How to use Publish

I have not found a good, complete, step-by-step description of how to
use Publish.

So I figured it out and wrote down the procedure.

Posting it because I had a good day today and feel like sharing the
knowledge

------------------------

The constraints are:

1. Generally speaking, PUBLISH is for printing multiple SHEETS of
multiple DRAWINGS at the touch of
a button.
2. When I say SHEET I mean the MODEL tab and/or the LAYOUT tab of a
DRAWING.
When I say DRAWING I mean file, like a DWG or a DXF file, or any
compatible drawing format.
4. Each SHEET must have only one area-to-print-the-extents-of on it.
For example, if you have multiple drawings SIDE-BY-SIDE on one LAYOUT
tab, you must divide them up into different tabs to use PUBLISH. If you
don't want to divide them up, create a VIEW for each area-to-print
first, and print them one at a time, instead of using PUBLISH, not
quite as fast but still pretty quick.

------------------------

Preparation:

Before using Publish, you must do a fairly complicated one-time
two-step setup:
1. Create a custom plot configuration file, which will reside here:.
C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Application
Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2005\R16.1\enu\plotters\YourPlotterName.pc3

2. Create a drawing Template, whose sheet has its Layout Initialized
to the custom plot configuration file above, and contains the Page
Setup you will Import later. The Template will reside here:
C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Local Settings\Application
Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2005\R16.1\enu\Template\Plot_36_14.dwt

Once everything is setup, Publish works like a charm, printing 1 or 100
(don't know what the limit is) drawings at the touch of a button.

Optionally, make sure there are no unneeded .PC3 files in "C:\Documents
and Settings\... ... ...\Application Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD
2005\R16.1\enu\Plotters"

------------------------

Procedure:

In this example, we're plotting to a 36" roll as a 36"x14" paper size.

1. Create a custom plot configuration file

Open any DWG (or DXG, etc) file.
File > Plot >
The Plot - Model popup window opens.
Select a Plotter.
If the Paper Size Not Found popup appears, select Use Default paper
size (it doesn't matter, you'll customize it next anyway)
Select Properties
The Plotter Configuration Editor - YourPlotterName popup window opens.
Device and Document Settings > Custom Properties >
The YourPlotterName on 192.27.115.47 Properties popup window opens.
Paper > Application Media Size > select Custom (... ...)
Select the Media Sizes button
width 36, height 14, Media Mapping 36" Roll > OK
The Plotter Configuration Editor - YourPlotterName popup window
reappears.
Select OK.
The Changes to a Printer Configuration File popup window appears.
The pathname is in the form of
C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Application
Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2005\R16.1\enu\plotters\
Edit the filename, at the end of the pathname, to say something like
this:
YourPlotterName.pc3
Select Save Changes to the following file. Select OK.
The Plot - Model popup window reappears.
CHECK What to Plot > Extents
CHECK Fit To Paper
CHECK Center Plot
Plot Style Table Pen > monochrome.ctb (there is a right-arrow in the
lower left-hand side of the popup that opens up the More Options pane)
Under Page Setup select Add.
Name page setup name: Setup_36_14
Select Apply To Layout.
Select Cancel.

2. Create a drawing Template

Save file as a Drawing Template:
File > Save As > Files of type > AutoCAD Drawing Template (*.dwt)
Filename > Plot_36_14
File > Close

3. Publish

Open the DXF file that contains the first sheet.
File > Publish >
UNCHECK Layout Tab
+ (add sheets)
Select Drawings > highlight every sheet except the first one > Select
CTRL-A to highlight every sheet listed in the Publish Popup Window
Page Setup > Import > Plot_36_14.dwt > select Import
Imported Setup_36_14.dwt
Remove unwanted sheets from list.
Make sure sheet list sequence is top first, bottom last.
Select the right-hand side button to Reverse Print Order.
Select Publish

 

You missed the "how to draw a line" epic?

 

I really do wish there were a way to select different views.

My plan has 6 different exterior elevations.
Normally I have 4 tabs, with 6 views on each tab, but to use
publish and/or sheet sets, I'll need to convert all of that to 24 tabs for
the elevations alone.

That is a pain.

jojo

 

Since they went multiple-paperspace, the unnecessary built-in assumption has
been one page per 'layout'. What is to be gained by segregating individual
sheets is beyond me. The advantages of grouping them seem numerous and
fairly obvious.