Background Mask not transparent

[Cleasc]

This is an ongoing problem I have had since updating from Autocad LT 2010 to Mechanical 2012 and now Mechanical 2013.

All instances of background masking appears fine in Model & Paper spaces, except when printing (and print preview) using any of our printers and any CTB file (including the defaults). All that I get is a solid black rectangle in place of the transparency.

I have tried creating a new drawing on Mech 2013 and then opening it on another machine with Mech 2012... same problem. Then I tried opening the same document again on the 2nd machine but in Autocad LT 2010... works fine. So then I tried the process in reverse, create a new document in LT2010 and open it on both Mech 2012 & Mech 2013... doesn't work.

I have tried using both default and company standard templates & ctb (as well as clients) files with no difference.

Any reference of this problem I could find online talked about printer driver issues... this clearly isn't the problem in my case as it works fine on the 2nd machine from LT2010 but not Mech 2012.

And yes, I do have the 'Use drawing background color' option ticked.

[VinodBalasubramanian]

Hi,

Could you able to do a etransmit of the entire drawing and send to us for further investigation.

[hvysteel]

This just started happening to a couple of my users a few days ago with ACAD 2013 and ACAD LT 2013.  The text shows up fine on screen and in the print preview, but the DWF shows black rectangles.  Seems a little random, when it happens we can re-plot the drawing and it works fine.  I don't recall any issues with it in previous versions.  Does anyone have any ideas what's causing this?

[Cleasc]

I have attached a test drawing (1 clean & 1 xref'd company template) as requested.

But as originally stated, it can't be the actual file because it works fine on another machine in LT2010 but not Mech 2012 on that same machine.

I look forward to hearing from someone to try and resolve this asap.

[Cleasc]

I see the problem when in print preview and no matter how many times I try printing (digital or hard copy), it doesn't correct itself.

I haven't seen this issue until late last year when I upgraded from Vanilla 2010 to Mech 2012.

[VinodBalasubramanian]

Hi,

I got your files. I am bit confused with the issue here. Is your problem with xref not showing up in the main drawing. Can you provide a screenshot of the correct output that you get in AutoCAD LT 2010. This would help me understand where the problem is.

Looking forward to your reply.

[Cleasc]

No this is purely a background masking problem. I placed and background masking example in both the vanilla file and my companies template file and xref'd them together to make life easy.

I currently don't have access to the LT2010 machine but I have attached a number of screenshots showing the print preview result and then files 2 & 3 show the background mask settings for each piece of text.

[Cleasc]

I take it this got too hard... I'd really appreciate some help to resolve this matter!!!

[VinodBalasubramanian]

Hi,

Attached screenshot of my print preview. Is this the correct result that you want to see. I am still not getting the actual problem correctly. Can you send me your contact details over private message. I will give you a call to discuss further on this.

[jay_uy2000]

I experience same problem with the background mask too, It appears fine if you have a white drawing background but once you have a black background the probleblem starts when you print it, the text mask appears.

[Cleasc]

Jay, you sir, are a champion!!!

I can confirm that this problem is related to the 'Plot Preview' background colour (for me at least).

As standard I run all my background colours as black because coloured linework is much more visible. Jays comment prompted me to try different coloured backgrounds in the Autocad Options and low and behold, problem solved. I put all settings back to black except the 'Plot Preview' background and it still works fine. Change that to black and the problem returns.

So many thanks to you Jay.

While I'm at it, thanks for nothing Vinod (Autodesk). You arrange to do a remote login to assist in resolving this issue and I promptyl reply with all necessary information and confirm your suggested time is suitable. Then nothing... I know you were trying to help but the least you can do is follow up on your appointment. This same thing happened previously in relation to another technical issue so maybe there is a problem with the systems you use to manage this assistance program.