Printing and Plotting

[#1]

When I create a pdf using the dwg to pdf driver native to acad2010 it
creates a pdf but when I go to print that pdf the processing time that it
takes to print is outrageously long since when adobe reader goes to process
the pdf to print it it says it is "flattening" the pdf. Any idea how to
remedy this problem? At this point the dwg to pdf driver in acad is
unusable unless I can figure out how to create a pdf file that does not need
to be "flattened" by adobe reader before finally sending off to the printer.
Thanks,
Greg

[#2]

You need to use another PDF driver if you do not want layers and more type
information in your PDF files. It's the way PDFs and DWFs are progressing in
CAD, so don't go buying Adobe products either, grab a freebie pdf driver
from vendors not spending any money developing their drivers.

--
Dean Saadallah
http://LTisACAD.blogspot.com
--

[#3]

Adobe Reader does that as a process to print the PDF. You might try
using the latest reader version v9.1.2. Also, if you are printing large
and/or high imaged PDFs (i.e. lots of hatch / tones), you might
consider printing to file (i.e. myfile.prn) and spool it to the device /
port direct. Then the print "processing" is complied at the PC, vs.
across the LAN to the device.


~Terry

Greg Hubers wrote:
> When I create a pdf using the dwg to pdf driver native to acad2010 it
> creates a pdf but when I go to print that pdf the processing time that it
> takes to print is outrageously long since when adobe reader goes to process
> the pdf to print it it says it is "flattening" the pdf. Any idea how to
> remedy this problem? At this point the dwg to pdf driver in acad is
> unusable unless I can figure out how to create a pdf file that does not need
> to be "flattened" by adobe reader before finally sending off to the printer.
> Thanks,
> Greg

[#4]

Thanks for the responses Terry and Dean,
I am using reader 9.1.2. I have been struggling with AutoCAD and pdf just
like so many others for many years and have spent many hours/days trying to
find a solution with very limited success. I was anticipating a usable
product with dwg to pdf driver built into acad2010. I have tried many 3rd
party pdf creators (My favorite being pdfCreator) but many of these rely on
ghost and all have quirks of their own.
I'm printing simple 2D model space stuff and was happy with the file sizes
from acad - 100-200K average pdf size. I can direct print the pdf's as an
image from adobe reader advanced print options and that is much faster but I
do not have that option when printing sets of plans through reprodesk server
to our Oce plotters. It can take literally hours for reprodesk to print 8
pages from the pdf's I am getting from acad.
I have tried turning off fonts, color, everything I can think of in the
props of the dwg to pdf driver in acad with no success.
The acad vs. pdf frustration continues...
Greg

"Terry Drewes" wrote in message
news:6214653@discussion.autodesk.com...
Adobe Reader does that as a process to print the PDF. You might try
using the latest reader version v9.1.2. Also, if you are printing large
and/or high imaged PDFs (i.e. lots of hatch / tones), you might
consider printing to file (i.e. myfile.prn) and spool it to the device /
port direct. Then the print "processing" is complied at the PC, vs.
across the LAN to the device.


~Terry

Greg Hubers wrote:
> When I create a pdf using the dwg to pdf driver native to acad2010 it
> creates a pdf but when I go to print that pdf the processing time that it
> takes to print is outrageously long since when adobe reader goes to
> process
> the pdf to print it it says it is "flattening" the pdf. Any idea how to
> remedy this problem? At this point the dwg to pdf driver in acad is
> unusable unless I can figure out how to create a pdf file that does not
> need
> to be "flattened" by adobe reader before finally sending off to the
> printer.
> Thanks,
> Greg

[#5]

If you plotting in-house, why not plot to Océ plot files? Re reprodesk,
have you installed the ghost drivers to process pdfs natively?


~Terry

Greg Hubers wrote:
> Thanks for the responses Terry and Dean,
> I am using reader 9.1.2. I have been struggling with AutoCAD and pdf just
> like so many others for many years and have spent many hours/days trying to
> find a solution with very limited success. I was anticipating a usable
> product with dwg to pdf driver built into acad2010. I have tried many 3rd
> party pdf creators (My favorite being pdfCreator) but many of these rely on
> ghost and all have quirks of their own.
> I'm printing simple 2D model space stuff and was happy with the file sizes
> from acad - 100-200K average pdf size. I can direct print the pdf's as an
> image from adobe reader advanced print options and that is much faster but I
> do not have that option when printing sets of plans through reprodesk server
> to our Oce plotters. It can take literally hours for reprodesk to print 8
> pages from the pdf's I am getting from acad.
> I have tried turning off fonts, color, everything I can think of in the
> props of the dwg to pdf driver in acad with no success.
> The acad vs. pdf frustration continues...
> Greg
>
> "Terry Drewes" wrote in message
> news:6214653@discussion.autodesk.com...
> Adobe Reader does that as a process to print the PDF. You might try
> using the latest reader version v9.1.2. Also, if you are printing large
> and/or high imaged PDFs (i.e. lots of hatch / tones), you might
> consider printing to file (i.e. myfile.prn) and spool it to the device /
> port direct. Then the print "processing" is complied at the PC, vs.
> across the LAN to the device.
>
>
> ~Terry
>
> Greg Hubers wrote:
>> When I create a pdf using the dwg to pdf driver native to acad2010 it
>> creates a pdf but when I go to print that pdf the processing time that it
>> takes to print is outrageously long since when adobe reader goes to
>> process
>> the pdf to print it it says it is "flattening" the pdf. Any idea how to
>> remedy this problem? At this point the dwg to pdf driver in acad is
>> unusable unless I can figure out how to create a pdf file that does not
>> need
>> to be "flattened" by adobe reader before finally sending off to the
>> printer.
>> Thanks,
>> Greg

[#6]

Is GhostScript used as the PDF converter in Reprodesk, or do you have Oce's
own PostScript/PDF converter? (both are possible, but as the first is free,
it's a "cheaper" option). I believe most owners opt for GhostScript.

Behind the scenes of Reprodesk, GhostScript converts the PDF's to TIFF Group
4. Processing of some PDF's with GhostScript can take much CPU resources and
a long time, and Reprodesk is blocked during that processing. The file size
is not so relevant, the complexity (hatches, layers, text) is more relevant.
It may be more efficient to do the processing of PDF's "off-line": convert
the PDF's to TIFF Group 4 on another machine or even the same machine with a
separate program if the PC is powerfull enough. My GhostFriend frontend GUI
for GhostScript (link to site below) helps to "batch" convert sets of PDF's
to TIFF in a user friendly way. When that processing is done, just send the
TIFF's to Reprodesk and they will plot almost immediately.

If you happen to have the (optional, $$$) PS/PDF extension on the Oce
plotter controller itself, you can also submit the PDF's straight to the
machine. This is often much faster, but you can't use Reprodesk for this, so
have to use other tools (Oce PrintExec, my GoPlot, ...) which offer limited
layout (no preview) possibilities (which does not have to be a problem if
the PDF's are properly made, btw).

Govert

http://www.noliturbare.com


I'm printing simple 2D model space stuff and was happy with the file sizes
from acad - 100-200K average pdf size. I can direct print the pdf's as an
image from adobe reader advanced print options and that is much faster but I
do not have that option when printing sets of plans through reprodesk server
to our Oce plotters. It can take literally hours for reprodesk to print 8
pages from the pdf's I am getting from acad.
I have tried turning off fonts, color, everything I can think of in the
props of the dwg to pdf driver in acad with no success.
The acad vs. pdf frustration continues...

[#7]

Well, it's a long story. But the short of it is, I used to have everyone
scan to tiff, worked great, no problems, seldom had to mess with pdf
problems. Then the bosses decided we need to scan to pdf without consulting
me or asking my opinion. I would have tried to convince them to stay with
tiff, or at least choose dwf or plt as the electronic format. But pdf was
forced upon me and boy what a pain pdf's are in general. How much time I
have wasted looking for solutions to pdf problems I can't even begin to
guess.
So I was hoping that pdf format would become more user friendly with
acad2009 and now acad2010. We can still scan everything to pdf and they
print ok, but scans tend to be muddy and shades of grey tend to get splotchy
black/grey with the scans, plus if I don't clean the platen regularly the
scans get streaks. So it would be nice to be able to plot directly from CAD
to get a nice clean pdf . The pdf's are clean enough but it takes sometimes
hours to flatten the pdf's that AutoCAD creates.
I wish I could change the format but the bosses are convinced that we need
to use pdf. They don't have to get them to work because "that's my job"
They just don't realize how difficult pdf's are to deal with and frankly
don't care.
And yes, we use ghost on local pc's to process the pdf's in reprodesk.


"Terry Drewes" wrote in message
news:6215454@discussion.autodesk.com...
If you plotting in-house, why not plot to Océ plot files? Re reprodesk,
have you installed the ghost drivers to process pdfs natively?


~Terry

Greg Hubers wrote:
> Thanks for the responses Terry and Dean,
> I am using reader 9.1.2. I have been struggling with AutoCAD and pdf just
> like so many others for many years and have spent many hours/days trying
> to
> find a solution with very limited success. I was anticipating a usable
> product with dwg to pdf driver built into acad2010. I have tried many 3rd
> party pdf creators (My favorite being pdfCreator) but many of these rely
> on
> ghost and all have quirks of their own.
> I'm printing simple 2D model space stuff and was happy with the file sizes
> from acad - 100-200K average pdf size. I can direct print the pdf's as an
> image from adobe reader advanced print options and that is much faster but
> I
> do not have that option when printing sets of plans through reprodesk
> server
> to our Oce plotters. It can take literally hours for reprodesk to print 8
> pages from the pdf's I am getting from acad.
> I have tried turning off fonts, color, everything I can think of in the
> props of the dwg to pdf driver in acad with no success.
> The acad vs. pdf frustration continues...
> Greg
>
> "Terry Drewes" wrote in message
> news:6214653@discussion.autodesk.com...
> Adobe Reader does that as a process to print the PDF. You might try
> using the latest reader version v9.1.2. Also, if you are printing large
> and/or high imaged PDFs (i.e. lots of hatch / tones), you might
> consider printing to file (i.e. myfile.prn) and spool it to the device /
> port direct. Then the print "processing" is complied at the PC, vs.
> across the LAN to the device.
>
>
> ~Terry
>
> Greg Hubers wrote:
>> When I create a pdf using the dwg to pdf driver native to acad2010 it
>> creates a pdf but when I go to print that pdf the processing time that it
>> takes to print is outrageously long since when adobe reader goes to
>> process
>> the pdf to print it it says it is "flattening" the pdf. Any idea how to
>> remedy this problem? At this point the dwg to pdf driver in acad is
>> unusable unless I can figure out how to create a pdf file that does not
>> need
>> to be "flattened" by adobe reader before finally sending off to the
>> printer.
>> Thanks,
>> Greg

[#8]

Hi Govert,
No money to buy Oce's postscript Budgets have basically slammed shut
since last September. So we use gs to convert pdf to tiff in reprodesk.
And I really don't want to switch away from reprodesk. I have PrintExec and
client tools from Oce but we only use them as a backup when reprodesk is
down. Reprodesk is very robust and has a nice accounting package which is
critical here.
As far as batch converting pdf to tiff I am trying to avoid more steps for
the users and more data sitting on the server in the form of duplicate tiff
files. It's truly amazing to me that wanting a clean and easy, user
friendly pdf out of AutoCAD is so hard to come by. AutoCAD and Adobe are
big and fat and enjoying all our $10,000's for licenses to their products
and we don't even end up with the very basic tool to create a user friendly
pdf. Talk about a conspiracy!!


"Govert J. Knopper" wrote in message
news:6215580@discussion.autodesk.com...
Is GhostScript used as the PDF converter in Reprodesk, or do you have Oce's
own PostScript/PDF converter? (both are possible, but as the first is free,
it's a "cheaper" option). I believe most owners opt for GhostScript.

Behind the scenes of Reprodesk, GhostScript converts the PDF's to TIFF Group
4. Processing of some PDF's with GhostScript can take much CPU resources and
a long time, and Reprodesk is blocked during that processing. The file size
is not so relevant, the complexity (hatches, layers, text) is more relevant.
It may be more efficient to do the processing of PDF's "off-line": convert
the PDF's to TIFF Group 4 on another machine or even the same machine with a
separate program if the PC is powerfull enough. My GhostFriend frontend GUI
for GhostScript (link to site below) helps to "batch" convert sets of PDF's
to TIFF in a user friendly way. When that processing is done, just send the
TIFF's to Reprodesk and they will plot almost immediately.

If you happen to have the (optional, $$$) PS/PDF extension on the Oce
plotter controller itself, you can also submit the PDF's straight to the
machine. This is often much faster, but you can't use Reprodesk for this, so
have to use other tools (Oce PrintExec, my GoPlot, ...) which offer limited
layout (no preview) possibilities (which does not have to be a problem if
the PDF's are properly made, btw).

Govert

http://www.noliturbare.com


I'm printing simple 2D model space stuff and was happy with the file sizes
from acad - 100-200K average pdf size. I can direct print the pdf's as an
image from adobe reader advanced print options and that is much faster but I
do not have that option when printing sets of plans through reprodesk server
to our Oce plotters. It can take literally hours for reprodesk to print 8
pages from the pdf's I am getting from acad.
I have tried turning off fonts, color, everything I can think of in the
props of the dwg to pdf driver in acad with no success.
The acad vs. pdf frustration continues...

[#9]

Maybe you need a faster conversion tool 3rd party software:
http://www.adultpdf.com/products/pdftotiff/index.html
http://www.pdf-convert.com/pdf2img/index.htm
http://www.pdftoall.com/pdf-to-tiff.htm

Put a share netfolder on the server, say plots... and have Users put the
PDFs in that folder. Then run a O/S script / Task Scheduler to scan
the folder, convert the PDFs to TIFF, and then move them to the
Reprodesk folder for plotting. You could program the routine in a BAT,
using the 3rd party tool and cmd commands to perform the move routines.
http://www.iopus.com/guides/winscheduler.htm

Then the processing of converting PDFs to TIFFs is taken out or
Reprodesk, using GS, which just might be an issue with conversions, as
you have experienced.


~Terry

Greg Hubers wrote:
> Well, it's a long story.

[#10]

A couple of suggestions:

1. Try an other PDF 'driver'; most - if not all - free ones use GhostScript
to create PDF that is already very 'flat'. Autodesk has a strategic dilemma
with PDF.
2. Invest in a powerful PC for Reprodesk+GhostScript; GhostScript is *very*
CPU-hungry when it processes PDF; if there is no budget, perhaps some PC's
can be swapped, so that the fastest available PC is used for this job?
3. See Terry's suggestion

Govert


No money to buy Oce's postscript Budgets have basically slammed shut
since last September. So we use gs to convert pdf to tiff in reprodesk.
And I really don't want to switch away from reprodesk. I have PrintExec and
client tools from Oce but we only use them as a backup when reprodesk is
down. Reprodesk is very robust and has a nice accounting package which is
critical here.
As far as batch converting pdf to tiff I am trying to avoid more steps for
the users and more data sitting on the server in the form of duplicate tiff
files. It's truly amazing to me that wanting a clean and easy, user
friendly pdf out of AutoCAD is so hard to come by. AutoCAD and Adobe are
big and fat and enjoying all our $10,000's for licenses to their products
and we don't even end up with the very basic tool to create a user friendly
pdf. Talk about a conspiracy!!