Some new features in ToolPac 12

ToolPac 12.0 from Dotsoft is out, and I have been looking at a few of the new features. In case you do not know about ToolPac, it is a collection of over 700 tools for AutoCAD that fill in where Autodesk left off, and a few are improvements on existing tools. You cannot find a better toolbox for the price. Read on...

Raster to Vector
The first is the raster to vector tool (DSTP_IMGVECT command). I attempted to convert a 3228x2480 pixel monochrome TIF image which was successful in about 6 seconds. Next I tried a 10392x7056 pixel monochrome TIF image and it took 220 seconds, but consider that this image is over 9 times as large and was much more dense. The result of both conversions was fairly good, but as with all raster to vector applications, don't expect miracles. What you get is a close approximation of your image, as well as it can be drawn with line segments. I got mixed results when trying to import complex color images such as photographs, but this was expected. In summary, you are probably better off using the image itself, even if that means having to edit the image, but if you really need to convert images to vector, you are not going to find a comparable tool for this price.

Import SHP file
The next tool I evaluated is the Import SHP file tool (DSTP_IMPSHP command). Now this is sweet, especially for vanilla AutoCAD users who don't have another way to do this. A 650k SHP file containing 148 polygons imported in less than 1 second. Then I tried a 39MB SHP file containing 275000+ lines, and it imported in 160 seconds. Not bad. I guess the best part is all you do is select a file, one step. This tool has no provision for populating object data or elevating contours, but if all you need is to import the 2D graphics, you are not going to beat this. If you do need a more powerful tool without getting AutoCAD Map, take a look at ShapeIO from Dotsoft.

PDF Manager
Lastly, ToolPac version 12 includes a new PDF Manager. You can load multiple PDF files, and then do various things with them, like:

• Combine any number of pages from any number of PDFs into a single PDF
• Rearrage the order of pages.
• Extract the pages to separate PDF files
• Extract the pages to separate images
• Extract the pages to separate DWG files (yes, I said DWG files...)
• Extract the pages as layouts in the current drawing.
• Search for text on any page.

The only thing that takes a little getting used to is the unique method of selecting multiple pages. I would just like be able to use standard windows selection methods (Ctrl and/or Shift pick). I would also like to have the ability to delete pages and be able to drag pages from one file to another. Having said all that, this is still a great tool for an initial release, and something you wouldn't ordinarily expect in a set of CAD tools.

We have been satisfied ToolPac users for many years (not to mention other products from Dotsoft), and this is a totally unsolicited review on my part. Visit www.dotsoft.com for a list of ALL the new features in ToolPac 12.0 including screen shots, or browse the entire set of 700+ tools here. This page includes several animations so you can see the tools in action.

ToolPac 12.0 is compatible with AutoCAD 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007. For older AutoCAD versions, ToolPac 11.0 is still available.