After leaving Kingston University and not getting an architecture degree…. I’m now being asked by architecture students how to do things. Slight flaw that they don’t teach this bit at all, and I doubt the staff even know how to do it. Every semester is the same.

There are a couple of stages missing… interpOSe… (get that from dotted eyes)… and extracting the .zip file which you should know how to do. If you don’t god help you.

Stage 1: how to get a digimap

Stage 2: what to do with the files from digimap

Stage 3: Scaling drawing (the default is to set the cad drawing in meters, this will convert it to millimeters)

Stage 4: Scaling a layout (for when you want to print it to a scale)

These steps are intended for using with Autodesk AutoCAD which is freely available from their student website, don’t ask me for a “dodgy” version, it’s illegal and wrong. By virtue of the fact that AutoCAD is a Windows-based application, these instructions were done intended for computers running Windows.

Righto kids, I’ve been really bothered by this bug. Given the sheer expense of this application suite and the cost of the operating system…. and the 4 processors and 8GBs of RAM…. and so on. Fact of the matter is, when you get round to trying to place even a small PSD file you’ve manipulated in PhotoShop, into Illustrator, it tells you that low and behold you’re out of memory.

I’ve read loads of forum threads about this, and nobody seems to have a good answer. However, here’s mine:

Find the illustrator icon, albeit on your desktop or on the start menu , right click and select properties.

Select the compatibility tab, tick the “Run this program in compatibility mode for:” and select Windows XP (Service Pack 2)

It has been driving me mad not being able to use live PSD files in my illustrator, I’m glad I got it going. You will notice that it will alter your windows colour scheme (to windows xp colours) whilst the application is running, if using illustrator is more important than the colour scheme then it wont bother you.

If like me, you’re using Windows Vista and experiencing some peculiarities with your Adobe Photoshop, or noticing that under Windows Photo Gallery the colour hues are slightly purple but can’t seem to work out how to correct it; the solution is here:

(I’ll keep it simple)

Firstly you’ll need a large length of string, a Swiss army penknife and a box of matches and twelve finely chopped carrots…..

Or

1. Right click on your desktop > Personalize
2. Display Settings
3. Advanced Settings
4. Color Management
5. Select from the drop down Display: %Your monitor device% and tick the “Use my settings for this device” checkbox.
6. Beneath, press Add…
7. Locate sRGB IEC61966-2.1 and press OK
8. Select the profie you’ve just added and then press the “Set as Default Profile“
9. Close the window, OK the rest of the windows and then restart your system.

Hey presto!