Scan2CAD raster to vector conversion software support

Scan2CAD support is free.

If you have a question about Scan2CAD raster to vector conversion software or are experiencing a problem, please contact us by:

  • Email
    postmaster@softcover.com

  • Phone
    01223 42 43 42 from inside the UK
    +44 1223 42 43 42 from outside the UK

  • Fax
    01223 42 44 00 from inside the UK
    +44 1223 42 44 00 from outside the UK

If your query arrives during UK working hours we will normally respond within two hours. If your query arrives outside UK working hours we will normally respond first thing in the morning of the next working day.

Current version

The current version of Scan2CAD is 7.6i.

If you are a registered user of Scan2CAD version 7 or later you can upgrade to Scan2CAD v7.6i free of charge as follows:

  1. Download the v7.6i upgrade by clicking here.
  2. Install the upgrade over your existing copy of Scan2CAD v7.
  3. Scan2CAD will recognize that you are already a registered Scan2CAD v7 user and will install itself as a fully working version. If it doesn't, simply register it using your user name and registration key.

If you are a registered user of Scan2CAD version 6.1 or earlier you can purchase an upgrade to Scan2CAD v7.6i. Click here for upgrade information.

 

Version Date Changes
7.6i 11th September 2008 If you have vectors on the screen that have been saved as a DXF file, you can now automatically open the DXF file in an external application (File Menu > Go to CAD).
7.6h 23rd August 2008
  • Added ability to launch a CAD, CNC or other application from within Scan2CAD (File Menu > Go to CAD).
  • Added ability to cancel the execution of a Command File at any time by pressing the Esc key.
  • Added new command HIDEWINDOW to the command line option.
7.6g 20th June 2008 Resolved issues with editing arcs and Bezier curves.
7.6f 1st May 2008 Added support for additional raster PDF variants.
7.6e 10th April 2008
  • Added new commands HPGLMIRRORVERT and HPGLMIRRORHORIZ to the command line option.
  • Added support for additional raster PDF variants.
7.6d 7th March 2008
  • Corrected issue with some Scan2CAD DXF files and AutoCAD 2007/2008.
  • Corrected other minor issues.
  • Added new command DXFVERSION to the command line option.
7.6c 21st February 2008
  • Improved the Export Beziers as Arcs function so that fewer arcs are produced.
  • Added user-defined grid snap distance.
  • Corrected issue where some Scan2CAD DXF files would not read into AutoCAD.
  • Corrected issues that caused some PDF files to read into Scan2CAD incorrectly.
  • Corrected issue where some PCX files caused Scan2CAD to crash.
  • Added new command ONEXITSAVEASVECTOR to the command line option.
7.6b 23rd January 2008 Corrected issue with some RLE encoded PDF files.
7.6a 9th November 2007 Corrected various minor issues including problem with autosizing when scanning from Colortrac scanners.
7.6 19th October 2007
  • Updated Help so that Scan2CAD is compatible with Windows Vista. Please note that Windows 95 does not support the updated Help.
  • Improved color reduction so that the colors that are retained after reduction are more "logical".
  • Scan2CAD Pro only - added raster PDF file load. If the PDF file contains a single raster image, it will be loaded in the same way as any other raster image. If the PDF file contains many raster images, you can step through them and select the one you want to load.
  • Scan2CAD Pro only - added raster PDF file save. Any raster image can be saved as PDF.
7.5j 19th June 2007
  • Resolved issue where using File > Close All could break the link between a DXF file and its attached raster image.
  • Resolved issue where some PCX variants were not being handled correctly.
7.5i 5th June 2007 Resolved issue where manually converting lines to arrows could cause missing arrows in the DXF file or error messages on reading the DXF file into a CAD program.
7.5h 10th May 2007
  • Added a new option, File > Acquire > Optimize Twain, to resolve blank scan issue seen on Mustek and Brother scanners. If you get a blank scan, deselect this option.
  • Resolved issue where despeckling images that met specific criteria could cause Scan2CAD to crash.
  • Resolved issue where outlining text caused Scan2CAD to crash.
7.5g 12th December 2006
  • Added one click vector trim and extend.
  • Added ability to snap to vectors and vector end points when drawing vectors and moving grab points.
  • Added pan by holding down the Space Bar and dragging your mouse.
  • Fixed minor issues relating to the scroll bars.
7.5f 12th October 2006 Dialog boxes updated for Windows XP.
7.5e 6th October 2006
  • The raster statistics dialog now additionally displays the width and height of the raster image in inches or mm, the paper size the raster image fits on and the compression format of TIFF files.
  • Added image resampling.
  • Added command for measuring a distance in pixels.
  • Added CIT raster file support.
  • Added GP4, CG4, MIL, JPE and JPEG extension options to raster Save As.
  • Added support for Colortrac SmartLF Gx 42 scanners.
  • Extended Undo to Negate, Mirror, Rotate by Degrees, Rotate by Line, Scale and Crop.
  • Improved ability to edit close to the edges of the raster image.
  • You can now select by dragging a selection box in any direction, not just top left to bottom right.
  • You can now cut or copy out of Scan2CAD and paste into another application or into another Scan2CAD drawing.
  • When tiling you can now tile images that are larger than the receiving target sheet.
  • Scan2CAD now remembers the currently selected print option.
  • Corrected various minor issues.
  • Made minor changes to default file types and to dialog boxes used on closing files and exiting.
7.5d 19th August 2006
  • New trial version that works fully for a limited time.
  • Made minor changes to the registration procedure.
  • Changed the way Scan2CAD compresses loaded TIFF images on re-save.
7.5c 30th June 2006 Resolved issue that caused polylines to become distorted on saving to DXF when specific element combinations were encontered.
7.5b 6th June 2006 Resolved issue where files with inappropriate extensions could be saved from the Save As Vector File dialog.
7.5a 24th April 2006
  • Resolved issue where Colortrac Cx40 driver sometimes returned the wrong auto paper size.
  • Resolved issue where printing vector files sometimes gave the message "0 pages sent to printer".
7.5 27th March 2006
  • Multi-level undos implemented for both raster and vector editing. The maximum level of undos is 256.
  • New Preview Window added to Remove Speckles, Remove Holes, Simple Threshold, Adaptive Threshold, Thicken Lines, Thicken Pixels, Thin Standard, Thin Ortho, Outline, Brightness and Contrast.

    The Preview Window lets you dynamically preview the effect of applying a function to the raster image. You can zoom and pan around the Preview Window to view the effect on different parts of the image.

    For example, in Remove Speckles you can see speckles disappearing and appearing as you make the speckle size larger and smaller using a slider. This eliminates the trial and error previously involved in finding the correct speckle size.

  • New Preview Window added to the Reduce Colors dialog. You can now select colors by clicking on the image in the Preview Window, making it much easier to select the correct colors for reduction. Multiple reductions can be done in the Reduce Colors dialog without the need to return to the main image after each reduction.
  • The second option in the "Warning: Color Image" dialog now automatically enters the Simple Threshold dialog for quick thresholding of grayscale and color images.
  • If a simple threshold won't work on a difficult image use the new Adaptive button in the Simple Threshold dialog to quickly switch to adaptive thresholding. You can also switch to simple thresholding from the Adaptive Threshold dialog.
  • Support for Colortrac SmartLF Cx 40 scanner added.
  • Command line option updated to include the following commands: AUTODESKEW, THRESHOLDSIMPLE, THRESHOLDADAPTIVE.
  • Added shortcuts: \ accesses Move Grab Point. k temporarily disables and reenables the Grid Snap Distance. Double click your left mouse button to deselect the Pick Color.
  • Resolved issue where copy, move and paste functions could result in missing areas of the raster image.
  • Resolved issue where entering raster text resulted in a black rectangle.
  • Various minor issues corrected.
  • Video tutorials updated.
7.4b 11th November 2005
  • Added shortcut keys: Comma (key with < on it) decreases Grab Snap Distance. Period (key with > on it) increases Grab Snap Distance.
  • Resolved dpi issue with tiling.
7.4a 3rd November 2005 Improved memory management of large images.
7.4 17th October 2005
  • Improved recognition of arcs, circles and Bezier curves. In particular, the recognition of circles that intersect with other elements has been significantly improved.
  • Improved zoom and pan.

    • You can now zoom and pan using your mouse scroll wheel, as in AutoCAD.
    • The zoom and pan have been made dynamic so you can use them while using the raster and vector drawing commands.
    • The area of the screen covered by the image is no longer reduced when you zoom or pan (the gray area no longer appears).

  • Added Attach Raster Image to DXF option. When you save a DXF file from Scan2CAD you can now include a reference to the raster image in the file. When you load the DXF file into AutoCAD (or any CAD program that can accept attached raster images), both the DXF file and the raster image will be loaded, correctly overlaid. You can also assign a color to the raster image so that it is easily visible beneath the vectors.

    (A side benefit of this feature is that AutoCAD LT users can now use Scan2CAD to load raster images into LT. This is not normally possible as the image insert command in LT is disabled.)

  • Added Close All option to close both the raster and the vector image at once.
  • Modification made to DXF read to rationalize image extents data contained in some externally generated DXF files.
  • Resolved issue where some Windows '98 and ME users were getting a "Fonts Key" error on saving.
  • Various minor issues corrected.
7.3b 12th July 2005 Resolved issue where some HPGL plot files were not being loaded/displayed to their full extents.
7.3a 30th June 2005
  • Corrected problem where some TIFF files displayed warnings on load even when File Menu > Raster > Options >TIFF Display Warnings was switched off.
  • Corrected problem where Scan2CAD was aborting on Windows NT after use of the Smooth command.
7.3 20th June 2005
  • Added support for Colortrac SmartLF scanners.
  • Added Simple and Adaptive Thresholding functions. These allow you to dynamically convert grayscale and color raster images to black and white so that you get the clearest possible image on the cleanest possible background.
  • Added Auto Deskew - deskew monochrome images with a single mouse click.
  • Added icons for Simple Threshold, Adaptive Threshold, Auto Deskew, Zoom Window and Zoom Extents.
  • Improved scroll mouse support to allow horizontal scrolling when the mouse pointer is in the horizontal scroll bar area.
  • Improved polyline support to ensure continuity at the topmost vertex where polylines were previously split.
  • Modified "Warning: Color Image" dialog to reflect new Thresholding options.
  • Modified View Menu > Zoom options.
  • Changed Scan2CAD program icon.
7.2g 25th February 2005
  • Improved polyline support. Scan2CAD can now create closed polylines made up of both lines and arcs.
  • Resolved issue where the DPI and/or Pixels Per Meter data associated with some imported raster files was causing incorrect DPI data to be associated with the raster file when saved.
  • New "Warning: Color Image" dialog emitted when loading a color raster image. Users unfamiliar with the differences between color, grayscale and black and white raster images were often producing vectorizations with "crazy paving" vectors or no vectors at all. The new dialog provides four options for action aimed at preventing these outcomes.
  • Replaced installer.
7.2f 22nd December 2004 Corrected the "Error in open, load library, or getprocAddress. Twain DLL may not exist" message that was appearing on scanning.
7.2e 6th December 2004 Removed "PathVectorPos" message that was appearing during some vectorizations.
7.2d 30th November 2004
  • Changes you make to the vectorization settings using Type > Settings are now stored until you make another change or reset the settings to default. To reset the settings to default, click on the new Default button in the Vectorization Settings dialog.
  • Added scroll mouse support.
  • Added ability to specify which DXF version Scan2CAD saves by default. To specify the default save version, go to File > Vector > Export Options.
  • Added Change Color Depth option which lets you increase as well as decrease the color depth of raster images.
7.2c 6th June 2004
  • Problem with Sort Shapes option in the Train > View/Edit Training Set dialog corrected.
  • Registry key authorisation level relaxed to correct "Fonts Key Not Open" error message.
  • Various minor issues corrected.
7.2b 20th April 2004 Modified the Scan2CAD R14 DXF export routine to extend a limit that, when exceeded, caused problems reading Scan2CAD DXF files into AutoCAD.
7.2a 29th March 2004 OCR engine limits extended to help prevent the "number of raster objects exceeds 8000" message appearing during OCR.
7.2 18th March 2004
  • New scaling option added - scale drawings by specifying the distance between two points on an image.
  • Support for file association added.
  • WMF and EMF export added.
  • Command line option updated to include the following commands: SAVEVECTORHGL, SAVEVECTORWMF, SAVEVECTOREMF.
  • Various minor issues corrected.
7.1a 23rd February 2004 Modified the Scan2CAD R14 DXF export routine to correct a problem where some Scan2CAD DXF files would not read into AutoCAD 2004.
7.1 30th January 2004
  • New Template feature added. Templates allow you to define multiple polygonal and rectangular areas for vectorization. Templates can be saved for re-use.
  • New irregular vector polygon draw function added.
  • Various minor issues corrected.
7.0c 7th January 2004
  • HGL added to the list of supported HPGL file extensions.
  • Code rules for joining a line to a Bezier curve loosened, making it easier to join these entity types using the Join Vectors command.
  • Issues involving the Rasterize and Join Vectors functions corrected.
  • Occasional problem with OCR dictionary file not being found corrected.
7.0b 2nd December 2003 The following issues were corrected:
  • Short arrows incorrectly displayed as extending to screen origin 0,0 when large images were displayed at full screen.
  • Occasional ignoring of parts of the raster image.
  • Occasional erroneous lines appearing on the vector image.
  • Exception error when smoothing / vectorizing tiles loaded from TIFF images larger than 32,000 pixels.
7.0a 11th November 2003
  • CALS file read routine modified to allow loading of CALS files with non standard header blocks.
  • DXF file read routine modified so that scaled DXF files saved from Scan2CAD are automatically converted back to the scale of the original raster image when read back into Scan2CAD. The scaling data from the DXF file is passed to the Scale Vectors Dialog for subsequent use or modification. (If you do not want a DXF file scaled to the original raster when reading it back into Scan2CAD, press Ctrl+Shift+I before loading the DXF file.)
  • Batch and Command Line functions modified to allow the use of period characters (.) within the names of input files.
  • Issue where some Scan2CAD DXF files would not read into AutoCAD because of a conflict with ArrowLine Block names corrected.
  • Various minor issues corrected.
7.0 21st October 2003 Click here for a list of what's new in v7.