Plotting: Lines are coming out blocky

 Hey, I'm relative new to MicroStation and I'm having trouble producing nice PDFs. The lines aren't coming out smooth when I plot.

I don't think it's a line thickness issue and I think I've tried changing the stroke tolerance correctly. Any help? I'm using SELECT series 10

Thanks.

  • What pltcfg file are you using to create your pdf files? You can open the pltcfg with the print driver editor and check the Default Line Join field. It looks like yours may be set to BUTT. I usually have mine set to Miter/Bevel. You could also experiment with the Default Line Cap field.

    Microstation CONNECT - 10.17.2.61

    ORD - 2021 R1 10.10.1.3

    ORD 2022 R1.1 - 10.11.3.2

    ORD 2022 R3 -  10.12.2.4

    Microstation v8i SS 10 - 08.11.09.919

    Power InRoads v8i - 08.11.09.615

    ProjectWise - 10.0.3.453

  • Thank you very much! I had some success with that. I think detaching and reattaching my reference also helped.

    I'm still getting strange shapes for some reason though. Any ideas?

  • its hard to say as your zoomed in on your pdf and not what it looks like plotter to paper full size.. also the DPI  can make a difference the higher dpi the more zoom can look good but trade off is larger files 

    what have you set as your line thicknesses for weights in your pltcfg. I use a pentable  to do the later which is assigned to my  pltcfg..

    Lorys

    Started msnt work 1990 - Retired  Nov 2022 ( oh boy am I old )

    But was long time user V8iss10 (8.11.09.919) dabbler CE  update 16 (10.16.00.80) 

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  • When you zoom into a pdf the elements do not look very smooth. How does it look on a normal sheet plotted to paper? As long as it looks good there you should be fine. The elements will look more jagged with heavier line weights. Your original screenshot looks like you have very heavy line weights.

    Microstation CONNECT - 10.17.2.61

    ORD - 2021 R1 10.10.1.3

    ORD 2022 R1.1 - 10.11.3.2

    ORD 2022 R3 -  10.12.2.4

    Microstation v8i SS 10 - 08.11.09.919

    Power InRoads v8i - 08.11.09.615

    ProjectWise - 10.0.3.453

  • How does it look on a normal sheet plotted to paper? As long as it looks good there you should be fine.

    Recently I've been told by clients that many of the project documents are only reviewed and used electronically. This is the paradigm we've all been looking forward to for years. We'll get all the way there someday, it will take a long time.

    Maurice- What is the round looking thing (element type). There are several subtle things in the pltcfg which affect the appearance of output. You can try mine just for S&G, it's just Printer.pltcfg modified. I do mostly basic simple drafting.

    5226.pdfSTD400.pltcfg

    Connect r17 10.17.2.61 self-employed-Unpaid Beta tester for Bentley