A valuable step in documenting is using “Scalable Vector Graphic” images (SVG) as jaggy free alternative for bitmaps. Many programs like LibreOffice have excellent support for inclusion of SVG. This page describes possibilities and work arounds when using BricsCAD drawings as a source for creating SVG’s in Inkscape.
Table of Contents
Differences
A first impression: reasonable export of formats. However, those who look closely will see differences.
Intermezzo “best of both”
It may be the case that one part in DXF is better and another in SVG gives a better result. In such a situation, before exporting, you can place a rectangle around the selection – with known dimensions – and make the scale and position equal in Inkscape, creating a hybrid SVG consisting of parts of the two imported files.
As a first note, the value of PDF is limited, it is a paper-oriented format with quite large geometric deviations. PDF will not be discussed below, the focus is on ASCII DXF and SVG. In BricsCAD command Export.
Entity comparison
Let’s compare entities:
A general preference is for SVG if you need post processing like applying fills. For just exporting en drawing “as is”, often DXF does a better job. See examples below. The choice also depends on which type of entities are used. Try&Error.
Simple polylines: Fill is better in DXF. SVG has been buggy since many releases. Look at the fill of the rectangle with the round cutout. Using PEdit to invert polylines is a suggestion. A bug report has been filed.
Complex polylines: Huge amounts of nodes are sometimes used. To solve this in both SVG and DXF: “Path > Object to Path” and “Path > Simplify”. Also note the bug with the gear: Inkscape sees a closed polyline but messes up the flanks of the gear.
Splines: These are angular in SVG. Preference: You can first convert them to Plines in BricsCAD with SpEdit. Optionally, you can again follow the “Path > Object to Path” and “Path > Simplify” cycle.
Circles and arcs: no preference.
Texts: SVG performs better here but since BricsCAD V24 there is a line width attached to texts (a new bug, sold as feature). Select a text, choose RMB “Select same > Stroke Style or Object Style” and then set Stroke to 0 px. DXF attaches ‘sanserif’ to texts – which should be ‘sans-serif’. SVG uses two fonts, A Microsoft font first and then ‘sans-serif’. This produces variable results in browsers so select all texts and choose ‘sans-serif’ in Inkscape.
Examples
Some vector graphics. Right click and open and zoom an image for details.
Typical SVG export:
Typical DXF export:
