Xref in Archicad-diff between "attach" and "overlay"

[rob2218]

I know what the diff is in Autocad but in Archicad....what happens when you "attach" a DWG vs "overlay"?

[Laszlo Nagy]

No, the translation process from DWG to PLN is the same whether you attach it as an XREF or place it as a Drawing. They both use the Translator specified in the DWG/DXF Translation Setup Dialog.

[Anonymous]

Rob:

If you are only using the DWG file to show in background, have you tried to create a PDF and drop that into Archicad? It could work and with PDF you get all proper lineweights.

Un saludo desde Florida,

Diego

[rob2218]

hey hey hey!....Diego my friend!
how goes? voice blast from my past.
Hope you are doing better sir.

thanks for the advice. Yes...I'll try the PDF brought into Archicad as a technique..that might be the best bet for linework.

So, the architect will need to continually update the PDF if anything changes...same holds true for the other methods I suppose.

thanks again.

[Thomas Holm]

rob2218 wrote:
wondering then if....the DWG from Autocad is brought in as a "Drawing" into Archicad...if it will retain then it's autocad lineweights?
hummm..

Sorry being late to the table, but...
We've had this issue for years. Since we frequently co-operate with engineers using Autocad, we need reliable round-trip conversions. Long ago, we settled on using the Keep Pen Index Number translator as our default. (In fact, I think it should be Graphisoft's default too, but that may be beside the point.)

Using that, you have complete control over how Autocad's pens are imported.
If you also add a customized Pen table, you also have control over how the imported pens display in Archicad.

We built a Pen table where the first 10 pens mimic the default Autocad one (Pen #1= red 0,25mm etc) and use that as our standard. Since 90% of Autocad-using engineers never change that default, we almost always have full round-trip compatibility without much tinkering.

The only problem we have with this method is that each time we get a new Archicad version or Library, we have to change the default pens for the windows, doors etc that we use. Since Graphisoft doesn't supply us with a good tool for doing this globally, this can be a pain, but to my mind it's worth it. Favorites is a good way to handle it.

If you search my posts in this forum for "dwg", you'll find more on this subject.

Best regards,
Thomas

[rob2218]

"ALWAYS" better late than never....
thank you for your suggestion Thomas.
I'll look into it.
I don't, and never will, understand why there isn't ANY "out-of-the-box" 'good' graphical pen table that one can simply just "use" and get good looking line quality.
Let alone a DWG conversion...i'm also referring to a good, PenTable that works when you insert an object...ANY object for that matter, that knows what is suppose to be "thin", "medium" "thick" xtra-thick and so on......

Sometimes you bring in a object, it has certain "lines" with certain pens, then when you print, you'll see that the lines you were expecting to be "thin" are SUPER bold and then your boss looks at you like, "what are you a moron, don't you know how to deliniate graphic lineweight correctly?".......sheesh, and there's no explaining or justifying that "hey the PenTable is whacked" or the it has the wrong PenSet...or....whatev's....it's a losing battle folks.

Thomas wrote:

rob2218 wrote:
wondering then if....the DWG from Autocad is brought in as a "Drawing" into Archicad...if it will retain then it's autocad lineweights?
hummm..

Sorry being late to the table, but...
We've had this issue for years. Since we frequently co-operate with engineers using Autocad, we need reliable round-trip conversions. Long ago, we settled on using the Keep Pen Index Number translator as our default. (In fact, I think it should be Graphisoft's default too, but that may be beside the point.)

Using that, you have complete control over how Autocad's pens are imported.
If you also add a customized Pen table, you also have control over how the imported pens display in Archicad.

We built a Pen table where the first 10 pens mimic the default Autocad one (Pen #1= red 0,25mm etc) and use that as our standard. Since 90% of Autocad-using engineers never change that default, we almost always have full round-trip compatibility without much tinkering.

The only problem we have with this method is that each time we get a new Archicad version or Library, we have to change the default pens for the windows, doors etc that we use. Since Graphisoft doesn't supply us with a good tool for doing this globally, this can be a pain, but to my mind it's worth it. Favorites is a good way to handle it.

If you search my posts in this forum for "dwg", you'll find more on this subject.

Best regards,
Thomas

[Thomas Holm]

Yes that's a good question 😉

But we live with what we've got. History. I first learned to control this issue during my years with Microstation. There, you got whacked hard if you lost control. And since I'm the boss, I have to whack myself these days... I know it's weird that I'm recommending a pen setup that originates in the early 1980's Autocad, some thirty years later. But it makes my life easier.

rob2218 wrote:
I don't, and never will, understand why there isn't ANY "out-of-the-box" 'good' graphical pen table that one can simply just "use" and get good looking line quality.
Let alone a DWG conversion...i'm also referring to a good, PenTable that works when you insert an object...ANY object for that matter, that knows what is suppose to be "thin", "medium" "thick" xtra-thick and so on......