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PDF to AutoCAD: PDFIMPORT, PDFATTACH or a Converter?

Updated 30 October 2026

Getting a PDF to AutoCAD takes one of three tools: PDFIMPORT turns the PDF into editable objects, PDFATTACH places it as a reference underlay, and a PDF to DXF converter does the job outside AutoCAD. Each one fits a different situation, and picking the wrong one costs you an afternoon of cleanup.

Here is how each works, the settings worth changing, and how to land the drawing at real size.

Which method should you choose?

Situation Best tool Why
You need to edit the lines and own AutoCAD 2017 or later PDFIMPORT Converts vectors, TrueType text and images in one step
You only trace over or check against the PDF PDFATTACH Light, linked, easy to swap for a new revision
You need one detail from a 30-sheet set PDFATTACH, then Import as Objects Brings in only the area you pick
AutoCAD LT 2016 or older, or no AutoCAD at all PDF to DXF converter No PDF to DWG conversion before 2017
The drawing is under NDA and must stay off shared machines Converter that runs locally The file never leaves your computer

How does PDFIMPORT work?

PDFIMPORT arrived in AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT 2017. It reads the vector content of the PDF and writes it into your drawing as lines, polylines, hatches, text and images.

  1. On the Insert tab, open the Import panel and choose PDF Import, or type PDFIMPORT.
  2. Choose the file. The Import PDF dialog opens with a page preview.
  3. Under Page to Import, pick the sheet. The dialog shows the page size and the PDF scale.
  4. Under Location, keep Specify insertion point on-screen ticked and leave Scale at 1 for now.
  5. Under PDF Data to Import, tick Vector geometry, Solid fills and TrueType text. Tick Raster images only if the sheet has photos or logos you want.
  6. Under Layers, choose Use PDF layers if the PDF was exported with layers. Otherwise pick Create object layers, which sorts the content onto PDF_Geometry, PDF_Solid Fills, PDF_Images and PDF_Text.
  7. Under Import Options, tick Join line and arc segments and Apply lineweight properties.
  8. Click OK and pick the insertion point.

Which import options deserve a second look?

  • Import as block wraps everything in one block. Handy for a reference sheet, a nuisance when you want to edit, so leave it off for working drawings.
  • Convert solid fills to hatches turns filled areas into solid hatches with 50% transparency. Turn it on for site plans with coloured zones.
  • Infer linetypes from collinear dashes joins rows of short dashes into one polyline. Autodesk’s own help warns it can misread underlined text and evenly spaced short lines, so switch it off if labels come out strange.

Why is the imported PDF the wrong size?

The PDF records the size of the paper and nothing about the building or the part. According to Autodesk’s help, the PDF scale assumes millimetres for metric drawings and inches for imperial ones, and PDFIMPORT ignores the INSUNITS setting. So a 1:100 floor plan on an A1 sheet arrives as 841 × 594 units, and a 10 metre wall measures 100.

Fix it with SCALE and the Reference option:

  1. Type SCALE and select everything you imported.
  2. Pick a base point, such as a grid intersection.
  3. Type R for Reference, click both ends of a known dimension, then type its real length (10000 for a 10 m wall in a millimetre drawing).
  4. Check a second dimension far away with DIST. If both match, the whole sheet is right.

Pick the longest dimension you can find. A 1 mm clicking error on a 10 metre wall is 0.01%; the same error on a 900 mm door is over 0.1%. Plans printed with “fit to page” land at odd scales like 1:117, and the Reference method handles those without any arithmetic. The guide on converting architectural PDFs to CAD walks through a full floor plan this way.

What does PDFATTACH do?

PDFATTACH places the PDF as an underlay: a linked reference, similar to an XREF, that you see and snap to while the PDF stays a separate file.

  1. On the Insert tab, open the Reference panel and choose Attach, or type PDFATTACH.
  2. Pick the PDF and the page, set insertion point, scale and rotation, and click OK.
  3. Draw your own lines over it on a new layer.

Underlays shine when the architect sends revision C next week. You re-path the reference and your own linework stays untouched.

Need only one detail from the sheet? Select the underlay, open the PDF Underlay contextual tab and choose Import as Objects. Drag a crossing window around the detail, and only that area becomes AutoCAD geometry. That keeps a 30-sheet set from bloating your drawing with a thousand title-block lines.

Why does the text come in as lots of small lines?

Most AutoCAD drawings use SHX fonts (txt.shx, romans.shx and friends). PDF cannot store SHX as text, so the plot writes each letter as tiny strokes. PDFIMPORT brings those strokes in as geometry.

AutoCAD 2018 and later have the PDFSHXTEXT command, on the Insert tab. Select the strokes, run it, and AutoCAD compares them against SHX fonts and replaces matches with Mtext. Open its Settings option first and tick only the fonts the drawing uses, because a smaller font list gives faster and cleaner matches. TrueType text (Arial and similar) skips this problem entirely and imports as real text.

When is a converter the better tool?

PDFIMPORT is excellent when AutoCAD is already open on your desk. A standalone converter wins in four cases:

  • No AutoCAD 2017 or later. Earlier releases have no PDF to DWG conversion at all, which rules out older AutoCAD LT licences.
  • Scale before import. A converter with a two-point scale tool writes the DXF at real size, so the drawing lands correctly the first time.
  • Layers by colour. A converter that puts every line colour on its own layer (PDF_000000, PDF_FF0000) mirrors how most consultants colour their plots, which makes walls, dimensions and furniture easy to switch off.
  • Colleagues without AutoCAD. A DXF opens in LibreCAD, FreeCAD, SolidWorks and every CAM package.

You can convert the PDF to DXF in your browser without uploading it, then open the DXF in AutoCAD and save it as DWG. The guide on converting PDF to DWG without AutoCAD covers the DXF to DWG step with free tools.

How do you clean up the drawing after any PDF import?

  • Run OVERKILL to delete duplicate and overlapping lines, which PDFs produce whenever two objects shared an edge.
  • Use PURGE to remove empty layers and unused blocks.
  • Freeze the hatch and fill layers before editing. A hatched wall in a PDF arrives as dozens of separate lines.
  • Redraw dashed centre lines and hidden lines with a proper linetype if the dashes came in as separate segments.
  • Delete or replace the consultant’s title block.

What about scanned PDFs?

A scanned PDF holds a picture of the paper. PDFIMPORT brings that picture in as a raster image, with no lines to edit, and PDFATTACH shows it with nothing to snap to. Tracing the ink into outlines gives you snap points, and the guide on converting a scanned drawing to CAD covers scan settings and the redraw workflow.

Before any of this, ask the sender for the DWG. A two-line email beats every import tool on this page.

Questions people ask

Which AutoCAD versions can import a PDF as lines?

AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT 2017 and later have the PDFIMPORT command. Earlier versions can only attach a PDF as an underlay, so you need a PDF to DXF converter for editable lines.

What is the difference between PDFIMPORT and PDFATTACH?

PDFIMPORT turns the PDF into AutoCAD objects you can edit. PDFATTACH places the PDF as a linked reference you can see and snap to, while the PDF itself stays unchanged.

Why is my imported PDF the wrong size in AutoCAD?

PDFIMPORT reads the paper size of the sheet, in millimetres for metric and inches for imperial, and ignores INSUNITS. Use SCALE with the Reference option and one known dimension to bring it to real size.

Why does the text come in as small lines?

The PDF was made with SHX fonts, which PDF cannot store as text. In AutoCAD 2018 and later, the PDFSHXTEXT command converts that geometry back into Mtext.

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