Using Layouts to Set Up a Print - AutoCAD 2011 and AutoCAD LT 2011: No Experience Required - page 699

CHAPtER 14
using Layouts to
Set up a Print
A design is only as good as your ability to communicate that design with the
people building it. Printing, or plotting as it's called in AutoCAD, is considered
by many to be the final phase of that communication process. Preparing a
document set can be just as challenging as plotting it. In this chapter, you will
set up sheet files in a way that maximizes the potential of layers and external
references. Users of AutoCAD will learn to further automate the management
of their drawing sheets using Sheet Set Manager.
As you work through this and the next chapter, you'll quickly discover the
incredible control you have over nearly every aspect of how a drawing plots.
This versatility means you can probably get AutoCAD to plot exactly the way
you want it to; however, remembering each of those settings can prove chal-
lenging. Consequently, the key to getting consistent plots is to find a way to
capture all of those settings in a way that will allow you to reuse them for
new drawings in the future.
Although plotting is fundamental to nearly every AutoCAD user, the numer-
ous ways it can be handled have made it one of the most debated topics among
CAD professionals. This chapter will strive to employ the most widely accepted
practices with a specific focus on capturing settings so they can be reused later.
Still, with the many plotters and printers on the market today, you'll certainly
need to tailor your own plot settings to address the inherent differences in your
environment. Therefore, to ensure that you can work through this chapter's
exercises exactly as shown in this topic, you'll conigure your drawings to plot
to a .dwf file.
Plotting to a .dwf file is exactly the same as plotting to a real printer.
The only difference is the output; instead of a physical print, you'll have a
.dwf file, which you can view on-screen like a PDF. To get to a point where
you can begin plotting, you will apply the knowledge you've gained from