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2012 for Mac printing

11 REPLIES 11
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Message 1 of 12
KPSWD
3580 Views, 11 Replies

2012 for Mac printing

I am slowly getting accustomed to Autocad for Mac. I am slowed down by the many missing functions which have not (at least as yet) been ported over from the PC version, but the aspect which I find really frustrating is printing. Perhaps I am stuck with a PC mindset but I cannot understand why

 

  • Opening drawings in different locations (but still on Macs) generates constant error messages because a certain printer is not  currently available
  • I am confused by the function of ‘Presets’ . They appear to do nothing in my experience – for example selecting ‘Last used’ does not recreate the last print environment)
  • PageSetup has to be accessed via the ‘Edit Page Setup’ button. Why can’t I select a pagesetup via a direct dropdown list (as you do for Pagesetup)

 

It is even more frustrating because I am almost always creating PDF’s.  I have an A4 printer attached in most locations, but I am generally producing A3 and A1 pdfs so having to set the layout up to use A4 seems particularly daft. However, it seems one cannot create a Pagesetup without a physical printer. No doubt I will be told this is an OS X limitation, but I can't help feel that a more elegant workaround could be found.

 

I have also noticed that Publish (to PDF) fails if the Pagesetup of any of the Layouts refers to a missing printer even though it is not being used to create the PDF.

 

In my search for information I found an amusing, but utterly uninformative YouTube clip about the seamless file of sharing drawings between PC and Mac. I am afraid the whole PC3 incompatibility makes this a complete nightmare in my experience.

11 REPLIES 11
Message 2 of 12
ericechols85
in reply to: KPSWD

The printing issue is a pretty big one. It is much, much improved over 2011 (with the addition of Batch Publish) but we still desperately need a way to save drawings with a common page setup across multiple machines (Macs and PCs). The only way I can see doing this effectively is to provide the DWG to PDF driver as a selectable option in the Page Setup dialog (which currently is not possible, though curiously this is what is shown in the Batch Publish dialog). This has been an issue for our company as we work from multiple offices, have many types of printers, and are split Mac and PC. We essentially have to generate multiple Page Setups - one for each employee's particular setup in order to plot properly (or at all for that matter).

 

One potential workaround, would be to have all employees install drivers for a generic plotter on all machines (both Mac and PC) so that the Page Setup references a device that all machines would recognize, regardless of whether or not that plotter is actually connected or even located at that office or employee's location. Of course it is still an issue when going to plot or PDF, but it would cut down on the errors.

 

One other option, is to use CUPS-PDF across all systems. (http://www.physik.uni-wuerzburg.de/~vrbehr/cups-pdf/) This would not be quite as elegant as an Autodesk-provided or sanctioned solution though.

 

I'm not sure I did a great job explaining that, so if someone else could provide clarification, and/or another proposed solution or workaround, it would be greatly appreciated. And if anyone from Autodesk would care to comment, that would be great too!

Message 3 of 12
David_Stacey
in reply to: KPSWD

Probably the easiest solution is to create a fake printer in System Preferences using Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) with an address like 203.45.6.180 (or whatever).  I've set one up using the generic postscript driver and commonly "print" PDF's on a variety of sizes (A3 through A1) and it works a treat.

If you create a different layout for each page size in your template (DWT) file with your preferred print settings, it is easy to create PDF's or print to the correct paper size without manually changing settings everytime.

Message 4 of 12
KPSWD
in reply to: David_Stacey

Thanks - I will try the IPP solution.

 

You might be amused to watch this, which I stumbled on when trying to find solutions to this issue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzbymfTTjB4.

 

I think the claims are a little overstated, given my experience!

 

Currently, I am missing so much tfrom my Autocad for PC experience that I find am using Parallels as I save time that way.

Message 5 of 12
alvalle52
in reply to: KPSWD

David,Your installation of a fake printer sounds like the solution I have been looking for. I have one question: do you simply make up the IP address?

 

and the "generic" post scriptdriver -  is this readily available on-line. I'm a bit new to having the hood up on a Mac!

 

Any guidance here would most gratefully be appreciated! Thanks your posts have been extremely helpful...

 

Cheers

Albert

cambios design + management

Message 6 of 12
alison.strickland
in reply to: KPSWD

Does anybody have any updated solutions to this problem yet? I'm also not that au fait around a computer to attempt anything too technically advanced, so I was hoping that someone might have come accross a generic PDF "printer", or a virtual printer of some sort, that could be installed across all our computers.

 

Thanks.

Message 7 of 12
KPSWD
in reply to: KPSWD

 

you can download the PDFWriter printer here

 

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfwriterformac/

 

and install on all your Macs. It is very easy to do. 

 

I can report thersteer no improvements in this area in Autocad 2013 Mac either, which is disappointing. 

 

Keith

Message 8 of 12
maxim_k
in reply to: KPSWD


@KPSWD wrote:

 

you can download the PDFWriter printer here

 

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfwriterformac/

 

Keith


Just want to warn everyone, that the quality of PDF output from AutoCAD for Mac with this virtual printer (as well as with CUPS-PDF) is rather bad. I already tested both.

 

As I wrote before:

 

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-for-Mac/can-t-export-oversize-PDFs-Help/m-p/2825605#M924

 

- the best results I get with Gutenprint drivers (setup printer with on of them as "fake" IP printer), you can use "localhost" name for printer port.

 

Maxim


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Maxim Kanaev
Architect
MARSS

MacACAD | Linkedin

Etiquette and Ground Rules of Autodesk Community
Message 9 of 12
KPSWD
in reply to: maxim_k

 

Just to clarify, I understood the last poster was looking for a solution for the constant errfrom caused by printers not being found when plotting files on different Mac's.  I only install this virtual printer to provide a consistent device across different machines.  I never actually print to it - I find the built in Mac OSX PDF driver fine for my needs. 

Message 10 of 12
alison.strickland
in reply to: maxim_k

Max, for dummies like me, would you be able to post the steps screenshot by screenshot please? Thanks 🙂

Message 11 of 12
alison.strickland
in reply to: KPSWD

Thanks for the clarification Keith. I've installed the printer, but haven't played around with it yet. I get your point about just using it to facilitate printing preferences though, and not actually using it to make the pdf's. I also await Max's tips to compare the two.

Message 12 of 12
maxim_k
in reply to: alison.strickland

Hi,

 

Isn't it enough?:

 

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-for-Mac/can-t-export-oversize-PDFs-Help/m-p/2825605#M924

 

There are all steps in a post I mentioned above.

If you asked about localhost, then I mean you can substitute address 169.254.54.121 with just one word: localhost

 

Maxim


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Maxim Kanaev
Architect
MARSS

MacACAD | Linkedin

Etiquette and Ground Rules of Autodesk Community

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