Hidden lines not plotting correctly?

[ilarson007]

I am attempting to plot a few drawings that have 3D objects in two-dimensional viewports (paperspace), and they have hidden lines.  On one drawing, the hidden lines are not visible at all.  On the other two drawings, the lines are solid, not hidden.  All viewports that have hidden lines have VSOBSCUREDEDGES = 1, and are the "Hidden" view.

Furthermore, all drawings correctly display my hidden lines within AutoCAD (2012), so it's not that the LTSCALE is incorrect, unless it doesn't plot with the same scale that is displayed?  And that still doesn't explain why the lines disappeared in one viewport completely?

[steve216586]

Are those hidden lines' layer off in the viewport or some such thing? PSLTScale is another variable to look at also for the ones showing solid.

[ilarson007]

No, the only layer I have turned off is my viewport layer.  I've not heard of the PSLTScale before.  I will look into it though.

[ilarson007]

I guess the other thing is, I don't know if I need to change the scale, because they are displaying properly in AutoCAD itself.  They just aren't being plotted correctly.

[steve216586]

The plot scale is probably throwing the scale off from LTSCALE. PSLTScale will correct this. I have mine set to "1" as follows in System Variables:

1\Viewport scaling governs linetype scaling. If TILEMODE is set to 0, dash lengths are based on paper space drawing units, even for objects in model space. In this mode, viewports can have varying magnifications, yet display linetypes identically. For a specific linetype, the dash lengths of a line in a viewport are the same as the dash lengths of a line in paper space. You can still control the dash lengths with LTSCALE.

When you change PSLTSCALE or use a command such as ZOOM with PSLTSCALE set to 1, objects in viewports are not automatically regenerated with the new linetype scale. Use the REGEN or REGENALL command to update the linetype scales in each viewport.

The way to check if layers are frozen or turned off in a viewport is a little different than checking the layer visibility in Layer manager. You will have to activate the viewport to see if any layers are frozen for that particular viewport. Otherwise, it would appear as if all layers are turned on.

[ilarson007]

I took some screenshots and then scanned the output when I plotted the drawings.  The thing that is confusing to me is that all of the hidden lines display properly in AutoCAD, they just don't plot.

It seems that maybe I need to adjust the LTSCALE in the viewports separately from that of the Layout, but I don't remember how to do so.

Here is a link to a gallery; images are in order.

imgur album

[steve216586]

What way are you creating the 2D drawings in paperspace from the 3D model?

[ilarson007]

I created a new viewport, and rotated around to the view that I wanted, and then changed the view setting (not sure what the actual name is) from "Shades of Grey" to "Hidden."

The last time I used flatshot, I did not want any hidden lines, I believe.  Could I get a flatshot that would work for this?

[steve216586 · Accepted solution]

I prefer SOLVIEW and SOLDRAW. those commands will create flat 2D views of your part. They also create unique layers for the visible lines, hidden lines & dim lines, of each view created, which I find quite useful. You can also create sections and auxillary views with these commands. They are not hard to use either. Thre are tons of tutorials out there which are easy to follow and of short duration.

[ilarson007]

I used SOLVIEW and SOLDRAW based on this tutorial:  link

One of my three drawings came out perfectly, but the other two are missing both solid lines of the models and hidden lines now.  It only plotted the left 1/5th (or so) of the viewport.  However, all of my dimensions and center lines that are in the layout appear correctly.  It literally only plotted the leftmost portion of the viewports, and the parts of the viewports that are there are plotted correctly (solid vs. hidden).

Now I'm confused.

[ilarson007]

Addtionally, when I plot them to pdf, everything shows up in the pdf, but I'm only having the problem when I plot them to the printer.

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi,

>> but I'm only having the problem when I plot them to the printer.

I have not followed the complete thread, but that info is the most important. So all the guessing and suggestions and trials about lines/hidden lines ... all is done because of it's only one printer that does not show the results correct?

What printer is it, what driver do you use, and have you tried to recreate a new PC3-file for that printer?

If I missed something and that was already discussed, then sorry!

- alfred -

[ilarson007]

All of the printers here are the same model, a Xerox Workcenter 7530, and it uses the Xerox Global Print Driver PS driver. This cannot be changed, uninstalled, re-installed, or modified. I do not have administrator access to anything here at work.

I have not tried to recreate a new PC3 file for it.

I plotted the drawings to pdf, and then printed them from the pdf, and everything displayed properly.

[jackshield]

I am having much the same problem.

I dont want to use SOLXXX commands because i dont want 2d entities divorced from the model.

see attached:

[andreav]

I was having the same issue with my HIDDEN lines plotting solid.  I checked the PSLTSCALE on the layout that was plotting correctly and matched to the one that wasn't.  In my case my PSLTSCALE needed to be at <0>.  This command has been a lifesaver...Thank you!