topic C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black in Civil 3D Forum

C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

ryanj — Mon, 11 May 2020 17:57:16 GMT

I just updated to C3D 2021 and found that when I go to plot using "DWG to PDF" all of my wipeouts used in C3D objects are plotting as solid black.

For instance, I have a AutoCAD block that I use for existing storm manholes that has a wipeout. The wipeout in the block plots fine in the legend. But when that very same block is used as a marker style for a cogo point it plots the wipeout as solid black.

This seems to be occurring with other C3D objects as well. For instance, my proposed storm manholes which are C3D pipe network structures. Again, the AutoCAD block in the legend plots fine but the C3D structure (which uses that same block for its symbol) plots as solid black. Side note: all my structures have C3D Structure Labels which have a background mask and those are plotting as expected.

I noticed that if i print using "Bluebeam PDF" then the wipeouts in the C3D objects plot as they are supposed to.

So my issue seems to be isolated to something within the block/wipeout/C3D object/printer relationship.

Could the issue be with the new driver used for "DWG to PDF"? I went back to C3D 2017 and opened an older version of this dwg and the plotting of all wipeouts seems to be working fine.

2017 uses C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2017\Drv\pdfplot13.hdi (version 13.0.402.0 dated 5/9/2017)

2021 uses C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2021\Drv\pdfplot16.hdi (version 16.0.47.0 dated 1/22/2020)

I know next to nothing about drivers but maybe I could replace the AutoCAD 2021\Drv\pdfplot16.hdi with AutoCAD 2017\Drv\pdfplot13.hdi (rename it to pdfplot16?)??? Or maybe there is an update to the new 2021 driver?

FYI

- i have been using wipeouts for years using multiple printers without issues.

- I would prefer not to go back to using solid hatches with color 255.

- the plot quality of the "DWG to PDF" is far superior to that of "Bluebeam PDF". I'm sure I could try messing with the settings of the "Bluebeam PDF" but I would rather just get my "DWG to PDF" acting normal.

- I know there is draworder/creation order issue with using wipeouts in cogo points. I don't think this has anything to do with my current plotting issues but all wipeouts in my blocks were created before all other objects.

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

qnologi — Mon, 11 May 2020 18:01:22 GMT

have you read this

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-forum/wipeouts-plotting-black/td-p/1006506

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

Anonymous — Mon, 11 May 2020 18:19:59 GMT

do you have "enable part masking" checked in your structure style. I don't use wipeouts for my C3D structure objects because the pipe mask themselves to the structure already.

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

ryanj — Mon, 11 May 2020 18:56:55 GMT

I toggled the enable part masking on and off and saw no change in the plotting of the wipeout as solid black.

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

ryanj — Mon, 11 May 2020 18:58:22 GMT

I did not see that one before posting but I am not seeing a solution here, unless I am missing it?

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

Anonymous — Tue, 12 May 2020 13:20:27 GMT

@ryanj wipeouts plotting as black was always a driver problem whenever I had this issue in the past. I've not had it in a number of years now admittedly and I have not yet stepped up to 2021 so can't replicate the issue. Have you tried printing any other way? Does the wipeout show as black on print preview as well?

Regards,

Peter

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

izzyloh — Thu, 02 Jul 2020 23:50:53 GMT

We have the same problem. I noticed that for whatever reason the wipeout is utilizing ACI Color 7 (Black/White) when inside a Civil 3D label (this is not an issue with wipeouts in blocks or outside of C3D lables). I changed our CTB to have Color 7 at 0% screening and the wipeouts now "work."

Previous CTB has Color 7 set at 70% Screen:

Revised Test CTB has Color 7 set at 0% Screen:

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

ryanj — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 12:56:35 GMT

That was essentially my solution as well. Except I use named PlotStyles and just created a style named NoPlot and set the screening to 0%.

This does come with pros and cons.

Pros:

1. Using a solid hatch that plots out at 0% screening to mimic the wipeout when plotting seems to have less stress on the graphics card and computing power than a true wipeout.

Cons:

1. You have to pick a color for that solid hatch to display. All of my "wipeout" hatches are on one layer named Wipeouts. I set the color of the hatch to ByLayer and set that layer to match my background color. Different users at my company have different background colors so they just need to change that Wipeouts layer to match their background.

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

ddacad — Tue, 18 Aug 2020 22:29:41 GMT

ifizzy142 - How did you ever figure out that the C3D objects were ignoring all the layer properties of the wipeout and instead replacing it with color 7?? Kudos, sir! I would've been fighting this for a long long time, cussing Autodesk and cursing my existence.

ryanj - I agree with hatch instead of a wipeout. I switched from wipeout to hatch with no screening few years ago. Seems like a much easier thing for computer and C3D to deal with.

I'm new to a firm that still uses .ctb and didn't have a pen with 0 screening, so I reverted to wipeout only to find this problem. Easy fix thanks to ifizzy! Thanks again!

FYI: https://blogs.rand.com/support/2020/08/wipeouts-plotting-as-black-when-used-in-styles-in-civil-3d-2021.html states This is a currently known defect in the Civil 3D 2021 software. Autodesk Software Engineering is aware of this behavior and is investigating for a code fix in a future update. The reference ID is ACD-11504. There currently is no date as to when this defect may be corrected.

To both of you: I can't express enough appreciation for info. I can't imagine how much time I would've

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

izzyloh — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 02:18:29 GMT

@ddacad, I got lucky! Our Color 7 is/was unique from all other colors so the error stood out in an strange way - strange enough that it made the connection.

Thanks for the kind words! I've been saved by the forums many times, so I'm glad to be able to pay it back/forward haha. And thank you for linking the error update!

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

smurrin — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 14:53:30 GMT

I agree that was a great find. Good job 👍. I am having the same issue with roadway centerline elevations that is cogo points with wipeouts. It's crazy to have this issue in the first place considering that 2020 worked fine and now 2021 is doing this like the older versions used to do. Hopefully, Autodesk will get this issue fixed soon. But now that you found this workaround I can install 2021 for my other 5 users. Again way to go sir!

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

sfrazziniPHGKP — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 15:14:24 GMT

Has there been any update to this issue? - Just got latest 2021.1 update, but did not address the issue.

Updated Template to remove wipeout, so current drawings are working fine; however older drawings still have the older blocks and continue to have this plotting problem.

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

smurrin — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 15:19:51 GMT

Not as of yet. Was hoping it was fixed on this latest update they just gave out but unfortunately…….nope ☹.
But I’m using a workaround by making color 7 (white/black) with a plot screening of 0%. Now this is not a fix all because if you print anything on using this color it will not show up on your print…..(since it will be basically be white printing on white.) But that’s that way I’m doing it until it gets fixed……………AUTODESK HINT HINT!

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

chriscowgill7373 — Thu, 01 Oct 2020 12:24:19 GMT

It was not fixed in the 2021.1.1 hotfix that was released last week either.

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

aruf — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 16:56:59 GMT

Is there a similar solution to this with STB?

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

chriscowgill7373 — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 17:10:14 GMT

For STB you would have to assign a plot style that is 0% instead of 0% screening. Its the same workaround though. I've been using this since I found out about the issue, with no problems.

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

chriscowgill7373 — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 18:54:14 GMT

And it isnt fixed in the 2021.2 update.

Based on the defect number in the blog posts by IMAGINiT on the subject, I would venture to guess that it isnt a civil issue, but in one of the programs it is built upon. Looking at the updates to the 3 software, (AutoCAD, Map, and Architecture) It looks like the AutoCAD Architecture 2021.0.1 fixed a bug with plotting wipeouts as solid. The problem is, you cant install the update on Civil 3D unless you also have AutoCAD Architecture 2021 installed on your machine.

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

cthome — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 18:30:36 GMT

Another solution...

Convert all of your wipeouts to AECPOLYGONS. Set the default style to Use Background Mask under the Tab "Other".

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

dnietubicz — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 14:33:35 GMT

I've always had my wipeouts and "simulated" text halo colors set to an RGB color 255.255.255 and they've always come out white. Doesn't matter how the ctb files are set. But....for some reason civil 3d 2021 changes all of them to black. We tried the same file on a 2019 machine and it works correctly. if I change the wipeouts to 255 it works, but Id rather not do that for every style and every drawing. BTW all of the other colors I've modified to be an RGB color like 254.1.1 (red) still work just fine.

Re: C3D objects plotting wipeouts as solid black

aruf — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 14:58:59 GMT

Thanks for the reply and I know I'm a few months late responding here, but would I have to edit all of my symbols to point to the new Plot Style? What about all the drawings our firm has that already use symbols. I can't imagine having to redefine all symbols every time we open a job with symbols.