You Say Printing, I Say Plotting

Plotting originally meant creating hard-copy output on a device that was capable of printing on larger sheets, such as D size or E size (or A1 or A0 for the metrically inclined), that measure several feet (or a meter or more) on a side. (See Chapter 4 for information about drafting-paper sizes.) These plotters often used pens to draw, robot-fashion, on large sheets of vellum or drafting film. The sheets could then be run through diazo blueline machines—copying machines that create blueline prints — in order to create less-expensive copies. Printing meant creating hard-copy output on ordinary printers that used ordinary-sized paper, such as A size (letter size, 8½ × 11 inches) or B size (tabloid or ledger size, 11 × 17 inches)—that's A4 or A3 for you metric folk.

Nowadays, AutoCAD and most CAD users make no distinction between plotting and printing. AutoCAD veterans usually say “plotting,” so if you want to be cool, you can do so, too.

Whatever you call it, plotting an AutoCAD drawing is considerably more complicated than printing a word-processing document or a spreadsheet. CAD has a larger range of different plotters and printers, drawing types, and output procedures than other computer applications. AutoCAD tries to help you tame the vast jungle of plotting permutations, but you'll probably find that you have to take some time to get the lay of the land and clear a path to your desired hard-copy output.

Get with the system

One of the complications you face in your attempts to create a hard copy is that AutoCAD has two distinct ways of communicating with your plotters and printers. Operating systems, and the programs that run on them, use a special piece of software called a printer driver to format data for printing and then send it to the printer or plotter. When you configure Windows to recognize a new printer connected to your computer or your network, you're actually installing the printer's driver. AutoCAD, like other Windows programs, works with the printers you've configured in Windows. AutoCAD calls these system printers because they're part of the Windows operating system.

But AutoCAD, unlike other Windows programs, can't leave well enough alone. Some output devices, especially some larger plotters, aren't controlled very efficiently by the Windows system printer drivers. For that reason, AutoCAD comes with specialized non-system drivers (that is, drivers that are not installed as part of the Windows system) for plotters from companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Xerox, KIP, and Océ. These drivers ignore the tidy rules for communicating with Windows printers in order to get things done a bit more quickly and flexibly.

Most of the time, using already-configured Windows system printers is easiest, and they work well with many devices — especially devices such as laser and inkjet printers that print on smaller paper. However, if you have a large-format plotter, you may be able to get faster plotting, better plot quality, or more plot features by installing a non-system driver. To find out more, choose Installation & DeploymentDriver and Peripheral GuideUse Plotters and Printers on the AutoCAD online help system's home page.

Configure it out

For now, you should simply make sure that AutoCAD recognizes the devices that you want to use for plotting. The following steps show you how:

1. Launch AutoCAD and open an existing drawing or start a new, blank drawing.
2. Choose Options on the Application Menu, or type OP and press Enter, to open the Options dialog box; then click the Plot and Publish tab.
3. Click the drop-down arrow to view the list just below the Use as Default Output Device option, as shown in Figure 16-1.

   The list includes two kinds of device configurations, designated by two tiny, difficult-to-distinguish icons to the left of the device names:

   • A little printer icon with a sheet of white paper coming out the top indicates a Windows system printer configuration.
   • A little plotter-with-legs icon with a piece of paper coming out the front indicates a non-system (that is, AutoCAD-specific) configuration.

     The non-system configuration names always end in .pc3 because they're stored in special AutoCAD Plotter Configuration version 3 files. So, if you can't distinguish the difference between the icons, look for the .pc3 at the end of the name.

   

   Figure 16-1: System and non-system printer configurations.

4. Verify that the list includes the printers and plotters that you want to have available in AutoCAD.

   If they're not in the list, how you add one depends on your operating system:

   • In Windows XP, choose StartPrinters and Faxes and click the Add a Printer link under Printer Tasks on the left side of the window.
   • In Windows Vista, choose StartControl PanelHardware and SoundPrintersAdd a Printer, and then click Add a Local Printer.
   • In Windows 7, choose StartDevices and PrintersAdd a Printer, and then click Add a Local Printer.

   If your printer isn't in the default Windows list, cancel the wizard and hunt down a driver disk that came with your printer, or better yet, download the current driver from the printer manufacturer's Web site.

5. Choose the output device that you want to make the default for new drawings.
6. Click OK to close the dialog box and retain any changes that you made in the previous step.