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Ten Steps to Plotting a Model Space Drawing

Welcome to Ten Steps to Plotting a Model Space Drawing. Use the following steps to plot model space drawings in AutoCAD 2000 exactly as you plotted them in AutoCAD Release 14. The steps are designed to start you plotting quickly using layer and object color to control lineweights, color screening, and other object properties when you plot. To learn more about AutoCAD 2000 plotting procedures and concepts, select Fast Track to Plotting from the AutoCAD 2000 Help menu. In addition, AutoCAD 2000 Learning Assistance provides multimedia lessons about AutoCAD 2000 plotting. You will also find additional plotting information in the AutoCAD 2000 User's Guide and Command Reference.

Before You Begin

To complete this procedure, you will need:

  • AutoCAD 2000 installed on a computer connected to a plotter.
  • An AutoCAD DWG file that you want to plot.
  • A paper plot of the drawing plotted with AutoCAD Release 14.
  • Download the aclyutil.zip from the Autodesk Technical Assistance web site.

Step 1: Configure a Plotter

If you configured a plotter for AutoCAD 2000, go to Step 2. If not, configure a plotter now. AutoCAD 2000 supports plotters and printers using Autodesk Heidi plotter drivers (HDI) or Windows system printer drivers. To find out if an Autodesk HDI plotter driver supports your device, see Chapter 6, "Supported Plotters," in the AutoCAD 2000 Installation Guide. To check on the availability of Windows system printer drivers for your plot device, refer to your plot device documentation. For information about the type of device driver to use for your plot device, select Fast Track to Plotting from the AutoCAD Help menu, then select "How do I configure a plotter or printer in AutoCAD 2000?"

If you are plotting to a Windows printer, you do not need to configure the device for AutoCAD 2000 and can go on to Step 2.

If your plotter can use an HDI plotter driver provided with AutoCAD 2000, you can configure your plotter as follows:

  1. From the File menu, select Plotter Manager to display the Autodesk Plotter Manager window.
  2. In the Plotters dialog box, double-click the Add-A-Plotter Wizard.
  3. Complete the Add-A-Plotter-Wizard steps. When you finish, you will see the newly configured plotter in the Plotter Manager window.

Step 2: Open a Drawing

Open the drawing that you wish to plot and switch to Model space by selecting the Model tab. Make sure the paper plot and the AutoCAD drawing file that you opened are identical.

Step 3: Enter Plot Settings

Now you will enter the plot settings that you used to plot your drawing in Release 14.

  1. From the File menu, select Plot. The Plot dialog box and a Fast Track to Plotting Help dialog box are displayed. (The Fast Track dialog will not appear if you selected the don’t show me this again check box. Fast Track to Plotting is also available on the AutoCAD Help menu.)
  2. Select Yes on the Fast Track to Plotting Help dialog if you want to review the plotting topics. Otherwise, select No to continue.

  3. On the Plot Device tab of the Plot dialog under Plotter configuration, select the name of the plotter you will use to plot the drawing.
  4. Select the Plot Settings tab, then enter the same settings that you used to plot the drawing in AutoCAD Release 14. Make sure to enter values for the following:
  • From the Page Size list, select a paper size. This is the actual cut paper size, not the printable area of the paper size. The printable area for the current paper size is displayed below the list of paper sizes. Expanded paper sizes have more printable area than standard paper sizes, but they are cut to the same length.

When you select a paper size, you also select the orientation of the paper in the plot device. For example, you may see Arch D 24x36, which is size used for a 24" roll or cut sheet, while Arch D 36x24 is used for a 36" roll or cut sheet. The white paper icon represents the orientation of the paper as it is fed out of the plot device. Imagine he plotter is above the sheet icon, and the paper is fed downward.

  • Under Drawing Orientation, select either Landscape or Portrait for the drawing orientation. The "A" inside the icon represents the orientation of the drawing on the selected paper size. Imagine the plotter is above the sheet icon, and the paper is feeding downward.
  • Under Plot Area, select the drawing area you want to plot: Limits, Extents, Display, View, Window. Use the same setting that you used to plot the drawing in AutoCAD Release 14.
  • Under Plot Scale, select a scale option, such as 1/8" = 1'0" or 1:4.
  • Under Plot Offset, set the offset that you used to plot the drawing in Release 14.

Step 4: Preview the Plot

Previewing the plot allows you to check that your drawing fits on the paper with the selected plot settings before you plot the drawing.

  • Select the Full Preview button. If the drawing fits on the paper in the preview, press Enter, then go to Step 8.

If the drawing is not displayed within the boundaries of the plot preview, press Enter to return to the Plot dialog box to adjust the plot offsets.

  • On the Plot dialog box, under Plot Offset, adjust the X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) offset values to change the drawing's placement horizontally or vertically. A negative X value moves the drawing to the left. A negative Y value moves the drawing downward. Or, you can select Center the Plot to place the drawing within the center of the paper. Continue the offset adjustments until the drawing displays within the plot preview boundary.
  • When the drawing is displayed within the boundaries of the paper in the plot preview, press Enter, then select OK to plot your drawing. Go to Step 8. If you cannot fit the drawing using plot offset adjustments, continue with Step 5.

Step 5: Measure the Release 14 Plot

If you cannot fit your drawing within the paper boundaries in Step 4, check the dimensions of the plot paper and calculate the printable area.

  1. Measure the dimensions of the paper on which you plotted the Release 14 drawing:
  • height
  • width
  • White space between the edge of the drawing (including the title block border, if one is used) and edge of the paper on all four sides (top, bottom, left and right).
  1. Calculate the printed height:
  2. Paper height [white space at the top + white space at the bottom]

  3. Calculate the printed width:
  4. Paper width [white space on the left + white space on the right]

  5. Compare the printed height and width of your drawing with the Printable Area dimensions shown on the Plot Settings tab under Paper Size and Paper Units.
  • If the Printable Area (height and width) shown on the Plot dialog is greater than the drawing's printable area, you should be able to plot your drawing successfully. Select Full Preview. If the drawing does not appear within the preview boundaries, the scale may be too high. Adjust the plot scale until the drawing fits within the boundaries.
  • If the Printable Area (height and width) shown on the Plot dialog is smaller than the drawing's printable area, go to Step 6.

Step 6:

Reset Plot Area

If the Printable Area shown on the AutoCAD 2000 Plot Setting tab is smaller than the printed area you calculated for your plotted Release 14 drawing, you need to select or create a paper size that will accommodate your drawing.

  1. Check the paper size list shown on the Plot Settings tab of the Plot dialog box. If an expanded version of the paper size you want is available for your plotter, select it. For example, if your paper size is ANSI D, change it to ANSI expand D (34.00 x 22.00 inches).
  2. Select the Full Preview button. If the drawing fits on the paper in the preview, press Enter, then select OK to plot the drawing. Go to Step 8.

If the drawing is not displayed within the boundaries of the plot preview, go to Step 7 to create a custom paper size.

Step 7: Create a Custom Paper Size

If the printable area you need is not available on a standard paper size, use the following steps to create a custom paper size with the correct printable area. These steps are designed for the AutoCAD 2000 Heidi Device Interface (HDI) drivers. For Windows drivers, use the Custom Properties button in the Plotter Configuration Editor (described below) or the Windows driver UI from the Windows Printer Folder to create a custom paper size. Not all Windows system drivers can create custom paper sizes.

Note: You can also modify the printable area of a standard paper size, but if the printable area you enter for a paper size exceeds the capabilities of your plot device, your drawing will clip without warning.

  1. On the Plot Device tab of the Plot dialog box, select Properties.
  2. On the Device and Document Settings tab of the Plotter Configuration Editor dialog box under User-Defined Paper Sizes and Calibration, select Custom Paper Sizes.
  3. Select Add to start the Custom Paper Size Wizard, then complete the Custom Paper Size Wizard steps.
  4. Make sure to enter the paper dimensions that you measured from your Release 14 plotted drawing in the Media bounds page. Enter the white spaces measurement for the top, bottom, right and left side of your paper on the Printable area page.

  5. After you complete the wizard, click OK on the Plotter Configuration Editor.
  6. When asked to save changes to the configuration file, select "Save changes to the current plot only".
  7. On the Plot Settings tab of the Plot dialog box, select the custom paper that you just created or edited.
  • Select the Full Preview button. If the drawing fits on the paper in the preview, press Enter, then select OK to plot the drawing, then go to Step 8.
  • If the drawing does not fit within the preview boundaries, adjust the offsets and/or scale as you did in Step 4.

Step 8: Assign Lineweights and color.

In Release 14, pen assignments and AutoCAD object colors were combined to determine lineweights, linetypes, color, and other object properties when the drawing is plotted. AutoCAD 2000 uses a plot style table instead of pen assignments. Properties contained by plot style tables use colors to control the following plot properties: lineweights, color, color screening, grayscale, dithering, linetypes, line end and join styles, fill patterns, and pen numbers. Plot style tables are independent from plot devices. You attach a plot style table when you plot a drawing by selecting a table from the Plot Style Table (Pen Assignments) list in the Plot dialog box. You can create new plot style tables or import your pen assignments from previous AutoCAD releases into an AutoCAD 2000 plot style table.

To import pen assignments from AutoCAD Release 12 through Release 14:

  1. From the File menu, select Plot.
  2. On the Plot Device tab of the Plot dialog, select New, then complete the Add Color-Dependent Plot Style Table wizard:
  • Select Start from Scratch to create a new plot style table.
  • Select Use a CFG file to import your pen assignments from an Release 14 acadr14.cfg file
  • Select Import from a PCP or PC2 file to import your pen settings from a PCP or PC2 file.
  1. On the Finish page use the Plot Style Table Editor button to verify or modify the plotting properties of the new plot style table.

The new plot style table is attached to the current drawing by default. You can select any plot style table from the Plot style table list to control how the drawing objects will plot. Select the Full Preview button. If drawing previews with the lineweights, color and other properties that you want, press Enter and select OK to plot, then go to Step 9.

If drawing does not preview with the lineweights, color, or other properties that you want:

  • Make sure you selected the correct plot style table.
  • Make sure you checked the Plot with plot styles check box on the Plot settings tab.
  • Use the Edit button beside the Plot style table list to change the lineweights, color or other properties of the current plot style table to the correct settings. (For more information about modifying a plot style table, see "Specifying Pen Assignments" in Fast Track to Plotting online Help.)

Step 9: Save Plot Settings to a Script

Now you will save your plot settings so you can use them with other Release 14 drawings.

  1. On the command line, enter the PAGEOUT command.
  2. Follow the program prompts. It will ask for a script name and a saved plot setup name that will be added to all drawings in Step 10.
  3. Save and close the drawing, then close AutoCAD 2000.

Step 10: Run the Plot Script

In this step, you will run the script completed in Step 9 on other Release 14 drawings. You will use the AutoCAD 2000 Migration Assistance tool, PageIn. If you do not have AutoCAD 2000 Migration Assistance installed, install it now following procedures in the AutoCAD 2000 Installation Guide.

  1. At the command line, enter PAGEIN.
  2. Select script file name that you created in Step 9.
  3. Select the drawings to which you want to apply the saved plot settings.
  4. Click "Run this project..." to apply settings.
 

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