Continuing the Plot Dialog

In previous sections of this chapter, I cover most of the important options in the Plot dialog box. This section reveals a few more fine points that will make your plotting life easier. I don't cover every minute, obscure, useful-only-at-cocktail-party-discussions detail. (And if this sounds like your kind of cocktail party, remind me that I'm busy that night!) I do point out some occasionally useful options that will increase your vocabulary when you're communicating with the Plot dialog box.

1. Hover your mouse pointer over the part of the dialog box that you want to know more about.
2. Press F1 or click the Help button at the bottom of the dialog box if the pop-up help isn't enough.
3. For a more conceptual take on plotting, click the Learn about Plotting link to view the Quick Start to Plotting section of the online help.

The following list explains most of the remaining controls, check boxes, and lists in the Plot dialog box:

• Printer/Plotter: As I describe in the section “Configure it out,” earlier in this chapter, you use the Name drop-down list to select the Windows system printer or non-system driver configuration that you want to use for plotting.

  Clicking the Properties button opens the Plotter Configuration Editor dialog box, with which you can change media (type of paper) and other properties that are unique to the currently selected plotter or printer. In particular, you can define custom paper sizes.

  As if AutoCAD's Plot dialog box settings weren't overwhelming enough, depending on your plot device, you may also have to deal with the Plotter Configuration Editor dialog box. Some plotter drivers hide important settings in this dialog box. To access them, you typically click the Custom Properties button near the bottom of the Plotter Configuration Editor dialog box. For example, if you're using the enhanced Windows system driver for HP plotters, available at www.designjet.hp.com, you can click the Custom Properties button and then the More Sizes button to specify which paper sizes are available to you on the Paper Size drop-down list of the main Plot dialog box.

  To make matters even more confusing, if you make any changes in the Plotter Configuration Editor dialog box, AutoCAD prompts you to save the changes to a separate PC3 file. You should choose Save Changes to the Following File (that is, create a new AutoCAD-specific configuration that includes the revised settings) and type a configuration name that you'll recognize later. When you want to plot with custom settings, remember to choose the AutoCAD-specific PC3 configuration near the end of the Printer/Plotter Name drop-down list, and not the original Windows system printer configuration near the beginning of the list.

• Plot to File: If you need to plot to a file, rather than directly to your plotter or network printer queue, select the Plot to File option. When you click OK to plot, AutoCAD asks you for a plot filename and location. You may need to use this option to create files to send to a plotting service bureau.

  AutoCAD 2009 added DWFx to its ePlot options. DWFx is a flavored version of DWF that conforms to Microsoft's XPS page description language. For most people, the handiest thing about this format is that if you plot to DWFx, the resulting file can be displayed in Windows Explorer (as long as you're running in Windows Vista or later).

  Plotting to the DWG to PDF.pc3 file creates versions of your drawing files that can be opened and viewed in the free and widely available Adobe Reader software.

• Plot Stamp On: Use this option to turn on and off and configure the contents of a text string that AutoCAD adds automatically to the corner of each plot. The plot stamp can include useful information, such as the drawing's filename and plot date and time.
• Plot Area: Specify the area of the drawing to plot. Your choices include Display, Extents, and Window, regardless of whether you're plotting a paper space layout or model space. If you defined named views in the drawing, AutoCAD adds a View option. The additional choice is Layout for a paper space layout or Limits for model space.
  • Display: The drawing as it's currently displayed in the drawing window (including any empty space around the drawing objects).
  • Extents: The rectangular area containing all the objects in the drawing.
  • Limits (full-screen model space only): The model space area that you may or may not have specified when you set up the drawing. If you did not specifically set your drawing's limits (as I demonstrate in Chapter 3), then plotting limits will give unpredictable results. Use one of the other options instead.
  • Layout (Layouts only): The paper space area you defined when you set up the layout.
  • Window: A rectangular area that you specify.
  • View: A named view which you select from a drop-down list. (Chapter 12 describes named views and how to create them.)

  Usually, you'll choose to plot Layout in paper space. For model space, the choice depends on how the drawing was set up and what you want to plot. If you're trying to plot a drawing in which the limits weren't set, try Extents instead. Use Window or View if you want to plot just a portion of model space.

• Plot Offset: A plot offset of X=0 and Y=0 positions the plot at the lower-left corner of the plottable area. If you want to move the plot from this default position on the paper, enter non-zero numbers or select the Center the Plot check box. (The Center the Plot check box is not available if you select Layout from the What to Plot drop-down list.)
• Shaded Viewport Options: If your drawing includes viewports showing shaded or rendered 3D models, use this area to control the plotted appearance.
• Plot Options: The Plot Object Lineweights and the Plot with Plot Styles check boxes control whether AutoCAD uses the features described in the “Plotting with style” and “Plotting through thick and thin” sections, earlier in this chapter.

  The Hide Paperspace Objects check box controls whether AutoCAD hides objects that are behind other objects when a 3D model is displayed in a viewport.

• Plot Upside-Down: Select this check box if you want to rotate the plot 180 degrees on the paper. (It's a handy option for plotting in the southern hemisphere or for avoiding having to cock your head at an uncomfortable angle as you watch plots come out of the plotter.)

AutoCAD normally generates plots in the foreground — that is, the plotting process takes over the program for the entire time that the program is creating the plot. AutoCAD 2012 includes a background plotting feature that returns control of the program to you more quickly. If you have a reasonably fast computer with adequate memory, turn on this feature in the Options dialog box: Type OPTIONS (or OP) and press Enter, click the Plot and Publish tab, and in the Background Processing Options area, select Plotting.