Scanning hard copy drawings into TIFF files



Scanning hard copy drawings into TIFF files and text documents into PDF files

& Conversion to AutoCAD Drawings & Printing

This document is at:



R6 Full size and microfilm drawing index is at:



Drawings tif files are located in server in the RO at the following address. Mount this drive in windows explorer in: Tools map network drive:

Z: \\166.6.221.111\eng User: Lotus notes short name: jblow Password: DS domain password

Z:\fac\fs_scan fs_scan is full size scans Listed by forest

Z:\fac\mf mf is microfilm scans Listed by forest

ACDC9 Viewer approval is at:



Many old historic drawings are fading to the point of being unreadable or the originals are disintegrating. In some cases only blue line prints or old blue background prints exist, the originals have been lost or destroyed. This document discusses how to convert to an electronic format and preserve these historic files and be able to easily copy and print them and also convert them into an editable AutoCAD drawing. These electronic files can be archived to backup existing hard copy drawings. Also included in the cost table at the end are printing costs from original drawings for contract copies.

Thousands of old degenerating hard copy drawings, maps and other paper documents that can be economically scanned into an electronic format for viewing, printing and conversion into AutoCAD format for editing. With limited physical file space and the aging of old drawings this low cost of scanning files $1.35 /dwg is very cost effective. 10 years ago it was over $50/dwg if you did not own a scanner. The scanner can scan a drawing (24" x 36") at 800 DPI (dot per inch resolution) in about 10 seconds.

These scanned files are good for sharing historical hard copy drawings or maps or other documents into an electronic format for easy electronic distribution. These can be emailed to be viewed, and printed with software already loaded in MS Office . They can be viewed by Microsoft Photo Editor on by other graphics programs such as ACDSee 9 is Approved on USFS software list. They can be printed on a laser printer or the large format HP plotters.

This bit mapped file format (TIF) can be viewed and printed on any PC with Microsoft office which has Microsoft photo editor or any other program which can read a bit mapped TIF file. These scanned files will allow the user to zoom in and see the smallest detail on the drawings. Printing can be done to laser printers, inkjet printers, or large-scale inkjet plotters.

Existing text documentation records 8-1/2” x 11”can also be scanned into Adobe Acrobat PDF files for electronic archives for easy retrieval for $0.10 - 0.22/page. Large format scanners can convert over 60 pages per minute. This is a good method for distribution of old documents that have no electronic original.

Existing text documentation records 8-1/2” x 11”can also be scanned and OCRed into MS Word electronic archives for easy editing for $0.33/page. Large format scanners can convert over 60 pages

Existing hard copy drawings or 35 mm microfilm copies of historic drawings (non CAD, hand drawn) can be scanned into an electronic format (TIFF tagged image file format bit mapped graphic) that can be viewed on any PC easily and also converted to and AutoCAD format for editing and printing if changes to these drawings are needed for renovation projects.

The hardcopy drawings up to 36” wide or 35mm microfilm copies are scanned on a large format high resolution scanner at 800 DPI (dots per inch) into a TIF file format and stored on CD-ROMS. This process does not damage the original drawing or microfilm. About 500 - 600 Scanned tif files “D” size (24" x 36") will fit on one CD-ROM so making a copy and sharing large numbers of drawings is less than $1.00.

If you have lost an AutoCAD File but have a hard copy print this can also be scanned.

The drawings are scanned into a 2 bit black and white Group 4 compressed TIF format. This industry standard format allows viewing and printing, easy storage on a server or CD-ROM and can easily be copied and distributed. High quality CD-ROMS have estimated lives of over 25 years.. By putting these TIFF files on a server, any person with access to that server can remotely view these drawings such as SO and district offices.

For a quick file viewer we recommend ACDsee 9.0 file viewer by , which is an inexpensive file viewer, which can very quickly view these files. This program will bring up a typical 2MB TIF scanned drawing in about 1 seconds, compared to about 30 seconds for Microsoft Photo Editor. This program will also automatically print all drawings from the CD-ROM in one subdirectory. These drawings can be printed out on an 11”x17” laser printer and are very legible. This is approved on the USFS IRM web site at:

The file sizes of the TIF files for 24”x36” drawings or microfilm scans are about 1-2 MB depending on the information on the sheet and any shading present.

The cost for scanning a 24”x36” hard copy drawings which can be mylar, paper, blue line, sepia, old white line on blue background drawings is about $1.35. Scanning microfilms is about $1.25 per image. There is also a CD-ROM copy charge for each separate group of drawings processed.

The scanning companies will take the drawings scan them and put them on a CD-ROM in project subdirectories and label the CD with project names. These CD-ROMs can then be copied for about $.75 ea. and distributed to anyone who has a need to view or print these drawings.

An index spreadsheet of all projects should be prepared with project names, sheet tiles sheet numbers, original dates which can be posted on a web server for anyone to see what drawings are available, and what the file names are for viewing. Below is a link to the RO Electronic drawing index of about 1,000 drawings, which have been scanned from hard copy drawings in 2000.

With Adobe Acrobat 7.0 these .tif files can also be converted into Acrobat PDF files for easy viewing.

The scanning is done by either of two firms in Portland by professional personal trained in historic drawing conversion. Costs for conversions are listed below.

SAMPLE SCANNED TIF AND DWG FILES

Enclosed is a link to a sample .tif file at 800 DPI (dots per inch) of a building drawing (24" x 36") hard copy, scanned and the converted file in AutoCAD format. We are getting these .tif (Tagged Image Format) files scanned for $1.25 - 1.50/sheet at IDS (integrated Data Solutions) in Hillsboro under a GPO contract .

The microfilms are scanned at TIS graphics in Portland for $1.25 per 35mm negative.

The .tif files are Group 4 compressed files and are usually about .7 - 1.5 MB in size . These 800 DPI files are very detailed and you can zoom in and see very small details.

The enclosed converted AutoCAD file has had no cleanup. Poor quality drawings require some cleanup in AutoCAD for speckles and noise.

The following document lists the steps we go thru for scanning hard copy drawings. The majority of the time is spent indexing the files and putting them in a spreadsheet so each forest can access our available library of drawings. CLICKABLE links to the drawings index and sample scan files are listed below.

Sample Index of R6 scanned drawings

[pic]

Sample scanned drawing of a tif file of a building

(1.2MB) sample .tif scanned drawing

(2.5 MB) sample drawing converted to Autocad with Draftsman program

(50k) R6 border to put on scanned DWGS.)

This is a sample building drawing scanned into a .tif file and converted to an AutoCAD 2000 file done for the Colville NF. The AutoCAD drawing is raw, that is, no cleanup has been done. If we use a drawing for a project we will normally put a new "drawn border on the scanned CAD file so it looks cleaner.

AutoCAD Drawings Conversions.

Any of the scanned TIFF files made from original drawings or microfilm copies can be converted into an AutoCAD DWG format for editing and cleanup if the drawing needs to be changed for updates. Some poor quality original drawings have background “noise” in the scanning process. The quality of the scanned image converted into an AutoCAD drawing is not as good as redrawing each drawing but if the original scan is cleaned up, the result is acceptable for use in projects, and a lot less cost. About 20 minutes on most drawings converted in to a CAD format is enough time to insert a new border and clean up lettering and lines. The converted drawings are all vectors no text entities are made. If text is not legible it is reinserted.

By converting existing drawings into an AutoCAD format they can be used for remodeling projects as base drawings for any changes. The RO has converted about 1500 drawings since 1989 for use in remodel projects, mostly electrical drawings.

Draftsman 2000 scan file conversion program

The USFS RO facilities group has a program called Draftsman 2000 by Arbor image () , which will batch convert the scanned TIFF drawings into AutoCAD DXF format.

If you have full size drawings and have the original the final quality is excellent. There are several different settings for site plan contour maps vs architectural type drawings, which are mostly straight lines.

If the drawing is a second or third generation copy the quality goes down.

This program is quite expensive, about $3000, but does an excellent job of file conversions from raster to vector. The raster to vector conversion takes about 1 minute per drawing. This program can take any number of drawings and convert them in a batch process with no user input. It takes about 5 minutes to copy a CD-ROM to PC hard disk and set the program up for conversion. The system will process about 60 drawings per hour from TIFF format to AutoCAD DXF format.

When the TIFF files are converted into AutoCAD DXF format they are then opened up in AutoCAD and saved as a standard .DWG format in AutoCAD 2000. The files are then copied to a CD-ROM for the user to take back to the home office.

Process for scanning of Drawings into TIFF format and conversion to AutoCAd DXF format.

The drawings need to have names put on them for the scanning companies to scan into TIFF format and identify each drawing and created a file name on the CD-ROM. This is done usually in the lower right of each drawing about the title block in uppercase lettering ¼” high. Typical names use the forest designation a project name and the last characters are the sheet number. Example: 01LAVAWSE01 Which is Deschutes NF Lava Lands VIS center Water system sheet number E01. The scanning company will put this file name on the scanned file on the CD-ROM.

A project index spreadsheet with project names and sheet names should be provided to the scanning companies to allow the scanned drawings to be put in a project directory on the final CD-ROM. Link to sample directory here.

A sample requisition is included and technical specification for the conversion process at the end of this document.

The following two firms have both printing and scanning capabilities. Printing is usually used for contracting projects where large numbers 20-60 sets of multiple drawings are required to be copied for bid purposes. Many other firms also can do these scanning and conversion activities. This paper only lists these two firms.

The two firms we have worked with are:

Full Size Drawing Scans 24”x36”

1. IDS for large format scanning 24”x36” hard copies into TIf files.

Integrated Desktop Solutions, Inc. (IDS)

Scanning and Document Services

Integrated Desktop Solutions, Inc. (IDS) can provide the following services to Federal Agencies through a five year contract under Program 2067-S with the Government Printing Office (GPO). The work is done under Purchase Order R1745 as Print Orders.

The following is a brief list of document scanning and file output with costs:

A. Documents up to 11” x 17”

1. Scan documents to TIFF or PDF (Image) format automatic feed $0.13/page

2. Scan documents to TIFF or PDF (Image) format hand feed $0.15/page

3. Scan and OCR (Optical Character Recognition) documents to Word or PDF (searchable) automatic feed $0.33/page

4. Scan and OCR documents to Word or PDF (searchable) hand feed $0.35/page

We can also provide the data in several other formats, including Excel, WordPerfect and ASCII text.

B. Documents larger than 11” x 17” up to 36” x 42” (E size drawings)

1. Scan drawings to TIFF or PDF (Image) format $0.22/Square Foot at resolutions up to 800 dpi (dots per inch). For example, a 24” x 36” drawing is 6 sq feet for a cost of $ 1.32/drawing at 800 dpi.

C. Extra Sets of CDs are $10/CD.

For questions or detailed cost estimates if you have other requirements for document conversion to electronic format contact Ed Sipp of IDS at (503) 641-8717 ext. 11 or e-mail to esipp@.

The coordinator at the Government Printing Office in Seattle for this contract is Ken Foster, (206) 764-3726 x 17 or kfoster@.

Microfilm Negative scans

2. TIS (Technical Imaging System, Portland commercial firm Micorfilm scans only ) 333 SW 3rd Ave. Portland OR 503-244-3567 email. A sample requisition for a purchase order is included. They will accept a Government bank card for payment. $1000 limit per order, see below.

TIS technical imaging systems

Darrell Tomlinson

315 SW 4th Ave.

503-546-0517

darrellt@@

Printing and Conversion scan costs into TIFF files on CD-ROM are as follows from these two firms.

Costs below are for scanning 24”x36” drawings into TIFF bit mapped file format, microfilm conversion costs from TIS are also shown. Drawings can be FED-EXED to either firm.

Scanning, Printing and & AutoCAD Conversion Costs

| Scan Task, Autocad Conversion or Printing |TIS |IDS |

|Scan Original 24”x36” drawings per dwg @ 800 DPI |Don’t have 800DPI scanning |$1.32 |

|Scan 35mm Microfilm of 24”x36” drawing per dwg Aperture Card /image |$1.25 |Cant do |

|Scan 35mm Microfilm of 24”x36” drawing per dwg from roll /image |$0.06 |Cant do |

|Scan micro-fiche to tif from aperture cards 300DPI/ image |$.60 |Cant do |

|Cost to copy scanned images to CD-ROM up to 600 dwgs /CD-ROM |$12.00 per CD |1st Free, 2nd $10.00 |

|Setup Charge per project delivery any # of drawings |$25.00 + scan charge |None |

|Printing 11”x17” drawing to bond per dwg from TIFF file |$.35 |$.35 |

|Scan 8-1/2 x 11 to Adobe PDF |Cant do |.10/page |

|Scan 8-1/2 x 11 & OCR to Excel or MS word editable test / page |$2.00/page |.33/page |

Note: RO conversion of small quantities from tif into AutoCAD ................
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