[bass_mark00]

There's a problem with Adobe Reader for Playbook in that it doesn't read any drawn objects on PDFs produced in AutoCAD by their own built-in PDF writer. Only text is visible. I have years worth of legacy drawings which I was planning to carry on the Playbook but this Adobe Reader is literally useless. Does anyone know of any alternatives?

Thanks

[TOphotog]

I'm a realtor and I've noticed that with some scanned surveys. I've just converted them to JPGs and they show up just fine, except I have to scout around for the appropriate folder. That might be a work-around for you. BTW, changing them to JPG via Photoshop is MUCH better than saving them as a JPG through Acrobat - better resolution, which is probably what you'll need.

Hope this helps. If it does, come back and tell us so it might help others as well.

[bass_mark00]

Thanks for the tip, I'll probably have to do that as a workaround until I find a permanent solution but I've got thousands of PDFs drawn over the past 10 years and I don't want to have to convert them. Adobe have really screwed this one up.

[TOphotog]

Well, the good news is that you can do a batch-convert thru Photoshop and voila, tomorrow morning, all your drawings are JPGs. Not trying to make light of your situation, but at least this one is workable.

As far as Adobe screwing it up, let's think about it for a sec. To be able to render such large drawings in Reader for the PB would require a lot more space and juice for a version of Reader than what we want to commit to for our PB. Most folks just carry text PDF files and the PB reader is great for that. They can't fulfill all our desires. LOL You have to admit: your situation is quite unique and probably very rare. Not trying to be flippant.

[bass_mark00]

I'm not al all unique; architects, engineers, surveyors, interior designers, facilities managers all use AutoCAD and their vertical products and produce PDFs from them. The reason that the AutoCAD built-in PDF writer is so useful is that it maintains the layers, and that's probably what's caused Adobe the problem. They read fine on iPad so why can't they get it right for Playbook?

Thanks for the advice on the conversions.

[Innovatology]

Adobe have really screwed this one up.

The PDF reader on PlayBook is certainly not perfect, but it's probably AutoDesk who have screwed up and don't follow the PDF spec - which Adobe invented.

[lomed7724]

I sideloaded Repligo reader and I see my drawings just fine! Maybe it is in the file transfer? I have also opened pdf files on my computer and used print to go and they all work fine. How are you transferring them?

[mmcan]

I just did a test with some Cad pdf's (original program unknown but my guess is Acad)
Loaded to PB with LAND File Explorer
Arch do 24 x36 : supplied file no go, assorted conversion made with Bluebeam PDF Revu were all no go in Adobe. All but the compressed version I tried work okay in Repligo (sideloaded) but a bit laggy.
OTOH a ledger 11 x 17 produced with Bluebeam from Chief Architect works fine in adobe. Very snappy.
Tried a second set of CAD plans in qPDF- open fine laggy but not as bad as in Repligo.
Will test some large formats from Chief tomorrow to determine if it is a question of size or source.
So you should be able to see your dwgs in qPDF for now.

[TheStanger]

I am an Architectural Technologist with a drafting business and I do all my plotting using a free pdf writer called Cutepdf. I have never had a problem viewing any of my plots on the Playbook. I just did a test and found the same results as you...I can not view any of the pdf's using the native AutoCAD writer but have no issue when I use Cutepdf.

[mmcan]

Just put a new PDF, arch d size, page from ChiefArchitect layout, created with Bluebeam Revu-no problem
Then tried apage from original problem plan sent with "printtogo" works pretty well if a tad slower in use with adobe.

[bass_mark00]

I am an Architectural Technologist with a drafting business and I do all my plotting using a free pdf writer called Cutepdf. I have never had a problem viewing any of my plots on the Playbook. I just did a test and found the same results as you...I can not view any of the pdf's using the native AutoCAD writer but have no issue when I use Cutepdf.

It seems as though most third party writers do the job so I'll probably just make an extra PDF at each publish for the purposes of reading on the Playbook. A solution when using the built-in AutoCAD writer is to use PUBLISH and not PLOT. In the PUBLISH settings you can choose to exclude layers and I suspect that there's where the problem may lie. What I don't like about PUBLISH is the time it takes, so the easiest is probably to produce a PDF with layers and then just to make another with Cute or PDF995 for reading on Playbook.

Thanks very much for the advice.

[mmcan]

Suggest you try Print To Go with a file you already have first, less work. It works for me thankfully.

[damndirtyapes]

I have had problems in the past with using the built in pdf writer in Autocad. The pdf files retain the layers (a good thing) by can sometimes create very large files that were difficult to transfer and on older machines would not open correctly. Now my experiences were all on regular windows computers, so I could see how a tablet may have some difficulty as well. My advice is to use a pdf printer driver (CutePDF, PrimoPDF, etc).

[bass_mark00]

I've managed to find a reader that can handle them. It's called qPDF which I downloaded from Goodereader and installed with DDPB Installer. Blackberry Playbook Android Apps | Good e-Reader Android App Store - Playbook App Store - We support Kobo Vox, Kindle Fire, Blackberry Playbook and More

The results are perfect.

[karen qpdf]

We have an official port on the playbook appstore as well! qPDF Viewer will show all annotations and qPDF Notes will let you edit existing ones or create new ones. I don't know that I've come across any PDFs from autoCAD yet, but if it's drawings vs scans, they should work pretty well!