ABS Exchange

Topic: How to plot drawings and publish drawings sets..

PPV, PLT & PUB

Overview

There are a number of ways to plot drawings, but all first require proper set-up to work with our plotting process. To achieve maximum flexibility with minimum wastepaper, our plotting process requires that plot (.PLT) files first be generated, which may be done individually or as a batch process.

Beginning with AutoCAD 2006, the ‘Publish’ command was introduced that incorporates into the AutoCAD program environment the formerly external ‘Batch Plot Utility’.

After creating the plot files either individually or in batch, use the Kip Request program to send them to one of the plotters.

Plot Preview

To view how the current layout will look when plotted, type ‘PPV’ at the command-line. Alternatively, right-click on a layout tab, select ‘Plot...’ from the context menu and then click the 'Preview' button.

Plotting Sheet Setup

Type ‘plot’ at the command-line or right-click on a layout tab, and select ‘Plot...’ from the context menu. The resulting dialog box should look like this:

• If the dialog box shown on your screen has less information than what is shown above, then click the 'arrow button' at the lower right corner (next to the 'Help' button) to expand the hidden options.
  
• Now select the correct ‘Paper size’ from the drop-down list, which will usually be the same size as other drawings in the set.
  
• If this is a new drawing set, then refer to an architectural drawing to first determine the correct size.
  
• Select ‘Extents’ for plot area, and assure the ‘Center the plot’ checkbox is checked.
  
• Next select as the plotter ‘Batch.pc3’ and assure that the ‘Plot to file’ checkbox is checked.
  
• Then select in the ‘Plot style table (pen assignments)’ drop down the proper pen table for your job. The current standard pen table is 'Hargiselec.ctb', though you may need to select a different one depending on the client or specific task.
  
• Assure that the remaining options on the right hand side of the dialog box and in the ‘Plot scale’ area are the same as the example given above, and then
  
• Click the ‘Preview’ button to verify the set-up.
  
• Hit ‘Escape’ and make any adjustments if necessary.
  
• When all looks good in the preview, then either click ‘OK’ to plot, or ‘Apply to Layout’ and ‘Cancel’ to return to the drawing editor.

Note: Do NOT scale the drawings using the dialog box above; drawings may be scaled when sent to the plotter via Kip Request. Using this method, scaled pen sets for scaled drawing sheet sizes are not necessary.

New Plotting Layout Setup from Existing Plotting Layout

If you have multiple drawings to set-up, consider saving the page set-up with a simple name, such as the sheet size, e.g. 11x17, 24x36, 30x42 etc. This in turn will be saved with the drawing file, and be accessible from other drawing files.

Thus when setting up plotting for the next layout, click the ‘Page Setup Name’ drop-down and select ‘Import’. Browse to the previously set-up file and import the required page set-up; the current layout will now be set-up exactly the same as the imported layout.

Plotting Single Drawings

Single drawings may be plotted, once they are set-up, by invoking the plot dialog box, and clicking ’OK’. You'll then need to browse to the plot file output directory, usually entitled ‘Plt’ ‘Plot’, ‘Plots’ or ‘Plot Files’, usually either one level down or one level up from the job CAD directory.

• A quick way to plot single drawings is to type ‘PLT’ at the command line.
  
• Provided the layout is set-up as described above, this macro will generate a plot file in the ‘Plt’ ‘Plot’, ‘Plots’ or ‘Plot Files’ directory, searching first one level down and then one level up from the current directory.
  
• If none of the above directory names are found, the plot file is generated in the current directory.

Publishing Multiple Drawings

Beginning with AutoCAD 2006, the ‘Publish’ command was implemented. Type ‘Publish’ or ‘PUB’ at the command-line to open the dialogue box:

• By default, ‘DWF file’ is selected; generally you will want to change this to ‘Plotter named in page set-up’.
• Also by default, layouts in the current drawing are displayed.
• Be sure the ‘Model tab’ box is unchecked.
• Click the icon with the ‘+’ sign on it and browse to the correct job directory to add layouts from other drawings.
• Now sort the list by clicking the ‘Sheet Name’ column header:

• Now click the ‘Publish Options...’ button to define the output path for the plot files in the ‘Location’ field.
  
• Click first the ‘Location’ field, then the ‘…’ (ellipsis) button next to the field to browse to the desired output directory:

• When the output directory has been defined, click ‘OK’ to return to the ‘Publish’ dialog box.
• Now click the ‘Saved Sheet List…’ (diskette) icon to save the plot sheet set to a file, which will be given a ‘.dsd’ extension.
  
• Browse to the job CAD directory, and name the sheet set appropriately, e.g. ‘Electrical Drawing Set’.
  
• Now click the ‘Publish’ button to generate the plot files, or ‘Cancel’ to return to the drawing editor.

To recall a saved sheet set, open the ‘Publish’ dialog box and click the ‘Load Sheet List…’ (folder) icon, then browse to the job CAD directory. Sheets may of course be added or deleted, and the sheet list resaved for use by all members of the project team.

(PPV & PLT macro code to follow...)

Labels: CAD Tips