PDF to Paper Scale Issue

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone, 

I'm having an issue with PDF scaling. I triple checked that the CAD file itself was to scale and correct and it is. When i make my plot into a PDF and then print it the scale isn't right. For example a 49' wall in the CAD file is only coming out to 38' when measured on paper with a ruler. I am using the print actual size setting when i print the PDF to paper so not sure what the issue is.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

[pendean]

Post a screenshot of your PLOT command pop-up ready to output to PDF, and if you can, post your resulting PDF file as well please.

TIA

[Anonymous]

Hi pendean,

I attached both files as requested, thank you again for all your help!!

[Bob_Zurunkle]

OP your PNG tells the story. You have checked to "fit", and your units are 1 inch equals 12.71 units.

Uncheck "fit" and make your units 1 inch equal 12, for starters.

Next, if your work is being cropped, you will probably need to go into the custom settings for D size paper, and set all of your margins to zero.

[Anonymous]

Hi Bob,

See attached, that didn't work when i unchecked fit and made it 12. I have used the settings i had in the photos for other jobs and it's always made the right size PDFs and scale, it's just this job for some reason that is having these issues 😞 I'm trying to make a 24x36 with a 1"=10' scale

[pendean]

you need to use the SCALE option on the PLOT command to output exactly what you need: it appears from the PDF that you are plotting from MODELSPACE, the absolute most hard way to do it IMHO.

Are you able to post your actual DWG file here? Lets see what you are working with and you many other settings.

TIA

[Anonymous]

Hi pendean,

I attached the file. I usually do all my work in model space. Normally when i use fit to paper and pick the window plot size it's usually fine, but for some reason on this one it isn't working right. On another job i just did i used these settings and when printed on 24x36 paper the 1"=10' scale measures out perfect

[pendean]

Thanks for the DWG file.

Your file is set to 1foot=1unit, is that your wish? If so, wouldn't your plot scale be 1=10 and not 1"=10' (or 1"=120") as in your scale marker?

Is the site plan at 1:1 scale? I see no way to check here, your sidewalks (I assume that is what they are) are anywhere from under to over 3-feet in width.

[Anonymous]

Everything is definitely correct scale wise in the dwg (Wall measurements line up with exactly what they are on google earth, etc.). The issue is when i plot it. When i plot it 24x36 to PDF and then print the PDF the 1"=10' isn't lining up. For example in CAD it says a particular wall is 49' but when measured with a ruler on the printed copy its only 30 something feet don't remember the exact number. I tried plotting it as ARCH E (36x48) then printing and measuring with a ruler too. I measured a different wall in CAD and it was 41' (confirmed with Google earth, it's actually that long) but when ruler measured it was 43' long on the paper copy.

Does this make sense? The CAD file is correct, it's when it's plotted then printed that something is getting messed up. I don't have any other issues with any other dwgs i've made, it always comes out 24x36 and the 1"=10' scale always is correct on paper

[pendean]

Which building element is 49' in your CAD file? There isn't one, the ones I can find measure between a fraction above 48', nothing is exactly 49'.

[Anonymous]

see attachment

[pendean]

Your dimension style is rounding and hiding all the inaccuracies, that distance is 48.56' precisely

 

Then there is your titleblock: you say it is supposed to be  24x36 (2foot x 3 foot): if you look at the measurements of your drawn titleblock, looks like you scaled one side by 150, the other side by 146.76, way out of proportion of a 24x36 titleblock

So what am I missing here? Your drawing is not drafted accurately at all, it's just "close" in a loosest of terms. Since that is all you need and have needed all of these years, and absolutely nothing in both of your titleblock areas would warrant measuring manually, do you really need 1":10' plot?

Let us know.

[Anonymous]

I just noticed that the original CAD files were drawn to 30x42 scale, so that's why it's off. I made them 24x36 so that is where it's coming from

[Anonymous]

And i have not been doing this for years, i just started a couple months ago haha

[pendean]

>>>... were drawn to 30x42 scale, so that's why it's off....<<<
Still does not work: one titleblock side is scaled by 120, the other side is scaled by 125.71

>>>... started a couple months ago haha...<<<
Good: then you can easily break those bad habits of not drawing anything to scale 🙂

[Anonymous]

Yeah i need to fix my plot borders to match 30x42, i see that now. Alright well can you walk me through what to do here?

[pendean]

Fix 48.56' to be 49', draw everything correctly and to scale at exact 1:1 scale, no fudging.

And since your DWG file has units set to feet, not inches, you cannot scale the titleblock by 120x if you only need 1'=10' plots. To go from 1'=1' to 1'=10' draw a 2.5x3.5 rectangle (aka 30"x42")and scale it up by 10.