Review: Autodesk Raster Design 2005
Edward Burton
A Worthwhile Upgrade?
Autodesk Raster Design 2005 (Raster 2005) is the
latest version of Autodesk’s raster manipulating and
editing software. Raster 2005 is by my count the 8th
release of the product.
Raster 2005 gives the user the ability to re-use
scanned drawings or maps, satellite images, aerial photos
and similar digital design data with design projects. The
raster data can be manipulated and incorporated into the
AutoCAD project environment. Raster runs as an add-on to
an AutoCAD 2005-based product such as AutoCAD 2005 or
Autodesk Map 2005.
I’ve used many of the previous releases, so
upgrading to the new version brings up one big question:
“Is it worth upgrading?” It’s worth noting that
Autodesk has announced that it will discontinue support
for AutoCAD 2000i, including Cad Overlay 2000i (a
predecessor to Raster 2005) and the rest in the line of
AutoCAD 2000i-based products on January 15, 2005. This is
a major reason to consider upgrading given the fact that
if you don’t upgrade, you lose your initial investment
of the previous release. After spending time with the
software, I feel confident that an upgrade is indeed
worthwhile.
Facelift!
Raster 2005 has had a facelift. (Perhaps makeover
TV has crept its way into the software industry as well!)
The software and documentation are delivered on CD in a
DVD style jewel case, a package far smaller than previous
versions. Installation has been streamlined: pop in the
disc and follow the on-screen instructions and off it
goes. Even on my “dirty” system (one with Autodesk,
Microsoft, ESRI, and Bentley software already installed)
the installation and online registration went smoothly.
The new interface makes selecting options much more
efficient. The tab layouts and toolbar menus are cleaner
and easier to use. The redesigned image manager collects
the image functions together far better than in the
previous release.
More Format Support
I used previous versions of Raster 2005 to recreate
data that wasn’t available in CAD or digital format so
that I can bring it into AutoCAD. The blueprints or
photocopies are typically scanned, then inserted into
AutoCAD to be traced. CAD Overlay had always been good for
that, but Raster 2005 goes far beyond the capabilities of
previous versions. Older versions read most of the
standard image formats including bmp, gif, rlc, tiff,
geotiff, png, tga, geospot, pict, jjpg, flic, pcx, ecw,
jfif, cals, g4 and sid. Raster 2005 adds support for:
-
JPG2000
-
DOQ
-
DEM
-
16-bit GEOTIFF (IKONOS and
other 11-bit single-band data)
-
Multispectral GEOTIFF 8- and
16-bit (most satellite data including
IKONOS 11-bit)
-
Multispectral Fast2 (LANDSAT
satellite data)
New Tools
Raster 2005 features new vectorization tools that
automate the process of tracing linework and make it as
simple as clicking on a line to create a vector
representation on top of the raster image line. That line
can be kept as vector or the “Vector Merge” command
can turn it back into raster. Raster 2005 can create
polylines or Autodesk Land Desktop contour objects which
have assigned elevations.
Raster 2005 also has something new called
“one-pick technology with SmartCorrect and geometry
verification” that insures the creation of accurate
lines and polylines from scanned raster drawings. Think of
it as “spell-check” for linework.
One of the best improvements in Raster 2005 is
optical character recognition (OCR) originally introduced
in Raster Design 3. Text in the scanned image can be
recognized and converted into AutoCAD text and multiline
text (mtext). Raster 2005 also includes some nice tools
for text verification and editing that help insure the
accuracy of the text. These tools allow the user to select
text at various angles. This avoids having to rotate the
image on the screen.
Working With OCR and Line
Following
To test out the OCR, I scanned a couple of pages of
TV Guide. The text was upper and lower case with small
type which made for a good sample. The scanned color image
came in fine. However, when I used the OCR command, a
message informed me that the image had to be bitonal
(black and white). That caused no problem: I selected the
command to convert the color image to bitonal before again
selecting the OCR command. A few minor tweaks later and
the entire article was in a DWG as AutoCAD text.
For the second part of my test, I selected a legacy
drawing that I had drafted by hand (ink on mylar) about 15
years ago. I had no problem getting the scan into Raster
2005. The document was a septic/site plan and had plenty
of data to vectorize using the tools available. First, I
created my house, using the vectorization tools,
specifically the rectangle command. Then, I quickly
created my deck, stairs, septic system etc. using the same
pull down menu. I added my property line using the line
command and finally, the contours using the “contour
follower” command which allows the assignment of
elevation values. Raster 2005 has flexible snap commands
that speeded up the digitizing process.
A few minutes later, I was using OCR to grab the
notes and text from the raster image. All in all it worked
very well and I can finally file away the mylar (and my
leaky pens) and use the AutoCAD file for all of my future
landscaping/home improvement plans. Since the scan had
very little distortion, all I needed to do within AutoCAD
was to scale the data by the scale of the drawing.
If the data were distorted, I could have used the
rubbersheeting features to transform, stretch, and adjust
the image and make the corrections needed. Since I have
access to my town’s orthophotos, I inserted the plan I
just created on top them. When the drawing (with Tiff) was
inserted, the default insertion point was 0, 0, 0. If you
know where you live (geospatially that is) you can select
the correct insertion point graphically and then adjust
accordingly. I did just that and matched my vectorized
property line to existing the fences and structures
(Figure 1). If you have access to a handheld GPS unit, you
can take the coordinates from the unit and key in the
coordinates when you insert the file into your AutoCAD
plan. The end result was my newly created vector linework
superimposed on the color orthophoto as shown below. The
vector linework can be adjusted at any point.
Working with 3D
Want to do more with images than recreate old
plans? Raster 2005 also gives you the ability to analyze
data such as Digital Elevation Models (DEM) and extract
information which can be differentiated by color. Raster
2005 can also display thermal, ultraviolet, and other data
from outside the visible spectrum.
In the DEM in Figure 2, the colors reflect the
elevation of the data. The colors can be modified, or
enhanced using the tonal adjustment feature.
Wishes
One of the features I’d like to see didn’t show
up in this release: the ability to edit native LizardTech
Mr. Sid
format files. Currently, the only
way that can be done is to use the REM (Raster Entity
Manipulation) function to select a portion of the Mr. Sid
file and convert that area to a raster image that is
editable. The area selected can be edited and manipulated,
then brought back into the drawing. Autodesk has shared
that editing Mr. Sid files is under consideration for a
future release.
It would also be nice to convert the image to
bitonal on-the-fly instead of having to cancel the
command, select the convert routine and then go back and
select the OCR command, as I had to in my TV Guide test.
While reviewing the product, I did have a few minor
issues, which at first, I attributed to user error. After
downloading and installing the latest service pack, I now
know it wasn’t me after all. The service pack fixes more
than 100 issues.
Conclusion
Overall, I found Raster 2005 to be a very worthy
addition to my icon cluttered desktop. The improvements to
the interface, the enhanced image handling and OCR are
definitely great features. Raster 2005 provides a welcome
set of tools to any CAD user who needs to work with raster
images. The documentation and available white papers
should make training go smoothly. The enhancements did
make me work more efficiently and I spent less time
navigating through the pull-down menus and more time
actually doing work.
About the Author
Edward R. Burton is the CAD Manager for Surveying
and Mapping Consultants Inc. in Braintree, MA, and is the
Chairman of GBAUG (Greater Boston Autodesk User Group).
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