Images files (How BikeCAD saves imported images)

If you've imported a digital image into BikeCAD Pro, when you proceed to save the BCAD file, BikeCAD Pro will save the location of that imported image. It does not actually save the image itself.

When you open that BCAD file later on, BikeCAD Pro will make two attempts to locate the associated image file.

  • First, BikeCAD Pro will search the absolute path to where the image was last retrieved. For example, if you have imported an image from C:\BikeCAD files\images\my bike.jpg, BikeCAD Pro will try to open that same image from that same location when you next open the BCAD file. This way, you can move the BCAD file around to different directories on your computer and BikeCAD Pro will still be able to find the image file that is associated with that BCAD file.
  • If the image file has moved from its original location, BikeCAD Pro will make a second attempt to find the file by searching the relative path to the image file. For example, if a BCAD file had originally been stored at C:\BikeCAD files\my bike.bcad, and its associated image file had been located at: C:\BikeCAD files\images\my bike.jpg, the relative path to the image file is: images\my bike.jpg. This means that you can copy the BCAD file and the image file to different locations together and BikeCAD Pro will still be able to find the required image. The two files could be copied to a memory stick at: E:\my bike.bcad and E:\images\my bike.jpg. When the BCAD file is opened from the memory stick, the associated image would be read in from E:\images\my bike.jpg.