AutoCAD DWG font translation

Question

When I open a PowerCADD drawing, saved as DWG^?, in AutoCAD (ACad), the fonts always default to ‘standard’. Is this normal and if so is there an easy way to reformat the fonts in AutoCAD to make the drawing look better?

Requirements

Miinimum: PowerCADD 2000 (v5) and PowerDWG v5 with Mac OS^? 9 or newer
Recommended: PowerCADD v7 (included PowerDWG v7) and Mac OS X

Note: PowerCADD v7 and the related PowerDWG v7 translator external do a MUCH improved job handling fonts. Proportional and non-proportional fonts are supported, as are Bold and underline type faces. There are other numerous improvements which make PowerDWG v7 (and PowerCADD v7) much more user friendly when it comes to mapping fonts for In and Out bound DWG translations.

Background

What you are seeing when opening the PowerCADD 2000 *.DWG file in AutoCAD is in deed 'normal'.

In preparation of translating PowerCADD to AutoCAD, one must first recognize that AutoCAD does not have calligraphy like the "real world". It has polygon's in the shape of letters. That's why ACAD calls they shape (.shx) files. These shaped letters are square - same height as width - totally unlike a proportionate font like the Helvetica that you are using. Further, the text justification options of ACAD is different from that of PowerCADD and the Mac OS in general. While recent updates to AutoCAD can make use of TrueType, OpenType and Postscript fonts the legacy of .shx files to mimic fonts is still commonly used.

What to do

All *.DWG files saved from PowerCADD 2000, or if you used a mono-spaced font such as Monaco in PowerCADD v6 or PowerCADD v7, have the following font attributes when opened in AutoCAD:

• Font Style = PC_Mono_Text
• Font Name / Type Face = Courier New

This is consistent for ALL fonts, regardless of what font style (ie. bold) or font family (ie. times) was used in your PowerCADD 2000 drawing. If you PowerCADD v6 or PowerCADD v7 drawing used styles such as Bold or underline, then they are mapped to an appropriate proportional or fixed width font in AutoCAD with the style entact (note that not every font style is supported). For example Arial or Helvetica Bold in PowerCADD becomes Arial Bold in AutoCAD.

As such, the fastest and easiest method is to update the font style in AutoCAD. If you're familiar with AutoCAD, simply use the Font Styles... command and change the Font Style and Name noted above to anything you like. If you're not familiar with AutoCAD, click here to read our free step by step guide to illustrate the process.

If you're still having problems you may want to take advantage of our File Translation Services.

We hope that helps
caddpower.com

------
If you found this article or the website in general to be helpful, educational or a time and money saver you can show your support. Thank you ~ Brian (huc) Huculak