Civil 3d 2018 very slow and larger pdf files

[Waterfree]

Hi there. Ill tryy to explain as good as I can.

We have moved over to C3D2018. And our pdf files suddenly started to get much larger, and takes ages to print out.

We noticed one pdf, from Civil 2017. Only 750kbs. Exact same plot from 2018 2,9mb. 

What i noticed is that the hatches takes time to load from the 2018 pdf. But with the 2017, it loads instantly.

Any clues to what it is? We have tried to compare all the plot and pdf settings from 2017 to 2018.

Cheers!

[ChrisRS]

Is the 2017 pdf vector or raster? (You can tell by looking at a high level of zoom)

Is the 2018 pdf vector or raster?

If 2018 is forcing a shift to raster output, that would explain the size increase and slower hatch rendering.

Just a guess.

If this (vector to raster shift) is the case, you have identified a symptom. Even then, I don't know what the problem is, but you would be one step closer to the solution.

[BushW]

Hi @Waterfree

Please review this AKN article PDF file size increases in AutoCAD after installing the 2017.1.1 update. It seems this is a known issue which occurs when "Included Hyperlinks" is deselected in PDF Options. Hope this helps!

Please select the ‘Accept as Solution’ button if my post solves your issue or answers your question so, other Community members may benefit and thank you for doing so.

[Waterfree]

One of the things i noticed. Is if I turn of transparancy, the pdf size goes down. And the pdf loads much faster. Could this be a bug in 2018?

This was no problem in 2017...

[BushW]

Hi @Waterfree

@ChrisRS might be on to something here. Can you confirm if the 2017 pdf vector or raster and was the 2018 pdf vector or raster?

[Waterfree]

Well, not exacly sure how to tell. I uploaded two pictures. both zoomed in 6400%.

The whole plan is in A1 size. And have large areas with hatches with transparency

[Waterfree]

ere is my plotter settings and driver info

[ChrisRS]

I did a quick test and cannot replicate this.

@Waterfree, your photos are JPGs (always raster) so it is hard to be certain. That said, it looks like:

Image 1 (2017) looks like it is all vector. 

Image 2 (2018) looks like the line work is vector and the fills are raster. I say this because of the square/rectangular artifacts at the borders of the transparent fills. If you zoom in further you will see the overlapping jagged edges of the transparent fills, resulting in darker grey/grey overlaps, grey/green overlaps and grey/pink overlaps.

It looks like the wide grey lines are also transparent. They seem to be vectors in both of the PDF image. The problem appears to be limited to the hatches.

If you create PDFs of small representative areas I could be sure.

I do not use transparency, so I am not an expert, but I do not see anything wrong with your settings. You might check the visual style of your view ports because that can force raster, but it seems that it would also apply to line work as well.

Things to try:

Try a different PDF driver if you have one.

Does this happen for multiple drawings or just this one? If so the drawing may be corrupt

Workaround: Send fills to the back and eliminate transparency by using lighter colors. This does not work if you are using transparency to mask underlying content. (I hate workarounds, but I do feel like I have a lot more work-arounds that work-flows.)

Good Luck

Note: This may be a base AutoCAD Issue.

[BushW]

Hi @Waterfree

Have you tried plotting this drawing from another computer to see what results are? Can you post this drawing so, we can try to replicate this issue?

Thanks

[BushW]

Hi @Waterfree

I just wanted to follow up here, any thoughts on my previous post? 

Best Regards,

[Waterfree]

Had so much to do, and so little time. I will try to answer early next week.

Thx for updating and trying to figure this out!!

[BushW]

Hi @Waterfree

No worries, I was just following up to see if you still needed help. Please keep us posted when you have the opportunity. Thanks

[Anonymous]

Wendell, did you figure it out, we are having trouble plotting with a transparency hatch.

[ChrisRS]

Wendell left Autodesk so we are on our own in the forum. The original poster never posted a drawing or the PDF's, which would help in solving the problem.

If you describe your problems in more detail, someone might be able to help. It is often helpful to post a problem drawing or the resulting PDF's so we can check.

Good luck.