Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
You use the AutoCAD Plotter Manager's Add-a-Plotter Wizard to create non-
system driver configurations. (Choose Plotter Manager on the Plot panel of the
Ribbon's Output tab to display an Explorer window containing a shortcut to the
wizard.) This wizard is similar to the Windows Add Printer Wizard; if you can
handle adding an ordinary printer in Windows, you can probably handle adding a
non-system plotter configuration to AutoCAD. When you complete the wizard
steps, AutoCAD saves the information in a
PC3
(Plotter Configuration version 3)
file. If you add an HP Designjet printer or certain Océ wide-format printers, you
will be advised by the Add-a-Plotter Wizard to exit and instead install the device
as a Windows system printer (for more information, choose Installation & Deploy-
ment⇒Driver and Peripheral Guide⇒Use Plotters and Printers⇒Set Up Plotters and
Printers from the online help system's home page). Many people find that the
standard drivers work fine, but as I mention later in this chapter, custom drivers
may include additional paper sizes as well as other handy settings.
A Simple Plot
Okay, so you believe me. You know that you're not going to master AutoCAD plotting in
five minutes. That doesn't change the fact that your boss, employee, wife, husband, con-
struction foreman, or 11-year-old daughter wants a quick check plot of your drawing.
Plotting success in 16 steps
Here's the quick, cut-to-the-chase procedure for plotting a simple drawing — a mere 16
steps! This procedure assumes that you plot in model space — that is, that clicking the
Model button on the status bar shows you the drawing in a way that you want to plot. (I
cover plotting paper space layout tabs in the section “Plotting the Layout of the Land,”
later in this chapter.) This procedure doesn't deal with controlling plotted lineweights —
see the “Plotting Lineweights and Colors” section, later in this chapter, for those details.
It should, however, result in a piece of paper that bears some resemblance to what
AutoCAD displays on your computer monitor.
Follow these steps to make a simple, not-to-scale,
monochrome
(black-and-white) plot of
a drawing:
1. Open the drawing in AutoCAD.
