DWG to PDF out of memory

[Anonymous]

Have a sheet set that I am plotting to PDF then printing.  There is grading that has some substantial hatching, and when I open the PDF to plot it tell me 'out of memory' and doesn't finish rendering all my sheets in the PDF. 

I think the hatches are the problem, but would like to use this level of details in the plotted sheets. Is this an issue with the printer memory, and or something I can set in a swap file on the machine? 

Any pointers on best practices around this topic would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks,

Karen Snow

[ChicagoLooper]

This example uses a PDF of a downloaded USGS topo map. The PDF file size is huge at 53,000 KBs. After the reduction process, the file size is only 9,800 KBs (about 80% reduction). You can easily perform this on dwg's that have been printed to PDF because the process is the same, i.e. 1) start with a large file, 2) run the process and 3) end up with a much smaller file. When I run into memory issues, this saves me. I've heard of, and tried other methods, but this is the only one that doesn't degrade the resolution of deliverables. I've also heard of and seen first hand where 'squares' appear in lieu of font which occurs after combining individual pages of PDF into a multi-page PDF, e.g. titleblock text will contain letters and 'squares' in a single word. If you run this after assembling all your pages, the squares no longer 'highjack' the letters allowing the words to return to true form. 

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

Thanks for the suggestions and I did try to run the reduction of the PDF once it was created from Civil 3D using Plot DWG to PDF.  The original file size is 36KB and I ran the reduction inside PDF but it returned a warning that document contained image masks that were not downsampled and the reduced file showed a 0KB size. 

Not sure what went wrong or how to fix.  I obviously have some masks in the DWG that PDF does not like.

Karen

[ChicagoLooper]

OK, just so I can understand your situation better, use the green highlighted plotter, not the red, when you go to plot. If you are using neither green nor red, then you'll have to explain exactly how you are "printing to PDF."

Choose green highlighted plotter to create your PDFs.

[dbinkney · Accepted solution]

A tip that we use at my firm to reduce the print size of solid hatches is to use the DOT hatch.  Then make the scale dense enough so that the dots appear as a solid hatch at the scale you are printing.  This also helps remove the lines that can appear on a typical solid hatch.

Second, have you tried the DWG to PDF print driver?  That seems to make things quick and small (though not always).

[Anonymous]

I typically print from the sheet set manager and select Publish to PDF.  I am not sure what settings are assumed here for DPI and such, but assume AutoCAD is pulling from the publish dialog in second screen shot. 

Is there a way to set the option in Sheet Set Manager to print to the DWG To PDF300dpi.PC3?

Maybe our driver is out of date for the DWG To PDF option?