DXF To Illustrator (OpenSource version)
DXF TO ILLUSTRATOR DEPRECATED 
DXF to Illustrator project is deprecated, as it was never upgraded to the Intel Mac OSX versions, and Apple has stopped support of applications created for the old PowerMac processors...
DXF TO ILLUSTRATOR is now Freeware / OpenSource
On March 26, 2001 the Directorate
of the International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC)
decided to discontinue the DXF to Illustrator project. They felt the activity
is not part of ITC's core bussiness and therefore they could no longer commit
funds and staff time to the project.
We have decided to make the application
Freeware and publish the sources under an OpenSource license.
Unfortunately, this means that there
will be no further development and official support for DXF to Illustrator.
If you decide you do need a commercially backed alternative, we would like to
draw you attention to:
- Avenza MAPublisher
, a very good plugin set for geoinformatics users, offers database links and
georeferencing in Freehand or Illustrator on both the Macintosh and Windows
platform (http://www.avenza.com)
- Autoset
CADpublisher,
a windows application, lets you process CAD DXF files into Illustrator, PostScript,
EPS, Acrobat PDF, Windows Meta File and Enhanced Windows Meta File formats
in monochrome, color and color separations, providing solutions for CAD, graphics,
DTP, printing and electronic product production (http://www.jwgraphics.com.au/)
About DXF to Illustrator...
DXF to Illustrator is a high-end convertor
for getting GIS and CAD data to Desktop Publishing packages through the Illustrator
(postscript) format. It converts DXF files to Illustrator 1.1 format (also useable
in Freehand, Canvas and others) with the possible addition of the 5.x layer structure.
It gives you control over many things other conversion methods don't (sorry for
sounding like a washing powder add).
Features of version 2.2:
- Drag & Drop aware: Just drop
DXF files or whole folders on the program and they get converted, using the
current conversion setup
- Auto Answer mode, to allow unattended
batch-like conversion.
- Choose between Fast Mode, allowing
no background tasks (very fast on PowerMacs) and Background Mode, which
allows you to continue work while the conversion takes place.
- Totally revamped and reprogrammed.
- Provides for the changes made to
DXF upto and including AutoCad release 13.
- High accuracy
- Font substitution.
- Colour substitution.
- DXF Polygon lineweight conversion
to Postscript linewidths.
- Scaling to paper sizes or to a custom
scale.
- Grouping of elements according to
layers, colours, linestyles or direct to Illustrator 5.0 layers (also valid
in later Illustrator versions and Freehand 5.x and higher).
- Customisable fill of SOLIDs, CIRCLEs
and closed POLYLINEs and ARCs.
- Logs all actions to screen and/or
file.
- On-line help.
We needed these things at the Cartography
departments at Utrecht University and ITC and could not find them in any other
conversion method, therefore decided to make them ourselves.
System demands
For using DXF to Illustrator (and its demo-version)
you need:
- An Apple PowerMacintosh computer.
- Mac OS system 7.0 or higher (fully
tested on systems upto and including 9.1)
- At least a 2 Mb memory partition
(more if your DXF files are complex). In order to get a good speed of conversion,
DXF to Illustrator runs its conversion in memory, not on disk.
The size of files to be converted is limited
only by available RAM. It builds its Illustrator files in RAM (for speed) and
since even 2 Mb DXF files get you Illustrator files of about 500 Kb, this will
be no problem.
Download
You can use this location
to dowload the 2.2-OS version and its sources:
Last update:
July 12, 2002
Comments & questions: dxftoill@itc.nl