AutoCAD eTransmit: Tuesday Tips With Frank

[The AutoCAD Blog]

Ever sent a drawing to a colleague, only to get a message back that the xrefs are missing? Or the font is wrong? AutoCAD eTransmit exists to prevent exactly that. It bundles a drawing together with everything it depends on, including xrefs, images, fonts, plot styles, and other referenced files, into a single package that’s ready to send. Most people use it with default settings and never look further, but there are some features in the dialog that a casual user may not be aware of. Today, I’m going to walk through them.

How to open AutoCAD eTransmit and use Transmittal Setups

First things first. You can find eTransmit in the Application Menu (the big red A in the corner), within the Publish fly-out menu. Or you can be like me and type in ET from the command line or dynamic input box. eTransmit will be your first option.

The Create Transmittal dialog will appear. You’ll see the files tree, where all of the references and support files will be displayed. You’ll also select other drawings to transmit here. On the right, there will be a list of saved transmittal setups, with Standard being the default option. Below that is a very important button: the Transmittal Setups button.

Clicking it displays a small dialog that allows you to create or remove setups, rename them, or, most importantly, Modify them. Choose the setup that you want, and click the Modify button.

In all honesty, as a CAD Manager I would rarely create new setups, but would just modify Standard to my current needs. I would always check the settings first anyway, so I found no point in predefining them. As always, your mileage may vary.

The Transmittal Setup options

Finally, the Modify Transmittal Setup dialog will appear. This is where the rubber meets the road. There are four panels in the dialog: The type and location, path options, other actions, and what types of entities get included in the transmittal package. Let’s look at each.

First up is the type and location. You can write the files to a folder (or folders), or have it create a Zip file for you. Your choice. Note that if you select to make a Zip file, the bottom file name option will become disabled.

Your next choice is the file format. You can keep the files in their current DWG format, or save down to anything from 2000 on. I’ve had clients that require a certain format – it happens. This is also a convenient way to batch file format change.

Below that is a checkbox for visual fidelity. Please click the info icon next to it for a detailed explanation, but typically, leave it checked, especially if you use annotative objects. If you don’t, it won’t matter anyway.

Next, define where the files you’re creating will be saved. Only you know where this will be, but please choose wisely.

Next is the path options section. This section is very important. When the transmittal reaches its destination (let’s say another company), how do they see it? How do the references resolve?

You can create an organized folder structure that is the same as your project. It is also the default. You’ll simply need to specify the root folder of the project. This option is for references that utilize relative pathing. The recipient can place it in any folder structure that they want, and everything will resolve.

The bottom two options are for those who do not use relative pathing. You can keep them “as is”, in which case the recipient will need to make sure they have a duplicate server drive setup as you do.

Or, you can specify that the new files will all be written into a single folder. Why would you do that? Since they all have hard-coded reference paths, how will they resolve? Before considering the save path, AutoCAD always looks in the current folder for the reference, and if not found, only then does it try the saved path. This option lets you get away with the not-so-great option of hard-coded pathing.

Moving on the upper right section, you have some checkbox options to choose from, a couple of which are what I consider just being a friendly transmitter. Unless you have a firm directive to do otherwise, please set the default plotter to “none” and purge the drawings as you go.

That leaves us with Bind External References. Much like using the save format as a batch save-down tool, this option can be used as a batch binding tool. Selecting this option will allow you to bind as a “bind” or an “insert”. If you’re doing this, you should already know the difference.

But here’s a hard-learned lesson for you. There are a LOT of things that will keep an Xref from binding, but this option does nothing to warn you about whether it succeeds or not. You’ll finish the transmittal and assume that everything bound correctly. Do not trust that it succeeded. Whenever I use this option, I always use the external Reference Manager to check the transmittal. Please take heed. Future you will thank me.

Finally, it’s up to you to choose what gets included in the transmittal (or not). If you use some custom fonts, you may want to send them along so that the drawings appear as yours do. The middle three options are on by default, but even if your files don’t contain any of them, it won’t affect anything. The last option is for including unloaded references. I’m sure there are reasons to include these, but generally, if a reference is unloaded, there’s a good reason, and sending it along would only create unnecessary bloat in the transmittal. Again though… you do what you need.

AutoCAD eTransmit and Sheet Set Manager

I kind of glossed over the file selection button in the first dialog. Projects can get large. Manually selecting your files doesn’t need to be tedious, which is yet another reason to use AutoCAD’s Sheet Set Manager. The eTransmit command is right there for you.

Hey, when it comes time to transmit your drawings or entire project to someone else, make sure they’re happy with what they get. You wouldn’t want to get drawings with references that don’t resolve, so why would they? Always transmit friendly files with eTransmit.

More Tuesday Tips

Check out our whole Tuesday Tips series for ideas on how to make AutoCAD work for you. 

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