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Getting a logo from Illustrator into Vectorworks


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I'm a graphic designer, and don't have access to Vectorworks at all.

My client uses it however, and needs to get the logotype I have created for them into Vectorworks, for inclusion in their standard drawing template.

I've tried supplying it as a TIFF, JPG, BMP, AI, EPS, DXF, and DWG file.

None of these seem to be working as they should.

Bitmap images seem to be reversed into negative whenever my client exports a drawing as a DWG file for use elsewhere... and I really don't want them to be using bitmap files anyway, due to image quality and resolution issues.

EPS artwork which is imported into Vectorworks seems to not import at all and just create a bitmap based on the file instead.

The best option would appear to be if I export from Illustrator as a DXF, but then when my client opens that in Vectorworks, they only get a bitmap preview of the file, not actual vector artwork.

Can anybody recommend a way of doing this?

Is there a preference or an import option I need to make my client aware of?

Any help will be much appreciated.

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Use the Illustrator file. Make sure all the lines have weight (stroke).

Export out of Illustrator as an Autocad file.

Import that autocad file into vectorworks and if you need it as a 3d logo, ie able to apply to items in perspective or isometric, check the "all 3d" button in the import pop up windows.

Once it is in Vectorworks, convert all to line and then work with the logo as needed (make it 3d & several inches thick, etc.) To be able to more easily resize the import I usually convert to line in any case.

Hope this helps, count it as only one way to accomplish what you need. I'm sure there are different ways.

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Thanks, I'll give that a shot.

The main difficulty here is that I'm working remotely from the client, so can only go through the 'export from Illustrator' part of the process here, then talk them through the Vectorworks part over the phone... which is tricky as I have never used the program.

[ 03-02-2004, 12:15 PM: Message edited by: TonyGraven ]

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That's what I originally asked my client to do - which seemed to work.

Unfortunately, a few weeks later, they found that when exporting their drawings as DWG or DXF files for passing on to other people who do not use Vectorworks, the placed image files were inverted - converted into negative.

That seems to be a bug of some sort in the export process.

Besides which - if we can get the logo etc imported as linework rather than as placed images, the file size is kept lower, helping when emailing drawings. Also, linework (vector drawings) are resolution-independant, enabling printing at any size.

I have had a little success, anyway.

Exporting from Illustrator as an EPS, I can open the file in PowerCAD. Exporting from PowerCAD as a DXF file, my client can then successfully open that in Vectorworks.

(Exporting from Illustrator as a DXF gives me a file which Vectorworks cannot open correctly, hence the extra step of PowerCAD).

For some reason, my client tells me they then have to cut all the letters with counters (ie holes in them, like an 'o') in half to make them display correctly. This sounds very odd.

This long-winded process works, but the results are still not satisfactory. All curves in the design are reduced to series of straight lines, as shown below:

-

That's just not good enough for projecting a major architecture firm's corporate identity. I need smooth curves.

Any ideas?

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Tony,

If you are using Illustrator 10 or later, you can save as a DWG, which preserves the bezier curve representation.

I have also found that compounds in Illustrator do not import correctly in Vectorworks. To get around this, release the compound before you save the file.

Your client has to create the VectorWorks equivalent of a compound after they import the file. Your client can do a "send to front" on the counters, and then use the "clip surface" function to recreate the compound.

Or email me the Illustrator file, and I'll fix it in VW for you.

Regards,

Chris

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