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AutoCAD Plotting Problem

February 8, 2010 By 3 Comments

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Last week, I have two people called me and mentioned that they have problem with plotting. Both of them use AutoCAD 2010. Just in case you have similar problem, this might can help.

AutoCAD Doesn’t Plot Properly, Plotting Different Area of Drawings

The first issue reported is AutoCAD doesn’t plot as expected. They see the print preview correctly, but when they plot it, the margins and orientation is not correctly plotted.

I asked them whether they can plot it properly to DWF or other plotter if possible. They said they can plot it fine when they use other plotter.

I have to ask that because there is a documentation in AutoCAD support page, that plot or print preview can show incorrect area of drawing. So we can eliminate this possibility because they can see the print preview correctly and plot correctly using other plotter.

So I asked them to download and update their plotter driver. After they update the driver, the plotter works properly.

AutoCAD Freeze When Using Plot

When they mention this, I immediately suspected that this is a bug. So I asked them to download AutoCAD update1 and install it. After they install the update, they don’t have this problem anymore.

There are some other issues similar like this, but AutoCAD freeze when plotting to file. There is also another issue when we use publish to DWF.

Do You Updates Your System Regularly?

Sometimes people forget that when there is a problem, it’s probably not AutoCAD fault. AutoCAD has many dependencies, because it runs on Windows. When your Windows have problem, then there is a good chance your AutoCAD will have problem too. The plotter driver is a good example. Many AutoCAD users don’t use other applications as much as AutoCAD, so they don’t realize the problem occurs on other application as well.

You can install AutoCAD updates regularly too. AutoCAD will notify you when there’s an update available. If you can’t see it, probably the notification has been disabled or has been modified.

Where Can I Find the Solutions?

If you experienced problem that has been recorded and solved by Autodesk team, you can find it here: http://www.autodesk.com/tech-supp. Click the knowledge base link near your product, and search for your problem.

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About Edwin Prakoso

Edwin works as an Application Engineer in Jakarta, Indonesia. He has 4 years experience in building industry, then start to work for Autodesk reseller.
He is certified as Revit Architecture 2010 certified professional and CATIA V5 part design specialist. Currently he is involved as team leader for implementing SmarTeam as PDM in several companies.
You can reach him on twitter @cad_notes. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn. If you prefer email, reach him at edwin.prakoso@cad-notes.com.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/cbpredatorreviews CB Predator

    good webpage! Sophie

  • Johnlooch

    problems with plotting to pdf. it worked perfectly for 2 years now, then a new laptop with windows 7 and the adobe plots come out blank. If use the grayscale it works but I used to be able to plot all black perfectly, any ideas???

    • http://cad-notes.com Edwin Prakoso

      Have you tried using AutoCAD own pdf printer driver? It should work fine and in many cases, better than 3rd party driver. If it works fine, then I guess it’s adobe pdf printer compatibility with Win7.