and Cropping)” on page 65. Related Help topics: ■ Modifying Images ■ Rubbing Images

Merge

Commands you can use to merge images or vector data, and select raster pens widths. In this manual: see “Merging Images” on page 68. Related Help topics: ■ Modifying Images ■ Merging Images ■ Merging Vectors into a Raster Image

Vectorization Tools

Commands you can use to convert a raster arc, circle, text, line, polyline, rectangle, or contour to vector. In this manual: see “Converting Raster to Vector” on page 91. Related Help topics: ■ Converting Raster Entities to Vector

Recognize Text

Commands you can use to convert raster text to AutoCAD text. In this manual: see “Converting Raster Text to AutoCAD Text” on page 101. Related Help topics: ■ Changing Text Using Text Recognition

Snap

Displays the Raster Snap tab you use to set the snapping mode. In this manual: see “Snapping to Binary Raster Entities” on page 88. Related Help topics: ■ Raster Snapping ■ Raster Snap Tab ■ Specifying Raster Snap Settings

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Image menu commands (continued) Command name

Functions

Toggle Frames

Changes the visibility of the image frame. Related Help topics: ■ Configuring Raster Design ■ Changing the Image Frame Visibility

Toggle Quick Bar

Changes the visibility of the Quick Bar. Related Help topics: ■ Configuring Raster Design ■ Changing the Quick Bar Visibility

Options

Displays the Raster Design Options dialog box that you can use to configure Raster Design. In this manual: see “Configuring Autodesk Raster Design” on page 18. Related Help topics: ■ Raster Design Options Dialog Box ■ Configuring Raster Design ■ Setting the Options

Help

Displays the Raster Design User’s Guide in Help.

Raster Design Home Page

Opens the Raster Design home page on the Internet, if you have an internet connection and browser: http://www.autodesk.com/rasterdesignuser

About Raster Design Displays Raster Design licensing information.

Toolbar Search Help for… Raster Design Toolbar

With the Raster Design toolbar, you can access commands quickly. When you pass your mouse over a tool icon, the name of the tool is displayed so you can find out what the tool is used for. More detailed information about a tool, such as the equivalent command you can type on the command line, is displayed on the AutoCAD status bar at the bottom of the screen. If you close a toolbar and want to display it again, hold the pointer over any tool in an AutoCAD toolbar and right-click, then select the toolbar you want from the shortcut menu.

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Command Line You can run most Raster Design commands by typing their names on the command line. Many Raster Design commands start with the letter i. For example, to run the histogram command, type ihistogram on the command line. For a detailed list of all the Raster Design commands, see Appendix C, “Autodesk Raster Design Command Summary” on page 129 in this manual. For each topic that is described in Help, the menu path for the command is listed as well as the command line equivalent.

Using AutoCAD Imaging Commands Search Help for… Use AutoCAD Commands on Images

AutoCAD imaging commands and Raster Design commands are fully compatible with each other. The primary differences between them are based on their image editing capabilities and the methods they provide to insert, manage, and correlate images. AutoCAD has basic imaging commands you can use to insert images, clip images, and adjust image appearance. AutoCAD command

What you can use it for

IMAGE

Attach, detach, load, reload, and unload images.

IMAGEADJUST

Adjust the brightness and contrast of an image, and fade the image (display-only adjustments).

IMAGEATTACH

Attach (or insert) images.

IMAGECLIP

Clip an image so that only a selected polygonal area of the image is displayed.

IMAGEQUALITY

Change between high and draft display modes.

IMAGEFRAME

Turn frames on and off.

TRANSPARENCY

Turn transparency on and off.

NOTE AutoCAD commands are shown in UPPERCASE. Raster Design commands have an initial capital letter, for example, Histogram. When you type a Raster Design command on the command line, the letter “i” precedes the command name.

Using AutoCAD Imaging Commands

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The next sections describe the differences between AutoCAD imaging commands and Raster Design commands.

Image Editing Using the AutoCAD imaging commands, you can modify image display values such as brightness and contrast, and you can clip an image so that only part of the image is displayed in the drawing. However, these adjustments affect only how the image appears in your drawing. You cannot use AutoCAD by itself to permanently edit the image pixels. Raster Design was designed to work with AutoCAD so that you can permanently edit your images. For example, if you make adjustments to the brightness and contrast of an image using the Raster Design Image ➤ Editing Filters ➤ Histogram (ihistogram) command, you can save the edits to the image file itself. Then, whenever you open a drawing that contains that image file, the image appears with the correct brightness and contrast values. If, on the other hand, you use the AutoCAD IMAGEADJUST command to adjust the brightness of an image and you have the same image inserted into another drawing, you must repeat the same changes to the image in the other drawing.

Image Insertion and Correlation Images you insert using the AutoCAD IMAGE command are completely compatible with images you insert using the Raster Design Image ➤ Insert (iinsert) command. For example, if you insert images using the Raster Design Insert command and you then save the drawing, the images are displayed and correlated if you open the drawing using AutoCAD without Raster Design. Unlike AutoCAD, Raster Design respects correlation from various sources. Whenever you insert an image using the Insert, Raster Design searches for correlation files that are associated with that image. Then you can decide which source to use. These correlation sources include correlation that was saved in the image file, resource files, world files, and the defaults that you specify in the Raster Design Options dialog box. Using AutoCAD alone, you must manually specify the correlation data.

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Image Manage AutoCAD stores only one definition of each image you insert into a drawing, even if you have multiple copies of the same image in the drawing. The definition is referred to as the image, while each copy is referred to as an insertion. You can manage the images and insertions in your drawing using the Raster Design Image ➤ Manage (imanage) dialog box. Using the Images tab of the Image Manage dialog box, you can attach, detach, load, and unload images. Attaching an image is equivalent to inserting an image. Unloading an image removes the image from memory, speeding up system performance. Using the Insertions tab of the Image Manage dialog box, you can change the display order of the images, zoom to an image, and erase an image from the drawing. Each image you insert into the drawing—whether it is a copy of an image or an unnamed image you created by merging two images together— is listed in the Image Manage dialog box. This is helpful if you have more than one copy of an image in your drawing.

Key Concepts: Imaging Commands ■

■

When you use the AutoCAD IMAGEATTACH command, you “attach” an image to the drawing. If this terminology sounds familiar to you, it is because AutoCAD uses a similar “attach” option to link xrefs to an AutoCAD drawing. You cannot actually edit the raster data of an image using AutoCAD without Raster Design. To permanently edit an image, you must use an image editing program like Raster Design.

Using AutoCAD Commands on Your Images Because image frames are treated as AutoCAD objects, you can modify your images using many of the AutoCAD commands you already know, such as MOVE, COPY, ROTATE, and SCALE. Using AutoCAD grips, you can select image frames and vectors and then choose an editing command. You can edit both raster images and vector objects at the same time by including both in your selection set.

Using AutoCAD Commands on Your Images

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NOTE You can use the AutoCAD UNDO command for up to ten Raster Design image edits. This limit applies to edits that actually change raster data, not to display-only changes. Some of the commands that are affected by this limit are REM, Histogram, Rub, Crop, and Rubbersheet. This table lists some frequently used AutoCAD commands. AutoCAD command

What you can use it for

REGEN

Restore the correct display order of images. When you edit an image, the image is placed on top of any other images or vectors in your drawing. Use the AutoCAD REGEN command to restore the images to their correct order.

LAYER

Control the display of images. You can insert each image on a different layer and then use the LAYER options to turn the image layers on or off, freeze them, change their colors, or lock them to prevent the images on them from being edited.

ZOOM and PAN

Zoom to images and pan across images.

UNDO

Undo the effects of a Raster Design command.

DVIEW

Rotate the UCS to any degree to view the images at a different angle. NOTE You cannot edit an image if you use the VPOINT command to change the drawing viewpoint to anything other than 0,0,1.

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PLOT

Plot an image.

GRIP EDIT

Edit an image using grip editing commands.

SCALE

Scale a REM Object.

OSNAP(s)

Snap to image frames and REM objects.

Chapter 2

Getting Started

Exiting the Programs When you have completed your editing session, you can exit AutoCAD and Raster Design, or you can start a new editing session by opening an existing drawing or creating a new drawing. You can exit AutoCAD and Raster Design by using any of the following methods: ■ ■ ■

Select File ➤ Exit. Type exit or quit. Click the close box in the upper-right corner of the AutoCAD window.

When you exit, you will be prompted to save your drawing and any edits you have made to the images. Any image correlation information, such as insertion point, scale, and rotation, is saved in the drawing file. Any edits you have made to the images are saved in the image files.

NOTE Use the Image ➤ Export (iexport) command if you want to save the correlation information to a separate file. You have the option to save edits you made to your images, or you can discard any unsaved edits by “skipping” over a specific image you edited. The Save Image dialog box is displayed when you save or exit a drawing with images you have edited. You can use these options to save all edited images, skip all edited images, or save selected images before exiting the programs.

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3

Creating, Inserting, and Saving Images

After you are familiar with the basics of Autodesk Raster

In this chapter

Design, you are ready to begin working with your

■

Creating new images

■

Inserting raster images into AutoCAD drawings

■

Saving images

■

Exporting your data

images. This section describes the various methods of saving your image data, so that your image files are in the correct format when they need to be used again.

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Creating New Images Search Help for… Creating New Images Configuring Raster Design

You can create a new blank image that you can use with the Image Merge and Vector Merge commands. When you create a new image, you begin by defining an image frame. After you have created a new image, you must save it to establish a link between the drawing and the image file. To create a new image with Raster Design Steps 1 From the menu, select Image ➤ New. 2 In the New Image dialog box, click Pick and specify two points on the screen to draw a frame.

3 In the AutoCAD Properties section, enter the correlation information insertion point, scale, and rotation.

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To create a new image with Raster Design (continued) Steps 4 In the Color Type section, choose one of the following options when you create a new image: ■ ■ ■ ■

Bitonal. Image that contains only two colors. Grayscale. Image that contains up to 256 shades of gray. Indexed Color. Image that contains up to 256 different colors. True Color. Image that contains over 16.7 million colors. This type uses more system resources.

5 In the Image Properties section, specify the width and height of the new image in pixels per unit of measurement. 6 Enter a value to define the density of the new image. 7 Turn off Show This Dialog to access the command line. 8 Use the default insertion point coordinates you set in the Raster Design Options dialog box. 9 Type inew to define the properties of the image that you want to create. When you want to define the properties for more than one new image, use the New Image configuration tab on the Raster Design Options dialog box.

Key Concepts: Creating a New Image ■ ■ ■ ■

You can create a new image that contains binary, grayscale, indexed color, or true color. You can preview the properties of the new image before you insert it. You can create a new image using the Raster Design Image ➤ New (inew) command. You can turn off Show This Dialog to access the command line interface.

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Inserting Images Search Help for… Inserting Images

You can insert any number of raster images into an AutoCAD drawing. When you insert an image, it is placed in a frame, and a link is created between the drawing and the image file. When you insert one image with the Raster Design Image ➤ Insert (iinsert) command, the Insert Image dialog box is displayed. On the right side of the dialog box, you can preview the image and information such as file type, color depth, density, and so on. The column of folders along the left side of the Insert Images dialog box is called the Places List. It contains shortcuts to local folders such as your Favorites folder or My Documents folder (or Personal folder, depending on which operating system you are using). The Places List also includes a History folder which displays the folders you have used most recently.

Search Help for… Inserting an Image From the Internet Using the Insert Image Dialog Box

If you have Microsoft® Internet Explorer (version 4.71 or higher), and access to the Internet, you can open image files from the Internet. There are several ways to access images from the Internet: ■

■ ■

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Click the Search the Web icon at the top of the dialog box to display the AutoCAD Web browser, with which you can specify an Internet location and select an image to insert. Click the Buzzsaw icon in the Places List to access projects hosted on Buzzsaw.com. Click the FTP icon to browse FTP sites and select an image to insert.

Creating, Inserting, and Saving Images

Search Help for… Correlating Images During Insertion Transform Page

When you insert an image, that image must be correlated in the drawing. Correlation is simply a means of positioning the image using known coordinates. You can correlate your inserted image in three different ways during the insertion process as shown in the following illustration.

Show Frames Only and Zoom to Image are always available and are independent of Correlation. If you select Show Frames Only, only the image frame will be inserted into your drawing. If you select Zoom to Image, Raster Design zooms to the extents of the image after it is correlated. You can use Quick Insert for automatic correlation during image insertion. Quick Insert uses the highest order correlation source available to perform the image insertion. There are no options to specify with Quick Insert; the image is simply inserted after you click Open on the Insert Image dialog box. You can change the default correlation information by using the Image Defaults tab on the Raster Design Options dialog box. For the new or intermediate Raster Design user, the Correlation Wizard is recommended. Because the Wizard goes through the correlation process step by step, it helps you to understand the different correlation options required for proper image insertion. The Correlation Wizard is the default Insert Option. You can use the Correlation dialog box if you are an experienced user and want to quickly establish correlation parameters with minimal keystrokes. If you are unsure about the correlation options required for proper image insertion, you may want to use the default, the Correlation Wizard. If you choose to use the Correlation dialog box, any changes you make are incorporated the next time you use the correlation feature. If you choose the Correlation Wizard, or the Correlation dialog box, you are prompted with three pages: ■ ■ ■

Pick Correlation Source Modify Correlation Values Insertion

If you are running Autodesk Map or Autodesk Land Desktop, you will also be prompted with the Transform Page.

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Pick Correlation Source Page Search Help for…

When you insert an image, Raster Design searches for all available correlation files for the image and displays them in the Correlation Source list.

Pick Correlation Source Page

Depending on what type of image you are inserting and whether or not a resource file or a world file exists for the image, you might see the following sources listed. ■

■

■

■

Image File: For certain types of images, correlation data can be saved as part of an image file. These file types include RLC, IG4, IGS, GeoTags in GeoTIFF, or HDR File in SPOT. Resource File: Can be created by the Raster Design Export command or previous versions of Raster Design ESP. Resource files have an .res file extension. World File: Can be created by the Raster Design Export command for all image formats. World files have different file extensions, depending on file type. Image Defaults: The values you set in the Raster Design Options dialog box.

The information displayed on the Pick Correlation Source page reflects the values stored in the correlation source you have chosen.

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Modify Correlation Values Page Search Help for… Modify Correlation Values Page

You can use the Modify Correlation Values Page to specify the correlation values of insertion point, scale, and rotation for a specific insertion. Although you start with the values read from the correlation file and then modify them for a specific image insertion, the original correlation values stored in the file are not modified.

NOTE If you are running Raster Design on Autodesk Map or Autodesk Civil Design, Density Units appear only if a global coordinate system is not set. You can modify the correlation source values by entering new values or by pasting values from the clipboard.

Insertion Page Search Help for… Insertion Values Page

You can use the Insertion Page to view and change the AutoCAD insertion point, scale, and rotation after any unit conversions have been applied. You might need to change an image’s scale by reducing or enlarging it. For example, you may want to change a scale in reference to the zoom factor you are using in AutoCAD.

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The Insertion page is used when you want to apply a coordinate system transformation. You may change the existing values by entering new ones or by manually picking coordinates from the screen. You can also change the color of the image.

Search Help for… Inserting Images Inserting an Image Using the Command Line

With the Raster Design Insert command, you can insert several images at the same time. When you select more than one image to insert, the default correlation information (from a resource file, world file, image file, or insertion defaults) is used to automatically position the images. This option is very useful when you have a group of images, such as tiled quadrant sheets, that have correlation data stored with the images.

Key Concepts: Insert ■ ■ ■

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You can insert binary, grayscale, and up to 32-bit color images. You can preview an image and view its statistics before you insert it. You can insert images using either the Raster Design Image ➤ Insert (iinsert) command or the AutoCAD IMAGE command. However, if you want to insert an image using a correlation source such as a resource or world file, then you must use the Raster Design iinsert command. If you set the AutoCAD FILEDIA variable to , then you can bypass the Insert Image dialog box when you insert an image. After you enter the Insert command on the command line, simply type the name of the image you want to insert.

Creating, Inserting, and Saving Images

Saving Images Search Help for… Saving Images

There are a few methods you can use to save an image you have edited. One method is to save your drawing file using the AutoCAD SAVE command. With this command, you will be prompted to save the images you have edited. Because there is a link between the drawing and the image files, the image data is not stored in the drawing file, but in a separate file on disk. You can also choose to save an image without saving the drawing file by using the Image ➤ Save (isave) command. You can use this command to save more than one image at a time. If you want to save an image to a different name, file type, or location, then you can use the Image ➤ Save As (isaveas) command. Using this command, you can convert a read-only file to a file you can edit.

Key Concepts: Saving Images ■

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When you save your drawing using the AutoCAD SAVE command, the correlation information (insertion point, rotation, scale, and image filename) is saved in the drawing file. Edits you have made to the images are saved in the image files. When you use AutoCAD SAVE, you are prompted to save only the image files you have edited. You have the option of either saving each edited image individually, or saving all of the edited images in your drawing. You can skip over an image if you don’t want to save the changes you made. If a new image has been created in your drawing—by using the inew command, the vmerge command, or a REM command, you will be prompted to name the new image when you save the drawing. If you use the AutoCAD IMAGE command to detach an image, which erases all references to it in the drawing, Raster Design first checks to see if the image has been edited. If so, you are prompted to save the image before continuing. You can cancel the Detach command, you can save the edits, or you can detach the image without saving the edits.

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Exporting Images Search Help for… Saving an Image by Exporting

When you save an AutoCAD drawing file containing a raster image, the image correlation data is saved in the drawing file. Therefore, the next time you open the drawing, the image is displayed with the correct insertion point, scale, and rotation angle. This correlation data is saved only in the drawing file, not in the image file itself. If you want to insert the image into another drawing and use the same correlation data for the image, you can manually correlate the image again, or you can save time by creating a correlation file for the image. Then, the next time you insert the image into a drawing, you can simply choose the correlation file as the correlation source, and the image is positioned, scaled, and rotated correctly. No additional correlation is required. To create a correlation file to use in other drawings or programs, you can export the image using the Image ➤ Export ➤ Image (iexport) command. When you export an image, not only can you create a correlation file for the image, but you can also save the image with a different name, file format, or location. You can also export the correlation file itself, without exporting the associated image using the Image ➤ Export ➤ World (iworldout) command. The resulting world file retains the file name of the associated image, but the file extension is modified to indicate that the file is a world file (for instance, exporting a world file for the image lakshor.tif will create the file lakshor.tfw). You can choose the type of correlation data you want to create by using the Export Options dialog box.

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For all image types, you can save the correlation data as a resource file or a world file. For certain image types, you can also save correlation information within the image file itself.

Key Concepts: Exporting Images ■

When you export an image, you have the option of maintaining the link between the drawing and the newly saved image by selecting Maintain Drawing Link to Image. If you don’t specify a different image name, file format, or file location when you export the image, maintaining the link has no effect. However, if you do change any of these variables, a new image file is created. The new image file will replace the image file that currently exists in the drawing (if the Maintain Drawing Link to Image check box is selected). For example, if Maintain Drawing Link to Image is selected when you export image.tif, and you specify picture.tif as the new filename for the exported image, picture.tif replaces image.tif in your drawing. If Maintain Drawing Link to Image is not selected, image.tif remains in the drawing and picture.tif is saved to the file you specified.

■

When you export an image and choose Resource File as the correlation output type, a resource file with the extension .res is created for the image in the path specified in the Raster Design Options dialog box. You can create resource files for all image types.

NOTE Resource files are specific to Raster Design. If you want to create a correlation file that can be used by other programs, you need to create a world file. ■

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When you export an image and choose World File as the correlation output type, a world file is created for the image in the same directory where the image is located. You can create world files for all image types. You can insert a read-only image into a drawing and then save it to a readwrite format using the Export command or the Save As command. However, only the Export command saves the image correlation information. When you export rotated images, Raster Design gives you the option to “burn in” the rotation, which means that, although the image still appears rotated, it is inserted into a frame with a rotation of zero.

Exporting Images

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4

Setting Image Properties

In this chapter, you will learn how to manage your

In this chapter

images for maximum efficiency as you work.

■

Setting up data about each image in your drawing

From the Image Manage dialog box, you can manage

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Changing image propertieslayer, color, linetype, and display

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Making a color transparent

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Masking images

image files, change their display order or their active path, even export images to the internet.

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Setting Up Your Data Search Help for… Managing Images

When you first insert an image into your drawing, you create one instance of that image (called an insertion) in the drawing. If you place copies of the same image in the drawing, each copy is treated as a separate insertion of the same image. The Image Manage dialog box is divided into two tabs that allow you to control attributes for insertions and images separately: You can use the Insertions tab to: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

change the display order of insertions preview insertions erase insertions show or hide insertions save or export insertions zoom to insertions

You can use the Images tab to: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

show the relationship of images and insertions in the drawing rename images detach images unload or reload images change or save the active path in the drawing

From the Image menu, select Manage. Click the buttons to move selected insertions forward or back in the display order list.

Right-click on an image name to display the shortcut menu.

NOTE You can click the Help button in the dialog box to see a Help topic that describes each column of this dialog box.

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To manage images with the Image Manage dialog box Steps

Use

1 Insert two images into your drawing so that one of the images is on top of the other image.

Inserting Images

2 Select Image ➤ Manage to display the Image Manage dialog box.

Managing Images and Insertions

to locate

The last image you inserted is at the top of the list. 3 On the Insertions tab of the Image Manage dialog box, select the second image, then use the Move Forward button to move the second listed image name up in the list so that it is now above the other image name.

Changing the Display Order of the Images

The image is now displayed on top of the other image instead of below it. 4 From the list, select the name of one of the images, and click Zoom To.

Zooming to an Image

This option is helpful if you insert an image using an insertion point that is outside your current AutoCAD display window, or if you insert an image using a different scale factor. 5 With the image name still selected, click Properties.

Changing Image Properties

In the AutoCAD Properties dialog box you can adjust color, layer, and linetype information, and pick the transparency color.

Key Concepts: Image Manage ■ ■ ■

To access the Image Manage dialog box, you can select Image ➤ Manage, or you can type imanage. If you have edited an image but not yet saved it, an asterisk (*) is displayed next to the image name. After you save the image, the asterisk disappears. If there is more than one insertion of an image in your drawing, the Image Manage dialog box numbers the insertions. For example, if there are two insertions of cadplot.tif in your drawing, then you would see cadplot and cadplot:1 listed.

Setting Up Your Data | 45

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If you edit an insertion of an image, such as cadplot:2, the naming convention changes to indicate that the image has been edited. The image is then listed in the Image Manage dialog box as cadplot_1*. The image listed first in the Image Manage dialog box is displayed on top of all other images it overlaps. The image that is listed last is displayed under images that overlap it. To modify this order, drag the names of the images up or down in the list.

TIP You can also use the AutoCAD to modify the display order. From the AutoCAD Tools menu, choose Display Order. Because images are also AutoCAD entities, an image that you edit appears to be placed on top of other images and vectors, even though the image display order has not actually been changed. Use the AutoCAD REGEN command to restore the images and vectors to their correct order.

Changing Layer, Color, Linetype, and Display Search Help for…

Each image in your drawing has properties you can control. You can access all of the image and mask properties on AutoCAD’s Properties dialog box.

Changing Image Properties

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Raster Design - specific properties include: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Color Linetype Brightness Contrast Show image Show clipped image Show non-ortho Transparency color

It is recommended that you use the AutoCAD Properties dialog box to manipulate your images. This combines AutoCAD functionality with that of Raster Design, providing an environment that is easy to use. For more information on AutoCAD’s Properties dialog box, see AutoCAD 2004 Command Reference in the AutoCAD Help or printed AutoCAD 2004 User’s Guide.

Key Concepts: Image Properties ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

You can select an image in the drawing, right-click, and then select Properties to access the AutoCAD Properties dialog box. Each image has its own properties. However, you can select multiple images and set all their properties at the same time. Color selects a transparency color for a grayscale or color image and turns transparency on and off. Layer moves the selected image(s) to another layer. Linetype chooses a different linetype for the image frame. Display controls whether the image or only the frame is displayed in the drawing, whether to use color or display in transparency color, whether clipped areas are displayed, or whether images rotated at an angle other than 0, 90, 180, 270 (nonortho images) are displayed.

Changing Layer, Color, Linetype, and Display | 47

Applying Transparency Color In binary images, the transparency color is always the background color of the image. In color and grayscale images, you can choose which color to make transparent. You can selectively turn on transparency. When transparency is on, the image pixels that are drawn in the transparency color become transparent. When transparency is off, the pixels become solid again. To make a color transparent Steps

Use

1 Select a color or grayscale image, right-click and select Properties to access the AutoCAD Properties dialog box.

Selecting an Image

to locate

2 On the Design tab, click Transparency and choose Yes.

3 To choose a color to make transparent, select a color image, right-click and select Properties to access the AutoCAD Properties dialog box. 4 On the Design tab, select Transparency Color and click to display the Transparency Color dialog box.

5 Click Select< to choose a transparency color. Now you can see through pixels drawn in the transparency color.

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Changing the Transparency Color of an Image

Transparency on When transparency for the parcel map is enabled, you can see the underlying aerial photograph.

Transparency off When transparency for the parcel map is disabled, you cannot see the underlying aerial photograph.

Aerial photographs under a parcel map

You can make only one color in each image transparent. The transparency color has three uses: ■

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You can make all pixels of a specified color transparent. For example, if you specify black as the transparency color for an image, then you can make each black pixel in the image transparent. Any time you use Rub or Crop, the rubbed or cropped areas are displayed in the transparency color. For example, if you choose blue as the transparency color, all rubs are displayed in blue. If you turn on transparency for that image, the rubbed areas become transparent. For more information, see “Removing (Rubbing and Cropping)” on page 65. When you merge two images together, any blank space is filled with the transparency color of the destination image. For more information, see “Merging Images” on page 68.

Key Concepts: Transparency Color ■

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You can make one color in each grayscale and color image transparent by selecting a transparency color for the image. To make the color transparent, select Yes to Transparency in the AutoCAD Properties dialog box. To turn off transparency, select No to Transparency. For binary images, you can turn transparency on or off, which means that the background area on a binary image will be either transparent or solid. You cannot choose a transparency color for a binary image. The transparency color is always the background color. By default, binary

Applying Transparency Color | 49

■

images are always inserted with transparency on so that the background is transparent. The image pixels are not erased or permanently modified when you make a color transparent. You can restore the original pixel color by selecting No to Transparency in the AutoCAD Properties dialog box.

Masking Images Search Help for… Masking Images

To display and plot a subset of the images in your drawing, you can use an image mask. An image mask hides, moves, or does not affect the images that are completely outside the mask boundary. The mask boundary is an AutoCAD object that you can move, stretch, scale, and erase like any other AutoCAD object. You can control how the mask affects the images outside the image mask by using the New Image Mask dialog box.

You can mask images using a rectangular or polygonal boundary. For example, in the following illustration, the polygonal mask was created with the Hide Image(s) option.

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The third illustration shows what happens when you select the Show Image Frame(s) option.

Tiled quad sheets, with image frames visible

Polygonal mask

Polygonal mask with image frames visible

Effects of polygonal mask on a group of tiled quad sheets

A mask is similar to an image clip that you can create with the AutoCAD IMAGECLIP command, but a Raster Design mask is more global than a clip because it affects all the images in your drawing instead of only one image. Like a clip, a mask does not permanently modify the images. You can turn off the mask to redisplay all the images. You can also convert the mask to individual image clips. Converting a mask to image clips converts the global mask to clips on each image.

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5

Image Editing

When you edit images with Autodesk Raster Design, you

In this chapter

work seamlessly with AutoCAD. You can edit, convert,

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Correlating images with the AutoCAD coordinate system

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Rubbersheeting

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Enhancing images using the Histogram editing filter

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Enhancing images using image processing and cleanup commands

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Managing the image palette

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Selecting images

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Rubbing and cropping images

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Merging images

manipulate, and save images in formats compatible with your application, and you can share images with others.

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Correlating Images Search Help for… Correlating an Image After Insertion

Correlating refers to the process of positioning an image within the AutoCAD coordinate system so the scale, rotation, and coordinates match AutoCAD units and coordinates. When you insert an image, you can specify units, position, scale, and rotation for the image. After you insert the image, you can fine tune the correlation by matching the image to existing geometry or even correct distortions in the image that were caused by poor scanning, lens distortion, paralax, and so on. Raster Design has several commands you can use to correlate images after they are inserted. These commands are located in the Image ➤ Correlate menu. The correlation commands include the following: ■ ■ ■

Match (imatch) for matching the position, scale, and rotation of an image to another image or to existing geometry. Scale (iscale) and Displace (idisplace), for scaling, and moving images (respectively). Rubbersheet (irsheet) for correcting distortions within the image (see the following section, “Rubbersheeting an Image After Correlation” on page 55).

One way to correlate an image is to use an existing correlation source. To do this, you can select the correlation source when you insert the image. The Insert command opens the Correlation Wizard. The Correlation Wizard searches for any correlation files that might exist, and lists the available files to choose from on the Pick Correlation Source Page.

The Correlation sources that Raster Design can use are resource files, world files, and image files that contain stored correlation information. For more information about inserting images with the Correlation Wizard or the Correlation dialog box, see Chapter 3, “Creating, Inserting, and Saving Images” on page 31.

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Rubbersheeting an Image After Correlation Image distortions can sometimes prevent you from aligning an image in your drawing. You can use the Rubbersheet command to: ■ ■ ■

Fix distortions in aerial photography caused by aircraft tilt, camera distortion, and unevenness of terrain. Save money on orthophotography when absolute accuracy is not required. Correct most of the distortions in an image resulting from paralax.

Rubbersheeting works by transforming an image so that points you specify in the image match corresponding points in the drawing as closely as possible. These matched points, consisting of a “source” point in the image, and a “destination” point in the drawing, are known collectively as “control points.” You can enter control points by picking them directly from the image, or you can use the Grid tool to make a grid of destination points that you match to their corresponding source points.

NOTE If you are using Autodesk Land Desktop, you can substitute COGO points by typing .P, .G, or .N when Raster Design prompts you to enter destination points. For more information see, “Snapping to COGO Points” in Help. Raster Design features two methods for transforming the image: ■

■

The Triangular method uses the control points you enter to triangulate the image, then performs a series of small transformations on those triangular areas. The area to be transformed is called the convex hull and is defined by the outermost destination points. Image data outside the convex hull is discarded. If you want to preserve more image data, you should place control points near the extents of the image. The Polynomial method uses the control points you specify to perform a single transformation based on the entire image. However, the Polynomial method does not always result in perfectly matched control points. The resulting error is expressed as a numerical distance in the Rubbersheet dialog box and is displayed graphically on the image after the control points have been entered. By adjusting the Polynomial Degree upward, you can reduce the error and increase the accuracy of the matching

Correlating Images

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points. However, this reduced error can create a higher degree of warping as the image is transformed more dramatically to match the control points. Therefore, you should use the lowest possible polynomial degree that still gives you acceptable results. Higher polynomial degrees result in smaller errors at the control points, but also result in more warping in places where there are no control points.

TIP Rubbersheeting is best suited for making minor transformations to an image. For best results, start with a comprehensive and accurate network of survey control points, then use match and scale before rubbersheeting to get the image as close to the desired results as possible. You should have a good spread of control points over the entire image. When you do not want the image to move, you can specify anchor points.

In the Rubbersheet dialog box, add control points to your image or import a control point file to apply to your image. After your points are added to your image, click Export to save your control point set.

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Key Concepts: Correlating Images ■ ■ ■

■ ■

■

You can correlate an image when you are inserting it or after it has been inserted into the drawing. You can use the AutoCAD Properties dialog box to modify the insertion point, scale, and rotation of an image. You can use the iscale or idisplace commands to move, or scale the image. These commands allow you to rotate, scale, or move an image based on reference points you select from the raster image. You can also use AutoCAD commands like MOVE, SCALE, and ROTATE to correlate an image. There are two rubbersheeting methods you can use to correct distortions in an image. The Polynomial method transforms the entire image to approximate your control points. The Triangular method transforms the image to exactly match your control points. However, image data outside of the convex hull of control points is discarded. You can save the correlation information by exporting the image after you correlate it. When you export an image, you can create a resource file, a world file, or both, which you or others can use to correlate the image in another drawing or another software program. For more information about exporting, see “Exporting Images” on page 40.

Enhancing Images Using the Histogram Editing Filters The Raster Design Histogram is a set of multi-purpose editing filters you can use to permanently change the appearance of grayscale and color images. A histogram is a bar graph that represents the number of pixels per pixel shade in a selected image or images. Dark pixels are shown on the left, grays or midtones are in the middle, and lighter shades are on the right. The number of pixels per pixel shade is represented by the height of the corresponding bar.

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When you use the Image ➤ Image Processing ➤ Histogram (ihistogram) command on an image, a histogram is created for that image in the Histogram dialog box, as shown in the following illustration.

The Histogram dialog box has several options you can use to modify the image histogram. For example, you can ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Adjust the brightness and contrast of one or more images using the Brightness/Contrast tab. Maximize the image detail using the Equalize tab. Convert grayscale and color images to binary images using the Threshold tab. Convert color images to grayscale using the Color to Grayscale tab. Adjust the contrast in a non-linear fashion using the Tonal Adjustment tab.

The AutoCAD IMAGEADJUST command makes display-only adjustments, but the edits you make to an image using the Histogram command are permanent. Therefore, if you edit the image using the Histogram command,

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save the image, and then insert the image into another drawing, the changes you made with the Histogram command will be respected. You can limit the effect of brightness, contrast, equalizing, or tonal adjustments to a portion of the image called a sub-region. You can define a subregion using one of four methods: ■ ■ ■ ■

Use an existing closed vector entity to define the region. Use an existing image clip. Define a rectangular sub-region by clicking two-points. Define a polygonal sub-region by clicking several points.

For indexed color images (8-bit), histogram changes may effect the image outside the sub-region depending on which sub-region option you select: ■

■

■

Retain current palette applies your changes to the sub-region by mapping to the closest colors from the current palette. This option maintains the current palette and will not affect pixels outside the selected region. Rebuild palette with all colors creates a new palette to best accommodate all colors in the entire image. Because this image changes the palette, pixels inside and outside the sub-region may be affected by this option. Rebuild palette with new colors also creates a new palette, but this option guarantees that colors in the sub-region are included in the palette by giving preference to those pixels over pixels outside the sub-region. Because this image changes the palette, pixels outside the sub-region may be affected by this option.

To make tonal adjustments to a portion of an image Steps

Use

1 Select an image you want to adjust.

Selecting an Image

to locate

You can adjust only grayscale and color images using the histogram. 2 Select Image ➤ Image Processing ➤ Histogram to create the histogram for the image(s) that you selected.

Making Tonal Adjustments to an Image

3 Type W and press ENTER, then enter two points to define a rectangular sub-region. The histogram is displayed in the Histogram dialog box. 4 Click the Tonal Adjustment tab, and view the selected image in the Preview area.

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To make tonal adjustments to a portion of an image (continued) Steps

Use

to locate

5 In the Select Curve Type drop-down list, choose Fitted, then click and drag on the curve to adjust the contrast in certain parts of the histogram until the image preview appears the way that you want it to. 6 In the Apply Changes To section, select the SubRegion option. 7 If the image is an 8-bit color image, select Rebuild palette with new colors from the Sub-Region Options drop-down list. This option creates a new palette, but guarantees that colors in the sub-region are included in the palette. Because this image changes the palette, pixels outside the sub-region may be affected by this option. 8 Click Close to exit the dialog box.

Key Concepts: Enhancing Grayscale and Color Images ■ ■

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You cannot view a histogram of a binary image because binary images only have two colors. The histogram adjustments affect all images that are currently selected, not just the image displayed in the preview. You can preview how the histogram adjustments will affect an image in the selection set by clicking its name in the list of images. For color images, you can modify all channels (Red, Green, and Blue) together or separately. For indexed color images (8-bit), histogram changes may effect the image outside the sub-region depending on which sub-region option you select. If you make changes to the display of the image using the AutoCAD IMAGEADJUST command, then the image that is saved to disk is displayed in the Histogram Preview area. If you make changes to the image with the ihistogram command, then the IMAGEADJUST controls are reset.

Image Editing

Enhancing Images Using Image Processing and Cleanup Commands In addition to the Histogram filters, Raster Design has several other image editing commands in the Image ➤ Image Processing and Image ➤ Cleanup menus that you can use to permanently edit your images. You can use the Color Depth command to convert images to different color depths. If you are working with a bitonal image, you can use Bitonal Filters to edit your raster drawing. These filters can be used in conjunction with cleanup commands, such as Despeckle (binary images only) and Deskew.

There are several filter types to choose from: ■

Smooth removes unnecessary pixels from the edges of raster objects and fills holes in raster lines.

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Thin trims raster objects by one pixel per pass in the direction you specify.

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Thicken widens the edges of raster objects by one pixel per pass in the direction you specify.

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Separate works when raster lines are partially merged, converting them into two distinct lines.

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Skeletonize thins all raster data to one pixel in thickness. After you thin your raster data to a one pixel width, you can run the Thicken filter to achieve a uniform width.

To remove speckles from an image Steps

Use

1 Insert a binary raster image into your drawing that has speckles you want to remove.

Inserting Images

2 Select the image.

Selecting an Image

3 Select Image ➤ Cleanup ➤ Despeckle.

Removing Speckles from an Image

4 Type W and press ENTER, then enter two points to define a rectangular sub-region. 5 Type P to pick the speckle size, and select two points to draw a window around the speckle size to be removed. Draw this window as closely as possible around the largest pixel that you want to remove.

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to locate

To remove speckles from an image (continued) Steps

Use

to locate

6 Type ‘zoom to see the speckle better. 7 Click any speckles you do not want removed, then press ENTER. 8 If too many pixels are removed, type UNDO and try the command again, using a smaller speckle size.

Key Concepts: Image Processing and Cleanup Commands ■ ■ ■ ■

■

You can invert binary, grayscale, and color images using the Invert command (iinvert), making the light areas dark and dark areas light. You can use the Despeckle command (idespeckle) to remove speckles from a binary image. You can use the Color Depth command (idepth) to convert a color image to grayscale or make other color depth conversions. You can use the Convolve command (iconvolve) to remove certain defects or produce special effects. For example, you can use an edge filter to emphasize a detail such as a fence line. You can mirror images using the Mirror command (imirror).

Managing the Image Palette Search Help for… Using the Palette Manager

The Palette Manager gives you complete control of the image palette by providing tools that can change, condense, or combine colors, assign transparency, or convert grayscale images to paletted color images. The Palette Manager also gives you detailed information about the palette by displaying and organizing the palette by color, frequency, index, and so on. You can even enact palette standards by importing and exporting external palettes. The Palette Manager displays the palette in two ways: ■

The color table (in the upper portion of the Palette Manager dialog box) displays the palette as an array of color buttons, each representing a separate entry in the palette. Hovering over a color button displays the color value, frequency, and index for that entry. You can click a single color to select it, or you can select multiple colors using standard Windows selection techniques, such as windowing.

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The list view (in the lower portion of the Palette Manager dialog box) lists each entry in the palette, along with the color values, frequency, index, color, and transparency status for that entry.

Selecting Images Search Help for… Selecting an Image

To select an image, you can either select the image frame, or press SHIFT while clicking within the image. You can select more than one image at a time using either selection method. Image selection methods

How to select an image

SHIFT

Click the frame.

Press SHIFT while clicking the image(s) with the left button of your mouse.

Use an AutoCAD crossing window to select the frame edge.

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+ Left-Click Method

Frame Selection Method

Image selection methods (continued)

What happens

+ Left-Click Method

Frame Selection Method

SHIFT

AutoCAD grips are displayed at the corners of the image frame.

If you click more than one image, the Image Select dialog box is displayed so you can select the images you want to include. AutoCAD grips are displayed at the corners of the selected image frame.

Advantages

You can select an image using this method before or after selecting a command.

You can select an image when image frames are turned off or when you have zoomed in so you cannot see the image frame.

Disadvantages

The frame must be visible in the drawing.

You must use this method before selecting a command.

Key Concepts: Selecting Images ■

■

If your pointer is positioned over more than one image when you press SHIFT and click the image, the Image Select dialog box is displayed. The images that you have selected are highlighted. You can use this dialog box to clear the selection set, to change the selection set by adding or removing images, or to select all images that are inserted in the drawing. By default, SHIFT + left-click Image Select on the Settings Tab of the Options dialog box is selected. This check box must be selected if you want to select images using the SHIFT + left-click method.

Removing (Rubbing and Cropping) You can use the Rub and Crop commands to remove selected areas of binary, grayscale, and color images. Rubs and crops permanently alter an image. ■

■

A Rub changes the removed pixels to the current transparency color that is set for the image. The rubbed areas become transparent if transparency is enabled for the image. A Crop deletes pixel data outside the selected boundary area. If a crop boundary is not rectangular, for instance when you use the Crop Circular Region command, the area between the crop boundary and the rectangular image frame is filled with the transparency color.

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Rub and crop boundaries can be made up from many different shapes: circles, rectangles, lines, arcs, and polygons. The boundaries can encompass more than one image at a time. In the cropped floorplan illustration, note that the size of the image frame is automatically adjusted when you crop an image.

Original floorplan image

Areas rubbed from floorplan

Cropped floorplan

To rub a color or grayscale image Steps

Use

1 On a selected color or grayscale image, right-click to display the shortcut menu, and then select Properties.

Changing the Transparency Color of an Image

2 Click the Transparency Color property, then click the button in the property field. The Transparency Color dialog box is displayed. 3 Click Select. The cursor changes shape and the dialog box temporarily disappears so that you can choose a color from the image. 4 Pick the desired color on the image, and click OK. 5 Click the Transparency property, then select Yes from the drop-down list to make the color you just selected transparent. If transparency is disabled, the rubbed area is displayed in the transparency color. If transparency is enabled, the rubbed area will be transparent. 6 Close the Properties dialog box.

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Image Editing

to locate

To rub a color or grayscale image (continued) Steps

Use

7 Select Image ➤ Remove ➤ Rectangular Region.

Rubbing Raster Data Within a Rectangular Region

to locate

8 On the image, choose a rectangular rub boundary. All pixels inside the rub boundary are changed to the transparency color.

To rub a binary image Steps

Use

to locate

1 Insert a binary image containing linework into your drawing.

Inserting Images

A good sample image to use is fm.rlc that is in the \samples folder. 2 Type AUTORUB on the command line. To define the rub/crop line width, pick two points, one on each side of the line you want to rub.

Setting the Rub/Crop Line Width

This step is necessary only if you are rubbing lines, polylines, arcs, or donuts or if you are cropping a line. You can also set the rub/crop line width from the Settings tab of the Raster Design Options dialog box. To rub binary raster entities, you can use raster snaps to accurately select the raster to be rubbed. Raster snaps work only with the active binary image. 3 Select Image ➤ Snap and select the End check box to pick the endpoints of the raster line you want to rub.

Specifying Raster Snap Settings

4 When the crosshairs snap to the point you want to select, click your mouse.

Rubbing a Raster Line

5 Pick a point on the other end of the line to rub the line.

Key Concepts: Rubbing and Cropping ■

When two images are on top of each other and you rub or crop the visible image, both images are modified. You can lock the layer an image frame is on to prevent the image from being modified.

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■ ■ ■

■ ■

Rubs and crops do not affect vectors in the rub or crop area. The commands affect only raster data. Rubs create either transparent or solid regions, depending on the state of the Enable Transparency check box in the AutoCAD Properties dialog box. When you crop an image using a polygonal or circular crop, all raster data between the image frame and the selected crop boundary is changed to the transparency color. A crop affects only the images you touch with the crop boundary. No images outside of this boundary are affected. You can use the AUTORUB command to set the rub/crop line width, as well as to turn autorub on or off.

Merging Images You can use the Merge Images (iimerge) command to merge two or more images into one image. Merging images can reduce the number of images you must archive with your project files. To merge images, select a destination image to merge the source images into. Raster Design merges the source images into a single destination image. The properties of the destination image, such as dots per inch (dpi), transparency color, and color depth, determine the properties of the merged result. For example, if the source image has a value of 200 dpi, and the destination image has the value of 400 dpi, the resulting image takes the value 400 dpi. The extents of the destination image are expanded to encompass the source images if necessary. Any background is filled with the transparency color. You can change the transparency color of your image. For more information about changing the transparency color, see Chapter 4, “Setting Image Properties” on page 43. The following illustration portrays two merged images in AutoCAD’s Layout1.

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Notice that any drawing space, not encompassed by the merged image, is filled with the transparency color.

To merge raster images Steps

Use

1 Select Image ➤ Merge ➤ Merge Images.

Merging Images

to locate

2 Select the source images. 3 Select the destination image. You are prompted to remove the source images after the merge. 4 Type Yes to remove the source images. Type No to keep the source images in the drawing. 5 Click Yes to start the merge process. 6 Select Image ➤ Write ➤ Save As to save the new merged image.

Saving an Image to Another File Name, Type, or Location

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Key Concepts: Merging Images ■ ■ ■

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You can merge images with different rotation angles. You can merge images of different types (binary, grayscale, or color). Merging respects image clips and display order.

Image Editing

6

Working with Raster Data

With the new Autodesk Raster Design raster editing

In this chapter

tools, you can use standard AutoCAD commands and

■

Editing raster images using REM

■

Creating REM Objects

■

Merging vector images

■

Snapping to binary raster entities

create raster entity manipulation (REM) regions from existing vector geometry. You can enhance bitonal regions and preview and refine images before editing. The new raster snaps improve your productivity, by allowing you to work with multiple images using any command.

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Editing Raster Using REM Search Help for… Overview of Raster Entity Manipulation (REM) Tools Manipulating REM Objects

You can use raster entity manipulation (REM) to edit binary, color, and grayscale raster data. Unlike commands such as Mirror, Histogram, and Invert, which operate on a whole image, REM can be used to edit small sections of an image. For example, you can adjust the radius of a raster circle, remove some dimension lines from a mechanical drawing, or copy electrical symbols from one image to another. With REM, you can create different types of REM objects by selecting raster. These custom objects have replaced the REM selection set of earlier Raster Design releases. REM Objects allow you to treat raster like vector. You can use AutoCAD commands, including MOVE, SCALE, COPY, and ROTATE, to operate on the REM objects you create. You can edit raster images using the same commands, concepts, and operations you would use to edit vector. Use REM to: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Manipulate existing raster to make simple changes Erase a portion of a drawing Move or clip a detail Change the location of something, such as a lot line Store raster-only drawings (rather than hybrid)

REM Objects There are three types of REM objects: Region Objects, Enhanced Bitonal Region Objects, and Primitive Objects. You can use each of the three types of REM Objects differently as you edit your raster data. You must decide which type of object best suits your editing needs. After you define a REM object, you can use AutoCAD commands and REM commands to modify the object.

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The following illustrations show the raster selected to define each REM object and the resulting REM object.

Region Object This rectangular region object includes all the pixels within the rectangle: the circle, the portions of the intersecting lines, and the leader line.

Rectangular region selected

Region object defined from the selection

Enhanced Bitonal Region Object This is an example of an enhanced bitonal region object that was defined using the Smart Crossing Window selection method. This method selects the raster entities within or touching the crossing window: the circle, all the intersecting lines, and the angled leader line.

Region selected using the Smart Crossing Window selection method

Enhanced bitonal region object defined from the selection

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Primitive Object This is an example of circle primitive object defined using the Smart selection method for selecting primitive objects. Raster Design detects that the selected raster entity is a circle and defines the entity as a circle primitive object.

Entity selected using Smart selection

Primitive object defined from the selection

Types of REM objects REM object

Description

Image type(s)

Region object

Contains all pixels within the region geometry (for example, all pixels within a polygonal region).

Bitonal, grayscale, color

Enhanced bitonal region object

Contains complete raster entities within the region, determined by the selection method:

Bitonal

■

■

Primitive object

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Connected method: The raster entities selected are a collection of connected pixels. Smart method: The raster entities selected are the pixels that comprise a raster line, circle, or arc.

Contains a single raster line, arc, or circle.

Working with Raster Data

Bitonal

Region Objects Search Help for… Defining REM Region Objects

You can use a region to select all of the image pixels within the given geometry. Regions operate on all image types—bitonal, grayscale, and color. You can define a rectangular, polygonal, diagonal, or circular region. On grayscale and color images, regions are hatched so that the object is distinguished from the raster image. A hatch is not necessary for an enhanced bitonal region object because the raster is already highlighted. After you have defined a REM region object, you can use AutoCAD commands to modify it; see “Using REM Objects to Edit Raster Images” on page 84 in this chapter. After you have completed your changes to the region, you must merge your REM Object back into your original raster image or create a new image; see “Merging REM Objects into Existing Images” on page 86 and “Converting REM Objects to a New Raster Image” on page 86 in this chapter. For example, you might want to select a housing development within an aerial photo as a region object. You can then use the region object as a base for your street drawing.

REM region objects Types of REM regions

Use

Rectangular region

Defining a REM Rectangular Region

Polygonal region

Defining a REM Polygonal Region

Diagonal region

Define a REM Diagonal Region

Circular region

Define a REM Circular Region

From existing vector

Defining a Region From Existing Vector

to locate

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Each vertex of a polygonal, rectangular, or diagonal REM region object has a grip. If you move a grip, the entire object moves. Stretching the grip scales the object. There are five grips for each circular region object. There is one grip at the center of the circle, and four on the circumference of the circle. If you move any of the grips, the entire circle moves.

Enhanced Bitonal Regions Search Help for… Defining REM Enhanced Bitonal Region Objects

You can use an enhanced bitonal region to create a REM object that contains all the pixels within your selection area. After you have defined your Enhanced Bitonal Region Object, you can use AutoCAD commands to modify it; see “Using REM Objects to Edit Raster Images” on page 84. After you have completed your changes to the region, you must merge your REM Object back into your original raster image or create a new image; see “Merging REM Objects into Existing Images” on page 86 and “Converting REM Objects to a New Raster Image” on page 86.

There are several options you can use to define enhanced bitonal region objects from raster entities in bitonal images: ■ ■ ■ ■

Windows and crossing windows Polygons and crossing polygons Fences Connected entities

You can also choose whether the object includes all the connected pixels within the enhanced bitonal region (referred to as the Connected method) or only the pixels that define a line, a circle, or an arc (referred to as the Smart method).

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After you define the enhanced bitonal region object, you can modify the object using AutoCAD commands and REM commands.

NOTE You can use enhanced bitonal regions on bitonal images only.

Selection Options for Enhanced Bitonal Region Objects Search Help for… Defining REM Enhanced Bitonal Region Objects (see illustration)

You can use one of two different selection options to define an enhanced bitonal region. Both selection methods are modeled after AutoCAD’s SELECT command, but the behavior of the selection method depends on whether you choose the Connected option or the Smart option. The following examples show the options you can use to define enhanced bitonal region objects using the Smart and Connected options. In these examples, the gray lines show the region that is selected, and the light gray areas show the resulting enhanced bitonal region object. These illustrations are also available in color in the Help.

Enhanced bitonal region objects Smart selection sets

Connected selection sets

Smart Window

Connected Window

A Smart Window selects the raster entities that are entirely within the window. Entities that extend outside the window are not included in the selection. In this example, the leader lines and text are selected. The dimension lines extend outside the window and are not included.

A Connected Window selects the raster entities that are entirely within the window and that are not connected to entities extending outside the window. In this example, the text is selected. The leader lines are not selected because they are connected to the dimension lines, which extend outside the window.

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Enhanced bitonal region objects (continued)

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Connected selection sets

Smart Crossing Window

Connected Crossing Window

A Smart Crossing Window selects the raster entities that are within the window and that touch the window. In this example, the leader lines, the text, and the dimension lines are selected.

A Connected Crossing Window selects the raster entities that are within the window, that touch the window, and that are connected to entities that touch the window. In this example, all entities except the text in the upper right are selected. This text is not connected to any entities.

Smart WPolygon

Connected WPolygon

A Smart Window Polygon selects the raster entities that are entirely within the polygon. Entities that extend outside the polygon are not included in the selection. In this example, the leader lines and text are selected. The dimension lines and the circle extend outside the polygon and are not included.

A Connected Window Polygon selects the raster entities that are within the polygon and that are not connected to entities that extend outside the polygon. In this example, the text is selected. The leader lines are not selected because they are connected to the dimension lines, which extend outside the polygon. The circle also extends outside the polygon.

Chapter 6

Working with Raster Data

Enhanced bitonal region objects (continued) Smart selection sets

Connected selection sets

Smart CPolygon

Connected CPolygon

A Smart Crossing Polygon selects the raster entities that are within the polygon and that touch the polygon. In this example, the leader lines, the text, the dimension lines, and the circle are included in the selection.

A Connected Crossing Polygon selects the raster entities that are within the polygon, that touch the polygon, and that are connected to entities that touch the polygon. In this example, all entities except the text in the upper right are selected. This text is not connected to any entities.

Smart Fence

Connected Fence

A Smart Fence selects the raster entities that touch the fence. In this example, the leader lines and the dimension lines are included in the selection. The text, which is enclosed by the fence but does not touch the fence, is not included.

A Connected Fence selects the raster entities that touch the fence and that are connected to entities that touch the fence. In this example, all entities except the two areas of text are selected. The text does not touch the fence and is not connected to any entities.

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Enhanced bitonal region objects (continued) Smart selection sets

Connected selection sets Connected Entity A Connected Entity selects a raster entity and any entities that are connected to the entity. In this example, all entities except the two areas of text are selected. This text is not connected to any entities. The crosshairs show the single point used to select the connected entities.

Connected Option If you use the Connected option to create a REM object, a raster object is defined from a collection of all the image pixels that are all connected. That is, for a given pixel in the raster object, you can get to any other pixel by following ON pixels. This option is the same as the flood fill option found in many image editing programs.

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Connected option Selection methods

Use

window

Defining a REM Enhanced Bitonal Region Using a Connected Window

crossing window

Defining a REM Enhanced Bitonal Region Using a Connected Crossing Window

window polygon

Defining a REM Enhanced Bitonal Region Using a Connected Window Polygon

crossing polygon

Defining a REM Enhanced Bitonal Region Using a Connected Crossing Polygon

fence

Defining a REM Enhanced Bitonal Region Using a Connected Fence

entity

Defining a REM Enhanced Bitonal Region Using a Connected Entity

to locate

Smart Option If you use the Smart option to create a REM object, a raster object is defined from the pixels that make up a raster line, circle, or arc.

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Smart option Selection methods

Use

window

Defining a REM Enhanced Bitonal Region using a Smart Window

crossing window

Defining a REM Enhanced Bitonal Region using a Smart Crossing Window

window polygon

Defining a REM Enhanced Bitonal Region using a Smart Window Polygon

crossing polygon

Defining a REM Enhanced Bitonal Region using a Smart Crossing Polygon

fence

Defining a REM Enhanced Bitonal Region using a Smart Fence

to locate

NOTE The entity selection method is not available using the Smart option. You can create a REM primitive object instead. There are four grips on a REM enhanced bitonal region object, one at each vertex. If you move a grip, the entire object moves.

Primitive Objects Search Help for… Defining REM Primitive Objects

You can use primitive regions on bitonal images. A primitive object is made up of a single raster line, circle, or arc. Primitives are more intelligent than regions and enhanced bitonal regions because their dimensions can be changed. For example, you can change the diameter of a circle and still maintain its original width. You can also use grip stretch commands or AutoCAD's Properties dialog box to change the dimensions of your primitive object.

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You can define three types of REM primitive objects from raster entities in bitonal images: ■ ■ ■

Line Arc Circle

You can also use Smart Pick to define a primitive object. Raster Design automatically detects the geometry of the selected raster entity and defines the entity as a primitive line, arc, or circle. The following illustrations show selections made using Smart Pick.

Line

Circle

Arc

After you have defined your Primitive Object, you can use AutoCAD commands and REM commands to modify it; see “Using REM Objects to Edit Raster Images” on page 84. After you have completed your changes to the object, you must merge it back into your original raster image or create a new image from the REM objects; see “Merging REM Objects into Existing Images” on page 86 and “Converting REM Objects to a New Raster Image” on page 86.

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Using REM Objects to Edit Raster Images Search Help for… Using AutoCAD or Raster Design Commands to Manipulate REM Objects

You can use custom REM region objects, enhanced bitonal region objects, and Primitive Objects to edit raster data. There are several ways to work with REM objects. You can use AutoCAD commands, the REM edit mode menu, the REM toolbar, the REM flyout from the Image menu, and the REM command line interface. See Appendix C, “Raster Design Command Summary.” The following AutoCAD commands can operate on REM objects: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

MOVE GRIP STRETCH ROTATE SCALE COPY MIRROR ERASE UNDO MODIFY

NOTE AutoCAD commands that cannot be used on REM objects are TRIM, EXTEND, and EXPLODE. When you run an AutoCAD command that causes a REM object to become out of sync with the original image, Raster Design erases the corresponding raster data from the source image. For example, you can define a REM object and then perform the AutoCAD MOVE command. Once the object has been moved, REM deletes the object from the original image. If you want to immediately delete a REM object after defining it, use the AutoCAD ERASE command. See AutoCAD 2004 Help for detailed instructions for using AutoCAD commands.

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Edit Mode Menu The Edit Mode menu is a shortcut menu that appears when you select one or more REM objects and right-click. The majority of the commands on this menu are AutoCAD commands. To access REM specific commands, choose the REM flyout menu options.

You can use the Edit Mode menu to refine the selection used to create a REM region or primitive, remove subcomponents of the object, toggle transparency, or merge the object into a raster image. Search Help for… REM Refine Mode

If you select multiple REM objects, you can use only those options that are valid for all of the selected objects. For example, if you select three REM objects and only two of them are in Refine Mode, you cannot use Refine Mode. You can do the following by using the REM Edit Mode menu: ■ ■ ■

Convert a REM object into a new raster image Change the transparency Refine the object (REM region and primitive objects only)

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■ ■

Remove subsections of the object Smooth the object

NOTE These options are also available on the REM toolbar and on the REM flyout on the Image menu. You can use the Merge to Raster command on your modified REM object. This command takes the raster data that was part of the REM object and makes it a part of the original raster image.

Merging REM Objects into Existing Images Search Help for… Merge REM Objects into an Image

You can merge your REM objects into an existing image by selecting Image ➤ REM ➤ Merge To Raster Image. REM merges all selected REM objects into the image they are currently over. If your REM object is not over (or under) an image, a warning message is displayed, stating that the REM object cannot be merged. If your REM object is partly touching the image, the image expands to accommodate the REM object. If your REM object is below the image and you try to merge it, it merges into the image above it. Unlike Vector Merge, display order is not respected. If you have multiple images open, then a message prompts you to select the image you want to merge the REM objects into. For example, your REM object may be over two images or span across two adjacent images.

Converting REM Objects to a New Raster Image Search Help for… Converting REM Objects to a New RAster Image

You can convert your selected REM objects to a new raster image by selecting Image ➤ REM ➤ Convert To Raster Image. When you convert your REM objects to a new raster image, you create a new image containing your REM objects. If you have REM objects in the PICKFIRST set, REM respects AutoCAD’s PICKFIRST Variable. If you do not have REM objects in the PICKFIRST set, Raster Design prompts you to select REM objects. If you select more than one REM object, Raster Design merges the selected REM objects into one raster image; it does not create different raster images for each REM object selected. If your raster image was created from a REM polygonal, circular, or diagonal region, the image is clipped to match the geometry of the REM object. All data outside the clip, but within the boundary of the image, is set to the transparency color.

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Merging Vector Search Help for… Merging Vectors into a Raster Image

You can use the Vector Merge (ivmerge) command to merge vectors into an existing or new raster image. Vector Merge allows you to make precise changes to your raster image using AutoCAD commands, while keeping your data in a raster format. To merge vectors Steps

Use

1 Select Image ➤ Merge ➤ Merge Vector to display the Select objects prompt at the command line.

Merging Vectors into a Raster Image

to locate

or Type ivmerge. 2 If there is more than one image in the drawing, select the vectors and image you want to merge. If the Prompt to Delete Vector check box is selected on the Vector Merge Default tab, then you will be prompted to delete the vectors. 3 Press

ENTER

to start the vector merge operation.

When you perform Vector Merge, you can select Raster Pen widths for the merge by specifying pen thickness in the Raster Pen Settings dialog box.

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Raster pens thicken vector entities when you merge them into the image. Thicknesses are assigned according to the specified entity color. To select raster pen widths for vector merge Steps

Use

1 Select Image Merge ➤ Raster Pens to display the Raster Pen Settings dialog box.

Selecting Pen Widths for Vector Merge

to locate

or Type rpens. NOTE Type -rpens to access the command line interface. 2 From the Color Index list, select the color(s) whose width you want to modify. 3 Do one of the following to choose your pen width: ■ Type your desired width in the Pen Width edit box. ■ Select Pick< and define the width from your

AutoCAD screen. The chosen width is displayed in the Pen Width edit box. If you want this width to apply to all of the raster pens, select Use Fixed Width. 4 Click OK to close the dialog box and apply the raster pen settings.

Snapping to Binary Raster Entities Search Help for… Raster Snapping

Raster snap modes make it easy to select exact positions on binary raster entities. Raster snap modes work like AutoCAD Object Snap modes, except that they snap to raster entities instead of to vector objects. Raster snaps are useful when you want to: ■ ■ ■

Trace a raster entity with VTools commands Select a raster entity to rub or crop Select a raster entity to edit with raster entity manipulation (REM) commands

NOTE Raster snapping works only with bitonal images.

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You can use Raster Snap to snap your AutoCAD cursor to the center, end, corner, intersection, or edge of a bitonal raster image. If you choose more than one snap mode, the crosshairs snap to the closest of the possible snap points. When the crosshairs snap to the point you want to select, pick the point. Raster Snap operates in two modes, on and off. When raster snapping is on (active), Raster Design displays a snap window around the AutoCAD cursor. The snap window moves along with the AutoCAD cursor and displays the crosshairs over points to which you can snap. You can use the crosshairs to pick a point. Search Help for… Changing the Quick Bar Visibility Raster Snap Tab

You can toggle Raster Snap on and off by using the Toggle Quick Bar command from the Image menu. You can access the Raster Snap options on the AutoCAD Drafting Settings dialog box by selecting Tools ➤ Drafting Settings and selecting the Raster Snap tab.

Key Concepts: Raster Snapping Search Help for… Specify Raster Snap Settings

■ ■

To set the snap settings, select Tools ➤ Drafting Settings and select the Raster Snap tab or type isnap. A raster entity you want to snap to must be partially within the snap window. The snap window size is pixel dependent. If necessary, change the snap window size so that it is large enough to encompass the entire pixel width of the entity you want to snap to.

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7

Converting Raster to Vector

The Autodesk Raster Design vectorization tools make it

In this chapter

possible for you to convert raster images into vector. You

■

Vectorization Tools

■

Follower tools

■

Using vector separation

can use these tools to verify the geometry of the objects you vectorize. The follower tools can even trace complex geometry such as polylines and contours semiautomatically.

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Vectorization Tools Search Help for… Converting Raster Entities to Vector

To get the most out of your binary raster images, you can convert your raster geometry to AutoCAD vectors. This conversion is known as vectorizing an image. Since vectorizing an image can be time consuming, you should consider your plans for the image before deciding whether or not to vectorize it. ■ ■ ■

If you only want to archive the image, you don’t need to vectorize it. If you want to move, copy, or delete areas of the image, you can use the REM commands to edit the image instead of vectorizing it. If you want to remove portions of the raster image, you can use the Rub, Crop, and REM raster editing commands instead of vectorizing it.

If you cannot easily change the image using the above suggestions, or if you need to use the vector data in AutoCAD or another program, you should vectorize the entities.

Vectorizing and Verifying Dimensions with Vectorization Tools Raster Design has vectorization tools that you can use to simplify the process of vectorizing raster entities. Each type of vectorization tool is designed to vectorize a corresponding raster geometry type. In many cases, you can convert a raster entity to vector with a single pick. You can also define the vector entity by picking two or more points on the image. After you use a vectorization tool, you can continue to vectorize raster entities using either selection method. There are seven vectorization tools: ■

■

■

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The line tool converts raster lines to AutoCAD Line entities. The line tool uses two basic selection methods: one-pick, which vectorizes a raster line with a single pick, and multi-pick, which requires you to enter two points to define the start and endpoint of the raster line. The polyline tool converts raster lines to AutoCAD Polyline entities. Like the line tool, you can use two basic selection methods with the polyline tool: one-pick, which vectorizes a raster line with a single pick, and multipick, which requires you to enter two points to define the start and endpoint of the raster line. The rectangle tool converts raster rectangles to vector rectangles. You select points to define the corners and angle of the rectangle and Raster Design creates a closed polyline with the dimensions and orientation you specified.

Converting Raster to Vector

■

■

■

The circle tool converts raster circles to AutoCAD Circle entities. You can select the raster circle using several methods, including a one-pick method that vectorizes a raster circle with a single pick. The arc tool converts raster arcs to AutoCAD Arc entities. You can select the raster arc using several methods, including a one-pick method that vectorizes a raster arc with a single pick. The text tool and the mtext tool replace raster text with AutoCAD text or mtext.

NOTE When using one-pick selection for the line, polyline, arc, and circle vectorization tools, Raster Design uses SmartCorrect to increase the precision with which the vectors are created. Depending on the settings you select on the VTools General tab of the Raster Design Option dialog box, Raster Design corrects the resulting vector using the current AutoCAD drafting settings and precision. Vectorization tools can be used to verify and adjust the dimensions of the vector entities you draw, which is important because the raster image you are vectorizing might not be accurate. The scale may be incorrect, or the image might have been scanned poorly. For example, after you vectorize a line segment, you can check the line length and angle to make sure they are correct. If they aren’t, you can change the dimensions before you create the next line. To convert a raster line to a vector line Steps

Use

1 Insert a binary raster image into your drawing. A good sample image to use is fm.rlc in the \samples folder.

Inserting Images

2 Select Image ➤ Options, then click the VTools General tab and select a VTools Removal setting.

Choosing a VTools Removal Setting

to locate

As you trace a raster entity, the Raster Design removes, deletes, or preserves the raster line according to the VTools Removal setting you selected. Click OK to exit the dialog box. 3 Select Tools ➤ Drafting Settings and select the Raster Snap tab or type isnap and select the appropriate snap modes to aid in your selection of points on the raster.

Specifying Raster Snap Settings

4 Select Image ➤ Vectorization Tools ➤ Line.

Convert a raster line to vector

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To convert a raster line to a vector line (continued) Steps

Use

to locate

5 When the raster snap glyph snaps to the point you want to select, pick the point. The end of the raster line nearest the point you pick is considered the start point and is marked with an arrow glyph. 6 Notice that the length and angle of the line segment are displayed on the command line. If the line is not at the correct angle, type A and press ENTER to verify the angle of the vector line segment you just created. 7 Type M and press ENTER, then select another vector line to match the angle of that vector. 8 If the line is supposed to intersect another vector entity, type X and press ENTER, then click another entity to extend the vector line segment you just created so that it intersects the second entity. 9 Pick another point, or press command.

ENTER

to exit the

The Follower Tools Search Help for… Converting Raster Entities to Vector

Raster Design features several follower VTools which replace the Line Follower Extension (LFX) tools in previous versions of Raster Design. These follower tools provide a semi-automatic method of tracing the raster geometry you want to vectorize. When you use the contour follower tool, for instance, Raster Design “follows” the selected contour line, stopping for input only when the follower can no longer proceed on its own (for instance, when it meets a raster endpoint or a label for the contour). This pause is referred to as a “decision point.” At each decision point, you can provide more information, change course, back up to a previous vertex, stop the follower, and so on. Vectorization tools include three followers: ■ ■

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The Polyline Follower converts raster polylines to AutoCAD Polyline entities using a follower to trace the raster polyline as you go. The Contour Follower converts raster contours to AutoCAD Polyline entities with elevation, or to contour objects (if you are using Autodesk Land Desktop) using a follower to trace the raster contour as you go.

Converting Raster to Vector

■

When a contour is completed, the contour follower prompts you to enter elevation data. The 3D Polyline Follower traces a defined fence or existing vector polyline, stopping at each point where it intersects raster (called a Raster Impact Point) to prompt for elevation data. The resulting AutoCAD 3D Polyline represents the elevation of the raster contours it intersects.

You can use the contour follower to vectorize a contour and the VText command to convert the text label associated with it.

Contour follower vectorizes contours

Magnified view of new vector

VText vectorizes text

To convert a raster contour to a vector polyline Steps

Use

1 Insert a binary raster image into your drawing. A good sample image to use is contour.rlc in the \samples folder.

Inserting Images

2 Select Image ➤ Options. Then click the VTools Follower tab and select Polyline from the Contour Creates drop-down list.

Changing Contour Follower Settings

to locate

Click OK to exit the dialog box. 3 Select Image ➤ Vectorization Tools ➤ Contour Follower.

Convert Raster Entities to Vector

4 Select a raster contour.

Using the Contour Follower

The contour follower traces the contour until it comes to a point where confusing geometry or a raster intersection (if configured to stop at raster intersection) force it to pause for input. This is called a decision point.

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95

To convert a raster contour to a vector polyline (continued) Steps

Use

to locate

5 If you want to manually add a point, type A and press ENTER, then click to add the point to the polyline. 6 If you want to specify a direction for the follower to proceed, type D and press ENTER, then click in the direction you want the follower to proceed. 7 If you want to close the polyline, type C and press ENTER. 8 Enter an elevation for the contour, then press

ENTER.

9 You can select another contour to follow, or you press ENTER to exit the command.

Using Vector Separation Search Help for… Changing the General Vector Separation Options

One of the most powerful aspects of vectorization tools is the Vector Separation Options. Rather than managing layers and polyline widths on an entity-by-entity basis, the Vector Separation Options automatically assign these values to the vectors created by vectorization tools. There are two ways to use vector separation: ■

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You can separate vectors based on the width of the raster lines by using the General tab of the Vector Separation Options dialog box. Most mechanical drawings, for instance, use thinner lines to represent dimension lines, and thicker lines to draw the objects. Vector Separation can place each type of line on its own layer based on the width of the raster lines. Simply specify a range of line widths for the

Converting Raster to Vector

raster entity, then assign layer and polyline width values to those ranges. When you use a vectorization tool, Raster Design examines the raster line width and assigns the values you specified for that width to the newly created vectors.

■

You can assign layer and polyline widths to contours based on their elevation interval using the Contour tab of the Vector Separation Options dialog box. For instance, you might set the elevation interval for major contours to 50, and the elevation interval for minor contours to 10. If you then followed a contour and set the elevation value to 450, the resulting vector contour would be assigned to the major layer. Likewise, if you traced a contour and set the elevation value to 440, the resulting vector would be assigned to the minor layer.

Click Vector Separation on the VTools General tab of the Raster Design Options dialog box to access the Vector Separation Options dialog box.

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To adjust the vector separation options Steps

Use

1 Insert a binary raster image into your drawing.

Inserting Images

to locate

A good sample image to use is Facil.cal in the \samples folder. 2 Select Image ➤ Options. Click the VTools General tab, and then click the Vector Separation button. 3 Click the General tab. 4 In the Width Table section, select the Use Width Table check box. 5 Click Insert Below. 6 With the new row still highlighted, double-click the Maximum cell, then enter a new value. 7 With the new row highlighted, double-click the Layer cell, then select a new layer from the drop-down list. 8 To determine the width of a raster line, click Query Width, then click a raster line. The width is reported in pixels and in AutoCAD units. Click OK to exit the Entity Width Information dialog box. 9 In the default section, select a layer from the Layer dropdown list. Entities which do not meet the line width criteria of the Width Table are assigned to this layer. 10 Click Save As Default to retain the current vector separation settings. Vector separation settings are not saved with the drawing. Unless you save the current settings as the default, they will not be saved for future drawing sessions. Vector separation files have a .vs extension. 11 Click OK to exit the Vector Separation Options dialog box. 12 Click OK to exit the Raster Design Options dialog box.

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Converting Raster to Vector

Changing the General Vector Separation Options

Key Concepts: Vectorization Tools ■

■ ■

■

Vectorization tools work best when you convert raster to vector on binary images. One-pick selection and follower tools do not work with grayscale or color photographs. The follower commands trace complex raster geometry, such as contours, by relying on interaction from you at key decision points. Before using vectorization tools, adjust the settings in the Raster Design Options dialog box. Use the options on the VTools General and VTools Follower tabs to customize the vectorization tools to your particular needs. For instance, by adjusting the VTools Removal setting, you can choose to delete a preset line width, delete using REM delete (which preserves raster intersections), or you can choose to leave the raster entity in your drawing. By adjusting the Contour Creates setting, you can control whether the Contour Follower creates a polyline or a contour object. Use Vector Separation Options to automatically assign a layer and polyline width to the vectors you create with vectorization tools. You can assign these values based on either raster line width or the elevation of the resulting vectors.

Vectorization Tools

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Converting Raster to Vector

8

Converting Raster Text to AutoCAD Text

The Text Recognition commands make it possible for

In this chapter

you to convert raster text into AutoCAD Text or Mtext.

■

Entering Text Recognition settings

■

Recognizing text

■

Recognizing text in a table

The results of the text recognition search engine are displayed in a verification window where you can make edits and then insert the new text into the drawing.

101

Converting Raster Text Search Help for… Changing Text Using Text Recognition Entering Settings for Text Recognition

Using the Text Recognition commands, you can convert raster text to AutoCAD Text or Mtext. You can use the Recognize Text command to convert areas of text that are in paragraph form, and the Recognize Table command to convert areas of text in a table. The text recognition commands are useful for: ■ ■ ■

extracting data from drawings for catalog purposes. converting notes and specifications from an existing project for use in a new project. converting raster text and raster text in tables to be used in other documents such as Word or Excel.

After you enter settings for the search parameters, the recognized text is displayed in the Verification window where you can edit and format the text.

Settings for Text Recognition The Text Recognition Setup dialog box has the following three sections: ■

■ ■

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Input: In this section you enter the search parameters for the recognition such as the text format, selection shape, language dictionary and language character set. AutoCAD Output: In this section you determine the Output Type, Text Height and Removal Method. Verification Display: In this section you enter the settings to determine how the recognized text is displayed in the Verification window. You have options to enable the Verifier, a box that displays the original raster text in the Edit pane, and also control the re-sizing ratio of the two panes in the Verification window using the Viewer/Editor slide control.

Converting Raster Text to AutoCAD Text

The Text Recognition Setup is the same for both the Recognize Text and Recognize Table commands.

Verifying Text The Text (Table) Verification window has two panes, the View pane (upper) where the original raster text is displayed, and the Edit pane (lower) where the recognized text is displayed. After reviewing the recognition results in the Edit pane, it may be necessary to redefine the search parameters. You can return to the Text Recognition Setup dialog box by clicking the Setup button in the Verification window and. You can make corrections to the text directly in the Edit pane, or you can use the Find Next button to display Suspect words and Rejected characters in the Change To box. Suspect words are highlighted in green, rejected characters are highlighted in yellow and characters that the search engine did not recognize are displayed as red tildes. You can choose a word from the Change To drop-down list or type the correct word in the Change To box and then click Replace. No text recognition program is 100% accurate, therefore it is essential that you carefully review all the text in the Edit pane, not only the highlighted areas.

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To convert a raster text to AutoCAD Text Steps

Use

to locate

1 Select Image ➤ Text Recognition ➤ Recognize Setup. 2 Enter settings for Input, AutoCAD Output, and Verification Display in the Text Recognition Setup dialog box.

Entering Settings for Text Recognition

3 Click OK. 4 Select Image ➤ Text Recognition ➤ Recognize Text. 5 Select the area of text for recognition. 6 Review the text in the Text Verification window. 7 Make changes to the text directly in the Edit pane or use the Find Next and Replace buttons. 8 Click OK to insert the text into the drawing.

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Converting Raster Text to AutoCAD Text

Recognizing Text

To convert a raster text in a table to AutoCAD Text Steps

Use

to locate

1 Select Image ➤ Text Recognition ➤ Recognize Setup. 2 Enter settings for Input, AutoCAD Output, and Verification Display. By default the Output Entity is Text.

Entering Settings for Text Recognition

3 Click OK. 4 Select Image ➤ Text Recognition ➤ Recognize Table.

Recognizing Text in a Table

5 Select the table for recognition. 6 Review the recognized text in the Text Verification window. 7 Make changes to the text directly in the Edit pane or by using the Find Next and Replace buttons. 8 Click OK to add the table to the image.

Key Concepts: Text Recognition ■ ■ ■ ■

Text Recognition allows you to convert areas of text for use in use multiple projects. In the Verification window you can edit and format the recognized text. Search parameters can be redefined from the Verification window. Recognized text can be output to Word or Excel and printed for review.

Converting Raster Text

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Converting Raster Text to AutoCAD Text

Part 2

Appendices

107

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Part II

Installation Guide

A

Installing Autodesk Raster Design

This appendix provides information on installing

In this appendix

Autodesk Raster Design, both for single users and for

■

Installation Options

■

Single-User Installation

■

Network Installation

Before you begin your installation process, it is recom-

■

Checking system requirements

mended you review this chapter and also refer to the

■

Preparing for installation

■

Installation recommendations

■

Where to install your files

■

Unique installation conditions

■

Raster Design program group icons

■

Raster Design menus

■

Raster Design Licensing

network users worldwide.

Stand-Alone Installation Guide, Stand-Alone Licensing Guide, Network Administrator’s Guide, and Network Licensing Guide. These online guides are accessible from the Autodesk Raster Design CD browser.

109

Choosing Your Installation Options You have two main installation options to choose from: single-user installation and network installation. To decide which installation option best suits your needs, read the following sections: “Single-User Installation,” and “Network Installation.” The Network Installation section describes two sub-options: client deployment and single user deployment. Read through the common characteristics of both before you consider their advantages and disadvantages.

Stand-Alone Installation You can install Raster Design as a single-user in a non-network environment. Installing the product directly from the CD allows you to choose the folder where you would like Raster Design to be installed. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of a single-user install to those described in the next section, “Network Administrator Installation,” to decide which installation best suits the needs of your company.

An installation of Raster Design exists on your computer only.

Advantages ■ ■ ■

Does not require a network. No network dependency. If the network goes down, you can continue to use Raster Design. Complete control over where Raster Design is installed on your computer.

Disadvantages ■

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Only your individual computer has Raster Design installed and running, therefore only one person at a time can use it.

Appendix A

Installing Autodesk Raster Design

■

Decentralizes the use of Raster Design, making product updates more time consuming to install. For example, if an administrator needs to apply a patch to Raster Design, the patch must be applied to each computer that has Raster Design installed.

If you want to install Raster Design as a single-user, refer to “Installing SingleUser Raster Design.” on page 120.

Network Installation Before you proceed, you must first decide which installation option suits your needs. If you are a Network Administrator, there are two main installation options to choose from: client deployment and single user deployment. Raster Design actively supports all of these options. Please read the descriptions of each of these options and consider the pros and cons before making your decision. ■ ■

Client deployment installs all of the Raster Design program files on the client’s computer. Single User deployment installs all of the program files on the client’s computer using a single-user license.

Network Installation

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Common Characteristics With network installations, you can control where Raster Design is installed on each of the client computers, and which pre-configured settings each client computer uses. This saves time in communicating corporate installation standards. You can also define which AutoCAD Desktop(s) that Raster Design is installed on. Client deployments are created for network installations on the network server. You must have an AutoCAD desktop installed, including a version of the Autodesk License Manager (which is installed with the network installation of your AutoCAD desktop). Single user deployments, on the other hand, do not require the Autodesk License Manager. Installations from deployments are either silent or verbose. Silent installations write errors to a log file specified during deployment creation. Verbose installations display errors as error messages.

NOTE During a network setup, Autodesk Raster Design 2004 does not detect if the previous version of Raster Design (CAD Overlay) is already installed. Before installing Raster Design, you should first uninstall CAD Overlay.

Advantages to Client Deployments ■ ■

Allows for floating licensing, making it possible for different client computers to run Raster Design as needed, allowing more flexibility. Controls where Raster Design is installed on each client computer and which pre-configured settings are used.

Disadvantages to Client Deployments ■

Client computers cannot operate Raster Design if the network is down.

Client Deployment You should install Raster Design using client deployment if you want the client computers to contain all of the program files. You can control where Raster Design is installed on all of the client computers, and which pre-configured settings each client computer uses. This saves time communicating corporate installation standards.

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Installing Autodesk Raster Design

An installation of Each client canexists install Raster Design Raster on the Design Server, directly in one from the Network. installation location.

A full deployment of Design is ARaster desktop icon is installed onpoints the client created that to a computer from theof network installation Network. Raster Design.

Clients retrieve ClientsDesign retrieve Raster Licenses from Designserver. licenses from a aRaster centralized centralized server.

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113

Advantages ■

Installs all program files onto your client computers, allowing Raster Design to run at its maximum speed.

Disadvantages ■ ■

Network dependent. Decentralizes the use of Raster Design, making product updates more time consuming to install.

Single User Deployment As a network administrator, you should install Raster Design using single user deployment if you want the client computers to contain all of the program files, but you do not want to use the Autodesk License Manager. You can control where Raster Design is installed on all of the client computers, and which pre-configured settings each client computer uses. This saves time communicating corporate installation standards.

Each client can install Raster Design directly from the Network.

A full deployment of Raster Design is installed on the client computer from the Network.

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Installing Autodesk Raster Design

Advantages ■

Does not rely on Autodesk License Manager.

Disadvantages ■

Decentralizes the use of Raster Design, making product updates more time consuming to install.

Network Installation

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The Autodesk Raster Design CD Depending on the country you live in, you received one of two different Raster Design CDs when you purchased Raster Design. One CD is distributed within the United States and Canada, and the other CD is distributed internationally. The differences between the two CDs are described below.

The Raster Design CD for Customers in the United States and Canada (Domestic) If you are a customer within the United States or Canada, then your CD includes both a single-user unlocked version of Raster Design and a network version of Raster Design. The network version of Raster Design uses the Autodesk License Manager (AdLM) for client deployments, which you can use to license Raster Design from a license server on a network. The Autodesk License Manager can be installed as an option from your AutoCAD 2004 CD Browser. ■

■

Install the single-user unlocked version of Raster Design from your Raster Design CD. You must contact Autodesk to receive an authorization code within 30 days after installing this version. The unlocked version can only be installed and used on one computer, at one location, at any one time. Install the network version of Raster Design from your Raster Design CD. If you are creating a client deployment, you must contact Autodesk to license this version immediately after installing it in order to use the software.

The Raster Design CD for International Customers If you are an international customer, then your CD includes both a locked single-user, and a network version of Raster Design. The client and network versions of Raster Design use the Autodesk License Manager (AdLM), which you can use to license Raster Design from a license server on a network. The Autodesk License Manager can be installed as an option from your AutoCAD 2004 CD Browser. ■

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Install the locked version of Raster Design from your Raster Design CD. You must contact Autodesk to license this version within 30 days after installing it in order to use the software.

Appendix A

Installing Autodesk Raster Design

WARNING! Before you install Raster Design, decide which type of licensing you want to use. For more information, see Network Licensing Guide. ■

Install the network version of Raster Design from your Raster Design CD. If you are creating a network or client deployment, you must contact Autodesk to license this version immediately after installing it in order to use the software.

Checking System Requirements To run properly, Autodesk Raster Design 2004 requires a minimum of the following hardware and software. If your computer does not meet the minimum requirements, then upgrade your computer before installing any software. This prevents later problems.

Minimum System Requirements One of the following AutoCAD 2004-based products: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

AutoCAD® 2004 AutoCAD® Mechanical 2004 Autodesk® Mechanical Desktop 2004 Autodesk® Architectural Desktop 2004 Autodesk Map™ 2004 Autodesk® Land Desktop 2004

Hardware Requirements You should have 75 MB of disk space available in addition to the minimum system requirements of AutoCAD 2004, or the AutoCAD 2004-based product upon which Raster Design is installed.

Network Installation of Raster Design System administrators planning to install Raster Design on a network must have TCP/IP installed and functioning on the computers that are running Raster Design.

Checking System Requirements

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Requirements for Sharing Data in a Network Environment Search Help for… Setting the Locking Method for Image Files

In addition to the software and hardware requirements that are described in the preceding section, the following is required for sharing Raster Design data in a network environment: ■

■

Each user must have a unique network login name to use raster file locking. The login name is used to identify users so that images can be locked appropriately. If you share the same network login name with another user, then your image files could be overwritten. For raster file locking to work properly, everyone on the network must use the same file locking method and folder. These settings are controlled through the Raster Design Options dialog box.

Preparing for Installation Be sure to configure the following items before you install Raster Design.

Virtual Memory Settings For the maximum performance, use the Virtual Memory settings recommended in your Windows manual.

File Systems Raster Design runs on the Windows XP, Windows NT and Windows 2000 (FAT & NTFS).

Log in as Administrator (Windows NT and Windows 2000 Only) When you install Raster Design, be sure you are logged in as Administrator, or that your login name is part of the Administrator Group.

Installation Recommendations Decide which type of installation you want to use. For more information, see “Choosing Your Installation Options” on page 110.

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Appendix A

Installing Autodesk Raster Design

Autodesk recommends that you follow the following steps to install Raster Design. To install Raster Design Steps 1 Make sure that AutoCAD 2004, or an appropriate AutoCAD 2004 desktop, loads and runs properly and that peripheral devices (such as monitors, digitizers, plotters, and so on) are configured and working properly before you install Raster Design. 2 Uninstall any previous version of Raster Design or CAD Overlay before installing Autodesk Raster Design 2004. NOTE Do not install Raster Design in the same folder as a previous version without uninstalling the previous version. 3 Decide where you want to install the program files. The default installation folder is c:\Program Files\Raster Design 2004.

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119

Unique Installation Conditions Custom Installation During installation, you can choose to install: ■ ■

Program Files (files needed to run Raster Design) Sample and tutorial images

More than One AutoCAD For single-user installs, if you have more than one installation of AutoCAD, then you are prompted to select which AutoCAD(s) you want to use with Raster Design. Desktop icons and Program Group items are created for each AutoCAD you have selected.

NOTE Autodesk Raster Design 2004 will only install to AutoCAD 2004, or an AutoCAD 2004–based desktop.

Installing Single-User Raster Design. To install single-user Raster Design Steps 1 Place the Raster Design CD in the CD-ROM drive. 2 Select Start ➤ Run. 3 In the Open box, type e:\setup (where “e” is the drive letter for the CD-ROM drive), and then click OK. 4 The Raster Design CD browser is displayed. Click Install Autodesk Raster Design on the Install tab to proceed through the installation process.

If you installed the single-user locked or unlocked version of Raster Design (in the United States and Canada), then you can start Raster Design. When you start the program, you are prompted to enter an authorization code. Follow the instructions on screen to obtain your authorization code. You have up to 30 days to obtain this code and enter it. For complete instructions about installing Raster Design for a single user, refer to the Stand-Alone Installation Guide, which is accessible from the Install tab of the Raster Design CD browser.

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Installing Autodesk Raster Design

Installing Raster Design on a Network Only a client deployment of Raster Design can be installed on a network installation of AutoCAD, or an AutoCAD desktop. To install Raster Design on a network, follow the same steps used for the network installation of your AutoCAD or desktop. For complete instructions about installing Raster Design on a Network, refer to the Network Administrator’s Guide, which is accessible from the Network Deployment tab of the Raster Design CD browser.

Associating Raster Design to Your AutoCAD Desktop When client machines install from client deployments, Raster Design is installed on the client machine and is bound to the AutoCAD Desktop(s) installed on the client machine. The network administrator chooses this AutoCAD desktop(s) when creating the client deployment.

Installing Raster Design on a Network

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Raster Design Program Group Icons After you have completed installing Raster Design, the installation program creates icons in the program group you specified. These icons are listed in the table below. Program group icons Icon

Description Autodesk Raster Design 2004 on : Starts Raster Design on the designated AutoCAD-based product. Portable License Utility (Safecast locked installs only): Starts the Portable License Utility. License Borrowing Utility (Deployed network locked install only): Starts the License Borrowing Utility.

Raster Design Menus The Raster Design Image menu is added to your current AutoCAD menu. It is inserted to the left of the AutoCAD Help menu. Each time you run Raster Design, it checks to make sure the image menu is loaded. If it is not loaded, then Raster Design loads it if the Load menu on Raster Design Startup check box is selected in the Raster Design Options dialog box. See Appendix C, “Autodesk Raster Design Command Summary” on page 129 for a complete listing of the Raster Design Image menu options with their corresponding command names.

Licensing Raster Design This section provides overview information and on stand-alone licensing for a single-user workstation and the network licensing as part of a network installation and deployment of Raster Design.

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Installing Autodesk Raster Design

For detailed licensing information, refer to the following online guides, which are available from the Raster Design CD Browser. ■ ■

Stand-Alone Licensing Guide—Accessible from the Documentation tab on the Raster Design CD Browser. Network Licensing Guide—Accessible from the Network Deployment tab on the Raster Design CD Browser.

Stand-Alone Licensing Basics A stand-alone license allows you to run an Autodesk product on a single workstation. To obtain a license, you authorize your product. You can use your Autodesk product for 30 days before you are required to authorize it. You can also authorize your license at any time before the expiration date. After the expiration date, you cannot run your Autodesk product until you register and authorize the product. When you register your product, you receive an authorization code. You enter the authorization code in the Product Authorization wizard, which is displayed every time you launch an unauthorized product. For more information about registering and authorizing your product, see the Stand-Alone Installation Guide, which is available on the Raster Design CD Browser. The license file stays on your workstation when you uninstall your product. If you reinstall your Autodesk product on the same workstation, the license information is still valid. You do not have to reauthorize the product.

Network Licensing Basics You use the Network License Manager as part of a network installation and deployment of an Autodesk product. The Network License Manager works with the Network Installation wizard to install your Autodesk product and manage licenses from a network. The Network License Manager is used to configure and manage the license servers, while the Network Installation wizard allows you to set up a deployment of an Autodesk product on a network. For more information about deploying an Autodesk product from a network location, see the Network Administrator’s Guide, which is accessible from the Raster Design CD Browser.

Licensing Raster Design

|

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Appendix A

Installing Autodesk Raster Design

B

Supported Image Formats

You can use many common binary, grayscale, and color

In this appendix

image formats with Raster Design. Raster Design

■

Supported image formats

supports all the image formats that AutoCAD 2004 supports.

125

Supported Image Formats Search Help for… Supported Image Formats

If you open a drawing containing an image format that is not supported, Raster Design does not load the image. If you attempt to insert an image that uses an unsupported format, then you are warned that the format is not supported. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

■

1-bit images are two color (binary/bitonal). 4-bit images are grayscale or color (16-color). 8-bit images are grayscale or color (256-color). 24-bit and 32-bit images are both true color. Raster Design can save images as 1 bit, 8 bit, or 24 bit. Raster Design can read more image formats than it can write. All readable formats are listed in the “Read” column of the following table. All writable formats are listed in the “Write” column. For instance, Raster Design can read wavelet compressed images such as SID and ECW files. However it cannot write files to those formats. If you insert a read-only image into your drawing and you want to edit it, then you can use the Image ➤ Save As command to save the image to a read-write format before or after you edit it.

Raster Design can read and write world files for any image type. World files contain correlation information for images, such as scale, rotation, and insertion point. Supported image formats Format

File extension

Description

Read (bits per pixel)

Write (bits per pixel)

BMP

BMP, RLE, DIB

Windows Bitmap

1, 4, 8, 24

1, 8, 24

CALS

CAL, GP4, RST, Computer Aided Acquisition and Logistics MIL, CG4 Support

1

1

FLIC

FLC, FLI

Animator FLIC

8

8

GeoSPOT

BIL

SPOT Image Corporation’s raster format with georeferencing format

8, 24

read-only

GIF

GIF

Compuserve® Graphics Exchange Format

8

read-only

IG4

IG4

Image Systems Group 4

1

read-only

IGS

IGS

Image Systems Grayscale

8

read-only

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Appendix C

Supported Image Formats

Supported image formats (continued) Format

File extension

Description

Read (bits per pixel)

Write (bits per pixel)

JFIF- JPEG

JPG

Joint Photographics Expert Group, best suited for 24-bit images

8, 24

24

PCX

PCX

A simple run length encoded format

1, 4, 8, 24

1, 8

PICT

PCT

Apple® Computer format

1, 8, 24

read-only

PNG

PNG

Portable Network Graphics

1, 8, 24

1, 8, 24

RLC1

RLC

Plain RLC with no header

1

read-only

RLC2

RLC

RLC1 with IST headers

1

1

TARGA

TGA

Usually 24-bit true color; can be 8-bit grayscale or simple run length encoded

8, 24

8, 24

TIFF

TIF

Tagged Image File Format

1, 4, 8, 24

1, 8, 24

MrSID

SID

Multiresolution Seamless Image Database

1, 4, 8, 24

read-only

ECW

ECW

Enhanced Compressed Wavelet

1, 4, 8, 24

read-only

NOTE Raster Design reads GeoTIFF even though GeoTIFF does not appear as a separate format in the Image Insert dialog box. GeoTIFF is now considered a source of correlation for TIFF files.

Supported Image Formats

|

127

128

C

Autodesk Raster Design Command Summary

You can enter Raster Design commands from the Image

In this appendix

menu or from the command line.

■

Image menu options

■

Command names

The table in this appendix lists the menu options and their corresponding command line names according to their groupings on the Image menu. For a full description of the Image menu and related online Help topics, see “Accessing the Raster Design Commands” on page 20.

129

Command Summary The following table shows each Image menu option and its corresponding command line name. Image menu

Command line access

New

INEW

Insert

IINSERT

Save

ISAVE

Save As

ISAVEAS

Export Image

IEXPORT

World File

IWORLDOUT

Correlate Match

IMATCH

Displace

IDISPLACE

Scale

ISCALE

Rubbersheet

IRSHEET

Manage

IMANAGE

Cleanup

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Deskew

IDESKEW

Despeckle

IDESPECKLE

Bias

IBIAS

Invert

IINVERT

Mirror

IMIRROR

Appendix D

Autodesk Raster Design Command Summary

Image menu

Command line access (continued)

Image Processing Histogram

IHISTOGRAM

Convolve

ICONVOLVE

Bitonal Filters

IBFILTER

Change Density

IDENSITY

Change Color Depth

IDEPTH

Palette Manager

IPAL

Raster Entity Manipulation (REM) REM ➤ Create Region Polygonal

ISPOLYREG

Rectangular

ISRECTREG

Diagonal

ISDIAGREG

Circular

ISCIRCREG

From Existing Vector

IREGFROMVEC

REM ➤ Create Enhanced Bitonal Region Smart Window

ISEBRSMART / Window

Smart Crossing

ISEBRSMART / Crossing

Smart Wpolygon

ISEBRSMART / WPolygon

Smart Cpolygon

ISEBRSMART / CPolygon

Smart Fence

ISEBRSMART / Fence

Connected Entity

ISEBRCON / Entity

Connected Window

ISEBRCON / Window

Connected Crossing

ISEBRCON / Crossing

Command Summary

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Image menu

Command line access (continued)

REM ➤ Create Enhanced Bitonal Region (cont’d) Connected Wpolygon

ISEBRCON / WPolygon

Connected Cpolygon

ISEBRCON / CPolygon

Connected Fence

ISEBRCON / Fence

REM ➤ Create Primitive Smart Pick

ISSMART

Line

ISLINE

Circle

ISCIRCLE

Arc

ISARC

From Existing Vector

IPRIMFROMVEC

Clear Selected

ICLEAR

Clear All

ICLEARALL

Select All

ISELECTALL

Refine Mode

IREFINEMODE

Remove Data from Region

IREMOVE

Merge To Raster Image

IMERGETOIMG

Convert To Raster Image ICONVTOIMG Transparency

ITRANSPARENT

Smooth

ISMOOTH

Copy to Clipboard

ICOPYSS

Knife

IKNIFE

Mask Create

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Appendix D

IMASK

Autodesk Raster Design Command Summary

Image menu

Command line access (continued)

Mask (cont’d) Convert to Image Clip

IMASKCONVERT

Redefine

IMASKEDIT

Crop Line

ICROPLINE

Circular Region

ICROPCIRC

Rectangular Region

ICROPRECT

Aligned Rectangular Region

ICROPALIGN

Diagonal Region

ICROPDIAG

Polygonal Region

ICROPPOLY

Remove Line

IRUBLINE

Circle

IRUBDONUT

Arc

IRUBARC

Polyline

IRUBPLINE

Circular Region

IRUBCIRC

Rectangular Region

IRUBRECT

Diagonal Region

IRUBDIAG

Polygonal Region

IRUBPOLY

Remove Under Vector

IRMVEXISTING

Smart Pick

IDELSMART

Line Entity

IDELLINE

Circle Entity

IDELCIRCLE

Arc Entity

IDELARC

Command Summary

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Image menu

Command line access (continued)

Merge Merge Images

IIMERGE

Merge Vector

IVMERGE

Raster Pens

RPENS

Vectorization Tools (VTools) Line

VLINE

Pline

VPOLY

Rectangle

VRECT

Circle

VCIRCLE

Arc

VARC

Text

VTEXT

Multiline Text

VMTEXT

Polyline Follower

VFPOLY

Contour Follower

VFCONTOUR

3D Polyline Follower

VF3DPOLY

Text Recognition

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Recognize Text

IRECTEXT

Recognize Table

IRECTABLE

Recognize Setup

IRECSETUP

Snap

ISNAP

Toggle Frames

IFRAME

Toggle Quick Bar

IQBAR

Appendix D

Autodesk Raster Design Command Summary

Image menu

Command line access (continued)

Options

IOPTIONS

Raster Design Home Page

http://www.autodesk.com/rasterdesignuser

Help

IHELP

About Raster Design

IABOUT

Command Summary

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Appendix D

Autodesk Raster Design Command Summary

Glossary

access

To open or start, as a command.

access key

The key that corresponds to an underlined letter on a menu, command, or dialog box.

active

Open and operating window, program, document, file, device, or portion of the screen.

Always Detach

An option in the Raster Design Options dialog box. If you erase the image frames, this option automatically detaches the images.

arc, raster

Curved line or object. Commonly created by three points. Example: You can remove a raster arc by selecting the start, center, and endpoints of the raster arc.

Ask Before Detach

An option in the Raster Design Options dialog box that prompts you to detach an image if no frames in the drawing reference that image.

AutoInsert

A Raster Design option for automatically inserting images into a drawing created with ESP or GSX, which are earlier versions of Raster Design.

AutoReplace

A Raster Design option that changes the image path of a previously inserted image to match the drawing path.

AutoRub

A Raster Design option that removes raster entities as you trace them with the VTools commands. This option uses the Rub/Crop line width to determine the width of the raster that is removed.

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base point

A point used for relative distance and angle when moving, copying, or rotating objects. Example: Select the base point on the image that you want to move to the destination point.

bias

The ratio of image width to image height. You can change the bias of an image by using the AutoCAD STRETCH command. Also called aspect ratio.

binary image

A two color, 1-bit image, usually a line drawing. Example: A floorplan or a parcel map. The objects in a binary raster image are called raster entities. The background color of a binary image can be transparent or solid. The foreground color can be any color. Also called bitonal.

bitmap

A raster file format for images.

bitonal image

See binary image.

blurring

A method for evenly weighing all pixels in the kernel including the target. This filter, while similar to Low Pass #2, gives slightly brighter results.

bounding outline

The visible element (usually a dotted rectangle) that is displayed when you select a range of items. Also called bounding box.

brightness

Approaching maximum luminance. A higher brightness value makes all the pixels in an image lighter.

CAD Overlay GSX and CAD Overlay ESP

Previous releases of Raster Design.

channel

The way color conversion data is communicated or transmitted.

clipped image

Boundary by which you can shorten an image. Example: When you clip an image, the regions of the image that are outside the clip boundary are hidden from view. You can turn off the clip or you can delete the clip to redisplay all of the image. A clip is a display-only feature that you can use for viewing and plotting purposes. It does not permanently change image data.

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Glossary

color channel

Each color in an image has its own channel. Example: An RGB image has red, green, and blue color channels. Color channels can be adjusted together or separately to bring out individual colors in an image. See also channel.

color depth

Every pixel in an image has information associated with it to define its color. The amount of information stored with each pixel is called color depth. The more information that is stored with each pixel, the greater the number of colors that can be represented. The information is represented as follows: Color Depth

Type of Image

Available Color(s)

1-Bit

Black and White

1 color

8-Bit

Grayscale

256 shades of gray

4-Bit

Color

16 colors

8-Bit

Color

256 colors

16-Bit

Color

65,366 colors

24-Bit

Color

16,777,216 million colors

Color to GS

A tab on the Raster Design Histogram dialog box that converts a color image to an 8-bit grayscale image.

configure

To set up preferences and other settings that determine how a program operates. Example: You can set configuration values in the Raster Design Options dialog box. These settings become the default values.

continuous tone

A shaded image, sometimes called half-tone in traditional publishing.

contrast

The degree of darkness in areas in an image. Example: You can increase the contrast in a grayscale image to the point where the image becomes black and white. Decreasing the contrast results in an image of mostly midlevel grays.

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convert

Changing from one form to another. Example: Converting an image to binary can help isolate features in an image, such as the contour lines in a grayscale scan of a USGS map. After the grayscale image is converted to a binary image, you can use the VTools commands to convert the raster entities to vector objects.

Convolve filter

Convolve filters can smooth or sharpen the edges of grayscale images only.

correlate

The process of positioning an image within the AutoCAD coordinate system so that the image’s dimensions and coordinates match AutoCAD units and coordinates.

crop

A crop deletes pixel data outside a selected area of a raster image. The image frame size is adjusted automatically. A crop permanently alters an image.

current

A drive, directory, folder, or other element that is active. Example: Windows Explorer indicates which folder is current.

data organization

The method of organizing the image data when the image is saved. The data organization can be stripped, tiled, or monolithic (see also stripped, tiled, and monolithic).

datum

A reference point, line, or surface.

decrement

To decrease by one.

density

The number of dots per unit at which an image is scanned or created. The more dots per unit, the higher the density. Also called resolution. Example: If you scan an image at 300 dpi, the image density is 300 dots per inch.

density units

The units on which the image density is based. Example: Inches are the density units of an image that was scanned at 300 dots per inch.

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Glossary

density value

The number of dots per unit that make up the image density. Example: An image scanned at 300 dots per inch has a density value of 300.

depth

The amount of information stored with each pixel. The more information stored with each pixel, the greater the number of colors that can be represented. See also color depth.

deskew

Rotating a raster image Example: Use the Deskew filter when you want to rotate a raster image in reference to raster or vector objects without scaling it.

destination point

The location to which you move an image. To move an image, you must pick a source point and a destination point.

detach an image

To remove all references to an image from a drawing.

disable

To turn off a feature so that it does not affect the drawing.

displace

To move an image from a source point to a destination point.

display

The visual output device and its technology, such as a CRT-based display, a flat-panel display, or the graphics portion of your monitor.

Display Capture

A Raster Design setting that maintains the display scale and rotation of entities in a REM selection set. Used only for the REM Copy to Clipboard command.

display order

The order in which images are displayed in AutoCAD. The sequence affects which images are under or over other images. You can change the display order so that an image is on top of all other images in your drawing.

distortion correction

A method for correcting distortions in images, such as distortions related to parallax, unevenness of terrain, or lens distortion. See also rubbersheeting. Example: There may be times when you cannot align images using manual correlation because of distortions in the image.

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dithering

The process of using a pattern of solid dots to simulate more colors than are actually available.

Do Not Affect

A Raster Design option on the Image Mask Properties tab, which retains the images that are outside the mask boundary.

donut

A circle with a linewidth.

DPI

Dots per inch of an image. Also called resolution or density. Example: When you scan an image, you specify the dpi, or resolution, at which you want to scan the image.

Draft

An option in the Raster Design Options dialog box that does not dither the pixels. This setting is recommended for binary images.

drawing

A vector image in AutoCAD drawing format, saved with the filename extension DWG.

drawing image

Raster Design raster image correlated in an AutoCAD drawing.

drawing unit

The unit on which an AutoCAD drawing is based. Example: A common Imperial drawing unit is inches. A common Metric drawing unit is meters.

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edge enhancement filters

Filters that improve the quality of an image by extracting individual elements, for example, boundaries and property lines. You can also use these filters for object extraction or object recognition by higher-level algorithms.

Edit Warnings

An option in the Raster Design Options dialog box that prevents Raster Design from displaying warnings while you are editing an image.

enable

To make a feature active.

Enable Mask

A Raster Design option on the Image Mask Properties tab, that enables an existing mask for display. Enabling allows you to view the image clip as defined by the image mask.

encoding

Compression method that is applied to an image when the image is saved. An encoding method can save disk space.

Glossary

equalization

A function to bring out details in an image. Equalization changes the darkest pixels in an image to black and the lightest pixels to white and then reassigns the remaining pixels to the colors in between. Also called nonlinear contrast stretch.

Export

A Raster Design command for saving an image to another file format and for writing out correlation files for the image. Correlation files store insertion point, scale, rotation, and density information for the image. When you export an image, you can choose the type of correlation files to create. You can save the correlation information to a resource file, a world file, or to the image file. The type of correlation file you create depends on the image type you are exporting.

extension list

The filename extensions, such as GIF, that Raster Design searches for when it searches for an image. Raster Design searches for images in the order that they appear in this list.

filter

An editing tool that can be used to adjust the appearance of an image. Also called editing filter. Example: The Invert filter reverses light and dark areas on an image.

follow

To trace a line on a binary raster entity and create vectors that AutoCAD recognizes as individual objects. Also called vectorize.

foreground color

The color of the raster entities in a binary image.

frame

A rectangular vector object that encloses an image. You can select the image frame by clicking it or by using any AutoCAD selection method. The image frame is an AutoCAD object that you can assign to a layer, reposition, or scale using standard AutoCAD methods. A frame can become an irregular shape if the image is cropped or clipped. See also image frame.

freq value

The number of pixels in a histogram image that corresponds to the shade indicated by the placement of your cursor.

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Gap Width

A setting that defines the maximum gap (from 0 to 10 pixels) that Raster Design can ignore as it follows a raster line, polyline, or contour. Raster Design ignores any gap that is equal to or smaller than the Gap Width. This setting is useful for scanned images that have many disconnected raster lines or in which pixels are missing as a result of imperfect scans.

georeferenced image

An image that references real-world coordinates in its correlation source. Example: Georeferenced images include GeoSPOT, GeoTIFF, and images that use world files as their correlation source.

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GIS (Geographic Information Systems)

Computerized decision support systems that integrate spatially referenced data. These systems capture, store, retrieve, analyze, and display such data.

global coordinate system

A method to put angular spherical coordinates representing latitude and longitude into Autodesk Map's Cartesian coordinate system, and account for the curvature of the earth's surface with a projection.

gradient directional edge enhancements filters

Filters that improve the quality of the line where an object begins or ends by extracting individual elements. These filters use the vector sum of the three coordinate variables X, Y, and Z, taking into account their direction in space.

grayscale image

An image usually created by a scanner in which continuous tones are represented as uniform shades of gray. Each pixel uses eight bits of information, producing 256 shades of gray.

grips

Small boxes displayed at various points on a selected object that can be used as “handles” to edit the object. Select a grip and then specify a grip editing function.

height

The physical height of an image in pixels.

Glossary

Example: You can use the gradient directional edge enhancements filters in any one of the eight compass directions. Using these filters results in a black background with white outlines of the objects in the original image.

Hide Image(s)

A Raster Design option on the Image Mask Properties tab, used to hide the images that are outside the mask boundary.

High Quality

A setting in the Raster Design Options dialog box that is recommended for color and grayscale images. Example: This setting dithers the pixels on screen so the changes between shades and colors appear more gradual.

high pass filters

A means for enhancing the edges of images. Images that do not appear clear may be sharpened by high pass filtering.

high resolution

A high-quality screen display (generally 640 × 480 pixels or better) or print output (300 dots per inch or better).

histogram

A bar graph that shows the number of pixels for each color in the selected image or images. An aid to adjust the brightness and contrast of an image, to maximize details in an image, to convert a grayscale or color image to binary, or to convert a color image to grayscale.

horizontal

Parallel to the horizon or baseline.

hybrid

A drawing comprising both raster and vector data.

image

A graphic that is composed of raster data. See also drawing and drawing image.

image detail

The smallest parts that comprise an image.

image file

The description of a collection of data treated by a computer as a unit for input and output. Example: For certain types of images, correlation data can be saved as part of the image file. These file types include RLC, IG4, IGS, GeoTags in GeoTIFF, or HDR File in SPOT.

image format

The method in which an image was created and saved, such as bitmap, CALS, RLC, or GIF. Some image formats, such as PICT, are read-only.

image frame

A frame that encloses each image you insert (also called boundary). If you select an image frame, grips appear and hatch marks are drawn over the image to indicate that you have selected it. You can select the frame using standard AutoCAD methods (such as specifying points to define a crossing window or clicking the frame).

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image management

The ability to modify the image display order, modify the image properties, and select the active image.

image memory

A default amount of memory (RAM) set to 8 MB for images. If you increase the default amount, you might degrade the performance of your operating system. It is recommended that you use the default amount.

image selection

The description of a collection of data treated by Raster Design as a unit. Example: When you select an image by clicking its frame, the image moves to the top of the display order, obscuring any vectors that intersect with it.

image type

Binary, grayscale, and color images. Example: You can use the histogram with grayscale and color image types.

image unit

The unit at which an image was scanned or created. Example: If you scan an image at 300 dots per inch, the image unit is inches.

index value

In Raster Design, the intensity of the shade (0 to 255) represented by the bar in the histogram where you place your pointer.

insert image

To put or fit a drawing or photograph into your Raster Design working session.

insertion point

The point in AutoCAD at which text or graphics are inserted. Example: The image insertion point XYZ coordinate corresponds to the lower-left corner of the image frame.

invert

In Raster Design, a filter used to reverse position, order, or relationship. Example: If an image was originally scanned as a negative, you can invert the image to create a positive image. You can also use the Invert filter to reverse the dark and light areas of an image that was scanned from a white line blueprint.

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Glossary

invisible

Unable to be seen. Example: When frames are invisible, or an image is on a locked layer, a frozen layer, or a layer that is turned off, you cannot select the image by clicking the frame. However, if the frames are not displayed but the image is on an editable layer, you can select the image using the SHIFT + left-click method.

layer

To form or arrange in layers. Example: When you insert an image, it is inserted onto the current AutoCAD layer. However, you can move the image to another layer. Because AutoCAD controls the visibility and behavior of the layers, you can move an image to another layer to take advantage of the AutoCAD layer properties.

layout

Management of images, including how they are displayed and in what order they are displayed, determined in the Image Management dialog box.

line

A narrow elongated mark, such as a mark on a map recording a boundary, division, or contour. Example: You can remove a raster line by selecting a point on each end of the raster line.

linetype

The display of a line or type of curve, such as continuous or dashed.

low pass filter

A means of extracting individual elements in areas where pixel intensities change rapidly, thereby reducing highfrequency detail. The effect is a slightly blurred image.

Maintain Drawing Link

A Raster Design export option, which, if selected, replaces the original image with the image you selected to export.

mask

Used to display and plot of a subset of the images in your drawing. A mask clips the images inside the mask boundary and hides or unloads the images completely outside the mask boundary. You can mask images using a rectangular or polygonal boundary. The mask boundary is an AutoCAD object you can move, stretch, scale, and erase, just as you can any other AutoCAD object.

median filter

A filter that removes random visual noise in an image by changing each pixel value to match the average value of the neighboring pixels.

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memory

See image memory.

merge commands

Raster Design commands you can use to merge images, merge vectors, and select raster pen widths.

merge images

To group two or more images into a single image file.

mirror

To create a new version of an existing object by reflecting it along a line or plane. Example: Scanning software may mirror drawings, or occasionally scan the back of the drawing by mistake. You can correct these problems by mirroring the image. You can mirror any image along the horizontal or the vertical axis.

monolithic

Encoding method for TIFF files. Saves image data in one piece. May result in slower processing time.

native capture

Copies a REM selection set using the image data directly from the image file. Ignores display scale and rotation of entities. Used only for the REM Copy to Clipboard command.

Never Detach

An option in the Raster Design Options dialog box that does not detach an image even if all image frames that reference the image are erased from the drawing.

New Image Mask

A Raster Design command used to create a mask.

node

In Raster Design, a link endpoint that can be represented as a block or point object. Example: You can force the line follower to ignore the intermediate nodes and draw a single straight line between the start and endpoints of a line.

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noise

Random pixels that result from poorly scanned images.

nongeoreferenced image

Image that is not saved with real world coordinates.

nonorthogonal image

A graphic representation that intersects or lies at angles other than right angles. Also called nonortho image.

ortho image

Image that is rotated at 0, 90, 180, or 270 degrees.

Glossary

orthogonal

Intersecting or lying at right angles (0, 90, 180, or 270 degrees).

paralax

The apparent displacement of the position of an object with respect to a frame of reference due to a shift in the point of observation.

pixels

Single dots on the screen that may be individually assigned different colors or shades of gray. Pixels make up raster images. Example: Image pixel size varies depending on the resolution of the image. For example, a 2 × 2 pixel in a 400 dpi image is four times smaller than a 2 × 2 pixel in a 200 dpi image.

point

A location on a drawing. Also, a defined survey point in the COGO database.

positive image

An image in which the light and shade areas correspond to the original image.

PPI

Pixels per inch. Also called dpi, or dots per inch. Example: When you scan an image, you specify the ppi, or resolution, at which you want to scan the image.

projection

Data devised by cartographers and mathematicians to depict three-dimensional shapes (like the earth) on twodimensional surfaces (like your screen) with minimal distortion.

properties

Attributes or characteristics of an object used to define its state, appearance, or value. Example: A drawing within Raster Design has properties that describe its appearance and behavior. These properties are displayed in the Information dialog box.

quad sheet

A device for reducing image file size. Many maps are broken up into quadrants, which are square and are called quad sheets. When a group of quad sheets is inserted into a drawing, it is considered to be tiled.

raster

A pattern of closely spaced rows of dots and pixels that form the image on your computer display.

raster arc

See arc, raster.

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raster data

A series of dots, or pixels. This type of data is produced when you scan a paper drawing, a blueprint, or a photograph. A raster image is an image composed of pixels. Raster entities are the lines, arcs, and other objects in a binary raster image.

raster entity manipulation (REM)

A Raster Design method by which segments (raster line, circle, and arc) and areas (diagonal, polygonal, rectangular, and circular) of a raster image can be selected and operated on.

raster pen

A Raster Design tool that allows thickening of vector entities when you merge them into an image. Thicknesses are assigned according to the specified entity color.

raster snap

A device to snap your cursor to the end, center, corner, intersection, or edge points of a binary raster entity. If you choose more than one snap mode, the crosshairs snap to the closest of the possible snap points. When the crosshairs snap to a point you want to select, choose the point.

reference point

A source of information determined by an ordered set of coordinates.

REM commands

Raster entity manipulation commands. A group of commands for editing raster images. To use the REM commands, you first create a selection set. Then you select an editing command. You can select an area of a color, grayscale, or binary raster image, or you can select lines, arcs, and circles of a binary raster image. Then you can move, copy, or delete the selection set, or you can copy the selection set to the clipboard.

resolution

The number of dots per unit at which an image is scanned or created. The more dots per unit, the higher the resolution. Also called density. Example: If you scan an image at 300 dpi, the image resolution is 300 dots per inch.

resource file

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Glossary

A file used by Raster Design to store image data such as insertion point, scale, and rotation. Can be used as a source of correlation information for an image when the image is inserted into a drawing. The Export command can write out a resource file for an image.

respect

A Raster Design term for maintaining a particular condition. Example: Under the Vector Merge Default tab, you would select Respect Display Order if you wanted Raster Design to keep your current display order.

reverse

See Invert.

RGB

Red-green-blue.

rotation angle

The angle at which an image is revolved about its axis.

RTF

Rich text format.

rub

To remove a line or area from an image with the Raster Design Rub command. A rub changes the pixels in a selected area to the transparency color. When transparency is turned on for the image, the rubbed area becomes transparent. Rub permanently alters your image.

rubbersheet

The process of matching points in an image to known reference points in a coordinate system by warping the image.

scaling

In Raster Design, a method for scaling a raster image in reference to existing raster or vector entities without rotating it.

scanner

A device that converts blueprints, photographs, and line drawings to raster data.

shading

The use of marking made within outlines to suggest threedimensionality, shadow, or degrees of light and dark in a picture or drawing. Example: You can use the sharpening filters on grayscale images to make differences in shading more distinct. This can increase the sharpness of an image and enhance edges in the image. You may need to use sharpening filters to extract the highest amount of useful data from a lowresolution scan.

shadow

The darkest part of an image.

sharpening filters

Sharpening filters enhance details in an image. All of these filters with the exception of the matched filters operate with a 3 × 3 pixel kernel.

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Show Image Frame(s)

A Raster Design option on the Image Mask Properties tab. Shows the frames of the images that are hidden or unloaded.

smoothing filters

A device for removing details or unwanted noise in images. Smoothing filters use spatial filtering with a 3 × 3 pixel kernel.

source point

The location from which you move an image. To move an image, you must pick a source point and a destination point.

speckles

Spots of color or stray pixels in an image that result from scanning errors.

stripped

Encoding method for TIFF files. Breaks up image data into strips for quicker processing.

switch

To move from one window or viewport to another. Also, characters you can enter on the command line to specify settings for a command or program.

Threshold

A Raster Design command to convert images. Example: When you use the Threshold command on a color image, Raster Design first converts the image to grayscale, and then uses the grayscale value to create the binary image. The grayscale value is obtained by adding the values of the red, green, and blue channels in an image and dividing the value by three. If you want more control over which grayscale value Raster Design uses to create the grayscale, you can convert the color image to grayscale first, and then use the Threshold command on the grayscale image.

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threshold function

The threshold function converts grayscale or color images to high-contrast black-and-white (binary) images.

thumbnail

A miniature representation of an image that can greatly increase the speed at which you can preview the image in the Raster Design Insert Image dialog box, the Histogram dialog box, and the AutoCAD Image Adjust dialog box. A thumbnail is saved in the image file. A thumbnail can be created for only those image formats that allow a preview to be embedded in the image file.

tiled

Encoding method for TIFF files. Breaks the image data into rectangular, tiled regions for quicker processing.

Glossary

toggle

To switch between two options, usually by pressing a single button. Example: The Raster Design Toggle command changes the visibility of the image frame.

transparency color

One selected color in an image. In binary images, the transparency color is always the background color. In color images, you can choose the transparency color. For a selected image, you can make all pixels of a specified color transparent. Also, any time you use a Rub command, the rubbed area is displayed in the transparency color.

Unload Images

A Raster Design option on the Image Mask Properties tab. Unloads from memory the images that are outside the mask boundary.

vector

A mathematical object with precise direction and length, but without specific location. Vector data is stored as X,Y,Z coordinates that form points, lines, areas, and volumes. It is used to store discrete, well-defined data that can be delimited. Compare with raster. Example: In Raster Design, the image frames are vector entities, which means that you can move the image to another layer.

vectorization tools

Raster Design commands used to manually convert a binary raster arc, circle, line, or rectangle to its equivalent vector object. Also called VTools.

vectorize

Converting a binary raster image to vector data. You can use the Raster Design VTools commands to vectorize a raster image.

VTools Remove Setting

A setting that controls what happens to the underlying raster entity when a VTools command is used to vectorize the raster entity. Depending on the setting you choose, the raster entity can be rubbed or REM deleted.

world file

A file that stores correlation information about an image, such as scale, rotation, and insertion point. Example: When you export an image using the Export command, you can create a world file for the image that you can use to correlate the image in another drawing or software program. The world file is an ASCII file you can view using Notepad. Mapping programs require world files.

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Write Correlation

A Raster Design export option. Writes a correlation file and chooses the correlation file type to create from the correlation output type list.

X, Y, and Z coordinates

Any of a set of numbers used to specify the location of a point on a line, on a surface, or in space. Example: Enter the X, Y, and Z AutoCAD coordinates to define the lower-left corner of the new image.

154

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Glossary

Index

3D Polyline Follower, vectorization tool, 95

A active image, 44 administrator, logging in as, 118 AutoCAD coordinate system, correlating images within, 54 editing commands, 26 FILEDIA variable, 38 imaging commands, 25, 27 multiple installations, 120 text or Mtext, converting raster text to, 102 AutoRub, 65

B binary images, 5 choosing foreground color, 47 despeckling, 63 making transparent, 47, 49 snapping to, 88 transparency color, 48 vectorizing with VTools, 92 binary raster data, 6 bitonal images. See binary images boundary. See frame brightness and contrast in images, 25–26, 58

C CD-ROM, Raster Design international, 116 United States and Canada, 116 client deployment, installation, 112 color

converting images to different color depths, 61 displaying in Palette Manager, 63 foreground of binary images, 47 REM selection, 19 rub and crop, 65 transparency, 49 color images adjusting appearance with histogram, 57 histogram, 59 making a color transparent, 47, 49 removing raster data by rubbing, 66 commands AutoCAD imaging commands, 25, 27 command line, 25, 130 Image menu, 20 Raster Design commands, 129 Raster Design toolbar, 24 configuration of Raster Design, 18 Contour Follower, vectorization tool, 94 contrast in images, 25–26 , 58 converting color and grayscale to binary, 58 color to grayscale, 58 image to a different format, 39 –40 image to different color depth, 61 raster contour to vector polyline, 95 raster text to AutoCAD text or Mtext, 102 raster to vector, 92 –93 coordinate system, Insertion Page, 37 –38 correlating images, 40 , 54 Correlation Wizard, 35 creating correlation files, 40 rubbersheeting, 55 using Quick Insert, 35 using the Correlation dialog box, 35

Index

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155

correlation files, 54 inserting images, 26 modifying values, 37 searching for sources, 36 cropping, 65 transparency color, 65 custom installation, 120 customizing AutoCAD profile, 122 menus, 122

G GeoTIFF, 127 grayscale images, 5 adjusting appearance with histogram, 57 making a color transparent, 47, 49 removing raster data by rubbing, 66 smoothing or sharpening, 63

H Help

deployment, single user, 111, 114 deskew, 61 despeckling images, 61–62 DVIEW command , 28

accessing online Help, 10 printing entire file, 13 tutorials, 10 histogram, 58 filter, 57 tonal adjustments, 57

E

I

D

editing images AutoCAD commands, 26 color depths, 61 filters, 57, 61 histogram, 58 histogram editing filters, 57–59 image editing commands, 61 REM, 72 rubbing and cropping, 65 editing REM objects, 85 editing text, converting raster to AutoCAD text, 103 enhanced bitonal region object, REM, 73, 76 connected entity selection, 80 fence selection, 79 polygon selection, 78 selection options, 77 smart selection, 81 window selection, 77 enhancing images, 61 exporting images, 40

F file systems required for installation, 118 FILEDIA variable, 38 files correlation , 40 , 54 filters for editing images, 61 histogram, 57–59 follower tools. See VTools formats, supported, 126 frame assigning color and layer, 6 selecting, 64

156

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Index

icons, Raster Design, 122 IMAGE command, AutoCAD, 27 Image menu commands, 20, 130 images attaching, 26 brightness and contrast, 58 changing properties, 46 converting, 39 –40 , 58, 92 correlating, 35, 40, 54 See also correlating images creating new, 32 display order, 44 displaying data about, 44 editing. See editing images enhancing, 58, 61 exporting, 40 inserting. See inserting images managing, 27, 44 See also managing images masking, 50 merging, 68 with REM objects, 86 moving, 54 removing raster areas, 65 rubbersheeting, 55 saving, 29 , 39 selecting, 64 selecting active image, 44 supported formats, 126 tonal adjustments, 25–26 vectorizing with VTools, 92 See also VTools zooming to, 44 imaging commands, AutoCAD, 25 inserting images, 26, 34 , 36 changing values, 37 Correlation dialog box, 35

correlation files, 26 correlation sources, 36 Correlation Wizard , 35 from Internet, 34 Insert command, 20 Insertion Page, 37 Quick Insert, 35 Show Frames Only option, 35 installing Raster Design , 110 CD-ROM installation, 116 client deployment, 112 configuration requirements, 118 custom, 120 network, 111 on a network, 121 program group icons, 122 recommendations, 118 sharing network data, 118 single user deployment, 114 single-user, 110, 116 system requirements, 117 with multiple AutoCADs, 120 international customers, installation for, 116 Internet inserting images from, 34 inverting images, 61

L licensing network, 122 stand-alone, 122 Line Follower Extension (LFX) tools, 94 loading Raster Design menus, 122 locking image files on a network, 118 logging in as administrator, 118

M maintaining link to image, 41 managing images, 27 Image Manage dialog box, 44 using AutoCAD commands, 27 managing images. See images mask, creating, 50 matching images, 54 menus, accessing commands, 20, 122 loading Image menu, 122 merging images, 68 REM objects with images, 86 vector, 87 mirroring images, 61 mouse button function, Raster Design , 19 moving images, 54 multiline text (Mtext), converting raster text to, 102

N network file locking, 118 requirements, 118 sharing data, 118 network administrator, 111 logging in as, in Windows NT and Windows 2000, 118 network installation, 111–112 , 121 network licensing, 122 network version, installing domestic customers, 116 international customers, 117 New command, 20 nonortho images, 47

O Object Snaps, 28 online Help. See Help Optical Character Recognition (OCR), 4 See also text recognition option settings in Raster Design, 18 image masks, 19 memory, 19 new images, 19 REM objects, 19 vector merge, 19

P Palette Manager, 63 pixels, 5 changing values, 58 making transparent, 49 removing, 65 Polyline Follower, vectorization tool, 94 Polynomial method, rubbersheeting, 55 preferences settings in Raster Design, 18 primitive objects, REM, 82

Q Quick Insert, automatic correlation with, 35

R raster data, 6 editing, 57, 65 entities, 6 file locking, 118 pens, 87 –88 raster data definition, 5 snapping to, 88 text. See text recognition Raster Design

Index

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157

accessing menu commands, 20 Image menu commands, 130 installing. See installing Raster Design menus, 122 new features, 4 news group, 13 preference settings, 18 program icons, 122 system requirements, 16 toolbar commands, 24 using command line, 25 Web home page, 13 working with, 17 raster entity manipulation. See REM objects raster images, 6 editing with REM objects, 84 from REM objects, 86 merging vectors into, 87 raster pens, 87 –88 raster snap modes, 88 raster text, converting. See text recognition read-only formats, 39 Recognize Text command , 102 See also text recognition reference material, 13 See also Help REGEN, 28 region objects, REM, 73, 75 REM objects, 72 AutoCAD editing commands, 85 converting to raster image, 86 editing raster images, 84 enhanced bitonal region, 73, 76 –77 merging with images, 86 primitive, 74, 82 region, 73, 75 resource files, Raster Design, 40, 54 rotating images, 54 rubbersheeting , 54 methods for transforming image, 55 rubbing, 65 transparency color, 65

S saving images, 21 , 39 scaling images, 54 selecting images, 64 separating vectors, 96 –97 Shift + Left-click Image Select, 64 shortcut menu, editing REM objects, 85 Show Frames Only option, 35 single user deployment, 111 , 114 using during installation , 114 single-user installation, 110 snap modes object, 28

158

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Index

raster, 88 speckles, removing from images, 62 stand-alone licensing, 122 swap file, 118 system requirements, Raster Design, 16 , 117 network, 117 –118

T tables, converting text to AutoCAD text, 102 , 105 technical support, 13 Text (Table) Verification window, 103 text recognition, 102 converting raster text to AutoCAD text, 103 converting text in tables, 102, 105 settings, 102 verifying and editing text, 103 tonal adjustment, 25–26 brightness and contrast, 26 histogram editing filters, 57 to a portion of image, 59 toolbar, Raster Design , 24 transforming images, rubbersheeting, 55 transparency color, 49 binary images, 48 Triangular method, rubbersheeting , 55 tutorials, accessing, 10

U UCS, rotating, 28 UNDO command , 28 limits, 28

V values, changing during image insertion , 37 vector data , 5 vectorization, 6, 92 See also VTools vectors merging, 87 using raster pen widths, 88 virtual memory requirements for installation, 118 VTools, 6, 19, 92 configuring settings, 19 converting raster contour to vector polyline, 95 converting raster lines to vector lines, 93 follower tools, 94 3D Polyline Follower, 95 Contour Follower, 94 Polyline Follower, 94 rub setting, 19 vector separation, 96–97 vectorizing raster entities, 92

verifying and adjusting vector entity dimensions, 93

logging in as administrator, 118 world files, 40, 54

W

X

Web home page, Raster Design, 13 Windows NT and Windows 2000

xrefs, 27

Index

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159

160

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Index