2016: DWG to PDF

[BlackBox_]

I've just recently again tried 2016 to see if the latest update resolved the issues with PDF, and some of them have... Yet I cannot get DWG to PDF to _NOT_ produce Bookmarks, _NOT_ display the resultant PDF in viewer (I use Autopublish to produce PDF at SAVE*), nor can I get it to stop showing the Thumbnails, etc. in the resultant PDF.

should note that I've also tried the various additional PDF printers that come with 2016, and even EXPORTPDF Command with no change (modifying respective settings accordingly to accomplish the above). Grrr

I've also gone through the Registry and found that my Profile's ..\Dialogs\AcAutoPublishOpts\, etc. keys in HKCU do not match the settings for DWG to PDF, etc. as shown above. Manually correcting them (after exporting current) does not rectify the issue (even after session quit/launch).

Anyone found a way of solving this?

[BlackBox_]

I see that the 'escalation' arrow, and 'need an answer' button is gone... So... *bump*

Anyone from Autodesk able to offer a solution to this issue, which was reported by multiple folks back in 2016 Beta?

[AlmasSuljevic]

This thread is moved to AutoCAD printing and plotting forum as you may get better traction there, this being core functionality affecting plot settings.

[BlackBox_]

Thank you, Almas.

Are you able to confirm the issue in 2016?

If so, how does one produce PDFs without opening in Viewer, not create Bookmarks, and have the resultant PDF initial display set to Page only (2015 suffered non of these issues using DWG to PDF)?

Cheers

[pendean]

Can't recreate your problem in R2016: got any more information? IS this the only PC with R2016 for you?

[AlmasSuljevic]

Unless I don't understand the issue correctly, I was unable to replicate the issue you were describing. In the settings you show unchecking "Show results in viewer" does not automatically open PDF viewer. It does create a PDF but not opening it automatically. Is this what you are saying is not happening? In the PDF viewer there is a setting to not show thumnails (In Adobe reader go View>Show/Hide>Navigation Panes>Page Thumbnails.

[BlackBox_]

Not sure how else to clarify this for you... But I'll try....

I've been using Autopublish since it was introduced back in 2009, allong with the PUBLISHCOLLATE sysvar. I configure it to use "DWG to PDF.pc3" in each version (after it was fixed in 2009 SP3, that is - crappy before that!), and have never had any issues until 2016's changes to how PDFs are made.

In Civil 3D 2015 -

I simply SAVE my drawing, and the resultant PDF is produced in the drawing's folder. That's it. The PDF is not launched in Viewer, and even when opened, there are no bookmarks, no layer, and no panes are shown, just Page. While I have Adobe Reader installed, Adobe Acrobat Pro is my default for PDFs (same as I experienced in 2009, 2011 [skipped 2010], 2012, 2013, and 2014 before it).

In Civil 3D 2016 -

I simply SAVE my drawing, and the resultant PDF is produced in the drawing's folder, and subsequently opened in Viewer (Adobe Acrobat Pro). The PDF produced by 2016 does include bookmarks, and the bookmarks pane is displayed, with the same install of Adobe Acrobat Pro on the same system as 2015 and 2016.

Additionally, I've found that using EXPORTPDF - using the same DWG to PDF driver as Autopublish, via named Page Setup, same PDF settings as shown above (i.e., everything unchecked) - a smaller PDF is produced, with no bookmarks, but does have the thumbnails pane displayed.

Also worthy of note, is that 2016 produces a larger PDF than 2015, using identical DWG to PDF settings (2016 is creating bookmarks when it should not though). EXPORTPDF in 2016, using the same named Page Setup, and DWG to PDF produces a smaller PDF than both 2016 & 2015 via Autopublish mechanism.

Further, Adobe does allow me to set application preference for display settings - however, those settings are overriden when opening a PDF that contains document settings different than that of the application preferences - this explains why 2016 PDFs are 'viewing' differently than those produced using 2015.

My workstation specs:

Dell Precision T3600, Hex-Core Intel Xeon E-1650 @ 3.2 Ghz, Win10x64 Enterprise, 240 GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD (OS), 1 TB 10K RPM Western Digital HDD (Data, Client Hyper-V VMs, etc.), 32 GB RAM, 3 x Gigabit NIC (1 for OS, 2 for Client Hyper-V vEthernet), 3 GB Nvidia Quadro K4000, 3 x Dell 24" Ultrasharp monitors, Autodesk Infrastructure Design Suite 2014/2015/2016

[bryce.thelin]

Hi Blackbox CAD,

I think the issue may be a combination of the PC3 settings and what you have in the Publish window. Try this:

1. Edit the "AutoCAD PDF (General Documentation).pc3" so that all checkboxes are off (like in your original screen shot).
2. Enter the PUBLISH command and uncheck "Publish in background" and "Open in viewer when done."
3. At the top, select PDF to publish to and then click "Publish Options."
4. Uncheck all options at the bottom under the Data section.
5. Click OK and then Publish to send a PDF so that all the setting are set. Discard the resulting PDF.

Now SAVE and see if Automatic Publish produces a good PDF and doesn't open it in Reader. Another thing to try is to turn on background publishing, which you can quickly do in Options > Plot and Publish. Files should not open in viewers when background publishing is on since that goes against being in the background.

[BlackBox_]

Greetings, @bryce.thelin- 

Apologies for the delayed response; work is a bit crazy at the moment.

Just posting to say thanks for your reply; I'll give those steps a try as soon as I can, and let you know how it goes.

Cheers

[pendean]

A test: edit each of the 5 pdf drivers on 2016 to look like your screenshot (only the options you want) and see if that kills he features you dislike.

[BlackBox_]

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@bryce.thelin wrote:

Hi Blackbox CAD,

I think the issue may be a combination of the PC3 settings and what you have in the Publish window. Try this:

1. Edit the "AutoCAD PDF (General Documentation).pc3" so that all checkboxes are off (like in your original screen shot).
2. Enter the PUBLISH command and uncheck "Publish in background" and "Open in viewer when done."
3. At the top, select PDF to publish to and then click "Publish Options."
4. Uncheck all options at the bottom under the Data section.
5. Click OK and then Publish to send a PDF so that all the setting are set. Discard the resulting PDF.

Now SAVE and see if Automatic Publish produces a good PDF and doesn't open it in Reader. Another thing to try is to turn on background publishing, which you can quickly do in Options > Plot and Publish. Files should not open in viewers when background publishing is on since that goes against being in the background.

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Hi @bryce.thelin - 

I've just given these steps a try, and this does resolve the constant opening of the resultant PDF - however, the resultant PDF still has Pages pane open, and the page numbering is now: "[1] <FwgName>-<LayoutName>" in lieu of "1" - how do I fix these persistent issues?

Also, for the record, I'm not sure exactly what Autodesk skrewed up when they implemented these new PDF-related .PC3 files, but I should think it pretty common sense that in order to get "DWG to PDF.pc3" to work properly (as it's done for years prior), one should not have to modify anything beyond the .PC3 file's Properties, and the named Page Setup associated with it.

In no prior release have I ever had to modify another .PC3 file, nor the Publish Command options - before this procedure, I haven't used the Publsh Command since 2006 version (we skipped 2007, 2008 and went straight to 2009) - this is pretty ridiculous, just to get DWG to PDF to work the same as it did in 2015, IMO.

Where is 2016 storing these (Publish?) settings that they were not found in the above mentioned Registry Keys? I thought that these would be registry saved, and loaded into code-behind's namespace via Class Fields/Properties, no?

Cheers

[bryce.thelin]

I'm glad to know that your PDF isn't opening in Reader anymore! There isn't a way to stop the Pages panel from being open. Please click over to our product feedback page and submit the suggestion of having the option to have the Pages panel open or not. Here is the link:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=1109794

I wasn't able to find where the Publish settings are stored in the registry.

[BlackBox_]

Just revisiting this, and saw your post - I've gone to that link, and requested a fix.

Thanks for your help to this point; it is unfortunate that this is even an issue still, given that I pointed out that this was broken back in beta.

Cheers

[kjdesigns]

Has there been any fix for this issue. It is also doing the same thing in 2017.

[BlackBox_]

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@kjdesigns wrote:
Has there been any fix for this issue. It is also doing the same thing in 2017.

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Nope.

Unfortunately, Autodesk has not even followed up with an email to provide an ETA. 

Cheers