Drawings from ArtiosCAD, EngView and Impact
ArtiosCAD, EngView and Impact keep their drawings in formats of their own, which their makers haven't published. ParametrIQ doesn't read those files: guessing at a format that isn't documented could read a drawing wrongly without a word. Bring the drawing across through an exchange format that these programs can generally export and ParametrIQ reads instead:
| Format | Best for |
|---|---|
| CF2 | Dielines and dies: each line's rule type (cut, crease, perforation …) comes across with it. |
| DDES3 | Dielines and dies, the same way. |
| DXF | Anything else: text, dimensions, artwork. Its layers are read as cut, crease … by their names, as the DXF page says. |
How
- In the program the drawing was made in, open it and export it (or save a copy of it) as CF2, DDES3 or DXF. The command and its options depend on the program and its version: see its own help. Export it full size, in millimetres or inches.
- In ParametrIQ, File › Import › Import… the file you exported (or import it into a drawing with the Vector Import tool). Check the line types came across as you expect: the messages after the import list anything that couldn't be read.
- Save it as a ParametrIQ drawing. To make it parametric, see Points: View › Show Fixed Points shows the points still fixed in space.
ArtiosCAD files
ArtiosCAD's design files (.ard) and manufacturing files (.mfg) can be chosen in File › Open and File › Import › Import…, but aren't read: ParametrIQ says to export CF2, DDES3 or DXF from ArtiosCAD instead. The same goes for IMPORT of one.
Stone digitisers' files
Prodim's Proliner and Factory files (.prl, .prl8, .prlp, .pld, .bvn) and Laser Products' LPI Template files (.ltp) aren't published either, and aren't read: export the template as DXF from the digitiser's software and bring it in with File › Import › Import Stone Template…. See Stone Templates from Digitisers.
See also: File Formats, CF2, DDES3, DXF and DWG.