Issue with Scale When Exporting from Civil 3D to PDF

[amamra_tarik]

Hi everyone,

I'm experiencing an issue when exporting my Civil 3D drawing to PDF. After sending the PDF to my supervisor, they noted that the scale on the plans is incorrect. When measuring distances (such as stationing), the values do not match what they should be.

I've ensured that the drawing is correctly scaled in Civil 3D, but something seems to go wrong during the PDF export. Could anyone offer guidance on how to maintain accurate scaling and stationing when creating PDFs?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

[AllenJessup · Accepted solution]

Very difficult to say. I haven't  plotted from Model Space since Release 12 in the early '90s. I'd suggest you look into plotting from a Paper Space Layout. I don't think it's a good idea to plot to FIT. That almost always introduces an error in scaling. In a layout you plot 1 to 1. 

Another source of errors I find in plotting PDFs in how the scaling is set. The border in CAD should match the paper size and there should no scaling set for the PDF print.

I know it will take some time to set things up this way. But once setup you'll have easy accurate plotting.

BTW. Once you have layouts setup. Store them in a Template for easy availability.

[amamra_tarik]

Thank you so much for your advice, It was very helpful 

[AllenJessup]

Glad to help. Ask more questions if you need to.

[AllenJessup]

I just noticed this in the AutoCAD Forum:

[NEW AutoCAD WEBINAR] From Plan to Plot: Going from Page Setup to Output in AutoCAD

If you have time. It might be useful.