Unreadable dimensions and text after output to PDF

[MichaelaVallach]

Hi there!

I have an issue with texts and dimensions being changed to rectangles after output to PDF. What's the cure?

[paul.clauss]

Hi @MichaelaVallach

Thanks for posting! It looks like you are experiencing an issue in which dimension text in a Fusion 360 drawing is showing up as small boxes when output to PDF. We had an issue in which this occurred on Windows OS in the past, but it appears that it was addressed and resolved by our development team.

As you may be experiencing a regression of this issue, I wanted to gather some information from you. What operating system (Windows or Mac) are you working on? If you are working on Mac, did you download Fusion 360 from the Mac Apple Store or from the Autodesk Website? Also, what PDF viewer are you using to view the PDF? Is the text shown if you open the PDF with a web browser of Microsoft Word?

Also, are you using the default Arial text for the dimensions in your drawing, or have you changed the Annotation font in your drawing? Arial with a height of 3.5mm is the default in Fusion - will the text output properly at these defaults? To change the annotation text in a drawing please refer to the screenshot below. If the defaults are not outputting correctly, will a different font output to PDF?

 It may also help our development team investigate this behavior if you could gather your diagnostic log files and attach them to your next post on this thread. We appreciate you bringing this behavior to our attention and I look forward to hearing from you!

[Anonymous]

I too am having this issue.

I am running the Autodesk.com version on Mac.

Here are my diagnostic log files.

I am exporting this Drawing with multi sheet export, and opening it with Preview.

If I open the pdf with chrome, the text shows but is stacked on top of itself. (e.g. drawing becomes drwng, with the missing letters on top of the other letters)

I am using Futura Font at 5mm height. If i change to the default settings, the dimensions show up, but the Title Block (A custom one) is still unreadable. There are also still instances of letters on top of each other.

[MichaelaVallach]

Hi Paul.

Sorry for the very late reply.

I use Mac, the download was from the Autodesk website, I use Acrobat to view my PDFs.

Default settings helped to resolve the problem.

For the future it would be nice to use also some other fonts, but that's just a detail 😉 😛

Thank you for your super fast reaction. 

[TrippyLighting]

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@paul.clauss wrote:

Hi @MichaelaVallach

... We had an issue in which this occurred on Windows OS in the past, but it appears that it was addressed and resolved by our development team...

Sorry, what ?

It is a know problem that the PDF output from the drawing environment is terrible. It's been reported many times here on the forum. Frankly I feel ashamed that I have to send that stuff out to suppliers even for quoting purposes.

[paul.clauss]

Hi @TrippyLighting

Thanks for the response! We have had some specific issues with PDF export that have been solved and some that are not yet resolved - if you have specific examples of a problem you are currently experiencing please create a new thread and we will address them there. 

[cekuhnen]

@paul.clauss

Disastrous PDF line quality for example is still not resolved either. The output is unusable.

Any update on that?

[paul.clauss]

Hi @cekuhnen @TrippyLighting 

Thanks for the response! I had a discussion with our drawings team about this behavior and wanted to gather some more information from you, as we have been having some difficulties reproducing this behavior. If you are having problems with PDF output please respond to the questions below - we appreciate your input!

1. Are you creating the PDF on Mac OS or Windows?
2. Is the PDF exported from Fusion being opened on Mac OS or Windows?
3. What application is being used to open and view the PDFs?
4. Can you attach a PDF illustrating the problems, along with a screen capture of the poor performance on your system?

I will pass any information provided here on to our Drawings team so they may continue to investigate this behavior. Please let me know if you have any questions! We look forward to hearing from you.

[Anonymous]

I also have the lineweight problem when exporting to PDF. The lines look a lot thicker than in drawing. I use windows for both Fusion 360 and reading PDF, and use the Adobe Reader XI to read PDF files.

[cekuhnen]

@paul.clauss My biggest complaint is the disasterous pdf path export quality.

just make an export and check how arcs splines corners and such are drawn in the pdf format  

[mishrani]

Hi @Anonymous,

For turning off lineweights in exported PDF, can you try toggling off "Lineweights" checkbox in "Output PDF" command dialog before exporting to PDF.

Please refer to attached picture :

[Anonymous]

Sorry for the late reply...

When i deactivate the lineweight option, some lines get lighter than others. I need to zoom in in order to see them correctly (after 300% zoom i can see them well).