AutoCAD for Mac

[#1]

To the left from Hide details there is a button PDF, if you pick it - the first element in list of choices is Preview as PDF - it is exactly the Preview of your drawing

Maxim

[#2]

Trying the new (2012) version of AutoCad for Mac, and am still baffled at the Printing/Plotting process.  How does one add a printer (large format) to the Mac, or select a PDF writer?  And then how does one select the pen settings?  I cannot figure out how to select printers that are not connected to the computer...i.e. an Oce plotter, which, needless to say, I will not be purchasing.

I have used this program for years on PC, and network printers.  Am stumped on how to get output thru the Mac!

Any adivse? Because I feel stupid being stuck like this.

Thanks

[#3]

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jhpseattle wrote:

Trying the new (2012) version of AutoCad for Mac, and am still baffled at the Printing/Plotting process.  How does one add a printer (large format) to the Mac, or select a PDF writer?  And then how does one select the pen settings?  I cannot figure out how to select printers that are not connected to the computer...i.e. an Oce plotter, which, needless to say, I will not be purchasing.

I have used this program for years on PC, and network printers.  Am stumped on how to get output thru the Mac!

Any adivse? Because I feel stupid being stuck like this.

Thanks

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I'm with this guy!...can anyone help?!?

[#4]

Just as on a PC, printers must first be added into the Mac's printer settings (in System Preferences) before they can be used by any program (let alone AutoCAD).  There is much online documentation regarding how to add network printers to the Mac.  Unlike PCs, there are no equivalent Heidi drivers for plotters.  

The change in the Preview button is indeed different on Lion, and we're currently researching to see whether the Preview as PDF choice was intended to be a replacement for the traditional Preview button.  For now, as stated above, the Preview as PDF is an accurate depiction of what the plotted output will look like.  Once the Preview window looks fine, close it and then proceed to plot from the Print dialog in AutoCAD.

To assign a plot style table, you'll need to edit the page setup.  This can be done directly from the Print dialog (Edit Page Setup button) or you can also bring up the Page Setup Manager by either typing the PAGESETUP command or by selecting the Page Setup Manager on the File menu.  Other common plotting settings (center the plot, plot with plot stamp, etc.) are also available by editing the page setup.

As for PDF, the creation of PDF files is part of the Mac OS, so there is now the option to export to PDF on the File menu in AutoCAD.  You can still also use the PDF button on the Print dialog, though.  Any settings applied via the Page Setup will be applied to the PDF output.  If you have installed 3rd-party PDF drivers, they should work just like any other paper plotting device.

[#5]

Just a quick follow-up here regarding the Print preview change in the Lion operating system:

Unlike AutoCAD for Windows, Mac programs (including AutoCAD for Mac) call the native OS X Print dialog when they want to plot (print).  Prior to Lion, the OS X Print dialog included a Preview button.  Now (in Lion) all print previewing is done via the option in the PDF menu (the PDF button on the Print dialog) labeled 'Open PDF in Preview' or 'Preview as PDF'.  I hope that clears up any confusion.

[#6]

is there an option to plot to file as i have my large format printing done elsewhere?

[#7]

As best I can tell, the only plotting to file you can do on a Mac (using your regular printer driver) would be to create a PostScript file.  The option to create PLT files appears to be strictly a Windows construct.  I'd really like to have this option on a Mac, also, so if anyone else out there knows a way to do it (other than using Windows in a VM or dual-booting with Windows), please chime in.  I've seen the topic in many forum threads, so I know that the interest is out there from people going from one platform to the other.

[#8]

I'm just trying to make small prints on my networked laser printrer, something I had no problem doing in Windows/LT 2002. On my mac running 10.7.3 it says 'no driver', even after installing the printer in system peferences and the driver. All other software is able to print. What do I need to do to print from LT 2012?

Andy

[#9]

Hi Andy,

If you get notification of such kind:

- don't worry, it is normal, just proceed with Page Setup as usual.

Maxim

[#10]

I want to print a 'window', as they used to be described in 2002 LT, i.e. open the print dialog, select print options, click Window and select an area, etc... When I click Print, I get the message in the first attachment, ACmsg.png. (I can't get the image into the post.) The printer config is the other attachment. The driver has been installed and all other software can print successfully. Thanks!