Why does plotting with AutoCad need to be such a frustrating experience?

I'm hoping that GOD monitors this discussion group cause I think that he (or
she) is the only one with any hope of possibly plotting an AutoCad document
on any printer or plotter and having it actually turn out the same as what
the preview screen shows.

You would think that the good folks who designed AutoCad would include the
ability to actually print a paper copy of what you've worked so hard to
design - but I guess they laid off the guys that were responsible for the
print routines.

Don't get me wrong, I love AutoCad, I just find it absolutely impossible to
ever print anything properly - no mater which printer or plotter I use! The
Print/Plot dialog is a monster of conflicting settings.

Thanks for the rant, now I feel better - but still don't have a print out of
my drawing
--

 

What version autocad and are you plotting from a layout (paperspace) or from
modelspace?

 

Nothing plots or it plots wrong ?
Do you have problems with portrait/landscape
or size/scale ?
On Autocad 2006, default plot dialog is stupidly reduced by a little >
button.
so it don't display the portrait/landscape choice, so many 2006
beginners are lost : so they try to directly change pc3 settings, but
it can't work until it is not well set in autocad plot dialog.
It's a sample, maybe it's a bit of your problem ?

 

"On Autocad 2006, default plot dialog is stupidly reduced by a little
button. so it don't display the portrait/landscape choice, so many 2006
beginners are lost ?"

Are you saying there's a way to change portrait/landscape orientation
from the Plot Dialog Box? I always have to back out, right click on the
PSpace tab, and go to Plot Set Up to do that.

 

Barb a écrit :

yes, there is a circle button © to display/mask the right pnale of plot
setting, where there is landscape, shading mode and plot style
specifications.
this button doesn't exist in tab plot setup.

 

Plotting in any version of AutoCAD since version 2000i has been fairly
easy and straight forward. I have managed up to 80 users on network and
stand alone printer/plotters and have had very few problems with the
exception of large Oce print/scan devices and Xerox printers. Their
drivers are a little more difficult to deal with. If you have an HP
printer/plotter it should be very easy to set up.
But you have to understand how to manage printers in Windows before you
can manage them in AutoCAD since AutoCAD makes use of the Windows
system printers.
That means also obtaining the correct and most up-to-date driver for
your printer/plotter.
Once you have your print/plot device set up in Windows it is easy to
get it set up in AutoCAD.
As was pointed out in a previous reply you may have the plot dialog
reduced. You have to click the little circle/arrow down in the lower
right corner of the dialog to get all the options. With the full dialog
open it is much easier to manage plots.
Of course your ranting doesn't make understanding your problem any
easier. You should see if the nearest Autodesk reseller has a plotting
course. It sounds like you could make use of it.

Daryl Stockton
CAD/GIS Consultant
e-CAD-IT, Inc.

 

I'm using AC 2005.

Same inconsistent results - although different, when printing from paper
space or model space.

--

 

The size is not consistent with what shows on the preview page for a given
size of document.

The rotation issue may be the problem. I can't find any way to successfully
rotate the print.

 

Hi Daryl:

Sorry for the rant, but it's very frustrating. I've been a Windows guy for
more than 20 years, and I've printed from all manner of programmes to all
manner of devices, but in all those years, I rarely have success at getting
the results I want from AutoCad plots.

In this particular case, I'm printing to an HP 42" wide roll fed
plotter/printer. It's impossible to change the orientation of the plot
(unless, of course, I rotate the drawing). Changing the plot orientation in
AC (yes, I'm expanding the plot dialogue) doesn't work! Changing the
orientation in the HP printer driver doesn't work! I have the latest
printer drivers installed (and have in fact tried all manner of old, recent,
and new drivers - without success). All other applications that I print
from (including Word, Photoshop, Illustrator ,Excel, Project, etc - all
print fine and allow me to rotate at will! The only problem is plotting
from Auto Cad.

When I had a large roll fed drawing master plotter, I had the same
difficulties with AC. Maybe AC doesn't like roll paper?

The AutoCad plotter configuration has become significantly easier over the
years, but obtaining the desired end result is just as frustrating as it
ever was!

 

What is shown in the "name" field in the "Printer/Plotter" section of the
plot dialog?

 

NT,
Just to date myself and my experience I got an MCSE on NT when NT 4.0
was pretty new, so I have also been around Windows pretty long. I've
done Windows support, network support, wireless support, and I do
AutoCAD support for a local reseller on a consultant basis now. And I
can say that I get very few print/plot problems from the users that
call in for AutoCAD support. Every once in a while we get a company
that just cannot get plotting up and running, and they pay for an
on-site set up call.
In my office I have a 42" HP 500 plotter. I print landscape all day
long and the only gripe I have with the 500 is that it sometimes prints
extra paper on the top and bottom that I have to trim off manually.
But, I'm sure that if I took the time to tweak those particular page
layouts I could get rid of that also. I have printed drawings up to 10'
long in portrait orientation without a hitch. They used a lot of ink
and paper though. I also print to an HP 2600 Office Deskjet printer
without any difficulties.
I am being totally honest when I say I haven't had any plotting
difficulties since release 2000i. You may want to find some local tech
support that can come to your shop and take a look at your problem.

Daryl