Rendering an AutoCAD drawing in Photoshop

By Ashley Calabria, graphics design instructor,
University of Georgia, Athens

This image was rendered in Photoshop. It currently has a PSD or Photoshop extension. AutoCAD does not accept a Photoshop image directly, so the drawing must be saved with the jpg extension. This flattens layers as well as creates a smaller file size.

Quick key articles are here to serve professionals in the field of landscape architecture, explaining in simple terms, basic computer skills. This is part four of a four-part article which takes the reader through the steps of: Part 1?EUR??,,????'??+

If you?EUR??,,????'???ve been following along, the hardest part was Part 2, but it can also be the most fun. There are still a few things to remember for Part 4. Remember, that a Photoshop drawing is now a raster image for AutoCAD. It no longer will have layers, even from Photoshop, nor will it be readable for such commands as object snaps or other drawing aides in AutoCAD.

In AutoCAD, make a copy of the layout tab with the original border and title block. Erase the existing view port and insert the rendering as a raster image at one-to-one scale. This way it will be the same scale as the original AutoCAD drawing.

Another thing to remember is that when you bring the drawing into AutoCAD, don?EUR??,,????'???t resize it. It was saved to scale and will reinsert back at the same scale you saved it with when we first started, as long as you insert at x=1 and y=1. We will get to that.

The final and most important thing to remember is to ALWAYS keep a copy of the rendered drawing in Photoshop as a Photoshop PSD drawing. This way Photoshop will keep the layers you assigned allowing easier access for changes. To bring it into AutoCAD, save the drawing as a jpg which usually saves with a low file size but good quality. However, saving it as a jpg will merge, or what is called, flatten your layers into one background layer, which in the end assists with creating a smaller file size. This makes it much more difficult to alter, change or update.

Select the destination to save the drawing and name it. When you hit save, the jpg options box opens. Make sure the Image options quality is set to high. Then hit OK.

The rendered image has been brought into AutoCAD in the new layout tab. Go to Tools, Display Order and Send to Back, which will send the rendered drawing behind the border, title block and any labels.

Notice that when you save with the jpg extension, all of your layers are flattened into one background layer. This is the version to send to someone even if you are not bringing it back into AutoCAD.

In the Move or Copy box, select to move the copy to the end of the layout tabs and check Create a Copy. Then select OK. Select the new Layout 1 (2) tab and right click on it to rename it. Layout 1 (2) will be renamed Rendered. This lets others know what is on this layer. Delete the original image viewport. This leaves just the text and border information. Create a new layer for the image to insert on. Make that layer current. Go to Insert, then Raster Image. Find the location where you saved the jpg image. Select Open. In the Image box, select the name of the file. The insertion point should be 0,0. The Scale will be left at 1. And the rotation should be 0. Then select OK. This set up will bring the drawing back into the layout as it originally left, with the same scale and orientation. The location may have shifted slightly to allow for printer cutoff.

The final rendered Photoshop image has been brought into AutoCAD and aligned with existing information. The rendering is to the scale of the original AutoCAD draft in the first layout tab.

When inserted, the drawing is probably sitting on top of all the other information. That is OK. We will turn off the frame of the image and then send the image to the back of the drawing so that the border and labels will appear above.

Go to Tools, Display Order and select Bring to Front. Create a selection window going across the drawing from right to left. It actually selects all the information underneath the image. When you hit Enter, everything should be in front again and ready to Save. You can use Move to center the image with the labels if necessary.

Ashley Calabria

I hope that Quick Keys for rendering an AutoCAD drawing in Photoshop have been informative. The goal was to give a brief overview of how to use AutoCAD and Photoshop as drafting and rendering tools for final presentation drawings.

Please forward other technology questions, samples or comments to ashley_calabria@yahoo.com.