Editor's Pick: Software Bridges Paper to AutoCAD Gap

By Anthony J. Lockwood

Dear Desktop Engineering Reader:

Converting your paper documents into images for AutoCAD can be a drag with all that editing and cleaning up of files. It's kind of like cleaning out the garage: One of those jobs that has to be done but no one really gets excited about doing it, so you procrastinate. Only there's a bonus element of trepidation about the whole process. You know too well that you can easily mess up what you're trying to do because clean-up is also such an exacting a job. With the latest release of GTX Corporation's GTXRaster CAD 2011 Series for AutoCAD 2011, your excuses are gone—as is much of the fretting over making a hash of things.

Your No. 1 takeaway about the GTXRaster CAD 2011 Series is that it's software engineered to provide reliable and easy-to-use image enhancement and clean up tools as well as all the functionality for raster and hybrid editing, raster-to-vector conversion, and character recognition that you want. You can edit raster files almost as if you're in AutoCAD, or you can convert files quickly. You can do things with rasters like change multiple arcs, multiple circles, and multiple raster lines. You can draw raster rectangle or multiple raster lines, and you can even separate raster objects.

Among the key enhancements in GTXRaster CAD 2011 Series — which, BTW, plugs into all versions of AutoCAD — are compatibility with AutoCAD 2011 DWG format and full porting to 64-bit Windows OSes, including Windows 7. The latter implies the new ribbon interface, of course.

The GTXRaster CAD 2011 Series is also available in flavors that suit your workload. These range from basic cleaning and enhancing of scanned raster images and legacy paper drawings to a full enchilada version that has functionality for automatic raster-to-vector and batch conversions. The company even offers hardware and software licensing flexibility to suit most situations.

You can learn more about all of the enhancements in GTXRaster CAD 2011 Series from today's Pick of the Week write-up. DE's Editors have compiled a ton of reading and watching links for you to dig into that they've hung out on the end of today's write-up on the GTXRaster CAD 2011 Series. Most of these links are sign-up free, the exceptions being the obvious ones such as a request for a demo copy.

Our lives both at home and at work are filled with necessary yet tedious jobs that you dread getting into for any number of reasons. GTX Corporation's GTXRaster CAD 2011 Series takes the vital, albeit much maligned, job of getting paper into AutoCAD and cleaned up. And they make it—if not something you cannot wait to do—a job that you can do without fussing over what a fiddle it is. And that is an accomplishment worthy of your learning about. Good stuff.

Thanks, Pal. -- Lockwood

Anthony J. Lockwood
Editor at Large, Desktop Engineering

Read today's Pick of the Week write-up.