Often there is a need to insert drawings or parts of drawings into Microsoft software such as Word, Excel or PowerPoint. Most users know how to export to raster files, or use the capture and save image tools available from the utilities menu. However, these methods rarely produce the kind of result that most would like to achieve. There is a better way.
MicroStation comes supplied with a myriad of plotter drivers. The majority of these are designed to plot/print to specific plotters or printers. However, many of them are designed not to plot to plotters or printers, but to plot to raster files. Take a look through the list of supplied plotter drivers. You will find files like cgm.plt, emf.plt, jpeg.plt, bmp.plt, tiff.plt and many others. You can load these plotter drivers the same way you would load your normal plotter driver and print the same way using a fence or a view entity. The difference is in that these plotter drivers will produce excellent raster images that can be opened by most other software applications capable of handling raster images. You will find that an emf file will give the best results in Microsoft applications. Give ‘em a go and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
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