Expert: Bill DeShawn - 4/10/2009

Question
QUESTION: My friend  has a soft copy of x-ray which is taken from one of diagnostic center.what they will do is they will compress that soft copy &they will send to a main server,now can i extract that soft copy from main server to auto cad(can i open it in auto cad)?is it possible?

ANSWER: Prasanna:
Depending on the file type (JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF) you might be able to do it.  If it is an image file that AutoCAD recognizes such as the ones I just mentioned above, you can use the _IMAGEATTACH command to attach an image.  To manage an image, just start the XREF or IMAGE dialog.  This depends on the version of AutoCAD you are running.  Newer versions use the XREF manager (_XREF command) to manage images.  Older versions employ separate dialogs for images and xrefs.  So they would use the _IMAGE command.

It doesn't matter if the file is on a server or on another computer on your network.  If you have access to the files, you can refernce them in AutoCAD.  If the file gets moved, you will have to edit the PATH accordingly in the XREF or IMAGE manager.

Extraction of a compressed or ZIP file can be done with WINZIP.  You can purchase WINZIP here:
http://www.winzip.com/index.htm
You can try a free ZIP and UNZIP program here:
http://www.zip995.com/


Let me know how it goes; Keep me posted.

Bill DeShawn
http://my.sterling.net/~bdeshawn


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: can u just explain in detail(procedure)like how to open it in Auto Cad.
can i perform operations on that image like zooming a particular section,measuring the distance b/w 2 section,rotating to a certain angle.thank u for Ur help

Answer
Prasanna:

When you reference an image, you aren't going to get any dimensions off of the image that are worth anything.  For example, an image of a piece of property from a map will not be able to provide geometry sufficient for you to add dimensions.  However, there may be sufficient information from another source to draw the geometry and get the dimensions from that.  The source could be a survey, or perhaps from the map itself would provide bearings and distances sufficient for you to draw the geometry to which you could add dimensions.  The inserted image can be rotated and scaled using the Reference option on each of the commands.  There is also an _ALIGN command that helps the user to do a combined move and rotation.  Using the Reference option with the _SCALE or _ROTATE command allows you to pick the existing rotation or distance and then pick the desired rotation or distance.  Use the _DRAWORDER command to put the image in the background so that the geometry will be seen above it while you'r working.  Use _IMAGEADJUST to adjust the image transparency, contrast and brightness (intensity).  You can put the image on a layer designated to plot or not to plot (whichever you prefer).  You can use the _IMAGE or _XREF (_EXTERNALREFENCES) command to display the palette that will assist you to unload the image if you wish.  Unloading will not remove the reference, but it will temporarily allow you to prevent the display of the image.  You can always reload the image and it will display again later in the same place at the same scale that you left it.

I hope I have addressed this process well.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Bill DeShawn
http://my.sterling.net/~bdeshawn