Scanning a chassis plate into a .dxf file?

[pb4ugo]

I have some Savage TVP's I'd like to scan into a simple CAD program (E-Machineshop) and modify to suit my needs. How do I do that? I have a scanner, but only 12" bed on it. The plates are longer. I also do not know how to make it a .dxf so I can import it. Would I have to go to like a blueprint shop, or can I piece something together myself? I also have Turbocad if need be, but not very comfortable using it.
TIA

[JThiessen]

I think Canvas used to be able to output a .dxf file from a scan, but it likely will loose some accuracy - but what you are doing is really not an accurate way of obtaining geometric data anyway. I used to use it to export pictures for etching on a laser.
Where do you live (city)? If its larger enough, there may be a company in the area that does rapid prototyping, and they have 3D scanners, and may do one for you. However, the files they output are huge, so just be forewarned.

[pb4ugo]

Thanks for the reply. With the constant thickness of the part, is 3-d scanning neccessary? I'm obviously new at this, but I thought I could get a scan and use a known dimension (like one of the holes) to scale the part. I'll look up Canvas.

Adobe streamline will do raster to vector. It's probably not the most accurate way of making a drawing though.