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Print ALL drawings related to an Assembly?

49 REPLIES 49
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Message 1 of 50
G_K__
14255 Views, 49 Replies

Print ALL drawings related to an Assembly?

Is there a way (either thru Inventor or Vault) of print ALL idw (drawings) files related to an iam (assembly)?

Inventor (and Vault) are capable of creating and managing a BOM of the iam files and would think that it would be reltivly easy to query this bom and "find" all the associated idw files and batch print them. Possibly with the option to select the "levels" to dril down to (All, Top Level, Sub Assemblies within the iam, etc, etc)

Can anyone please help with this as I often have to print a "drawing package" for a complete build and doing this manually is very time consuming.

Thanking you in advance.
49 REPLIES 49
Message 2 of 50
Juergen_Wagner
in reply to: G_K__

The tool FX64 Plot can do this

http://www.fx64.de/produkte_index.php?lang=en&current=two⊂=a&option=com_content&task=view&id=57&Itemid=1&ImageId=big_box_products&title=FX64%20Plot
Message 3 of 50
edonline69
in reply to: G_K__

This may be a pipe dream but is there a free version out there?
Task manager works well but not with Vault.
The design review comes with a nice batch print feature but you need to manually create batch files of .dwf files to print which need to be updated when there is a change in any assembly.
I will soon be upgrading to Vault Manufacturing from Vault 2009. Anybody know what i can expect when it comes to batch printing.

Thanx,

Ed
Message 4 of 50
karthur1
in reply to: G_K__

Here is a code that will do this....works for me Smiley Happy  It was posted on the Inventor Customization forum by Brendan Henderson.  The idw name has to be the same as the referenced file in order for this to work.

 

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Autodesk-Inventor-Customization/Printing-all-drawings-of-an-assembly-f...

 

Below is a copy of his post in case the link later fails.

 

 

Here is a macro I use that prints all of the IDW's related to an assembly. This macro is run from the assembly model. There are 4 caveats :-

1. The IDW of the assembly the macro is run from does not print (so print it manually)

2. The IDW's do not print in perfect order

3. It is coded to print to a specific printer, A3 and in landscape

4. It strips the file extension from the file name so file extensions must be visible in Windows Explorer.

 

Function fileExists(fname) As Boolean
    If Dir(fname) <> "" Then fileExists = True Else fileExists = False
End Function

Public Sub PrintRefIDWs()

    Dim oAsmDoc As AssemblyDocument
    Set oAsmDoc = ThisApplication.ActiveDocument
    If ThisApplication.ActiveDocument.DocumentType <> kAssemblyDocumentObject Then
        MsgBox "This is NOT an assembly document!", vbExclamation
        Exit Sub
    End If

    Dim oPrintMgr As PrintManager
    Set oPrintMgr = ThisApplication.ActiveDocument.PrintManager
    If MsgBox("Using default printer """ & oPrintMgr.Printer & """  Do you want to continue?", vbYesNo + vbQuestion) = vbNo Then
        Exit Sub
    End If

    Dim oDrgPrintMgr As DrawingPrintManager

    MsgBox "Using printer " & oPrintMgr.Printer & ", printing 1 copy, A3 paper, landscape."

    dirPath = Left(oAsmDoc.FullFileName, Len(oAsmDoc.FullFileName) - Len(oAsmDoc.DisplayName))

    Dim oRefDocs As DocumentsEnumerator
    Set oRefDocs = oAsmDoc.AllReferencedDocuments
    Dim oRefDoc As Document
    numFiles = 0

    For Each oRefDoc In oRefDocs
        idwPathName = Left(oRefDoc.FullDocumentName, Len(oRefDoc.FullDocumentName) - 3) & "idw"
        If fileExists(idwPathName) Then
            numFiles = numFiles + 1
            'If numFiles = 10 Then Exit Sub
            Dim oDrawDoc As DrawingDocument
            Set oDrawDoc = ThisApplication.Documents.Open(idwPathName, True)
            oDrawDoc.Activate
            Set oDrawDoc = ThisApplication.ActiveDocument
            Set oDrgPrintMgr = oDrawDoc.PrintManager

            oDrgPrintMgr.AllColorsAsBlack = True
            oDrgPrintMgr.ScaleMode = kPrintBestFitScale
            Set oPrintMgr = ThisApplication.ActiveDocument.PrintManager

            ' Printer setup, default printer
            oPrintMgr.ColorMode = kPrintDefaultColorMode ' Set to default
            oPrintMgr.NumberOfCopies = 1 ' Set to print one copies.
            oPrintMgr.Orientation = kLandscapeOrientation ' Set to print using landscape orientation.
            oPrintMgr.PaperSize = kPaperSizeA3 'Set the paper size.
            oPrintMgr.SubmitPrint ' Submit the print.
            oDrawDoc.Close (True)
        End If
    Next
    MsgBox "There are " & numFiles & " sent to printer."

End Sub

 

Message 5 of 50
MariaManuela
in reply to: G_K__

You can use the Multi-sheet Plot wizard to plot multiple drawing sheets that include drawings of various sizes. You can select IDW, 2D DWF, and DWG files.

 

From the Start menu, click Programs Autodesk Autodesk Inventor 2012 [version] Autodesk Multi-sheet Plot to open the Multi-sheet Plot wizard.

Asidek Consultant Specialist
www.asidek.es
Message 6 of 50
karthur1
in reply to: MariaManuela

Manuela,

That is true.  I have used the Multi-Sheet Plot tool several times.  You still have to know what idw's you want to print, then weed through directories and add the ones you want to the list.  You cant save the list, so if you want to generate the prints again, you have to go through the same routine.  With this macro you dont have to do that.  Here is how this works.

 

1. Set your default printer via Windows start menu.

2. Open an iam in Inventor.

3. Run the macro.

 

This will print EVERY idw that exists for all parts in this iam.  I have mine set up to print to pdf's in a temp directory so I can easily bundle all the idws into a single package.  This is a HUGE timesaver for me.

Message 7 of 50
MariaManuela
in reply to: karthur1

Fully agree with your explanation. Inventor Multi-Sheet Plot its a little poor...for example is not possible to specify in advance that A3 go to X printer and A4 goes to Z printer...and so on...

 

Some time ago i found Inventor Plot addin from http://www.inventortools.net/ and works very well with Inventor 2010 but unfortunately no longer works with 2012...

Asidek Consultant Specialist
www.asidek.es
Message 8 of 50
doum90
in reply to: karthur1

Would there be a way to make it search in the following directories for drawings? We don't put the drawing files in the same folder as the parts and assembly.

 

We usually go like this C:/Project/Job No/Part1.ipt

the drawing would be : C:/Project/Job No/Details/Part1.idw

 

PS: Sorry for bringing that old post up...

Message 9 of 50
karthur1
in reply to: doum90

Not a problem bringing up this old post.

 

It shouldnt be a problem if you are always using the same subfolder for the details.  The way this code was written it assumes that the idw is in the same location as the iam (you figured this out already).  I'm sure someone here can edit one line of code and get this working for you.  If not, try the customization group.  Someone over there should be able to help.

 

Post back when you figure it out.

Message 10 of 50
Francis.Foley
in reply to: G_K__

My suggestion is to save your prints as PDF documents then bind them into a single document that contains all the drawings, that is what I do. Obviously this will not work if your client wants dwf or dwg files.
Message 11 of 50
stevecorrales
in reply to: G_K__

I am looking for some added functionality.  When printing the PDF, I would also like to have the QTY required to be printed on each drawing.  Is that something that can be done easily?

Message 12 of 50
yannick3
in reply to: G_K__

Hi
I think you can use CAD PORTER. You can download it from application store.
It's stand alone application, you select the master assembly and it print all parts and subassembly
Yannick Verreault
INV PRO 2015
MS Office 2007
Win 7 pro, core i7 950, asus P6T WS
nvidia Gforce GTX 295
WD caviar black 500Go
WD caviar black 1To

Message 13 of 50
karthur1
in reply to: yannick3

Yannick,

I think what you are referring to is the "Drawing Porter". Here's the link.  It allows you to batch print, but it does not add the QTY required of each to the print.

 

Right now, I add this manually.  I have a custom iProperty that I use to store the qty required.  I have this iproperty in a sketch symbol that puts that information on the idw.  Of course, its a manual thingy, but it works for now. I reuse some of the same parts on some of my projects, so I have to update the idws for each release.  That's the only way I know how to do it.  An app to add this to each idw would be awesome.

 

Kirk

Message 14 of 50
stevecorrales
in reply to: karthur1

An app does exist. It is called FX64 Plot www.fx64.de

Regards,

Steve Corrales
Director Engineering
DRA (Ducker-Ringwood Automation)
Phone: 509 534 2262
Fax: 708 458 1051
Mobile: 708 912 3498
Web: www.ducker-ringwood.com
2810 East 29th, Suite 3
Spokane, WA 99223

This message may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, you may not disclose, forward, distribute, copy, or use this message or its contents. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by return e-mail and delete the original message from your e-mail system. Thank you.
Message 15 of 50
stevecorrales
in reply to: karthur1

There is an app that does this. Its called FX64 Plot. The website is www.fx64.de. It works great. My company is having me look for comparables. Looks like there isn't one.
Message 16 of 50
yannick3
in reply to: G_K__

Hi Kirk
You are right it's drawing porter. For the print quantity, you can add the quantity, see the second screen capture on the link you had post.
And if you want to add the part's quantity, I use quantity tool, very easy to use and useful.


Yannick Verreault
INV PRO 2015
MS Office 2007
Win 7 pro, core i7 950, asus P6T WS
nvidia Gforce GTX 295
WD caviar black 500Go
WD caviar black 1To

Message 17 of 50
karthur1
in reply to: yannick3

Yannick,

I thought Steve was asking about adding part QTY..... not the number of sheets to print.  My bad.

 

I will check out the Quantity tool you mentioned.

 

Thanks.

Message 18 of 50
stevecorrales
in reply to: karthur1

Karther1,

 

You are correct, I want the qty required to print on the drawing.  From the screen shots I do not see that ability in Drawing Porter.  I downloaded and installed Drawing Porter to check but it will not run.

 

Steve

Message 19 of 50
karthur1
in reply to: stevecorrales

I had the same problem.  They sent me a new build.  Install the attached one.

 

As for as adding the QTY to the print.... I tried the Quantity tool that Yannick mentioned.  It works pretty well.  Basically does what I was doing manually.  It adds a custom iproperty to each part in the assembly.  You will have to make a stamp that includes the custom iproperty and place that on your idw.

 

Kirk

 

Message 20 of 50
stevecorrales
in reply to: karthur1

karthur1,

 

I uninstalled my version on Drawing Porter and installed yours.  This time it ran but is faulted out saying that it could not open Inventor.  I have a 64bit Win 8.1 machine running Inventor 2014.  I also tried it on a 64bit Win7 machine running Inventor 2012 and had the same fault.

 

Any ideas?

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