Preparing drawing for plotter/cutter

[Anonymous]

Our department has recently invested in CAD and a plotter/cutter for the production of templates. Everything has been setup and we are attending a CAD training course one day a week. One thing our instructor hasn't been able to help us with, however, is preparing the drawings for cutting.

Our plotter is a VersaCAMM VP 540 and the RIP software is Roland Versaworks. I was told by the engineer who set up the plotter that we would have to have the cut lines set at 100% magenta. (The engineer is used to illustrator and was not acquainted with AutoCAD, so could not help us set it up). I tried using a magenta layer but the plotter just printed magenta lines.

I've tried searching the internet for answers, but I can't find the information I need. It doesn't seem like there are many people using Autocad and Roland Versaworks together, and I'm lost in the gap between the two.

Any help would be much appreciated! 

[pendean · Accepted solution]

"magenta" is a vague description for an exact color: you assume everyone on the planet agreed that means one exact color.

Go back to the cutter vendor and ask for the definitive/actual RGB code for the color, then implement in AutoCAD using the TRUECOLOR options in COLOR command (your AutoCAD instructor can explain the latter).

[Anonymous]

Many thanks for your reply Pendean.

The vendor said they'd talk to someone versed in both AutoCAD and Versaworks to help find a solution, but they don't seem confident that it can be done without an additional program. I'm not sure if this is because Versaworks uses CMYK, and AutoCAD uses RGB. My understanding is that any translation from RGB to CMYK can only ever be a very close approximation. I may have misunderstood though, it's all very new to me. In any case, it sounds like they're looking for a solution along the lines in your post. I will repeat your advice anyway, just to be sure.

I spoke to someone who does the setting-out for a commercial masonry company and he said they plotted straight from AutoCAD to the machine without loading up the job in any RIP software, which makes it sound doable. They, however, have a Graphtec machine. I don't know how much they differ in principle.

[pendean]

Does the manufacturer/supplier of your equipment offer any kind of support? Surely you're not the first customer with AutoCAD to inquire.