PDF files plot to improper scale

Acad2K, Win2K, HP350C, Acrobat Reader 4.0

Trying to make the move to pdf for plot sharing, but no matter what I do, the scale comes out wrong on my 350c. Problem is not the pdf printer, as 8x11s print to scale on the laser, and outside printing service can plot large formats to scale that are generated by me.

Large format pdfs look fine in Reader, but when it goes to 350c, it seems a margin is added on all sides and the inked area is shrunk to fit. Have tried various plotter settings, both at the plotter and within its driver. No, I'm not "fit to page" in Acrobat Reader. Even tried lowering the resolution to draft, as I read somewhere that might be an issue.

I know I'm dreaming, but any help would be greatly appreciated. I can kick out pdfs all day that other folks can use, but I cant use them myself. So I have no idea what the final output looks like on their end.

 

Just for the heck of it, try Acroplot, it's software made to plot DWG to PDF. They let you download the full version to try, it print a watermark through your plot until you purchase the software. We are going through the same pains in my company switching to PDF for customers. It seems that Acrobat is not very good for plotting D size which is what we need. You can do it but it takes alot of fooling around. I have to set up a custom page size (22X34) in Windows printer functions, it's a pain, Acroplot works alot better, and it gives you a batch plotting feature that plain Acrobat does not have.

 

Thanks. Was worth a try, but no cigar. Firmware? hmmm. Is "print as image" a true debug tool? The 350c IS ancient. Man, but what a workhorse.

 

Thanks Dean. I went there first, and used throughout a large project. But the driver had problems dealing with 3d solids, which I use extensively. DWFs would come out with large areas solid filled, with some of the fill sides following the edges of the solids in the plot. The only way to get rid of these big black monsters was at the entity level, slicing the 3d solids multiple times in the the area of the fill until it disappeared.
Yes, I'm using the driver that came with Acad. Maybe I should buy the "real" one.

 

Yes Danny, plotting directly to the 350c comes out to scale. And as I said, when I plot to pdf and send the pdf to an outside printing service, they can plot it to scale. So the problem is NOT the pdf file I generate.

Yes, I have tried BOTH settings of Zoom Smart, and by default, I have it off. I have even gone to the plotter itself and manually set it to the proper sheet size and then told it to plot only the "inked area".

One might ask "If you can plot from Acad to scale, and others can plot your PDFs to scale, then whats the problem?"
For me, it's knowing how the plots look on the other end. One of the main advantages of sharing drawings without dwg files is controlling the look. Typically, I plot to file (plt) then send the plt to the plotter. When I share the plt file, I know exactly what others are getting. Currently with pdf, I get a "squished" version of what they get. Not only is it not to scale, lineweights are wrong as well, as they get squished with the rest of the drawing.

I have been to Adobes and HPs sites to no avail. Thanks for chiming in.

 

It is sort of a debug tool. What it does is change the format(?) of the
information sent to the plotter.

Are you using Reader v4.00 or v4.05? v4.00 had some bugs. I've already
trashed my v4.05 install files, but I do still have v5 (8.7 megs) if you
can't find the update on Adobe's site. Have you got another workstation
you can play with? You could try printing from another PDF viewer, like
GSView, if you were feeling adventurous.

Re the extra margin... This caused us problems back with Reader v4.x in
the form of shifting and clipping on our DJ600 and DJ750c. When the page
size selected to print to was the same as the PDF's page size it would
do this. Ex: our drawings are 24x36", so we started making our PDFs
using a 24x36" sheet size. If we selected an ArchD (24x36) to print on
it would shift and clip. If we selected something larger like an ArchE
it would print fine. So we started making the PDF's sheet size just
slightly larger than the border. v5.x seemed a little better, but we
were in the habbit by then and the small PDF sheet size still worked. I
recently had to upgrade to Reader v6 so I could help a client
troubleshoot a problem (the print dialog is quite different) and found
that the extra margin in the PDF sheet size doesn't cause problems any
more.

Enjoy,
Stef

 

Stef, I'm using Reader 4.0. Already downloaded v6, but cant install until I install win2k service pack... which takes forever(dialup). Sounds like that might be a good track. Again, thanks. Really appreciate it.
And aside, how do you guys get those blank lines between your message paragraphs?

 

We are using news readers while you are using the web interface. Most
people here use Microsoft Outlook Express, but some prefer other readers
- Netscape Communicator, Mozilla, (Free) Agent, XNews, and others. A
Google will turn up info on any of them. The news server you'll need to
input during setup is:
discussion.autodesk.com

Enjoy,
Stef

 

Problem Solved!!! Thanks to all, especially Stef. Upgrading to Acrobat Reader 6.0 did the trick. Plotting to scale fine now. Plus other enhancements, like rotating the view and the ability to select portions of a large format plot and send to 8-1/2x11.