Calibri font prints too light

[Anonymous]

I use AutoCAD 2018 and have been struggling with an issue I have researched and cannot find the answer.

I used to have all my blocks use 'Romans SHX" font, but recently changed to Calibri, TTF.......because I read about all the benefits with TTF.

But when I print it to a printer, ( not a pdf ) the smaller Calibri text is way too light.

I understand about lineweights and pen sizes in the CTB, but I have changed nothing since I switched over from Romans to Calibri. 

Romans seemed to print just fine.

When using TTF styles, do you need to increase the lineweight or do something to make it legible on hard copy prints?

[john.vellek · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous,

The first thing I noticed was how large the file size was compared to the content. I ran Purge and -Purge>Regapps to drop your file to under 400k.

That aside, I don't have your hardware printer (Canon C5030/C5035) so there is no way for me to test this as if I were in your environment.

If you print to a PDF does the text look correct? If so, what happens when you  print the PDF to your printer?

You have your text set to Bylayer on layer 0 with a layer color set to 7.  If you edit the Color 7 in the applied monochrome CTB file to use a heavier lineweight does that correct the problem?

Only SHX fonts will accept a lineweight as Truetype is basically an outline that is filled.  Here is an article that describes this behavior.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for replying so quickly.

I forgot to purge everything out of drawing before I uploaded to forum......

Thanks for pointing that out anyways.

I printed to drawing to a pdf then printed to printer from there. It did not change the text.

I increased lineweight on color 7 in the CTB, and that only increased lineweight on dimensions, lines, graphics but the text remained the same.

[john.vellek]

HI @Anonymous,

Did the PDF look correct though? Perhaps you need to check if there are fonts installed on your printer that get used instead of the ones form the print file.  I would suggest trying to print to a different printer as well for comparison.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

I think the text is still too light in the PDF attached. The bigger text looks fine, its just the smaller text (like the ones inside the boxes and circles).

Unfortunately, there are no other printers I can try out here at the office.

How would I go about finding out what fonts are installed in the printer??

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

Give me the exact make and model of yuour printer as well as the drive you have installed and I will see if I can figure out if the printer has embedded fonts.

In the mean time, try changing your Style to use the Bold style of the font to see if that gives you better results.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

Wow! The bold worked great!

Here is our printer information:

Canon iR-ADV C5030_C5035 Class Driver

I've attached a screenshot of something I saw that was interesting, in the properties of the printer. For some reason, I wasn't able to paste the screenshot here.

[john.vellek · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous,

I didn't see any information in the product manuals that told me about any font handling.  I would suggest that if the  Bold works for you then stick with it. I assume it looks OK in the PDF and in printer output.

When you tried to add your image, did you select the photos icon on the toolbar so you could embed it?

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

No, I did not select the photos icon to insert image. Thanks for the tip.

Thanks for looking into this.....I may go with the bold font.

thanks