Editor: RasterVect Software has released RasterVect, the professional Raster To Vector conversion program (vectorizer).
The purpose of RasterVect is to quickly convert uneditable scanned paper drawings into accurate vector files for editing (as a CAD drawing) in any CAD program. It saves the converted file as one of vector formats: DXF, WMF, EMF, EPS or AI that can be read by any CAD program that supports these formats, including AutoCAD R14, 2000, LT and Similar, like Corel DRAW, Adobe Illustrator, Microstation, VectorWorks, TrueCAD, FastCAD and many others.
It's a direct replacement for traditional tracing and digitizing. It saves a lot of time. It is quicker than tracing with a digitizer.
Why do you need RasterVect?
You will probably be able to load a raster file (like BMP, TIFF, PCX -file) into your CAD program - nowadays most CAD programs can import and display raster files. However, once you have imported a raster file into your CAD program you will find that all you can do is look at it or trace over it. You cannot change or edit it.
This is because CAD programs can only work with vector files. If you want to edit a raster file in your CAD program you must first convert it to a vector file. You do this using raster to vector conversion software.
Once you have converted the raster file to vector you will be able to import it into your CAD program and edit it just like any other drawing you have created using your CAD program.
The list below summarises the process of converting a paper drawing to a CAD drawing using a raster to vector converter:
1. Create a raster file by scanning the paper drawing into RasterVect using a scanner.
2. Use RasterVect to convert the raster file into a vector file.
3. Import the vector file into your CAD program.
4. Edit the drawing in your CAD program.
RasterVect saves many hours of tedious work.
