Changing Scales in PDF3D ReportGen and pdf3d.io

PDF3D ReportGen and PDF3D.IO development SDK can be used to convert various 3D and 2D drawing formats to 2D and 3D PDF.

Q - Can I change scales?

One feature that is significant in working with CAD data is dimensioning and unit consistency. Both PDF3D ReportGen and PDF3D.IO development SDK have embedded features to assist with importing and export.

  1. Define Input Units

It is important to check that PDF3D interprets the correct incoming unit. For different file formats and structures, this is not always automatically interpreted so it is a good idea to double check and manually specify.
For PDF3D ReportGen, you may define your input units in the Geospatial tab:

In PDF3D.IO development SDK, the equivalent input unit tag is as shown (sitting under assembly properties):

<CommonProperties>
     <InputUnits xyUnits="*" zUnits="*" degreesPerMeter="3e-06"/>
</CommonProperties>

where * denotes the input unit which can be:

"m": 1 model unit = 1 meter.
"mm": 1 model unit = 1 millimeter.
"cm": 1 model unit = 1 centimeter.
"in": 1 model unit = 1 inch (0.0254 meter).
"km": 1 model unit = 1 kilometer.
"p": 1 model unit = 1 Postscript pica (0.004233333333 meter).
"pt": 1 model unit = 1 Postscript point (0.0003527777778 meter).
"ft": 1 model unit = 1 foot (0.3048 meter).
"yd": 1 model unit = 1 yard (0.9144 meter).
"mi": 1 model unit = 1 mile (1609.344 meter).
"fath": 1 model unit = 1 fathom (1.8288 meter).
"custom": 1 model unit = 1 degree (angular units will be converted to
linear by the use of additional coefficient).
"radian": 1 model unit = 1 radian (angular units will be converted to
linear by the use of additional coefficient, but first radians will be
converted to degrees).
"grad": 1 model unit = 1 grad (angular units will be converted to linear
by use of additional coefficient, but first grads will be converted to
degrees).
  1. Define Scaling (Option)

It may be useful to apply a scaling factor to your incoming file. For PDF3D ReportGen, this can be controlled in Interface Settings:

The equivalent tag in PDF3D.IO development SDK can be seen under assembly properties:

<Scale autoScale="false" generalScale="50">
    <ScalePerComponent x="1" y="1" z="1"/>
</Scale>
  1. Defining Output Scale

For writing your output 2D or 3D PDF, PDF3D ReportGen and PDF3D.IO development SDK can export your incoming data to any desired model unit type.

In PDF3D ReportGen, this may be controlled under the ‘Conversion’ tab:

The equivalent tag in PDF3D.IO development SDK can be seen under main input parameters.

<ModelUnitType value="ModelUnit_is_*">
    <GeoOutputCS system="Automatic" utmBand="NorthHemisphere" geoRegistration2DMethod="ISO" gcs="WGS_84_epsg_4326" utmZone="1"/>
</ModelUnitType>

Where ModelUnit_is_* may be:

value : default value is "ModelUnit_is_NotDefined"
"ModelUnit_is_NotDefined": 1 model unit = 1 model unit.
"ModelUnit_is_mm": 1 model unit = 1 millimeter.
"ModelUnit_is_cm": 1 model unit = 1 centimeter.
"ModelUnit_is_inch": 1 model unit = 1 inch (0.0254 meter).
"ModelUnit_is_meter": 1 model unit = 1 meter.
"ModelUnit_is_km": 1 model unit = 1 kilometer.
"ModelUnit_is_pica": 1 model unit = 1 Postscript pica (0.004233333333 meter).
"ModelUnit_is_point": 1 model unit = 1 Postscript point (0.0003527777778 meter).
"ModelUnit_is_foot": 1 model unit = 1 foot (0.3048 meter).
"ModelUnit_is_yard": 1 model unit = 1 yard (0.9144 meter).
"ModelUnit_is_mile": 1 model unit = 1 mile (1609.344 meter).