Are SHX Font Comments in PDFs a Problem for You?

Both AutoCAD 2016 and AutoCAD 2017 include improvements for working with PDFs in AutoCAD.

That means the popularity of vector PDFs will continue to grow. With or without layers, the ability to convert a PDF into CAD objects to edit and republish is a very useful process, but what if you open the PDF and move your cursor around the screen and see SHX text in comments like this?

If you want your SHX text to be converted to a comment in the PDF and you are using AutoCAD 2016, then you're in luck. If you don't want those comments created by default, just install AutoCAD 2016 Service Pack 1 and set the EPDFSHX system variable to 0 then publish to PDF.

There's an Autodesk Knowledge Network page describing the resolution to this issue.

Drawing text appears as Comments in a PDF created by AutoCAD 2016
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Drawing-text-appears-as-Comments-in-a-PDF-created-by-AutoCAD.html

Note that the setting should be 0 before you publish to PDF.

Don't Forget These Commands...Part 3

So I know that I typically blog about Civil 3D, but after assisting with an issue in Microstation this morning, I realized that I should add this keyin command to my "Don't Forget" list.

The issue was that a linestyle looked fine in one drawing, but different when referenced into another drawing. I found some good information on the Bentley site with a quick Google search.  Here's a direct link to that page:

http://communities.bentley.com/products/microstation/w/microstation__wiki/setting-linestyle-scale-in-microstation-v8-cs.aspx

We used the keyin command window to set active linestylescale to 20 in both drawings and that fixed the display problem we were having.

So as not to disappoint the Civil 3D readers of this blog, I'll add these commands to the "Don't Forget" list as well. The descriptions are taken from the System Variables.:

LTSCALE - Sets the global linetype scale factor.

MSLTSCALE - Scales linetypes displayed on the model tab by the annotation scale.

PSLTSCALE - Controls the linetype scaling of objects displayed in paper space viewports.

I typically keep all three of these system variables set to 1.

Publishing (in Stereo)

So you're publishing in the background and you need to "plot something real quick". You hit the old plot button and you're faced with this message:


Great. Now what?

Here's the secret.

Open a second session of Civil 3D and plot from that session.

Yes, it's that simple.

I've been experimenting with using multiple sessions of Civil 3D 2009 and so far it seems more stable (knock on wood). So when I was faced with publishing a sheet set with a portion of the set using one page setup and the other portion using a different page setup, I gave the multiple sessions a try and it's working like a dream.

For this process, I have the 3GB switch enabled and I'm using Windows XP. I have my publishcollate variable set to 0 (zero) so the sheets are intermixed. I could have set my publishcollate variable to 1 (one) and the plot would have sent as one file then I could have the sheets in order for easier collating in the end. Since I had never tried to publish from multiple sessions of AutoCAD, I chose not to collate before sending to the printer. This way I could verify that the process was indeed working.

AutoCAD 2010 Product Demo Videos

For a quick look at some of the AutoCAD 2010 PDF capabilities that I discussed yesterday, there is a video posted on YouTube.

Additional AutoCAD 2010 Product Demo Videos can be found here.

Thanks to Shaan for posting this one.

AutoCAD 2010 Is Finally Unveiled

I hope many of you were able to view the Autodesk 2010 Product Release Webcast today. If not, Shaan Hurley has posted a link to the webcast on his blog. The webcast was recorded and can be viewed by anyone willing to provide your name, company name, email address and accept the privacy statement. There will be another webcast on Friday, February 6, at 9:00 am PST. Details can be found on Shaan's Between the Lines blog. This second webcast will cover Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Utilities, and Geospatial.

Today's webcast showed some of the great new features of AutoCAD 2010. Some of these features were available to Autodesk Subscription Customers with AutoCAD 2009 such as PDF overlays and 3D printing. Since the majority of my work is with a vertical (Civil 3D), I was unable to enjoy these cool new features. These features are now fully integrated into AutoCAD 2010 and that means they will also be included inside of Civil 3D 2010.

My two favorite features of today's webcast are PDF's created by AutoCAD and parametric drawing constraints. I know we've been able to plot to PDF for several releases now via either an AutoCAD pc3 file or third party applications (both free and paid versions). However, let's see those third party applications do what AutoCAD 2010 is doing with their PDF's. Here's a list of a few things you can do with PDF's created by AutoCAD 2010 that were shown in today's webcast:

• Create PDF's that include layer information
• Overlay PDF's in a manner similar to images or DGN's
• Change the transparency of the linework shown in a PDF overlay
• Snap to geometry points of the linework shown in a PDF overlay
• Change the visibility of the linework shown in a PDF overlay
• Clip the PDF overlay similar to xclip with an attached drawing
• Modify the clip boundary on a PDF overlay
• Invert the clip boundary on a PDF overlay
• Lines merge or lines overwrite option
• Text can now be embedded into the PDF so you can search for text
  

Now honestly, I'll bet you can't wait to go check out AutoCAD 2010 for yourself. Be sure and keep your eyes on the CAD media, because there are more things being unveiled in the upcoming days.

What's Wrong With My Text?

In case you haven't experienced it yet, working with true type fonts in AutoCAD can sometimes be a challenge. Here's one such example:

A fellow employee sends me a PDF showing a line table that was created using text objects with Arial and ArialBold font styles (both are True Type Fonts). The line table was created in two parts, then copy/pasted together into one table. Here's a portion of the result:


Notice that the Bold text in the first two lines (L34 and L35) is not as dark or thick as the bold text in the bottom three lines (L36, L37, and L38)? We tried using match properties to get the text to match, but the result is the same. That's unacceptable, right?

So here's the secret: The text on the bottom three lines (L36, L37, and L38) is at an elevation of -1.375 and the text on the top two lines (L34 and L35) is at an elevation of 0.

So the next time you are having issues with true type text, check the elevation of the text and maybe this will solve your problem.

Image Plotting Issues

Today we had a repeat issue of plotting a sheet from paperspace that contained tiff images of a two page subdivision plat in model space. The preview looked correct, and everything on the sheet plotted except the two images of the plat. The Plot and Publish Details showed that the plot had been canceled though it wasn't the user that canceled it.

• We plotted the layout to a different plotter with the same results.
• We plotted the layout to a DWF and the images appear as expected.
• We plotted the layout from a different computer and it plotted fine.

At this point, we decided it had to be computer specific. We contacted DC|CADD and Mark Martinez recommended that we uninstall and reinstall driver, plotter, etc. before proceeding any further. We got the same results (everything but the image was plotting) after the reinstall.

So, now we're thinking maybe it's a memory issue. We checked the system settings and the /3GB switch was not enabled on the problem computer. We changed the System Startup settings so that the /3GB switch would be enabled upon boot, then we rebooted the system.

After the reboot, the resulting plot contains everything on the sheet including the two images.

After the plot worked, we checked the size of the tiff images. (Yes, I know, why didn't we do that at the beginning.) Both images were under 300 KB. Hmmm, sounds small enough to me, but hey, I'm not going to look this gift horse in the mouth.

So, SCORE ONE FOR THE /3GB SWITCH!

Sheet Set Publishing Part 1

Since I began working with Sheet Sets, I've used the "Insert Sheet List Table" on my cover page. However, I ran into one issue almost immediately. How do you add a sheet that is being plotted by another firm (such as the landscape and electrical plans)? Here's how I resolved the issue:

1. Create a blank drawing in your plans directory and name it "Sheets_By_Others.dwg" or something that seems appropriate for the sheets. Since there will be nothing in the drawing and layouts, it's not necessary to create a separate drawing for each sheet.


2. Create a separate layout for each sheet that will be plotted such as L-1, E-2, etc.


3. Add these layouts to your sheet set. Include the sheet name and descriptions as shown on the sheets you received from the other firm such as "Landscape Details and Calculations" just as you want it to appear on your sheet list table.


4. In the Sheet Set Manager, right click on the sheet name (L-1 for example) and choose "Properties...".


5. The fourth option from the top is "Include for publish". Change this property from Yes to No. This will keep the blank layout from plotting when you publish your set by right clicking on the sheet set name and selecting one of the "Publish" options.