Software Companions - Gerber, PLT and HPGL Viewing and Conversion Software

ViewCompanion Premium Version 10 Updates

ViewCompanion Premium
Version 10 Updates

The latest update will always include all previous fixes and improvements

ViewCompanion Premium ViewCompanion Homepage

Version What's New Released
10.63 Maintenance update.
New Feature:
IDDescription
1It is now possible to select a markup file in the batch conversion dialog. This markup file will be applied to all converted documents. This may be useful for adding text, watermark, stamps or any other information during the conversion process.
Fixed issues:
BugDescription
982CGM file issue: Some dashed lines were displayed as solid lines.
980After conversion from PDF to PDF with markup data, the markup could sometimes be displayed in wrong position and rotation, if the original PDF file used page rotation.
979DWF file issue: Some elements were not filled correctly.
978CGM file issue: Some elliptical arcs were not displayed correctly.
975Markup text sizes become wrong after converting to PDF if markup data loaded was loaded from a customer made XML file.
974CGM file issue: Several lines that should not be displayed.
973CGM file issue: Text was misplaced and had wrong scaling.
972CGM file issue: Some shapes were missing solid black fill.
---PDF to DXF conversion is now using color 255 for white areas instead of color 7 (items with color 7 will be displayed using black on white background in AutoCAD).

01-AUG-2017

Downloads:

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64-bit

10.62 Maintenance update.
New Feature:
IDDescription
1Markup picture elements may now be rotated.
Fixed issues:
BugDescription
971Some characters appeared too bold after conversion to PDF.
970Missing color for some images during conversion to PDF.
967PLT file caused an exception error during loading.
964DWFX file caused an exception error during loading.

13-JUN-2017

Downloads:

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64-bit

10.61 Maintenance update.
Fixed issues:
BugDescription
962Two DWF files failed to open.
960Converting a PLT file from customer to TIFF gave distorted images.
959A CGM file was loaded with incorrect extents.
957Some entities in DWF file was displayed outlined, but should have been filled.
956A DWF file caused exception error.
955Some images in a DWF file was displayed with transparency, but should have been opaque.
951Logfile was sometimes not created if a file failed during command line conversion.
-Exported PDF/A files was sometimes missing color indent and failed preflight check.
-PDF merge page labels now use the correct case, previously all labels was lowercase.
-For EAN13 barcodes the last digit is now automatically changed to the checksum of the 12 first digits.

13-MAY-2017

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64-bit

10.60 Feature update.
New Features:
IDDescription
1Converting from PDF to PDF with markup and using 100% scale will now retain all the original PDF content like text, layers and more.
2 Markup notes will now be converted to Acrobat text comment during conversion to PDF.
3 Added a new command line option named ComparePDF. This command will load two files, compare them and then save the comparison result to a PDF file.
4 ViewCompanion can use the file name as page label instead of a page number when you merge PDF files to a single PDF. An option to select either label names or page numbers has been added.
5 The markup list will now only show markups that are visible. Markup elements that are placed on layers that are "off" will no longer be listed.
6 Added an option to create legacy RS-274D Gerber files instead of RS-274X (extended) files.
7 Elements with hyperlinks will be converted to web or file links in the exported PDF file.
8 Calibration now has an option to recalculate all existing markup measurements if scaling is changed.
9 If you have Microsoft Office™ installed you may now open Word, PowerPoint and Excel files directly in ViewCompanion.
10 Web, file and page links in PDF files are now supported.
11 You may now see the content of a text comment in PDF files as a tooltip.
Fixed issues:
BugDescription
954PLT: ViewCompanion could hang forever if a corrupt PLT files was using during command line conversion. We've added extra checks to avoid this.
953PLT: After conversion to PDF most characters got a black box around them.
952PLT: Converting a file from customer caused transparency to be lost for most images.
947PDF: After conversion to DXF Japanese text was displayed only as "??". ViewCompanion now convert far-east characters correctly as Unicode (\U+XXXX).
943Converting a file with margins didn't give expected result. The converted image was always centered even if different left/right and bottom/top margins were defined.
942DWF file from customer caused an exception error during load.
941DWF: Some of the text had wrong rotation and alignment.
940PLT: After conversion to DWF some images lost transparency.
937DWF: Only 12 pages of a 50 page file was loaded.
935DWF: Some of the drawing was outside paper and the markup was displaced.
934DWF: Some of the text was missing due to a clipping error.
918PDF: A white polygon was placed on top of rest of the drawing, after conversion to DXF.
-PDF reader had a memory leak that could cause the displayed file to become white only, after several redraws.
-The SVG compression option was not stored between sessions.
-Markup burn-in only worked for page one in a multipage document.
-Solid filled markup circles were exported to PDF as outlined circles.
-Added line style support to Gerber exporter.
-Export of measurement area element didn't always fill the text background.

4-APR-2017

Downloads:

32-bit

64-bit

10.51 Maintenance update.
New Features:
IDDescription
1You may now press the ALT key while editing a line, polyline or polygon element, to move the whole element.
2 Added an option to control if anti-aliasing should be used when a PDF file is printed. Anti-aliasing can cause thin lines to become almost invisible when printed. This new option can be found under Tools->Options->Application->Advanced. Anti-aliasing is now disabled by default.
Fixed issues:
BugDescription
932Some circles in PDF file was not complete after conversion to DXF.
931Text in PLT file from customer had wrong orientation.
930After conversion of PDF file to PLT some of the images was flipped and in wrong place.
925Almost invisible lines when printing a PDF file with thin lines. Solved by disabling anti-aliasing.
923A PLT file from customer caused an exception error in 64-bit.
922Some 32-bit images in a DWFX file become black when converted to TIFF.
921Some images lost transparency when converted to PDF.
920PDF file from customer failed to open.

18-FEB-2017

Downloads:

32-bit

64-bit

10.50 Maintenance update.
New Features:
IDDescription
1Added setting for creating high resolution PDF files (enabling this will increase file size).
2Added setting for using conversion DPI when loading GIF files.
3Added rectangular perimeter measurement element.
4Added an option to keep raster dpi from input file when converting from raster to raster.
5Added DWF and HPGL/2 to list of available output formats in Save As if a PDF file is loaded.
Fixed issues:
BugDescription
917DWF file from customer did not load at all.
914Some text in DWF file used wrong font height.
909CGM file from customer loaded with wrong dimensions.
906Missing images in CGM file from customer.
905Missing markup images in DWF file from customer.
903Converting PDF to PLT or DWF : Some images was converted with wrong rotation.
901Missing tolerance symbol in CGM file from customer.
897PDF file from customer was displayed blank.
896Gerber aperture format was not supported.
893Converting 32-bit images to PDF was missing the alpha channel (transparency).
891Named views were not loaded for some DWF files.
890Poor resolution when converting Gerber files to PDF. Enable the new high resolution PDF files setting to avoid this problem.
889Missing text in DWF file from customer (some text was replaced by empty squares).
---Markup highlighter element was not filled when converting to PDF.
---Markup circle element lost hatch style when converted to other formats.

06-JAN-2017

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64-bit

10.42 Minor maintenance update.
Fixed issues:
BugDescription
883Missing text in DWF file from customer due to a clipping error.
882Opening Calcomp plotter files from customer could randomly cause an application crash.
881Opening PLT file from customer caused an application crash.
879Using ViewCompanion with two monitors could sometimes cause the second screen to appear frozen when zooming in.

30-SEP-2016

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32-bit

64-bit

10.41 Minor maintenance update.
New Features:
IDDescription
1Batch conversion from PDF to DXF, SVG, CGM and Gerber formats are now available (batch mode PDF to CAD).
Fixed issues:
BugDescription
872Saving a GIF from customer to any raster format (including GIF) created distorted image.
871Added font replacement table for PDF to DXF conversion as some PDF fonts are not available in AutoCAD. You may now configure how these PDF specific fonts are to be replaced with Windows/AutoCAD fonts.
870DWFx file with an image displayed with black background while it should be white.
868Displaying a DWF with fonts that were not available on the system could show strange characters.
---Log files were sometimes not created during command line conversion if a configuration file was used.

17-SEP-2016

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64-bit

10.40 Maintenance update.
New Features:
IDDescription
1Markup will now be placed on a separate layer in converted files. Formats that support layers do include DXF, PDF and DWF.
2Converting PDF to DXF will convert any text from the PDF to MTEXT (text) entities.
3Converting PDF to DXF will convert any PDF layer to a DXF layer.
4The DXF exporter now writes only used layers (previous version always wrote 256 layers).
5Converting DWF to DXF will now convert any text from the DWF to MTEXT (text) entities.
6Save As: Markup will now only be included if it's visible (and enabled in markup:General).
Bug Fixes:
BugDescription
864DWF: Some of the drawing elements should be clipped and not visible.
863Filled paths with sub path (holes) were not converted correctly from PLT to Postscript.
862PDF to DXF conversion: Some PDF annotations were now displayed in the correct place.
861PDF to Gerber conversion didn't process sub-polygons correctly.
---Annotation circle element did not use the correct color for hatch lines.

1-SEP-2016

Downloads:

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64-bit

10.30 Maintenance update.
New Features:
IDDescription
1Added an option for enabling/disabling use of background color as defined in DWF file. You will find this option under Tools->Options->Formats->Other->DWF.
2Added an option for enabling/disabling loading of Autodesk Design Review markups from DWF files. This option is enabled by default and can be found under Tools->Options->Formats->Other->DWF
3When you save a project you may now choose to set the project as default. A default project will be loaded each time ViewCompanion starts.
4You may now split PDF files based on maximum number of pages in the output PDF files.
5All subfolders of folders added to a batch print and conversion will now be processed (recursive folder traversal). This behavior may be disabled with a new option under Tools->Options-Advanced.
6Aztec barcode format is now available in the add barcode dialog.
Bug Fixes:
BugDescription
858Converting a PLT file to color GIF gave wrong colors.
852CGM: Arcs and circles were exported as polylines when converted to DXF.
851CGM: Polygon set was not displayed correctly.
850PLT files generated by new KIP 7170 drivers could not be loaded.
848DWF: File caused an exception error during loading.
847DWF: Circles drawn with wrong radius.
845CGM: Text should fit tightly in box.
844CGM: A text element should have been rotated and oblique.
843CGM: A text element was not centered correctly.
841CGM: Spurious lines drawn between filled shapes.
840CGM: Missing raster images (24 bit cell arrays).
839Converting a CGM from customer to PDF gave poor accuracy when doing measurements on the resulting PDF.
838DWF: Some of the text had wrong orientation.
805CGM: Missing hatch pattern for a shape.
---Changing text color for measurement area had no effect.
---Markup dimension line edit dialog: The text position does no longer change unless font is changed after the dialog is closed.

4-AUG-2016

Downloads:

32-bit

64-bit

10.20 Maintenance update.
New Features:
IDDescription
1If you have Microsoft Office installed on your system, you may now add Word, Excel and PowerPoint files to the list of files to merge in the PDF Merge tool. Doc, docx, xls, xlsx, ppt and pptx files will be pre-converted to PDF using Microsoft Office, and then added to the merged PDF.
2Added an option to place log files in a separate folder (Tools->Options->Conversion->Advanced).
The settings may also be set using a conversion configuration file.
3Added support for loading EMZ files (compressed Windows Metafile).
4Pan State will now stay active even if you zoom the drawing out (e.g.: zoom all).
5Added an option to disable the information tooltip displayed when the cursor is over an element. (Tools->Options->Markup->Advanced).
6While measuring a path you may now use control key (CTRL) to draw path segments that not should be included in the measured distance.
Bug Fixes:
BugDescription
836Markup XML (vcm) file with many images caused an exception error.
829A 32-bit PNG image lost transparency when added as markup element.
827Converting a PLT file from customer to DWF was missing a few raster images.
822A PDF file from customer took extremely long time to load.
---Text quality for AutoDesk DWF files has been greatly improved. Truetype fonts are now used for display, instead of the previous vector font.
---AutoDesk DWF files with 3D data are now rejected.
---Text quality for markup measurement elements (dimension line, area and path) is greatly improved.

10-JUL-2016

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64-bit

10.10 Maintenance update.
New Features:
IDDescription
1Folders can now be added in both batch print and conversion dialogs. All files in the selected folder(s) will be converted or printed. By default *.* will be used as file search mask but this can be modified for each folder.
2Added option for setting custom background color for markup text elements.
3Added option for saving all open markup files in the "Markup Save" dialog that is displayed when a file with modified markup is saved.
4Added new project commands: "Load All Files" and "Remove All Files from Project".
5Markup elements can now be individually marked as hidden.
Bug Fixes:
BugDescription
81432-bit PNG images with alpha channel lost transparency when added as markup picture.
813Markup created by AutoDesk Design Review™ was not displayed in ViewCompanion.
812DWF file from customer failed to open in ViewCompanion.
811Only a maximum of 10 files was added to project if more than 10 files were selected in the Add to Project dialog.
810ViewCompanion project files (vpr) could not be loaded from command line or by opening in Explorer (when vpr extension was associated to ViewCompanion).
809DWF file from customer was loaded with invalid extents.
806Some elements in PLT file from customer had wrong color.
---Reported resolution (DPI) and physical dimensions was wrong for some PCX files.
---Sheet properties from DWF files were not loaded.
---Transparent markup pictures were sometimes displayed with wrong rotation, if the file was rotated.

30-APR-2016

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32-bit

64-bit

10.05 Maintenance update.
Changes:
IDDescription
1Added a checkbox for enabling or disabling aspect ratio in raster resize dialog.
Bug Fixes:
BugDescription
808DWF files loaded with wrong extents.
803Wrong height for some of the text elements in CGM file from customer.
802CGM file not displayed correctly.
798Text in HPGL/2 file from customer not displayed correctly.
---Command line conversion from PDF to DXF failed.
---Doing query on elements in DWF files could sometimes returned wrong results.

7-APR-2016

Downloads:

32-bit

64-bit

10.02 Maintenance update.
Bug Fixes:
BugDescription
795Missing '(' and ')' characters when converting HPGL/2 file with text to PDF.
794Missing text in CGM file from customer.
792Gerber file from customer was not displayed correctly.
791Gerber file from customer caused application failure.
---Measurement report sometimes exported 4 columns instead of 5.
---Drawing polygon: Shape was always filled even if activ mode was outlined.
---Arrow text : sometimes the line the below text did disappear when text was edited.
---Converting PDF to CALS could in some rare cases create an invalid CALS file.

20-DEC-2015

10.00 Major release.
New Features:
NoDescription
1Several user interface changes related to markup. While editing a markup element an editing tab will be activated to make it easy to modify all available properties. Markup elements are now organized in separate categories, like shapes, lines, measurement and so on.
2Added functions for deleting and adding pages to a multipage document (TIFF/PDF).
3Added line point editing for markup elements like line, polyline, polygon, area and measurement path.
4All rectangular elements, and line, can be now drawn using two different methods:
  • Press left mouse button, drag mouse to opposite corner and then release button.
  • Press left mouse button and release it, now move to the opposite corner using the mouse and press the left button again to finish.
5Added new markup elements: Item counter, Circle and Higlighter.
6Added new markup elements: Measurement Line and Path.
7Measurement text color can now be set independent of current markup draw color.
8Added Measurement Area Summary dialog. You may now quickly summarize all measurements, or a selection of these, and export to Excel (CSV).
9Individual transparency can now be set for all elements.
10Markup elements can now be locked to avoid further changes.
11New markup file naming convention available, you may now use filename.ext.vcm instead of the default filename.vcm.
12Added a new file format: WebP Image Format. Both reading and writing of this format are supported.
13Current measurement units can now be selected from the Statusbar.
14Added snap to drawing geometry when measuring PDF files.
15Added support for text search and extraction for PDF files.
16PDF Layers are now supported.
17Improved display quality when comparing TIFF or PDF files.
18ViewCompanion now asks for a password if a protected PDF files is opened.
19Several new settings have been added added, including:
  • Hide or show markup area measurement text.
  • Center text in measurement area elements.
  • Transparent measurement area text background.
  • Default transparency for markup elements.
  • Default stamp insertion size.
  • Display markup element delete confirmation dialog.
Other GUI changes includes:
  • The ability to merge several files into a single multipage file is now removed from the Batch conversion dialog and moved to a new Merge Files dialog.
  • DWF views are moved to Bookmark pane of the outlook bar.
  • DWF layers are moved to the new Layers pane of the outlook bar.
  • Pens are now displayed as layers in the Layers pane.
  • Added toolbar to markup list.
  • Markup list have new columns available. You may choose which colums to display using the Markup List Settings dialog.
20This update is compatible with Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 (all editions).

Bug Fixes:

BugDescription
782Unicode text in CGM file from customer was not correctly displayed.
781Missing line styles in CGM file from customer.
780Missing text in CGM files from customer.
779Converting PLT with monochrome images could in some rare cases create PDF files that failed Adobe Preflight with an invalid colortable warning.
778Raster elements in PLT file from customer displayed using wrong color.
776Compressed CGM files was not supported.
771CGM files from customer failed conversion to PDF.
770CGM files from customer caused exception error.
763Some CGM files loaded with wrong extents.
762French characters in PLT file from customer not displayed correctly.
758Display of PDF file from customer took very long time to complete.
---Undo of deleted dimension line didn't work.
---Undo of deleted measurement area didn't work .
---All measurement values are now properly localized - correct use of '.' or ',' for decimal numbers.
---Hatch pattern for markup elements are now correctly drawn using fill color.
---Dimension line arrows are now drawn outside if not enough space between extension lines.
---Doing print preview when using classic interface could cause an application crash.

7-NOV-2015

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32-bit

64-bit


Older Updates:
Updates for version 9.xx
Updates for version 8.xx
Updates for version 7.xx
Updates for version 6.xx
Updates for version 5.xx