Is it just me?

[Snoozer]

Or is AutoCAD's built in dwg to pdf terrible? I can never get the edges of by title blocks (which I've used for a long time) to plot they are always outside the margins??

[Steamineagle]

Snoozer ! ? ! !

Howsy bout ye big lad!

Did you ever get yer Viewports sorted?

I'm off for a few days.
See ya around.

All the Geordie Best from Norn Iron!


Stephen

[the ber]

i have also had trouble plotting to pdf with the built-in autocad lt plotter. i just gave up and now i use 'freepdfxp', and it works like a charm.

[StykFacE]

yeah, 3rd party is the way to go. rkmcswain had a good point on why it's so terrible... because AutoCAD wants to push their own format and viewer, the DWF format. it's better anyways.... :)

[umop-3p!sdn]

pdf options and plot options are seperate ... that will confuse you until you get the setting as you want it, but keep that in mind and you will be fine.
I used to hate this, but considering the amount of options you have at a production house for print, I actually like the seperation now.
Setup PDF as a desktop printer icon and consider it an actual device with it's own preferences, that can make things easier sometimes.

I firmly dissagree about DWFs though ... [Sorry Styk! :o]
... it is a GREAT preview format, but that isn't what PDFs are for, they are a portable format for printing accross various platforms and devices. Adobe has been the leading company in print production for years now ... Autodesk will hardly catch up to them without buying them outright. I think their inclusion of PDFs is a form of compliance to the industry's demands, not a form of creating a crappy solution so we use theirs instead ... PDFs are going nowhere soon. It is no coincidence that ACAD is one of the few formats that Adobe built into Acrobat Professional as a native conversion type. That takes a bit of coordination between companies ...

[StykFacE]

pdf options and plot options are seperate ... that will confuse you until you get the setting as you want it, but keep that in mind and you will be fine.
I used to hate this, but considering the amount of options you have at a production house for print, I actually like the seperation now.
Setup PDF as a desktop printer icon and consider it an actual device with it's own preferences, that can make things easier sometimes.

I firmly dissagree about DWFs though ... [Sorry Styk! :o]
... it is a GREAT preview format, but that isn't what PDFs are for, they are a portable format for printing accross various platforms and devices. Adobe has been the leading company in print production for years now ... Autodesk will hardly catch up to them without buying them outright. I think their inclusion of PDFs is a form of compliance to the industry's demands, not a form of creating a crappy solution so we use theirs instead ... PDFs are going nowhere soon. It is no coincidence that ACAD is one of the few formats that Adobe built into Acrobat Professional as a native conversion type. That takes a bit of coordination between companies ...
DWF is not just a "great preview format". DWF is better than PDF, hands down. DWF packs way more compression, more data & info, more options related to CAD, and is better quality than PDF. it only lacks when you compare DWF to PDF in crossing platforms - of course PDF will beat DWF in that area because it's the new "standard" in shareable documents. just depends on your useage... 8)

[Snoozer]

Thanks for the input guys. I figured it was something with cad because when I use 06 and adobe's pdf it works every time.

Steamineagle: yeah I got my viewports figured out LOL I'm surprised you remember that it was a few months ago.

[umop-3p!sdn]

DWF is not just a "great preview format". DWF is better than PDF, hands down. DWF packs way more compression, more data & info, more options related to CAD, and is better quality than PDF. it only lacks when you compare DWF to PDF in crossing platforms - of course PDF will beat DWF in that area because it's the new "standard" in shareable documents. just depends on your useage... 8)

oooo ... I did say "great preview format" didn't I ...
I mean for entire projects, usually 3D. That's alot to be said, try putting a proposal together for a new bridge in PDF .. you might as well have the plans ready at that point. That's what I meant by preview, not a winmpy print preview or the like, but a robust prototyping conveyance tool [.PCT anyone? hehe]

I hope DWF never trys to get all that much more fancy on the print side ... it should focus on the quick portability it already has. I agree, it is phenomenal. I just wouldn't want it to cross over into print production ... maybe be a bit more portable so as to embed it into print layout software, that would be great.
I'd love to see someone get a good web-savvy 3d format together that can actually maintain some file integrity and coordinate accuracy, that seems to be the direction DWF is going. I'm not a big fan of Adobe's SVG format, which seems to be spreading in terms of 3d portability in small file formats. Same goes for them, they should step back and let the pros handle the 3D side ... which may very well be what winds up happening. Adobe will likely never get back into 3D ...
A collaborative effort between the 2 giants would be amazing. We've already seen a taste of that with the fact that Acrobat Pro supports ACAD as one of its native plug-ins. They know that the other side to CAD is that of the print process, and helping those people along will only help them solidify their expertise in the print world.
I would just hate to see either tool get bogged down because it got too greedy with the features it offered. Sometimes it better to leave the 3D to the 3D folks and the print to the print folks.

At the rate AutoDesk and Adobe are going with the buy-ups though, they might just be the 2 big fish that swallow each other ...

Wow, caffeine is great.
Long story short ... I totally agrre StyK ... your needs are what guides the 2 tools value ... I just hope both companies realize that and serve each others needs instead of trying to step on each others toes. ;B