A method for creating drawings in Word or PPT and then formatting to a bitmap for importing into an OrCAD drawing:
1. Send document to a PDF (for example by using PrimoPDF)
2. Open PDF using Adobe 9, select the image to be exported using the capture tool.
3. With the image still selected after the automatic capture, use the view setting to expand the view as large as feasable to get nice smooth rendering on text and lines (most frequently used setting: 300%). Then hit CTRL-C to copy the image again, this time at the higher resolution.
4. Paste the image in either MS-Paint or IrFanView, manipulate the size and color depth.
5. The maximum size picture that can be imported into OrCAD seems to be dependent on the total number of pixels (approximately 2.5 MPixels). For the front panel that was a width of 2540 pixels but for the top view that limits it to a width of 1700 pixels.
6. The picture resolution when printed is much better than on the screen.
7. Can size the picture based on plain lines drawn in OrCAD for reference.
