Inserting & Scaling PDF or Image in AutoCAD

It may be necessary to work from an image or PDF if the cad file is not available. Once inserted, they must then be scaled to the correct size.

To insert a PDF, go to the Insert tab and in the Import section click PDF Import. Once imported, measure a known dimension to check the size.

For this example, the distance between the 2 lines is measuring 177.12mm when it should measure 44mm.

Click Scale, select the object and press Enter.

It will ask for a base point on the object, once specified you will be prompted to specify the scale factor, copy or reference.

In this case we know the true dimension of the line so we will type ‘R’ in the command line and press Enter. We are then prompted to specify reference length. We do know that the distance between the 2 lines at the moment is 177.12 so we can enter in that measurement and press Enter and we will then be asked to enter in the correct measurement. 

For this example, we type 44, press Enter and the object is scaled correctly. Alternatively, when asked to specify the reference length, instead of typing the measurement of the line (177.12) we can click the 2 lines instead, press Enter and type in the true measurement (44).

This can also be done using the Align command. Firstly, draw a line to the correct dimension, in this case we would draw a line apart from the object measuring 44mm.

Next, type ‘Align’ or click the icon and then Select the object and press Enter.
Modify panel.

You will then be asked to select the first source point, first destination point, second source point and second destination.

You can enter more points but in this case-point each point will be selected.

We will press Enter to continue. It will then ask if you would like to scale the objects based on the alignment points, type ‘Y’ and press Enter and the object will be scaled accordingly.

Scaling an image will be done in the same way but when inserting an image, go to Insert and ‘Attach’.

Need further assistance with inserting & scaling PDF or image in AutoCAD or want to speak with one of our CAD Specialist, contact us HERE