AutoCAD 2010/2011/2012 DWG Format

[#1]

I am having an issue with the way my solid hatches turn out when I export to PDF or DWF. In my AutoCad drawing I will have a solid hatched area and set the transparency to let's say 50 or so. When I then export my drawing to PDF or DWF, the finished product is a solid fill not having any transparency.

Any idea on how to fix this ????????????

[#2]

The pagesetup being used in Export/Publish needs to have Plot Transparency box checked.

[#3]

Where can i find this option. I have my drawing loaded in CAD, then I go to the option in the main pull down menu (by clicking the big red A in the top left of the screen) and then I click export and out of the options (dwf, dwfdx, pdf, etc.) I choose dwf. When I choose that I do not see an option ANYWHERE to check to plot transparency, if you could please tell me where it is that would be great !

[#4 · Accepted solution]

Big A -> Plot -> Page Setup: edit an existing one or create a new one.  It will bring up a page setup dialog where you can check the Plot Transparency box.  Set it as current if you want.

The open the Export dialog, don't change anything then it will use the current page setup which is the one you just edit.  Same for override, if you need to use a different one.

[#5]

Thank you very much ToanD, that did do the trick. I can't believe it was that simple, I always deverted to using the override feature while exporting, didn't think of doing it that way. I have another small problem now though, my hatch transparency does show, but there are some issues with the quality of the hatch its self on the PDF image. There are strange lines showing up that are obviously things I did not put into the drawing. If you like I can attach the image . . .

This kind of coincides with another issue I have been having. I am putting our company title block on multiple different topographic and aerial images. The images and maps are all in PDF files and then I insert the PDF file into CAD and put our company title block on it then re-export to to PDF again as a new file. When I do so, strange lines and blurs / blob looking objects come up on the drawing when it is being viewed on the computer, when it is printed though, they do not alwyas show up, it seems to be 50/50. I am sure this is a PDF issue but I would really like to get it squared away, any idea?

[#6]

> I always deverted to using the override feature while exporting, didn't think of doing it that way

You can do the same thing to any page setups and use override feature when publish.

Speaking from ACAD2011 experience (I have not used 2012 version), I think the whole transparency thing is a nice idea but not mature enough for production.  I myself have given up on using it unless for very simple drawing.  The printing, if not crashes, takes way too long to finish and the results are hit and miss.  I rather use the combination of proper draw order, true color (RGB), and CTB' screening control when I need transparency output.

>The images and maps are all in PDF files and then I insert the PDF file into CAD

If they are just raster images then I would use TIFF, PNG, or JPG instead of PDF unless you need to retain the vector information and crispy text from the PDF.  Plus, just zooming in and out with underlay PDFs alone makes me want to kill a lot of people and not because killing is fun.

But if you have to underlay PDF and print, try DWF or some other PDF driver if the DWG to PDF doesn't cut it.

[#7]

printing from dwg to pdf with hatch transparancy take a long time to the point the my computer freeze. by the time it plotted to pdf, the entire page is blank. is there a minimum system requirement to pdf drawings with hatch transparancy?

jp79