i would either plot to pdf and save as jpeg in photoshop

or plot to eps and save as jpeg in photoshop.

eps is probably the best method, and if your looking for good depth and quality images, plot like components as individual eps files.

(for instance... turn off everything but columns... plot that eps, then turn off everything but mullions...plot that eps, then turn off everything but glazing...etc etc)

then recombine them in photoshop... mess with their transparencies, color, whatever else till you get something really nice... this is what i like to do with my presentation stuff.

also an advantage of eps is that they can be adjusted as vectors in illustrator... so you could plot to eps, open in illustrator, adjust line weights, types, color, even pick verticies, delete lines, add lines...anything you need

am i daft or can't you just plot to jpeg? maybe all of the versions of acad i've used already had this installed. a dialog box will ask you what dpi you want the image published at. no?

aDOBE SAYS THE ABILITY TO BRING ACAD line work into cs3 to become separate layers like in cs2 is being fixed very soon, this has been a pretty big problem for us

this from Adobe Support today:

Yes. A fix is in the works and should be available this week or next.
Once it is available information will be posted in live docs and on the
Illustrator support page: www.adobe.com/support/

Thanks,
Robin

set display to printdisplay
then run
"_-ViewCaptureToFile" and set any resolution you want


that or print to PDF and drag drop that to PS and set Media box and the resolution you want

there's a bunch of ways to do this (obviously), depending on which CAD program you're using.

For autoCAD files, I plot to an EPS (set up a plotter using the Adobe Postscript Level 1 Plus driver, and make sure the output is .eps file at max resolution) and open the EPS in Illustrator (eps is a printer language). This way your lineweights come in, though solid hatches (and hatches in general) are sometimes problematic, so I sometimes do those in Illustrator.

For Revit, I've set up a postscript printer that only prints to a file--the bad thing is that it's difficult to get correct paper sizes (so you'll have to manually scale things) and you have to manually type the file path, name and make sure to add .eps, otherwise you'll get either a .prn or .ps file which are not usable in Illustrator. This method would probably work for any CAD program.

I don't use PDFs because sometimes there's conversion issues opening in Illustrator/Photoshop. The less times you convert a file, the better.

wow. anyways, i think that an eps is a good "fail-safe" method, however, more and more programs are becoming interchangeable and I would go straight to illustrator. (That way, you do not need several eps files). However, at my office, we use ArchiCad, and there is really not an easy way to get to illustrator/photoshop.

aside from that, i think we all could chill a bit....

or "place" the vector file like a reference so it can scale to any output size you desire

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=44&platform=Windows

the link to get the postscript printer driver, adobe PDF printer works fine for me so i haven't used this method in a while, i used to more when i would go to Indesign and mix the EPS with a PSD to have a sharp composite of mixed vector/raster

if I remember in Vector Works you can print directly as jpeg - oh how I love that program...sad that i don't use it on a daily basis

PRINTSCREEN!

the reason you use

_-ViewCaptureToFile
and TestSetAALevel

is so you can have any resolution you want and any image format you want (png is better losseylessness w/ alpha) and anti-aliased

if you want a pretty jpg- i'd build it up in illustrator. my workaround for the whole illustrator dwg bug is to open my dwg in rhinoceros and then save as AI. it works well and preserves layers (but won't do images).

i tried to use illustrator to open a dwg, then save it as psd, then use photoshop to open it.

i dont know if you want a cad drawing as jpeg.....doesnt it rasterize all your line work? pdf would be a better option cause u can keep all your linework as vectors......but i know we all break this rule sometimes cause we all love the magic wand in photoshop for paint by numbers coloring......

its been said in an earlier post,.... plot as a pdf then convert in photoshop to jpeg. easy!