2d to clear jpeg/png

[Khayci]

Grahpisoft, I think it's high time we have a way to save our plans/elevations/sections, etc to image formats with the ability to set resolution. What we currently have is as good as useless. And I sincerely believe this wouldn't be hard to implement.

[Francois_MCD]

Hi @Khayci your request is quite interesting. Can you perhaps give more info on the specific use case why you need plans / elevations / sections, etc to image formats?

[Khayci]

For projects with extensive information displayed in the 2D window, the resulting PDF output can become extremely large (for example, I recently encountered a single-page PDF that was 124MB).

Aside from the file size, these large PDFs can be difficult to view on client PCs and smartphones, often causing significant lag.

In contrast, an 8K resolution image is smaller and more compatible with various devices.

Printing such large PDFs is also highly time-consuming. While I initially suspected my printer, even at a professional printing press, the process took nearly an hour (for a single page!).

Additionally, exporting these views to PDF from Archicad requires a considerable amount of time.

In my view, if Archicad could export clear and legible images as an alternative, as Revit has done for as long as I’ve used it, this would be a valuable enhancement.

[Francois_MCD]

@Khayci ok now your issue is more clear.

2D Vector data is surprisingly heavy, you even see that in DWGs & DXFs (it's just the nature of this data type). You see that quite fast with traditional Urban & Master Planning drawings, creating large drawings that heavily rely on Fills. The fill types also impact this directly ie. gradient, image & pattern fills in particular. But the "weight" of 2D data is not just related to fills only, fills are just a big contributor where you can gain good optimization as a first point.

As a start, have a look at these articles. If you apply the optimizations on all levels, this info might solve most if not all the issues you experience.

• PDF file size and Fill choice
• How to Optimize Your Project Performance

Also control the PDF outputs with these detail options in the Publisher:

Beyond that I have been getting good results for many! years using the alternative PDF995 virtual printer driver (be sure to install all the components) - https://www.pdf995.com/download.html

Another very handy tool I use all the time when working with PDFs is PDFill FREE PDF Tools (especially converting PDFs to images) - https://www.pdfill.com/pdf_tools_free.html

But this only works if you optimize the source of the PDFs, your Archicad file itself first.

Come back if this does not help.

[Khayci]

Thanks a lot @Francois_MCD . That was thorough. I'd try the solutions suggested above and provide feedback.

I still think saving as high-res images directly will remove the need for further steps but if what you explained above works, then I guess my complaints will reduce.

[Matt Balaam]

Our business could also make use of this functionality.

Part of our workflow is producing website floor plans. At this stage, these must be exported as a PDF then opened by our Marketing department and converted to the appropriate image format and size.

If Archicad could export image formats, we could bypass the middle step and just go straight from Archicad to Web.

[Barry Kelly]

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@Matt Balaam wrote:

If Archicad could export image formats, we could bypass the middle step and just go straight from Archicad to Web.

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Have you tried changing the file type when you do a 'Save As'.

There is BMP, JPG, TIF, PNG

You can also 'Publish' in these formats.

JPG gives you some control of the 'quality' but seems you can't specify a specific resolution.

Barry.

[Matt Balaam]

Yes I've tried those options. You would achieve better results by carving the image out of a potato and dipping it in paint!