Computerworld 1996 March

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Text File | 1995-07-07 | 17KB | 523 lines

\MAINMENU The information in this dialog box, and in the others that you can access from here, relates to the plotter selected at the top. To work with an alternative plotter you should choose it from the list of plotter configurations. Each entry in that list features a serial number. The driver assigns a serial number to each HP model/description combination that you have configured using the CONFIG command. These serial numbers #1, #2, etc. uniquely identify each plotter. Scroll through the list of plotter configurations and click on its entry in the list. That plotter and its current configuration file are entered in the dialog box. To add a plotter configuration to the list you must start at the AutoCAD main window and use the 'config' command. Once you have added a configuration you can use 'hpconfig' to create a configuration file (.HPC) to be used with this new plotter. To work with an alternative configuration file: scroll through the list of filenames and click on its entry in the list. Its name will appear in the dialog box. To change the settings stored in a configuration file simply select the new settings and click on OK. To add a configuration file to the list click on Save As, and enter a new name in the 'File' box. This will create a new file (.HPC) which contains the current settings. The new filename will be entered in the dialog box. _________________________________________________________ Number of Copies Enter the number of copies you want from each AutoCAD Plot command. Print Quality Select a quality level, or accept the plotter's default. Higher quality output takes longer to plot. Not all options are available for all plotters. Print colors Select the type of color representation for your plotted output: * In color: will produce a full color plot. * Colors as gray: will convert the colors in your drawing to shades of gray. * All as black: will convert all the colors of your drawing to black. _________________________________________________________ To define pen attributes, select Pens... To add annotations to the plot, select Annotations... To define your drawing's orientation on the media, select Media Orientation... To avoid clipped plots or clip warnings, choose Advanced Media Options... To see the plotter's current media and I/O status, select Plotter Status... (not available for all plotters) ________________________________________________________ \PENATTR This dialog box lets you define pen attributes for the pen numbers you specify. Most pen plotters have eight pens, numbered 1 through 8, which will be activated as the following pen numbers defined here: 1 through 8, 9 through 16, etc. Inkjet plotters have no physical pens, but attributes you define here will be assigned to "logical pens". To change the number of the pen you are defining, click on the arrow and scroll/select the pen number, or enter the number in the box. To have your specification apply to all pens, click "Apply to all pens". ______________________________________________________ Plot Merge Control (for inkjet plotters; applies to all pens) * Select "Lines Overwrite" to make intersecting areas show only the last entity plotted. * Select "Lines Merge" to make intersecting areas show all lines and fills. This setting will apply only if Merge is OFF on the plotter. If Merge is OFF on the plotter, it overrides this setting. Area Fill Generation (for pen plotters) * "Plotter - (Best Lockout Time)" Area fills are generated in the plotter, this selection results in the shortest period of time your computer is busy and unavailable. * "AutoCAD - (Best Plotting Time)" Area fills are generated by AutoCAD, this selection results in the shortest period of time your plotter takes to draw your plot. The "Fills" menu is unavailable with this selection. Halftoning... (HP DesignJet 250C, 650C, 750C & 755CM) Click here to access the Halftoning dialog box. For an explanation of halftoning, click on Help in that dialog box. Line End Select the shape for line ends. Round ends are recommended for most AutoCAD plots. Line Join Select the shape for line joins. Round joins are recommended for most AutoCAD plots. Fill Select a fill pattern. It will apply to TRACEs, SOLIDS, PLINEs, DONUTs and ELLIPSEs. Raster Pattern means the pattern whose filename is currently selected on the right. This setting will apply only if Pen Settings/Palette is set to "from software" on the plotter. Spacing, Angle, Shade These specifications apply to the fill option currently selected above. Raster Patterns (not for pen plotters) The files named on the right contain some predefined patterns which you can choose as your fill selection. To apply a raster pattern, first select Raster Pattern from the Fill options. The highlighted filename is the current one. To change it: * either click on another in the list displayed * or click on Change to select from files not in the list. _________________________________________________________ \ANNOTATE This dialog box enables you to define text or crop marks to be plotted: . in addition to the drawing . by pen number 7 (default black 2.54 mm) . on all plots using this configuration file. Text annotation is plotted at the bottom of portrait loaded media and at the left of landscape-loaded media. Crop marks are plotted at the corners of the plotting area. IMPORTANT: Annotations shift your plot by 12.5 mm (0.5 in), which is not included in the width and height specification in the PLOT command. _________________________________________________________ Drawing File Select to include the drawing filename and pathname. Plot Date/Time Select to include the date and time the plot began. Driver Info Select to include the driver name, plotter model and configuration filename. Crop Marks Select to include crop marks at the corners of the plotting area. _________________________________________________________ \PAPEROR This dialog box lets you make sure that your drawing is plotted in the correct orientation on the media. 1) Identify which of the eight pictures matches your requirement. * Is your on-screen image: - landscape (width > height)? ... then left column - portrait (width < height)? ... then right column * Is the orientation of the media loaded in your plotter: - landscape? - portrait? * Where do you want the biggest margin? (Pen plotters only) * Where do you want the origin? 2) Click on the correct picture. _________________________________________________________ \PAPERADV This dialog box helps you avoid clipped plots. 1) Identify whether AutoCAD's "Scaled to fit" option (in the Plot Configuration window) is ON or OFF. 2) If it is OFF, decide whether you want to be warned on-screen that your plot will be clipped. Click on the appropriate box. If it is ON, AutoCAD's standard estimate of the plotting area may not be correct for your plotter. To scale to fit the real plotting area, choose "Don't clip. Adjust to media" (not operational with all plotters). If you don't choose this, you can decide whether you want to be warned on-screen that your plot will be clipped. Click on one of the three boxes. _________________________________________________________ Plotter Margins For plotters with an expanded margin feature, click on either OFF or ON, to match the current setting on the plotter. This setting is used by the driver to calculate the real plotting area. _________________________________________________________ \STATUS This dialog box shows the current status of the plotter - media loaded, lever/cover raised, plotter ready/not ready, etc. _________________________________________________________ 1) In the "Plotter connected to:" scroll bar, select the port to which the plotter is physically connected. IMPORTANT. Any change you make here does NOT change the interface settings in AutoCAD. If you want to change AutoCAD's settings, use CONFIG. 2) If you want to see the latest status, click on "Get Status". (The status is NOT monitored continuously.) _________________________________________________________ \RENDATTR This dialog box lets you set the render attributes for the render configuration. The render attributes that you select here will be entered into your currently selected configuration file (.HPC) as displayed under "Current configuration". If you need to select an other current configuration use HPCONFIG. _________________________________________________________ 1) Set the attributes in this window. 2) Click on OK to output the rendered plot. _________________________________________________________ Render Type * Smooth = smooth ON (slower, but smoother surfaces) * Facet = smooth OFF (faster, but less smooth surfaces) Media Size Click on either inches or millimeters and then specify the width and height of the media to be used in the plotter for rendered output. The size you specify here is also used as the default in HPMPLOT. Position of Rendered Plot on Media Specify the bottom left and top right corners (1st and 2nd respectively) of the image to be rendered. The units are as under Page Size, and the X and Y coordinates are with reference to the bottom left corner of the page. Render to File To send the rendered output to a file rather than to the plotter, select Render to File and specify the filename in the window that appears. If Render to File is already selected, then to change the filename, click on Filename. CAUTION: The file could be as large as 20 MB, especially with a large page size. _________________________________________________________ \MERGED This dialog box lets you prepare a plot where the image in one viewport in the paper space is to be rendered, while the rest are to be plotted normally. (MPLOT stands for mixed plot). _________________________________________________________ 1) Identify the plotter for which you are setting up this mixed plot. The plotter under Device and Default Information is the current one. To change it, click on Device and Default Selection. The list of plotters is as specified in the CONFIG command. 2) Change the parameters as required. 3) Select a viewport to render. 4) Click on OK to output the plot. _________________________________________________________ Media Size Click on either inches or millimeters and then specify the width and height of the media to be used in the plotter. The default is as specified in HPRENDER. What to Plot Choose whether the area to be plotted is: * Display: as displayed on screen. * Extents: as defined by the extents of the drawing. * Limits: as defined by the LIMITS variable. Hide Lines Select this if you don't want hidden lines to be plotted. Render Type * Smooth = smooth ON (slower, but smoother surfaces) * Facet = smooth OFF (faster, but less smooth surfaces) To File To send the output to a file rather than to the plotter, select To File and specify the filename in the window that appears. If To File is already selected, then to change the filename, click on Filename. CAUTION: The file could be as large as 20 MB, especially with a large media size. Scale If you want the drawing to be plotted to the same scale as specified in the drawing, leave this as 1 to 1. To plot to an enlarged scale, make the Plotter Units greater than the Drawing Units; vice versa for a reduced scale. If you want the drawing to be scaled to fit the media size specified above, choose "Scale to Fit." Viewport to Render Click on Select and then select the relevant viewport in AutoCAD. _________________________________________________________ \SELDEVICE Click on the plotter which you are setting up to print a merged plot. The list is as specified in the CONFIG command. You must choose an HP-GL/2 plotter. _________________________________________________________ Save Defaults To File Click on this if you want to save the current merged plot configuration (except the Viewport ID) to a file, to be used again. Get Defaults From File Click on this if you want to get from file a previously saved merged plot configuration (except the Viewport ID). _________________________________________________________ \PRINTOP Halftoning refers to the appearance of vectors drawn by the plotter in all colors EXCEPT the seven primary plotter colors: red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, yellow and black. THE MODEL A VERSION OF THE HP DESIGNJET 650C (product numbers C2858A and C2859A) implements only one halftoning option ("pattern") and therefore users of those models have no use for this dialog box. THE HP DESIGNJET 250C, 750C, 755CM & MODEL B VERSIONS OF THE HP DESIGNJET 650C implement as a default "scatter" halftoning, and offer "pattern" halftoning as an option. You can experiment between the two, but scatter is likely to give better results in most circumstances. To see the current plotter default setting, use the plotter's front panel to find Pen Settings / Halftone. The factory default is scatter. _____________________________________________________________ BENEFITS OF SCATTER (BEST IN MOST CIRCUMSTANCES): * The texture of many colored areas is more consistent. * Small text printed in light colors is easier to read. CIRCUMSTANCES WHEN PATTERN MAY BE PREFERABLE: * When an HP-GL/2 plot contains a very large number of different colors in one pass of the plotter's print cartridges. * When scatter creates jagged lines and less sharp edges. ___________________________________________________________ \TROUBLESHOOTING ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "RENDERING AREA FALLS OUTSIDE THE PAGE SIZE ..." (IN HPRENDER) o In HPRENDER, reduce the size of the area specified by "Position of Rendered Plot on Media". Otherwise, the plot will be clipped. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "UNABLE TO DETECT IF SMOOTH SHADING IS DISABLED ..." (IN HPRENDER OR HPMPLOT) 1. At the AutoCAD command line, enter RPREF. 2. In the Rendering Preferences dialog box, select Smooth Shading. 3. Re-run your rendering routine (HPRENDER or HPMPLOT), this time ignoring the message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "UNABLE TO DO PLOT CORRECTLY ..." (IN HPMPLOT) o Check that the plotter displayed at the top of the HPMPLOT dialog box is the same as the one whose .HPC file is current in RCONFIG. Note that HPMPLOT refers to the list of plotters specified in the CONFIG command, while RCONFIG refers to a .HPC file. The two are matched in CONFIG. o Does the selected plotter support rendering? Pen plotters cannot render. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IF THE "SELECT DEVICE" BOX IS EMPTY (IN HPMPLOT / DEVICE AND DEFAULT SELECTION) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Either: o No plotter has been configured in CONFIG. See chapter 2. Or: o In CONFIG, no description was entered for the plotters being configured. Run CONFIG again and enter an appropriate description for each plotter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IF HPRENDER OR HPMPLOT RENDERS THE DRAWING ON THE SCREEN INSTEAD OF ON THE PLOTTER ------------------------------------------------------------------------ o The rendering driver is not correctly configured. At the AutoCAD command line, enter RCONFIG and reconfigure the rendering device. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IF THE ORIENTATION OF A SMOOTH-RENDERED PLOT IS WRONG ------------------------------------------------------------------------ o As for any wrong orientation, check the Media Options dialog box in HPCONFIG. o If you were using HPRENDER ... Check that the current configuration (.HPC) file quoted in RCONFIG is the same as the current one in HPRENDER. See Task 4, Steps 1 and 2 above. o If you were using HPMPLOT ... Check that the plotter displayed at the top of the HPMPLOT dialog box is the same as the one whose .HPC file is current in RCONFIG. Note that HPMPLOT refers to the list of plotters specified in the CONFIG command, while RCONFIG refers to a .HPC file. The two are matched in CONFIG. o If all the above seem correct, check that DOS's CONFIG.SYS file (usually in the root directory) contains the statements: FILES = 40 (or more) BUFFERS = 40 (or more)