Getting Electronic Files from Drafting

[Brian Daley <briand -at- MEI -dot- COM>]

Is there a file conversion expert in the house?

I need to get electronic files of schematic diagrams and exploded views
from our Drafting department into FrameMaker.  For exploded views
especially, I'd like vector drawings as opposed to bitmaps so that we
create additional supporting illustrations for procedures, etc.

Our schematics are created using PADS software.  We've had Drafting export
some files from PADS to HPGL files, which we converted to Mac Adobe
Illustrator EPS files using CADmover.  However, we've also had PADS export
some files to HPGL that did not work.

For exploded views our Drafting department uses Cadds5.  In the past we
were able to get files exported out of Cadds4 via a Postscript output
filter, which we could convert using CADmover.  However Drafting has
recently upgraded its last workstation to Cadds5.  There's a Postscript
output filter for Cadds5, but Drafting is balking at paying for it -- it
probably wouldn't work, they say, and there must be something we could get
for the Mac.

So, I'm looking for alternatives.  Any ideas?  I work primarily on the Mac,
but have access to an IBM and Sun SPARCstation, so solutions that run on
those platforms would be helpful, too.

Thanks in advance,


-BD

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Brian Daley            |     Marquette Electronics, Inc.
briand -at- mei -dot- com         |     Diagnostic Division - Technical Communication
(414) 362-3133         |     8200 West Tower Avenue
FAX: (414) 357-5988    |     Milwaukee, WI  53223  USA