AutoCAD printing to PDF to printer transparency problem

[david.stanley]

Hi All,

When I print to .pdf for A1 and plot, no worries, all lineweights print solid and perfectly. However, when I print to .pdf for A3 (scaling lineweights like a good boy), whilst all the lineweights appear solid on the screen, when I plot the layers that are set to transparency are faded/rough/broken on paper.

Ticking the plot transparency box doesn't help and it happens to my printer at home and at work. I haven't used transparent layers before and have adopted this drawing created through someone else.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

David  

[david.stanley]

Actually, this is not only occurring on the transparency layers, but to hatch layers too.

[davcos]

Did you ever resolve this problem?  I have the same issue in a few drawings...  

[david.stanley]

I resolved it by buying a program called AcroPlot Pro and printing using this program.

The problem I had was printing a drawing as a .pdf in Autocad and scaling drawings from A1 to A3 whereby the hatching at 45 degrees would not print properly from the printer (but appeared OK in the .pdf document).

I would have thought that the programmers of AutoCAD would have addressed this issue, given the age of the program and the common use of .pdfs!

[ampster401]

It's believed that the "dwf" format (Design Review file type) is Autodesk's "solution" (your meaning may be different!) to the pdf file format...and if that is true it's easy to imagine they'll let pdf issues slide a bit?!?!?

for example, pdf's generated out of Acad in the last few releases, going back as far as 2009 IRC, when printed out they appear fine.  But when viewed thru Adobe Reader, lineweights and text for example didn't always appear correct on screen.  Only solution found was to open up Adobe Reader and adjust some of the Rendering options.  Nothing could be done from the Acad side.

[davcos]

Thanks for the input.  We also own AcroPlot which does a really good job usually, of dealing with transparency and multiple images.  You might be on to something though with the DWF format.  I wonder how printing from Autocad to a dwf, to a pdf would work?  I'll check it out.

The problem with the dwf format is that every client would have to download and install software.  They all have adobe, but I have received may phone calls that they can't open the pdf, the pdf is blank, the pdf looks bad, they can't see all the layers, etc.

Thanks,

[ampster401]

The first sentence in your 2nd paragragh nailed the most major problem with the thought a dwf could replace pdf!

[davcos]

Yea, not many of our clients would never be allowed to install software on their "corporate" computer.  Maybe look into Windows XPS,  when's the last time someone sent you one of those?