1. PDF to DWG conversion
First of all, conversion! On the whole, its quality is practically the same that you get using the online converter:
- almost exact correspondence to the original file arrangement of vector entities, color, etc.;
- texts conversion style retention, conversion of Unicode characters (including Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters), turned texts recognition.
However, with ABViewer you can forget about size and quantitative limitations. It also allows keeping the layers of the original PDF file and select DWG versions (AutoCAD 2000 DWG or AutoCAD 2004 DWG). In case you have many files to convert the command Batch conversion will come to your aid.
Raster images conversion to vector graphics is still impossible.
2. File editing
A converted file is opened straight away in the edit mode, I think it is handy. The drawings tools and modifying instruments are user-friendly, so there are no problem with them.
3. Measuring
ABViewer allows users to measure in 2D mode as well as in 3D mode, let's examine both of them.
2D measuring
In this mode it is possible to use such measuring tools as Distance, Polyline Length and Area. The process of measuring is standard, snap is available.
What I find very useful are Scale factor and Set size as functions. They save you from performing tiresome calculations in situations where, for example, drawing elements are presented in different scales or dimensions indicated on drawings do not correspond to real ones. Also, you can change the scale factor if you just want to measure your drawing in other units of measurement, for instance, millimeters instead of inches.
3D measuring
Here again we have three measuring tools Distance, Edge, Area and the Structure panel that contains general info (overall dimensions, volume, area, center of mass).
The results of measurements are displayed in the special panel and additionally added above the drawing, then such drawings can be printed or saved as BMP.
In general, 3D measuring seems fine, but it has several disadvantages:
- the number of 3D formats in which you can measure is limited, they are IGS, STP, SAT, BREP, 3D DWG/DXF.
- it is impossible to create a 3D section view.
- it is impossible to change units of measurement.
4. Batch print
I can't help saying few words about printing as I have to do it a lot. ABViewer has several printing modes, but the most effective for me is Batch print. With its help it is possible to print at once a) all pages of a document b) several files of different formats. Besides it enables to configure settings for each layout. At first the process of printing seems a bit complicated as it has lots of parameters to be specified, but when you grasp it you will understand that it can substantially save your time.
The Summary
To sum up, ABViewer is a good software that offers various features to work with 2D and 3D files.
You can try it by yourself as it has a 45-day trial period, just follow link below.
The software is available at the website: cadsofttools.com/products/abviewer/
