Inferior Quality PDFs

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I am an online Architecture student. I have to submit all my CAD work via PDF. Usually Arch D.

But my PDFs look terrible. The fonts are weird, linetypes don't show correctly, etc.

I've tried EVERYTHING:

Export to PDF (different ways & settings)

Print to PDF (different ways & settings)

Checking & adjusting lines & layers

I MUST be missing something!

Anyone have a tricks or tips to make sure my work looks stellar? I am tired of getting lowered grades and grumpy instructors.

Thanks!

Tara Davis

[ChrisRS]

If you post a sample drawing and resulting PDF we might be able to help

[oswaldodcb · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous,

I suggest a way to improve the quality of PDF printing, I hope you serve, I will attach some images of the procedure:

You can increase the quality to fit what you want,

Best regards,

If my publication solved your concern Accept the SOLUTION

Oswaldo Caballero

Instructor ATC

Autodesk AutoCAD Certified User

Venezuela

[ennujozlagam]

@Anonymoushello, try to use different PDF printer driver like, Bullzip, CutePDF, etc and see if helps. thanks

[gotphish001]

If your professors are giving you lower grades because of PDF issues then they should be willing to help you figure them out also. 

There's a lot of setting in arcrobat reader. Maybe try to reset them all back to factory defaults or do a reinstall to get this to happen. A setting might have gotten changed by mistake. Are you able to try and make the PDF from another computer? You say online class, but is there an actual school you can go to to try to make the pdf on a computer there just to see if it's something on your computer that is causing it. 

I'd post a dwg file and a pdf file you made from that dwg. We can then make a pdf from the dwg on our end and see if it looks better than your pdf. If it looks better then we know it's something with your pdf making settings. If our pdf looks wrong like yours does then we can narrow it down to something in autocad.

[Anonymous]

Hi, Thank you for responding. 😊

Well, they have tried to help but to no avail. They just keep saying to re-watch their tutorials or find a online video to watch.

I am using AutoCAD 2017 ED and Adobe Acrobat CC.

I have attached my dwg and pdf. 

Any tips or tricks welcome!!

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

I am sorry you are having output problems with your PDF files.  Are you printing from modelspace or from paperspace? Do you use named pages Setups to control your plot settings? How are you managing lineweights?

If you have a plot style, please attach it with a sample drawing and I can help to setup a pages setup to improve the quality.

Which specific version of AutoCAD are you using?

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

[JeffClark433]

@Anonymous, looking at your PDF, my first thought is the CTB (color table) you are plotting with. Have you tried a different color table? Did it make any difference?

Also, as stated above, try increasing the DPI, or resolution, of the PDF creator. I typically use 300 on full size plans (24" x 36"), seems to work well. On smaller drawings I use 150.

[ennujozlagam]

@gotphish001  hello, i'm not the OP here...LOL..thanks

[Anonymous]

Without your color table (CTB or STB) reproducing the issues is impossible.

What I do:

Create a page setup* to the largest plotter available, in my case an oce that can plot 24x36.

Right click on the layout tab and select "Page Setup Manager"

You don't have any currently so create a new one and name it for the intended plot size and plotter (24x36 Landscape - OCE or whatever) 

Set the plot style, the plotter, the size (24x36) everything you'd normally set for plotting and hit ok.

then Set Current

That will make the page setup current for that layout tab, right click on the other tabs and make the new page setup current in each.

Then instead of plotting or printing to a PDF use the PUBLISH command to PDF

It is my experience that full sized PDF's produced in this manner are much crisper than any other method.  

Supposedly PUBLISH uses the same  DWG_To_PDF.pc3 configuration but the results are so much different something else must be in play.

[ChrisRS]

What Plotter Driver are you using?

Have you printed this out at full scale? (You can print just a portion of a drawing if you do not have large format printer/plotter.) If so, how does the hard copy look?

I opened this is Bluebeam PDF Revu. The line work looks to be all black and of constant width. I see no "thick and thin" when viewing the text. I get different results when I use Acrobat viewer. Some of the lines at grey, and I do see the "thick and thin" text issue. Should part the work be grey?

IN BOTH CASES: when I zoom in the line work stays sharp. I think this is a vector PDF, not raster PDF. I do not think any of the DPI setting affect the vector output.

Because I get different results, I suspect that the PDF is not being generated correctly, indicating a driver problem. You should be getting the same result as your classmates if they are using the same configuration and driver. If you can, why don't you send your file to a classmate, have them make the PDF and compare results? 

I think that I have seen thick and thin text on some of my PDFs when viewing, but they print properly. This appears to be a rendering issue of the PDF viewer, and is probably beyond your control.

It does not seem reasonable for your instructors to be down grading you for this. You are learning Architecture, and AutoCAD, but being grades as an AutoCAD support technician. At this level, you should be given specific directions on what driver and settings to use. Just my opinion!

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

I am checking back to see if my post or others helped you with your problem. Please add a post with how you decide to proceed and your results so other Community members may benefit.

Please hit the Accept as Solution button if a post or posts solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

Vector line work seems sharp. If it's the text, change the font.

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

I have attached your file to this post. Init, I applied a page setup that seems to create a PDF that matches what I see on the screen. Give it a try and let me know if you still have issues with the quality on your side. I suggest using the built-in driver that I have configured and not using Acrobat.

By the way, you should purge and audit your drawings.

[pendean]

Yuu are using SHX stick fonts: they are junk and not worthy of use in you are worried about professional appearances in the Architectural field.

Any reason you are not using Windows TTF fonts? Why aren't your instructors helping you out? Is this a free course, or do you pay their salaries? Who's the customer, you or them?

You (and your instructors) probably also need to change how your pdf viewer displays PDFs, the defaults are junk, these settings below may things appear better

Post back if you are still stuck: reach out to your instructors and ask them to help you as well.

[benboggs2053]

We don't have an issue printing to PDF - we have an issue when our PDF files are printed by others.  They look terrible.  Nothing like the view on the screen. or a direct print from a CAD file.  If we print with different settings - hatches won't print, but the line weights print great.  Use a different setting hatches print - but line weights are wrong.   Anyone have this issue before?  We have tried everything possible.  I have set quality to highest possible.  But when the local plan room prints drawings and sends them to us - they look terrible.  

Thanks,

Ben

[pendean]

since you are new to this discussion to someone else, why not post your DWG and your PDF file for the rest of us to see what you specifically are talking about.

[benboggs2053]

My apologies - it's not the PDF itself that is bad.  Its when we print the PDF to paper that we get issues.  Here is a PDF attached.  Also attached pictures taken of the different looking print outs.  The print on the left is printed from the PDF and the print on the right is printed from CAD.  See the difference?  The one on the left the lines are thicker, hatches are darker.    

Use 2017 CAD, DWG to PDF printer.  Tried every setting possible in both CAD and Adobe.

Thanks

[pendean]

Your PDF prints just fine here with these settings, see camera picture of the paper print, there is nothing wrong UNLESS you are scaling your PDF when printing

[Anonymous]

Your plotter appears to be the issue. Are drivers up to date?  When was the last service (cleaning) date?