Summary: Designers, architects, engineers, educators, and students use JPEG images in their AutoCAD drawings to make them relevant and effective. However, the advanced design platform is not free from technical hiccups. Users commonly face issues while embedding, inserting, or importing JPEG image files in their drawings. Sometimes even a simple task of exporting or converting a DWG file to JPEG becomes a mammoth task. To ease your designing experience, we bring the best tips to fix 5 such common JPEG issues in AutoCAD.
Contents
- PROBLEM 1: JPG image disappears on reopening AutoCAD file.
- PROBLEM 2: JPEG images are distorted or colors are not properly displayed on reopening the AutoCAD file.
- PROBLEM 3: Fail to import JPEG image in AutoCAD
- PROBLEM 4: Unable to export AutoCAD file to JPEG or get a poor resolution after exporting to JPEG
- PROBLEM 5: JPEG links showing frames but no images
- The Bottom Line
PROBLEM 1: JPG image disappears on reopening AutoCAD file.
Often when you reopen an AutoCAD file that had an embedded JPEG image, the picture may not show up in the drawing. The JPEG image is also not visible in the PLOT preview or the plot itself.
Solution 1: To resolve AutoCAD JPEG not showing the problem, re-embed the JPEG image into the AutoCAD drawing.
- Open the JPEG image in Microsoft Paint
- Select and copy the image
- Go to AutoCAD, use the Paste Special Select the option As Image Entity
Solution 2: Paste the image into Microsoft PowerPoint. Copy it from PowerPoint into AutoCAD, and use Paste Special with As: Picture (Enhanced Metafile).
Solution 3: You can also try to change the image format from JPEG to PNG as a workaround.
PROBLEM 2: JPEG images are distorted or colors are not properly displayed on reopening the AutoCAD file.
You open a drawing and notice the JPEG images are distorted with colors not displayed correctly. The problem generally occurs with JPEG images in CMYK mode. AutoCAD best rasterizes pictures that are saved with the RGB (red, blue, green) color profile instead of CMYK.
Solution 1: Change the JPEG image color profile to RGB mode. Open the JPEG file in image editors such as Microsoft Paint or Adobe Photoshop to change the JPEG file to RGB mode.
Steps to fix distorted JPEG images in AutoCAD drawing:
- Open the JPEG image in MS Paint
- Save the image without making any changes. It will directly convert to RGB mode.
- Delete the problematic JPEG photo from your AutoCAD drawing
- Add the newly saved JPEG image back to your drawing
- The JPEG image should now appear correctly without any distortion.
Note: If you are using Adobe Photoshop, go to Image > Mode > select RGB Color. Now save your image without any other change.
Solution 2: Delete the image from the drawing and re-embed the JPEG images in AutoCAD. But this time first ensure they are opening properly in any image editor without any distortion. If not, repair your corrupt or distorted JPEG/JPG files using Jpeg Repair Software, then add them to the drawing. It is a repair tool that fixes all kinds of corruptions in JPEG photos including grainy, blurry, broken, or pixelated, and fixes issues like corrupt headers, JPEG file data, and invalid JPEG file structure, etc. The tool is easy to use and is available for both Windows and Mac systems.
PROBLEM 3: Fail to import JPEG image in AutoCAD
Sometimes you try to import a JPEG image stored on your computer into AutoCAD file but it does not show up in the drawing. Check if you are doing it the right way. Copy and pasting the image does not always work in AutoCAD.
In AutoCAD you cannot also attach raster images like JPEG with IMPORT command in the File menu.
Solution: Follow Insert > References panel >Attach > Find. The Select Image File dialog box appears, select the image file and click Open. In the Image dialog box, you can specify insertion point, scale, or rotation and click OK. This would fix your AutoCAD JPEG import issues.
PROBLEM 4: Unable to export AutoCAD file to JPEG or get a poor resolution after exporting to JPEG
You can save AutoCAD drawings in JPEG format by using the JPGOUT command. This helps to share AutoCAD drawings on different platforms such as websites or Word documents. But sometimes the DWG files do not export to JPEG or even if they do, they have poor resolution and are not usable.
Solution 1: Rather than changing to JPEG, opt for PNG format. You can convert AutoCAD DWG file to PNG using PNGOUT command. It gives better quality and your image file will not be pixelated.
Solution 2: Another method is to convert AutoCAD drawing to PDF format. You can use PLOT or EXPORTPDF or PUBLISH commands to export to PDF. PDF format gives higher quality without losing resolution.
PROBLEM 5: JPEG links showing frames but no images
You open the AutoCAD file and notice the drawings do not show up as images but JPEG frames are visible. Though rare, the problem occurs usually after AutoCAD updates.
Solution: Few problems of the program can be resolved only by restoring to original settings. This is one of those. Do a Reset Settings to Default to see if the JPEG images show up in your drawings. Make sure you save the AutoCAD drawings in a folder before performing a reset to default.
On Windows 10, go to the Start menu, click All Apps > Autodesk > Reset Settings to Default.
If AutoCAD files are missing to run the program after reset, uninstall and reinstall the program on your system.
The Bottom Line
AutoCAD is the most convenient and useful 2D and 3D design program. However, users commonly encounter AutoCAD JPEG import or quality issues.
The above solutions to common AutoCAD JPEG problems are surely going to help you fix such issues. While the JPEG repair utility like Stellar Repair for Photo will resolve any image distortion before inserting or importing images in the AutoCAD file. You can also repair your AutoCAD drawings that are converted to JPG but got corrupt.
For any queries or help write to us in the comment box below. Also, do not forget to share with us how you were able to fix your JPEG-related issues in AutoCAD.
