How to Manage PDF Files in BricsCAD

Quick answer: Manage PDFs through the Drawing Explorer’s PDF Underlays dialog or the Attachments panel. Beyond attaching them as underlays, PDFIMPORT can convert a PDF’s content, or an already-attached underlay, into actual CAD entities, and you can export drawings back out to PDF, including 3D PDF with the right licensing.

Managing PDFs: The Two Interfaces

Both let you attach PDF files, detach them, load or unload inserted PDFs, edit the path, and preview them (preview is Drawing Explorer only).

Opening the Drawing Explorer’s PDF Underlays dialog: run EXPPDFS, or click PDF Underlays on the Insert/PDFs ribbon tab.

Opening the Attachments panel: run PDF.

Attaching a PDF File

Click New in the Drawing Explorer’s PDF Underlays dialog, click Attach PDF on the Insert toolbar, the Attachments panel, or the Insert/PDFs ribbon tab, or run PDFATTACH. The Select PDF Underlay File dialog opens.
Select the PDF, then double-click it or click Open. The Attach PDF Underlay dialog appears.
Specify an Insertion Point, or tick Specify On-screen.
Specify a Scale, or tick Specify On-screen.
Specify a Rotation angle, or tick Specify On-screen.
Click OK.
If none of the on-screen options were ticked, the PDF inserts immediately at the specified values; otherwise, you’re prompted for them on screen.

Once attached, you can adjust fade, contrast, and monochrome level with PDFADJUST, clip it with PDFCLIP, and control frame visibility via PDFFRAME.

Loading and Unloading PDFs

Unloading a PDF hides it without removing it, it stays inserted, just not displayed.

A single PDF: click the checkbox in its Load column, in the Attachments panel or the Drawing Explorer’s PDF Underlays dialog.

Multiple PDFs: hold Ctrl and select them (click a selected one, still holding Ctrl, to deselect), then click the Load column checkbox of any selected PDF to load or unload them all at once. A loaded PDF shows a green check mark.

Detaching PDFs

Select the PDF(s) (Ctrl for multiple, click to deselect), then click the Delete or Detach tool button, or right-click and choose Delete or Detach from the context menu.

Importing a PDF as CAD Entities

PDFIMPORT converts a PDF’s content into simple CAD entities, and can also convert a PDF underlay that’s already attached to the drawing into entities the same way. How accurate the result is depends heavily on the quality of the original PDF file.

Exporting PDFs

EXPORTPDF generates a PDF from the current drawing. To export a specific layout, select that layout tab first, then run the command.

For 3D PDF specifically, use EXPORT instead, which requires the Communicator for BricsCAD add-on and a minimum BricsCAD Pro licence level.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I convert an already-attached PDF underlay into real drawing geometry? Yes, PDFIMPORT converts both fresh PDF files and PDF underlays already attached to the drawing into simple CAD entities.

How accurate is the geometry PDFIMPORT produces? It depends heavily on the quality of the original PDF, a cleaner source file produces more accurate results.

Do I need any special licensing to export a 3D PDF? Yes, 3D PDF export via EXPORT requires the Communicator for BricsCAD add-on and at least a Pro licence level.

How do I export just one layout to PDF instead of the whole drawing? Select that layout tab first, then run EXPORTPDF.