TOPIC:

Wrote a VBscript that converts this:



into this:



It automatically cleans up the background artifacts from a wiring diagram scan.

The image must be a 24bit bitmap file (.bmp). You can use MSpaint to convert it as necessary from jpg or gif. 24bit bitmaps are lossless files so they preserve every detail, and are much easier to work with on a pixel basis.

You just save the bitmap and the script file into the same folder and double click the script.

Download this and save it to a new folder.

The upside of using a script is that it can be read in notepad so you can see every bit of the code and can be sure there is no malware. It also does not have to be "installed" or registered etc, making its use simple. The script is also self contained as one text file.

The downside is that it is slowwww. So if you have a slow computer, I don't recommend it for huge files. (Most wiring diagram scans are huge.) On my fast computer, a large file takes a few minutes. On my slow computer it takes about 15 minutes. (The above example file took a few seconds.)

So far, I've only tested it on Windows XP.

I may write a compiled version which would be much faster if I have time.

(Incidently, if both of the above images look the same on your monitor, then you may have a problem with the video card on your computer. This is not uncommon. I have a fix for that too:
home.comcast.net/~loudgpz/GPZweb/Mnls/An...ogVgaAttenuator.html

Very nice...thanks for taking the time to do this...

even a blind dude like me can read it...very nice +1

That is pretty slick!!! Very nice..

My computers broke I can't see any difference.

Thanks for the fix , I'll have to show it to my kid

As a slightly related aside I got an email the other day that Solidworks is introducing an electrical module soon. I have no clue how it will work but I do like Solidworks for creating 3D models of mechanical parts. Might be worth a look.

Google SketchUp is also useful for creating 2D/3D diagrams.

sketchup.google.com/download/