Archicad to Illustrator Help

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone in Archicad land!

I want to place my archicad plans and elevations into Illustrator so I can print on a gorgeous glossy poster for a final presentation but my lines look fat and clumsy.

I imagine its a relatively simple thing to do but for the life of me I cannot figure it out.

Also (and this I imagine is more difficult), it would be great if I could place it at the exact same size ratio (ie 1:100). Is this possible or do I just have to fluke this bit?

[David Larrew]

You could either save your views out as .DWGs or .PDFs. Illustrator can import/use both. I would try both and see which works best.

[Anonymous]

Thanks David for a quick response!

But thats just it - I did save it as a PDF and my lines still weren't clear. I then tried to save as a DWG but Illustrator didn't recognise it when I tried to place it on my layout page.

I'm sure it is all very simple but for whatever reason I am not seeing the solution.

Anything else you can suggest? Or is there a way of using the PDF that I am not doing?

[David Larrew]

That's odd. DWG is a fairly clean import. You could try .DXF format.

Which version of AI are you using? Do you have Photoshop? You could try bringing the files into PS and use the Adobe Bridge function to bring it into AI. I don't use AI that often, and I don't know all of it's little idiosyncrasies.

[Achille Pavlidis]

Why can't you print a gorgeous glossy poster directly from Archicad?

[Anonymous]

The AI is the brand new one (CS4). It seems that the drawing is a little clearer if i save my archicad file as a PSD (photoshop file). But that makes no sense - you would think that a PDF would be better. I will save a few different file versions in Photoshop and see what happens.

I wonder if the size of my plan is effecting its output? It is rather huge. I don't know how to work out how big an archicad file is but it's an 8000m2 building and I am saving it at 1:100. I dunno...

If you think of anything else let me know. Thanks again David.

[Anonymous]

Achille wrote:
Why can't you print a gorgeous glossy poster directly from Archicad?

Hi Achille - it is because I am printing more than plans (conceptual/text/materials etc). So I need Illustrator to create the layout.

Actually i could probably use the archicad Layout function to do the same thing but I've never used it so not too sure about that one...

[David Larrew]

I have to admit that even though I have CS4, I use ArchiCAD for most of my marketing layouts. It is MUCH easier than AI. I've even done some logo design work in ArchiCAD.

I still use InDesign, Photoshop, and Dreamweaver for many other graphic and web design.

I'm glad that .PSD is working for you.

[Anonymous]

I thought I would let you all know the outcome -

My problem was my pen lines. So I did this:

Save as a PDF. Go to Document Option and tick 'Hairline'. And, voila, lines are as crisp as a blade of grass!

And! Also I also found that it is possible to keep the scale the same so that when you export from Archicad to Illustrator it keeps the size correct. Again in the same section, go to Page Options and pick whatever size scale required.

Now all of this may be basic stuff for you guys but I am pretty chuffed that I figured it all out myself so I am giving myself a pat on the back lol!

[David Larrew]

Good job! I always like to hear that someone has learned something new on their own. I'm glad to hear it worked out.