Using PDFs in Vectorworks

Here's a way that three Vectorworks 2009 features combine to create an unbeatably fast and simple process for the import of base drawing information. A PDF can be dropped onto your Vectorworks window, rescaled, and then snapped to just as you would to any other Vectorworks object. It will literally take you more time to read this than it would to complete the whole procedure.

Drag the desired PDF file into your open Vectorworks drawing.

Choose the options you wish; in this case, the PDF file has only one page. And though we don't need it in this example, note that a PDF can also be referenced into your file, meaning that if you update the PDF later, your Vectorworks file can be updated automatically. Some of our customers use this feature when adding text or tables from Word or Excel documents into their Vectorworks files.

With the PDF sheet selected, choose the Scale Objects command and select the Symmetric by Distance dimension button.

The Scale Objects dialog box disappears so that you can draw a line along a known part of the object. In this example, the cut sheet shows several dimensions which may be used for this purpose.

Once the second click of the scale line is made, the Scale Objects dialog box reappears. Note that the Current Distance field now shows the actual dimension of the object as it has been imported. The New Distance field below can be edited to show the desired dimension, in this instance: 40 inches. You may have noticed the units of the PDF and the drawing file are different – remember that Vectorworks can do math and simple conversions for you in any data field.

Press OK to complete the exercise – the PDF will re-scale to the new dimension. As a check, place a Vectorworks dimension on the file to compare its length to the object’s original PDF dimension. Now the object is ready for use in a scaled drawing. Use it as-is, or trace over it to produce an object you can make into a symbol and repeat throughout your file.