MakeUseOf.com: “Cool Websites and Tools [December 25th]” plus 1 more

Posted: 25 Dec 2009 07:31 PM PST

Check out some of the latest MakeUseOf discoveries. All listed websites are FREE (or come with a decent free account option). No trials or buy-to-use craplets. For more cool websites and web app reviews subscribe to MakeUseOf Directory.

(1) GlobalFloodMap – is an interactive sea level rise map that displays predicted flooded areas due to rising sea levels. Based on Google Maps, this tool tells us how the world is expected to look like if global sea levels continues to rise. Read more: GlobalFloodMap: Interactive Sea Level Rise Map

(2) Brusheezy – is a website that compiles a huge collection of free Photoshop brushes and patterns. This community of Photoshop enthusiasts and professional image editors allows users to download and share their own Photoshop brushes. Read more: Brusheezy: Photoshop Brushes And Patterns Gallery

(3) Jogstr – is a site offering a new and better way to discover websites and browse through Digg content. Jogstr aims to simplify Digg and lets you surf through it like you do at StumbleUpon. Just select your favorite category on the homepage and click on Jogstr to start browsing. Read more: Jogstr: Discover Cool Websites On Digg By Stumbling

(4) Squareleaf – People who like to be organized often use sticky notes to remind themselves of things they need to do. Squareleaf is a website that provides you with a personal whiteboard and lets you post and arrange your own sticky notes online. Read more: Squareleaf: Post Notes On A Personal Whiteboard Online

(5) Trimback – Finding the best deals online can be tough especially if you are rushing through the Christmas shopping season. But for smart online shoppers, there's Trimback. This cool website provides a vast collection of online and offline discount coupons. Read more: Trimback: Find Coupons & Discounts For Your Favorite Stores

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These are just half of the websites that we discovered in the last couple of days. If you want us to send you daily round-ups of all cool websites we come across, leave your email here. Or follow us via RSS feed.

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How To Convert AutoCAD Drawings Into PDF Files With DWGgateway

Posted: 25 Dec 2009 05:31 PM PST

How to Convert Autocad Drawings Into PDF Files In the business world, everything is about standards. Every industry has its own standard software that almost everyone uses for one reason or another. For engineering and technical drafting, AutoCAD is that near universal software.

AutoCAD is a very well rounded tool, attributing to its popularity. For technical drawing and all that, it is the best.

Unfortunately, no matter how useful or full featured a program; it is rare to find one that is perfect. AutoCAD is no exception. One major feature lacking from AutoCAD is the ability to export a drawing to a PDF, the standard almost across the board for business documents.

Never fear, with DWGgateway you will be cranking out PDF’s of your drawings in no time to add to a report or to just send up to a boss or client.

You can download the software here. It's not too big and therefore shouldn't be too much of a hassle to download.

After you have the software downloaded, you should check that AutoCAD is installed on your machine because the software will not install if it is not.

Double click the install and the process should begin as any other install.

After the splash screen you should be prompted with the following screen:

How to Convert Autocad Drawings Into PDF Files

Select all of the versions of AutoCAD on your machine that you want to install DWGgateway to and then hit "Next."

Next, you will get the standard license stuff, hit "Next" and then "Install." After a speedy install, you will a confirmation screen. Hit "Finish" and you're all set.

Now for what the program's good for, making a PDF in AutoCAD. Open up a drawing. Go to the top and press "File", then "Plot."

How to Convert Autocad Drawings Into PDF Files

After that, you should get a dialog like this:

convert to pdf free

Under "Printer/Plotter," choose “DWG to PDF.pc3.”

Hit OK and the program should ask you to input a file name for your PDF and to choose where to save it. Type what you would like the file to be called and navigate to the directory you want to save your file to.

Click "Save" and the file will be saved as a PDF in the indicated directory. When the process is done, you should get a little bubble at the bottom right to let you know the process was successful.

convert to pdf free

Another nice feature of the software is the ability to use your version of AutoCAD to open any previous or future DWG file versions.

Say for example you have AutoCAD 2004. You can use DWGgateway to open AutoCAD 2007 files without upgrading your license or software. Very useful if you want to wait a while to upgrade your AutoCAD or if you are in a tight spot and really need to view some files that were saved in a different version.

Overall, making a PDF with DWGgateway is simple and intuitive. The small app does not seem to affect performance, so for an AutoCAD user, it is invaluable. The added benefit of being able to open DWG files from different versions of AutoCAD is just icing on the cake.

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