DWG to PDF problem

[GGuzzler]

I'm printing an xrefed file that onscreen, in AutoCAD, appears fine. Somehow it comes out all blocky once I've printed it.

Here's a screenshot of part of the result after attempting the dwg to pdf plot. Also, the .pdf file is much larger than the oiriginal xrefed pdf ... by about 4MB. Ouch.

Any ideas?

Many thanks!

Galen

[GGuzzler]

I don't mean to be a nuisance but has anyone got any ideas? We need this drawing for a site visit so any help would be gratefully received...

[SAFeSTeR]

Not really sure about this as I have no experience of x-ref's, but if you're referencing a .pdf file, my guess is it's down to image quality.
Have you tried importing or inserting the .pdf instead of referening it? Failing that, maybe you could try and get a .pdf to .dwg converter.

Just out of curiosity, is the area in the image part of Waterloo, London? It looks familiar to me.

[rickh]

just to check, are you using the standard Dwg To PDF.pc3 driver to create the plots? Also, are you plotting the xref'd pdf to a size larger than it was originally created as?

[GGuzzler]

just to check, are you using the standard Dwg To PDF.pc3 driver to create the plots? Also, are you plotting the xref'd pdf to a size larger than it was originally created as?

Yeah, the standard driver. And I don't believe so, the original size was A3, and I just tried printing to A4 and that had the same result :-/. Thanks for the reply though.

[GGuzzler]

Not really sure about this as I have no experience of x-ref's, but if you're referencing a .pdf file, my guess is it's down to image quality.
Have you tried importing or inserting the .pdf instead of referening it? Failing that, maybe you could try and get a .pdf to .dwg converter.

Just out of curiosity, is the area in the image part of Waterloo, London? It looks familiar to me.

It looks that way to me - e.g. image quality. How do you import or insert the .pdf instead of referencing?

Oh, and no, it's not Waterloo - it's in Herts.

Thanks for your reply.

[SAFeSTeR]

It looks that way to me - e.g. image quality. How do you import or insert the .pdf instead of referencing?

You can try inserting it as an OLE object using the INSERTOBJ command and using the 'Create from File' option.

This is only a suggestion though, it might not be any better, but can't hurt trying.

I'm not sure if it embeds the image into the drawing. So, if it does work and you want to send the file to someone you may have to send the .pdf too, and then it may need inserting again.

Good luck!

[rickh]

Well I'm no expert on the plotter settings... but I'll try some collaborative brainstorming. You may have already tried some of these...
1. When you are in the plot dialog, next to the driver name pick the properties button. In the dialog that opens, go to the 'Device and Document Settings' tab. Highlight 'Custom Properties' and then press the 'Custom Properties' button. Everything shows on mine as 600 dpi. (in the same dialog, pick the help button for more details on the various settings). Maybe something in there will help.

2. Just to get some additional info from you so some more seasoned pro's may assist...

• a. Does it plot ok with any other drivers?
• b. Does it plot ok on someone else's machine? (and are your drivers stored on the computer or shared on a network?)
• c. Does it plot ok if you attach the pdf to a completely new drawing?
• d. Does the plot preview look the same as the final output pdf?

Sorry I don't have any real solutions here....just 'try this/try that' kind of stuff.

[GGuzzler]

Well I'm no expert on the plotter settings... but I'll try some collaborative brainstorming. You may have already tried some of these...
1. When you are in the plot dialog, next to the driver name pick the properties button. In the dialog that opens, go to the 'Device and Document Settings' tab. Highlight 'Custom Properties' and then press the 'Custom Properties' button. Everything shows on mine as 600 dpi. (in the same dialog, pick the help button for more details on the various settings). Maybe something in there will help.

2. Just to get some additional info from you so some more seasoned pro's may assist...

• a. Does it plot ok with any other drivers?
• b. Does it plot ok on someone else's machine? (and are your drivers stored on the computer or shared on a network?)
• c. Does it plot ok if you attach the pdf to a completely new drawing?
• d. Does the plot preview look the same as the final output pdf?

Sorry I don't have any real solutions here....just 'try this/try that' kind of stuff.

Ok, an update:

1.

No dice there. Tried adjusting to 600dpi but no result.

2.

a. The file plots fine when sent to an actual printer. What other pdf drivers are there?
b. Untested as yet.
c. Untested as yet.
d. Not at all. Plot preview shows fantastically. Final output grungy and blocky.

(We've found a workaround for this particular job, actually, but it is useful to be able to examine possible solutions for future reference. Thanks so much for taking the time to give me some ideas. Much appreciated.)

[rickh]

Other PDF drivers would be third party, like CutePDF. I have seen others recommend it, but I've always had the best plots with the standard installed DWG to PDF.pc3 myself. The fact that the plot preview looks good would lead me to question the driver....but hey who knows. If it were me, I would ask someone else to xref the pdf to a new drawing and see if they can plot it (and take note whether your company shares the driver on the network or just uses installed drivers on each computer). It's good you found a workaround, but I agree it's nice to have some closure on these issues for the 'next time.'