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Cute PDF vs AutoCAD PDF


tennis4you

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I have been using AutoCAD for about 6 months now and a friend helped me get set up. He recommended I use CutePDF for my plot driver. Just out of curiosity I tried the PDF plot driver that comes with AutoCAD today and it appeared to work really well. Sharp lines, and when I opened the PDF I was able to turn layers on and off. Add the fact that the file size was slightly smaller and I was digging it.

 

Anyone have any experience with both plot drivers? Any preferences or downsides to either?

 

Thanks!

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The main reason I use CutePDF is that it handles drawings larger than 11x17 inches.

 

The default PDF writer in AutoCad can also though.

 

As a side note, is there an option in AutoCad when making a PDF to omit the layer info from the pdf (so that the client can't turn off layers for example)?

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Yeah, the PDF.pc3 does a lot of sizes bigger than 11x17.

 

Is there a way to turn off some functions of the PDF.pc3? The 2 options I would like to turn off are:

 

1. I do not want it to open the PDF once I create it.

2. I do not want to have to hit the "save" button. I just want AutoCAD to name it and save it automatically.

 

Thanks!

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*Based on using Inventor* I've used cute pdf for a few years now, using the Autodesk writer I found any view I wished to print 'coloured' looked off. At times there was small vertical white lines through the image, that was V2010. Did anyone else get this?

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Yeah, the PDF.pc3 does a lot of sizes bigger than 11x17.

 

Is there a way to turn off some functions of the PDF.pc3? The 2 options I would like to turn off are:

 

1. I do not want it to open the PDF once I create it.

2. I do not want to have to hit the "save" button. I just want AutoCAD to name it and save it automatically.

 

Thanks!

 

The main reason I use CutePDF is that it handles drawings larger than 11x17 inches.

 

The default PDF writer in AutoCad can also though.

 

As a side note, is there an option in AutoCad when making a PDF to omit the layer info from the pdf (so that the client can't turn off layers for example)?

 

Bring up the plot dialogue box, select DWG to PDF -> Properties -> Selct custom properties from the tree view then click the custom properties button below.

 

Dink can turn off the layering info and Tennis4you can stop the pdr reader from opening with the bottom two tick boxes.

 

Tennis4you, you can automatically save your pdf names as the file name and/or the layout tab name by publishing rather than plotting. It helps to set up a specific PDF Page Setup with a ctb file else AutoCAD uses its own pen thicknesses.

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You need to axe CutePDF as quickly as possible and tell your "friend" to never give out advice to use CutePDF for versions 2009 and up. CutePDF is a thing of the past when AutoCAD didn't have a way to create PDF's out of the box. The DWG to PDF.pc3 file is excellent and gives you much more options when batch plotting with the Publish command, as well as integrates with the Sheet Set Manager.

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You need to axe CutePDF as quickly as possible and tell your "friend" to never give out advice to use CutePDF for versions 2009 and up. CutePDF is a thing of the past when AutoCAD didn't have a way to create PDF's out of the box. The DWG to PDF.pc3 file is excellent and gives you much more options when batch plotting with the Publish command, as well as integrates with the Sheet Set Manager.

 

+1

 

.........................

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Bring up the plot dialogue box, select DWG to PDF -> Properties -> Selct custom properties from the tree view then click the custom properties button below.

Tennis4you, you can automatically save your pdf names as the file name and/or the layout tab name by publishing rather than plotting. It helps to set up a specific PDF Page Setup with a ctb file else AutoCAD uses its own pen thicknesses.

 

Actually, I use the Publish a lot but still have the same problem. Under the Publish Options Button I have it selected to "Specify Name" instead of "Prompt for Name" but that is the only thing I see in the options that might help. But it does not do the trick. Am I missing something?

 

Thanks!

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Are you publishing single sheets or multiple sheets per file? On my 2011LT if you have publish to single sheets set you don't get asked for file names.

 

There is an option to remove the dwg file name from the pdf file name by clicking on the add sheet icon on the publish dialogue box then unticking the prefix with file name box.

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I meant do your PDFs contain one drawing per file or the number of drawings you have published. When I set mine to produce one pdf per drawing I don't have to name the files.

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You need to axe CutePDF as quickly as possible and tell your "friend" to never give out advice to use CutePDF for versions 2009 and up. CutePDF is a thing of the past when AutoCAD didn't have a way to create PDF's out of the box. The DWG to PDF.pc3 file is excellent and gives you much more options when batch plotting with the Publish command, as well as integrates with the Sheet Set Manager.

 

+2 .......

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  • 2 months later...

CutePDF does not have a cui with it like Adobe Pro does. I have tried automating mass printing with both programs on AutoCAD in PDF and with CutePDF I could not figure out how to get pass the name prompts everytime, however with a few adjustments in the scripts with Adobe Pro, you avoid name prompts and Adobe will automatically generate PDF names to match your AutoCad file.

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You need to axe CutePDF as quickly as possible and tell your "friend" to never give out advice to use CutePDF for versions 2009 and up. CutePDF is a thing of the past when AutoCAD didn't have a way to create PDF's out of the box. The DWG to PDF.pc3 file is excellent and gives you much more options when batch plotting with the Publish command, as well as integrates with the Sheet Set Manager.

 

+3

 

The DWG to PDF driver has been updated in v2010 and up and works much better than it use to.

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Years ago, the way I got around this was to publish as a dwf file and then use the dwf viewer to plot the pdf with CutePDF of the dwf file. Years later I have Acrobat Pro and don't mess with it any more.

 

CutePDF does not have a cui with it like Adobe Pro does. I have tried automating mass printing with both programs on AutoCAD in PDF and with CutePDF I could not figure out how to get pass the name prompts everytime, however with a few adjustments in the scripts with Adobe Pro, you avoid name prompts and Adobe will automatically generate PDF names to match your AutoCad file.
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Years ago, the way I got around this was to publish as a dwf file and then use the dwf viewer to plot the pdf with CutePDF of the dwf file. Years later I have Acrobat Pro and don't mess with it any more.

 

I have done this as well (not with CutePDF though) but I have noticed some of my screened layers (i.e. profile grid, background topo, etc.) would be set to a darkened line weight rather than maintaining the screened look. Anyone else have this issue?

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