Introduction

This handout takes you through the process of plotting an AutoCAD 2000 drawing on the black-and-white printers in the Open Access Labs.

Printing Your AutoCAD 2000 Drawing

1. Open the AutoCAD drawing that you want to plot.

Click Start > Programs > Applications > AutoCAD to open AutoCAD. Click File > Open and select the drawing file you want to open.  Click Open to open the file that you have selected.

2. Choose the drawing tab you want to plot.

AutoCAD drawings now have at least two tabs (see Figures 1 and 2).  One tab displays Model Space and is labeled the Model tab, while the other tab or tabs display Paper Space and are labeled Layout 1, Layout 2, and so forth.  Click the tab that you want to plot, so that it is displayed on top of the other tab(s).



Figure 1. Model tab



Figure 2. Layout tab

3. Open the Plot dialog box by clicking the Plotter Icon (see Figure 3) or by choosing File > Plot from the Menu bar (see Figure 4).



Figure 3. Accessing the Plot dialog box from the Plotter icon

 



Figure 4. Accessing the Plot dialog box from the Menu bar

Figure 5 shows the Plot dialog box. The rest of this handout will be referring to this dialog box.



Figure 5. Plot dialog box

4. Set the tab to plot.

Look under the What to Plot heading on the Plot Device tab.  Select Current Tab to plot the tab that is currently displayed in your AutoCAD drawing window.  

5. Make sure the correct printer is selected. 

In the Plot dialog box, click the Plot Device tab, and make sure that the correct printer is highlighted in the box under the Plotter Configuration heading. The names of the printers appropriate for each Open Access Lab are listed in Table 1.

Table 1. Open Access Lab printer names

Open Access Lab	Printer Name & Path
Blocker	\\ BLOCK-PS
Read	\\ READ-PS
West Campus Library	\\ WCL-PS
Weisenbaker Engineering Research Center	\\ WERC-PS
Student Computing Center	\\ SCC1-PS (if you're on the 1st floor) \\ SCC2-PS (if you're on the 2nd floor)

 

If the printer listed under Plotter Configuration is not the right one for the Open Access Lab you are in, scroll down the Name list under Plotter Configuration until you see the name of the correct printer, and click that printer.  Then click the Plot Settings tab, and make sure the name of the printer just selected is listed as the Plot Device under the Paper size and paper units heading. 

6. Choose the paper size.

On the Plot Settings tab, look under the Paper size and paper units heading.  Select Letter as the Paper size.

7. Choose the plot style table.

An AutoCAD plot style table is a file that contains data on how each object in the drawing is to be plotted.  At present, the plot style tables recommended for use with the Open Access Labs black-and-white printers are monochrome.ctb and grayscale.ctb. Selecting monochrome.ctb as your plot style table means that all the lines in your drawing will be plotted as black, regardless of the colors they are onscreen.  Selecting grayscale.ctb means that the lines in your drawing will be plotted as various shades of gray, depending on their onscreen color. 

To select a plot style table, click the Plot Device tab under the Plot Style Table heading.  Scroll down the Name list under Plot Style Table and highlight either monochrome.ctb or grayscale.ctb.  If a Question dialog box appears asking whether to assign the plot style table to all layouts, click Yes.

8. Make sure you are not plotting to a file.

Plotting to a file generates a plot file instead of plotting the drawing on a sheet of paper.  Look under the Plot to file heading on the Plot Device tab.  Make sure the Plot to file box is not checked. 

9. Set the drawing orientation.

Click the Plot Settings tab. Under the Drawing Orientation heading, click either Portrait or Landscape to specify the drawing orientation of the page.  An illustration of a capital A on a sheet of paper next to the Portrait and Landscape buttons shows the drawing's orientation on the paper.  If you want your drawing plotted upside-down from the orientation shown after selecting Portrait or Landscape, then check the Plot upside-down box (see Figure 6).



Figure 6. Illustrations of Drawing orientation

10. Choose the area of the drawing that you want to plot.

Look under the Plot area heading on the Plot Settings tab.  You will see a list of different settings, each of which instructs AutoCAD to plot a slightly different area of your drawing. Table 2 explains the functions of each plot area setting option. 

Table 2. Plot area setting options

If you select…	AutoCAD will…
Display	Plot the area of the drawing currently displayed onscreen.
Limits	Plot all of the drawing from one set of limits to the other. (This option is available only when plotting the Model tab.)
Extents	Plot the area of the drawing that has drawn objects in it.
View	Plot a preset view of the drawing.  (You must have already created a view for this option to be available.)
Window	Plot the area of the drawing enclosed by a rectangular window that you select.  To select a window, click the Window button, which causes AutoCAD to display your current drawing tab. Next, click once on your drawing to set the window’s top left corner, then click again in a different spot to set the window’s bottom right corner. After you select both corners, AutoCAD returns to the Plot dialog box.
Layout	Plot all of the drawing that fits within the margins of the chosen paper size.  (This option is available only when plotting a Layout tab.)

 

11. Set the scale at which you want your drawing plotted. 

Look under the Plot Scale heading on the Plot Settings tab, and select the scale at which you want the drawing plotted from the Scale list.  If the particular scale that you want is not listed, select Custom, and type the number of drawing units that should correspond to one plotted inch in the drawing units box.

If you are not concerned about the drawing being plotted at any particular scale, e.g., you just want it to fit on the sheet of paper, then choose Scaled to Fit from the Scale list. 

12. Set the plot offset.

On the Plot Settings tab, look under the Plot offset heading.  Plot offset specifies the vertical and horizontal alignment of your drawing on the page.  Checking the Center the plot box centers your drawing both vertically and horizontally.  Adjusting the X value moves your drawing to the right for positive values of X and to the left for negative values of X.  Similarly, adjusting the Y value moves your drawing up for positive values of Y and down for negative values of Y.  Specify the Plot offset settings you would like for your plot.

13. Set the plot options.

Make sure the Plot with plot styles box under the Plot options heading of the Plot Settings tab is checked.  If this box is left unchecked, AutoCAD ignores the selection of the grayscale or monochrome plot style table in step 7, and plots using its default settings for plot style.

14. Preview your drawing.

To make sure that your plot will look the way you want, click either the Partial Preview button or the Full Preview button at the bottom of the Plot dialog box.

Clicking the Partial Preview button causes the Partial Plot Preview dialog box to appear (see Figure 7).  In the diagram displayed in the Partial Plot Preview box, the blue hatched area represents the area of your drawing that you have selected to plot, or the effective area of the plot.  The white area represents the size of the sheet of paper on which the drawing will be plotted.  A dotted line on the white area encloses the area of the paper on which the printer can actually print, or the printable area of the paper.  If you receive a warning in the Warnings box of the Partial Plot Preview dialog box, the area of the drawing that you have selected to plot may not fit on the paper.  Click OK to close the Partial Plot Preview dialog box. 



Figure 7. Partial Plot Preview dialog box

Clicking Full Preview opens a screen that displays exactly what your plot will look like when plotted, much like the Print Preview screen in Microsoft Word.  You can zoom in or out in this screen by holding down the left mouse button and moving the mouse. To exit the Full Preview screen, press Enter.  This returns you to the Plot dialog box.

15. Make corrections to the plot settings, if necessary.

If you are dissatisfied with the Partial or Full Previews of your drawing, modify the settings you have specified on the Plot Settings and Plot Device tabs as needed, and then preview the plot again.

16. Save your plot settings.

If you want to save your plot settings for the current drawing tab so that you do not have to set them again the next time you plot it, check the Save changes to layout box on the Plot Settings tab under the Layout Name heading.

17. Plot your drawing.

When you are satisfied with your plot preview, click OK at the bottom of the Plot dialog box to plot your drawing.

Troubleshooting

If your plot did not print as you expected, try these steps: 

• Make sure the settings in your Page Setup box do not conflict with those in your Plot Dialog box.  You can access the Page Setup box by clicking File > Page Setup.
• Check your drawing’s Limits. Make certain they are correct.

For More Help

For further help on plotting, click Help on the Menu bar.  This brings up the Help Topics dialog box.  Then click Contents > How To > Plot Your Drawings, and look for a heading relating to the specific question you have.  If you need more assistance, please feel free to ask any of the CIS Support Staff in any Open Access Lab, or call Help Desk Central at (979) 845-8300.