LANDWorksCAD Out of Memory

Question

I have great CAD software but when I use lots of bitmap images in the drawing I get the message that it is Out Of Memory and the system either crashes or slows down so much that I can’t use the software.

Answer

In earlier times it was said that ‘bitmaps and CAD don’t mix’ and due the limitations of computers at the time this statement was absolutely true. Today we have faster machines with much more memory but still have memory issues when combining too many bitmaps (image files such as photos or other pixel based images) in a CAD software which is essentially designed to handle vector information (points and lines in 3d space) Why?…

This is typically because when a bitmap is inserted into your CAD software it will convert the compressed data into standard bitmap uncompressed BMP format. This can be more than 20X larger and as typical CAD users we copy that image all over the drawing, multiplying the problem rapidly as we go.

The solution is to use bitmaps sparingly or to reduce the resolution of the original bitmap file, especially if the image itself will not be printed at a very large size.

Since LANDWorksCAD v.5.90 the Plant Files are located in C:\Users\Public\LANDWorksCAD-v5.90\Figures\Plants

Look for the BMP or JPG image of the plant you are using, and with any Graphics Editing Software resize the image to 45% of its original size.

For instance, using Microsoft Office 2010 Graphics Editing Program, open the image file and then click on Edit Pictures… Resize

Select the Percentage of original width x height Resize settings, and type 45%. You’ll see on the Size setting summary that the new size will be slightly less than half.

Save the file, and done!