Plot vs Publish results. Different Layers are printed

[jsinobasN8VK5]

Hello,

for a while i tried to fix a problem that m having with one file. I freeze some layers in one layout that when i print, they are not displayed. If i Plot, th eresult is the expected one. If i Publish, all my off layers are printed...more over. This layers are part of an xref. If i Unload the Xref and Publish, they are still printing!!!!! i already modifiying the Page setup, applying different PDF printers.. im desperate.. 🙂

can anyone help?

what can be happening? when i compare that file with others they seem to be equal in terms of configuration however one is publiched correct and the other one not.

thanks Comunity!!

[randyspear6624]

I apologize for the obvious but are you saving before publishing?

[jsinobasN8VK5]

No obvious at all. Yes. The layer state is saved but for some reason is not kept when I publish. When I plot the single layout the result is as it’s configured. When I publish even if I unload the Xref, the information is printed.

[sambremer]

There's two things I would try/check:

1. Make sure the page setup in the Publish Dialogue Box is the same page setup you use to plot. You can import a page setup and apply that to all of your pages.
2. In the Publish Dialogue Box, make sure the box that reads "Publish in background" stays unchecked. For whatever reason, this has always been a glitch on my end and I have had similar issues where the plot doesn't match my publish even though they are plotted with the same settings. 

[randyspear6624]

I meant saving the file... If I publish, it will only publish what was last saved not necessarily what recent changes I made prior to publishing.

[dany_rochefort]

What are you publishing to; PDF format or to your Printer ? 

[dany_rochefort]

I publish all the time... Best advice i can give you is to make a  PDF Page Setup in the ''Page Setup Manager''  that you know works well before going to Publish window (i use DWG to PDF). Once you have a working Page Setup,  Save your Drawing. When you go back into the publish window,  add your drawings putting your drawing with the correct page setup 1st on the list. Add all other drawings, then select all drawings using CRTL+A, and the apply the page setup you have created (my page setup is called PDF 11x17 DR). Make sure the ''Publish To'' box is set to  ''Plotter Named in the Page Setup'' , very important... 

[jsinobasN8VK5]

First thanks to all, 

More updates.

the file is saved with the layer filter as i want it to be printed. however, if i close the file and open it again, the layer state is rolled back to its "original state"...

Also,

@sambremer if i unselect the Plot in background option it prints correctly. However this is not a definitive solution as the purpose of Publish batch plot is to continue working while printing.

any other suggestions?

[jsinobasN8VK5 · Accepted solution]

Good News everyone!

i already found the problem and therefore the solution to the issue.

the problem was caused because the variable VISRETAIN was set to 0 intead of 1

when this variable is set to 0 the layer state is not saved and it seems to affect the Publish command(not the Plot command or even the Publish command if "print in the background" is not selected)

setting VISRETAIN to 1 fix both issues. the layer state saved is kept after the file is closed and the Publish can be perfomed "in the background" with the correct result.

thanks to all for the suggestions.

@sambremer , you might like to check this variable in you station... it might solve your issue to print in the background.

[sambremer]

I'm glad you found the issue. My VISRETAIN is also set to 1 so I can't tell you why that quirk happens to me every once in awhile. Publishing in the background is just a perk to the publish command. Unchecking the box and letting the program open each file individually to print is much quicker and is a fool-proof method with all of our plan sets.

[randyspear6624]

Agreed... I got away from background plotting/publishing at least 10years ago now. It reduces the amount of plotting issues & troubleshooting significantly. If i have a really large plot job, I'll just start another session of CAD on another monitor.

Yes, visretain set to 0 can be handy in instances but setting it back to 1 after reloading the xref is often forgot about. Additionally, be aware of visretainmode as well... I'm not using it yet but as new CAD staff start to out number the experienced users, I may see some benefit to it.

Take care