CAD / CAM Wins Bid to Provide High-Accuracy CAD Scanning Services to Tinker Air Force Base

Proprietary Electronic Calibration Method Provides Digital Files

 with Boeing-Certifiable Tolerance for Aircraft Drawings

We’ve been very busy here at CAD / CAM Services, Inc.  As one of only a few companies in the world who is certified for Department of Defense  large format scanning and CAD conversion work, we were  recently awarded a $1,400,000 contract by Tinker Air Force Base to scan 45,000 aircraft drawings dating from the 1950’s to the present day.  We started the project in September and we expect to deliver 2,000 calibrated images each month via a secure FTP site.  A local scanning office that is close to Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma will be doing the scanning  

The Tinker Air Force project requires a tolerance of +/-.005” accuracy over any five- or ten-inch area for the digital scanned files.   The drawings are on Mylar, which is a plastic sheeting material that may be affected over the years by changes in temperature.  This means that the older drawings may have stretched or otherwise changed in size, affecting the accuracy of the drawing itself. 

CadCam Services has a proprietary method that electronically compensates for error within each five- or ten-inches to restore original drawing accuracy.  This is a Boeing and Lockheed certifiable tolerance for aircraft drawings.   We’re one of only a few firms world-wide who is able to generate calibrated digital files of this accuracy.   Our approach is unique and it enables us to specialize in tough jobs like this. “

Frank Maschino, Engineering Data Manager, at Tinker Air Force Base told us that, “The accuracy of the final digital file is of paramount importance to us.  These digital files are stored in Tinker Air Force Base’s electronic repository as a permanent archive for all of our drawings.   If we need to refer to these digital drawings, or print out a new paper drawing, it is essential that the measurements be as accurate as, if not better than the original Mylar drawing when it was new.”

We beat our competition with this unique process, which is not only more accurate, but also one-half of the cost of other methods. 

If you have a backfile conversion project, contact us for a price quote.

Should You Outsource Your CAD Conversion Project?

The other day, I had someone ask me whether he should outsource his company’s cad conversion project, or do it in-house.

That was a really easy question to answer.  But first, I asked him some questions:

Do you have the scanning equipment in-house?  The answer was “No.”

“So,” I said,”If you do your project in-house, first you’ll have to make the capital investment to purchase the scanning equipment.”

He agreed that he’d have to do that.

Then, I asked if he had professionals in-house who were able to do the scanning and then work with the scanned files to clean them up and convert them into the CAD program he wants to use.   

Unfortunately, he didn’t, so, in addition to capital equipment expense, he’d also have to increase his overhead with one or two new employees. 

Well, it wasn’t long into this question and answer session, before he began to see the wisdom of outsourcing. 

Then he wanted to know how to pick a firm to do the outsourcing.  I recommended the following points: 

The firm you choose should be Experienced and Professional.  Cad / Cam Services has over 20 years experience in all phases of CAD outsourcing in the architectural, engineering and building industries.  

The work they do should be High Quality.  Cad / Cam Services work is so accurate that we are one of only six firms in the world that is qualified and certified for U.S. Department of Defense scanning and cad conversion work.  

You should check the turn-around time.  Do they offer Fast Service?  At Cad / Cam Services,  we offer 48 hour turnaround on small jobs (fewer than 5 drawings) and we’re equipped to handle rush jobs.  We’re fast on large jobs, too, and we’ll give you an estimated delivery date.

Find out if the conversion shop has job-size limitations.  For instance, with Cad / Cam Services, No job is to big or too small – we handle all jobs, from the largest to the smallest with the same attention to detail and accuracy. 

What’s it going to cost?  At Cad / Cam Services, we have Great Prices because when you deal with us, you’re dealing directly with the conversion shop that does the work, so there’s no middle-man price mark-up.

Finally, find out if they guarantee their work.  At Cad / Cam Services, we offer a No Hassle Guarantee – your work will be CAD Perfect, period. If you’re not completely satisfied, we’ll fix it within 24 hours at no additional cost. If you are not 100% satisfied with us, we will credit your account or refund your money. No hassles, no debate. 100% Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed!

Converting Paper Drawings to CAD Files

We have lots of large format scanning and file conversion jobs going on in our cad conversion shop this week and as usual our scanning and raster to vector conversion experts are going full steam ahead.  One of our more interesting jobs this week is the scanning of hundreds of old construction drawings to bring into a CAD system for update.  It occurred to me that it would an interesting topic to discuss just how we here at Cad/Cam perform the scanning and cad conversion process.

Scanning

The process starts with a high quality scan. The only large format scanners we use to scan work for raster to vector jobs are 4-camera scanners. Image quality is everything here. If two lines are muddied up and appear as a single line how can our drafters know they should be separate? All of our R/V scanners sell for ~ $28-30,000. Once we have the best scanned raster image possible, we rectify the image to make sure it is aligned correctly, scaled correctly, and rectified to make sure it measures correctly on all axes points.

Cad Conversion

We use several different methods to convert drawings into CAD. Sometimes we use heads up digitizing, sometimes we use commercial R/V software, or sometimes we use our own custom written CAD conversion scripts and software. We use the method that provides the best end result CAD conversion for our customers.  We’ve spent years refining this process. Again, one process does not fit all. If you need 100 drawings converted, we might do 30 one way, 30 another, and 40 a third way. There is a learned art to this CAD conversion process. On large ongoing projects we even set up dedicated teams who work only on one project throughout the entire year.

Quality Control

All work is checked by a different member of our drafting department. Our staff shifts to keep the drafters and checkers fresh. All are experienced with a minimum of 3 years of CAD work.  We guarantee our work to be 100% correct, 100% of the time.  No exceptions.  No excuses.

Request Information about CAD Conversion

CAD CAM Services Releases Online R2V Web Edition – A CAD Conversion Software

CAD CAM Services, the largest dealer of large format scanning and CAD Conversion solutions in the USA has launched the Web version of its revolutionary CAD Conversion software – Online R2V. Online R2V’s Web Version, known as R2V 1.0 Web is an unparalleled vectorization system which enables you to upload different drawings and scanned images effortlessly for their digitization into Perfect CAD files.

CAD CAM Services enables you to upload R2V Web 1.0 directly from the Website to convert a large numbers of raster images to vector formats. In addition, R2V Web enables you to convert a variety of architectural, mechanical and technical scanned images, maps, archive drawings, schematic diagrams and photos from raster to vector formats.

While providing the most comprehensive raster to vector conversion service, R2V 1.0 Web version allows you to update, edit and convert drawings, scanned maps, sketches and other graphics in grayscale, color or monochrome automatically from raster to vector.

R2V 1.0 Web edition supports the following features:

* In-built archive within R2V Web 1.0 for storage of drawings
* Produces Perfect CAD files within 48 hours of uploading the scanned files
* Application can be downloaded anytime and from anywhere via the Web
* Unlimited number of raster files can be uploaded for autovectorization
* The conversion process is completely automated
* It allows indexing of images
* Involves no hidden costs

Facilitating a seamless blend of editing and conversion commands, R2V Web produces crisp and clean vector images by digitization and also traces bitmap images for converting them into vector format. CAD CAM’s R2V Web allows a number of different image formats to be downloaded and converted into vector files.

About Us:

Fully AS9100 and GSA certified, CAD CAM Services based in Dallas, provides CAD conversion and Scanning solutions worldwide. Established in 1986, CAD CAM Services has in-house technical staff and resources available to provide raster to vector conversion services to industries – small and large. Successfully serving the needs of various businesses for over 20 years, CAD CAM Services have established themselves as the major player in the Scanning and CAD Conversion industry, backed by extensive experience in providing high quality Computer Aided Design and drafting solutions for any engineering domain.

For more information on our R2V Web services contact us on 800-938-SCAN or visit our website www.online-r2v.com. Email us at sales@cadcam.org for any queries.

Raster to Vector Conversion – Cad Conversion Tools

The process of converting raster graphics to vector graphics is known as vectorization. Raster to vector refers to the technology used in this conversion process. Raster to Vector conversion also known as R2V is used extensively in commercial and industrial applications and converts technical drawings, maps and other graphics from raster to vector formats providing easy archiving and quick access. Mapping and GIS data conversion are highly dependent on this application apart from architectural, construction, engineering, electrical and house plans.

When used in photography, vectorization changes the appearance of the photograph to resemble a painting or drawing. In geographic information systems (GIS) vectorization helps to create maps out of satellite or aerial images. In the field of graphics, this process assists in resizing without any change in the shape of the graph.

Why Vector Images have an Upper Hand

Raster images tend to lose their picture quality when enlarged. This is where vector images come in. A vector image can be easily resized without losing detail. Raster images are made up of pixels while vector images are comprised of lines and curves.

Vector images can be enlarged with smooth curves eliminating any jaggedness and loss of quality. They can be printed at any resolution or size.

Files of converted vector formats are compatible with popular applications such as Corel Draw, Adobe Illustrator, AutoCAD, and many others. Once a raster image is converted to the vector format, it can be imported to a CAD application and further edited as per requirement. This is a simple method of converting paper-based drawings to CAD drawings for further editing and use.

The Raster to Vector Market Today

There are a number of converters in the market today that perform the task of converting raster images to vector. The raster to vector conversion application offered by Cad Cam services is way ahead of competition. Their Raster to Vector conversion (also known as R2V) provides a seamless blend of editing and conversion commands and converts architectural, mechanical and various technical drawings, maps, archive drawings, schematic diagrams photos and other types of line artwork from raster to different vector formats. Their raster to vector conversion services are used for logo vectorization, vector graphics, vector stencils, vector clipart and vector web icons.

Raster to Vector Conversion Services offered by CAD/CAM Services Inc.:

• Standalone Software – R2V 2.0 Desktop: Our easy-to-use standalone raster to vector product is a Windows-based application for raster-to-vector conversion making it easily accessible for end-users. R2V 2.0 Desktop can be downloaded directly from www.online-r2v.com to edit drawings without converting them to a CAD format. R2V Desktop, a completely automated application, can be used to update and convert graphic images to vector.

• Web Online Version – R2V 1.0 Web: The web version of Online-R2V can be used to upload scanned graphic images that can be easily converted to vector in just 48 hours. Our R2V Web requires no downloading! Simply upload the application through the Web and effortlessly convert raster images to vector. R2V Web enables unlimited number of raster files to be converted and allows updating, editing and digitizing scanned graphic images to vector automatically.

• Cad Perfect™ Services: Get clean, high quality and accurate Cad Perfect™ CAD files for only$125 per file! Within 48 hours of submitting scanned images, Perfect Cad files with real lines, arcs, circles and text as text, are delivered. Besides being a layered and easy-to-use process, CAD/CAM’s CAD Conversion process is a manual redrawing method.

For more information on raster to vector conversion log on to
www.online-r2v.com

CAD/CAM Services Inc – An Overview

“Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing” are often referred to as CAD/CAM. These revolutionary computer-based designing tools have been developed to assist architects, engineers and other professional designers to achieve better quality designs.

Texas based CAD CAM Services, Inc. is a global center of excellence for scanning and raster to vector conversion services. We are the pioneer in providing enterprise CAD conversion of complex raster images using advanced and upgraded scanning solutions.

CAD CAM Services is one of the few authorized CAD Conversion companies certified for Department of Defense CAD Conversion work in USA. We are highly capable of digitizing and converting from large format media, aperture cards, and films into Cad Perfect™ AutoCAD, MicroStation, D-Tools, ArcInfo, CATIA, or any other CAD systems as per your needs.
Our comprehensive raster to vector conversion application features practical tools that maintain high standards throughout the conversion process. With its unique CAD conversion applications, CAD CAM Services has been providing support for mechanical, architectural, engineering, commercial and 2D and 3D drawings for more than 20 years.

Why CAD conversion is in high demand?

Use of Raster to vector (R2V) for converting architectural, mechanical and various technical drawings, maps, archive drawings, schematic diagrams even photos and other types of line artwork from raster to different vector formats is a universal practice. The demand for superior quality vectorization of paper drawings is ever growing. At this point we bridge the gap between quality of demand and supply by taking up the challenge to deliver remarkable quality in a short span of time.

Benefits of Outsourcing CAD Conversion work:

•    Assured cost effective process
•    Provides the best quality products, services and team
•    Improves performance and quality
•    On time deliverables

Some of the CAD CAM services that we provide:

AutoCAD: We work on many different image formats likes PDF, TIFF, JPEG, GIF, IMG, PCX, PICT etc. AutoCAD services offer our clients cost-efficiency and quicker outputs. CAD CAM Services can successfully scan paper, aperture cards, film to AutoCAD, MicroStation, D-Tools, ArcInfo, Catia, and literally any CAD systems you have. We deliver CAD Perfect™ CAD drawings.

Scan to Print: Our scan to print, meets the Scanning, Copying and Printing needs of our customers. We help you manage, and electronically distribute wide format documents for technical and graphic arts solutions with a wide range of well-designed products like format copiers, scanners, printers and document imaging workflow software.

PlanRoom: Cad Cam Services provides a unique feature called PlanRoom, also known as The Repository®. This is a web based document imaging program that resides on your server and can be accessed at any time, any place where an internet connection is available.

Large Format Scanners: CAD CAM SERVICES offers the latest in large format scanners. These large format scanners support almost any raster file format including PDF, TIFF, JPEG, GIF, IMG, PCX, PICT etc.

CAD CAM Services is recognized for its detailed and dedicated approach to every CAD/CAM work. We emphasis on building a relationship with our clients through mutual trust, comfort & confidence that will help us achieve the desired results effortlessly. With CAD CAM Services, your AutoCAD projects are in expert hands. CAD CAM Services has maintained a team of hardcore professionals with extensive experience in designing to manufacturing to handling the most demanding customer requirements. The company offers affordable, efficient and cost effective CAD/CAM services worldwide.

For more information on our Scanning and Cad Conversion services visit www.cadcam.org and www.online-r2v.com