Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Printer Hardware Considerations
Before you face a deadline with hundreds of prints to produce, you may want to create some test
prints and carefully refine your printer settings so that you have AutoCAD set up properly for
those rush jobs.
As part of the setup process, you'll need to understand how your particular printer works.
Each device has its own special characteristics, so a detailed description of printer hardware
setup is beyond the scope of this discussion. The following sections include a few guidelines.
Understanding Your Printer's Limits
If you're familiar with a word processing or page-layout program, you know that you can set
the margins of a page, thereby telling the program exactly how far from each edge of the paper
you want the text to appear. With AutoCAD, you don't have that luxury. To place a print on your
paper accurately, you must know the printer's hard clip limits. The
hard clip limits
are like built-
in margins, beyond which the printer won't print. These limits vary from printer to printer (see
Figure 8.19).
FIGURE 8.19
The hard clip lim-
its of a printer
Printer media
Hard clip limit
varies with printer
It's crucial that you know your printer's hard clip limits in order to place your drawings
accurately on the sheet. Take some time to study your printer manual and find out exactly what
these limits are. Then make a record of them and store it somewhere in case you or someone else
needs to format a sheet in a special way.
Hard clip limits for printers often depend on the software that drives them. You may need to
consult your printer manual or use the trial-and-error method of printing several samples to see
how they come out.
