plotting with gradient hatches

[elenadon]

Hi.

 

I've been working on a 2d plan drawing using gradient hatches to fill certain areas. When I tried to print this on my plotter (HP designjet 500 plus), most of the lines in my drawing were missing and some areas did not plot at all. I should mention that in very few areas the gradient hatches were visible, but not over the entire area that they were supposed to. When I printed the drawing using an everyday a4 size printer, the result was just fine. Please help.

[Peter K]

The first things that springs to mind are:

 

- what is the state of the plotter cartridges ?

if one of them is low or empty then it could be that the colour can't be made to plot the hatch

 

- how much of the gradient is actual visible and how dark is it ?

because it could be that the colour on the screen or the printer gets translated as very bland or faded to the plotter

[elenadon]

Thanks for your response.

I found a quote from an older post:

 

Originally Posted by Arny

I am working in Autocad 2006 and want to use the gradient hatch as a background.

 

It all looks fine on screen but when I try and plot it causes all sorts of errors and half the picture info disappears - it seems to have problems in the 'regenerating sheet' stage of the plotting process.

 

Does anyone know if this is a plotter problem I need to address or an Autocad issue?

 

Thanks

I had a drawing I was plotting that took about 5 minutes to plot (it contained a large aerial drawing). After we added a gradient background, it took about 50 minutes to plot. Adding the gradient dramatically increased the size of the plot file.

 

Maybe your system/printer cannot handle the additional load.

 

 

I have exactly the same problem as Arny. My question is - how is it possible that a simple A4 printer can plot gradients correctly but an A1 paper size plotter cannot deal with the load? Is there a plotter or autocad setting required to plot correctly or should I stop using gradient hatches since it is impossible to plot large size drawings? Go to the link to find the drawing in question that seems to have the problem.

rapidshare.com/files/211063823/resto_dwgs.dwg

 

The message on the printer is "out of memory - data loss"

[Ringis]

I downloaded your dwg file, and printed it on our Canon IPF600.

It worked just fine, so there must be something wrong with your printer and your settings.

 

//Tobias

[dusko]

do you plot from paper (layout) or model space?

 

second thing (from pocket guide):

simplify the print and try re-sending the job. try setting the Print Quality (in the set-up menu) to fast or normal (monochrome on this printer is very ok in draft (fast) quality) instead of Best.

If the problem persist, you may have to add more memory to the formatter card that is installed in the back of the printer.

[elenadon]

Thankyou all. The problem seems to be insufficient memory on the printer's formatter card.

[dusko]

how big is this file?