large white border when rendtion

RE: large white border when rendtion

Andrew Edge — Mon, 12 Aug 2019 13:06:42 GMT

APLOT is an obsolete subsystem included in InterPlot that's long overdue for removal. It doesn't use MicroStation as the rendering engine and only works for R14 DWGs and earlier. InterPlot does not support AutoCAD itself (or any Autodesk product) as a rendering engine; only MicroStation and products built atop MicroStation. It will support any DWG format that MicroStation supports.

The "NONE" paper size is a concept designed for roll feed plotters where standard sheet sizes aren't very important. When "NONE" is selected, the paper size is set to the printer's default limits. When using the delivered PWDCS printer or an InterPlot roll feed printer driver, those limits are huge: 1200 x 1200 inches. If you've configured ip.cfg to use a different Windows printer driver, then the "NONE" form is the same as selecting the default paper size in Printer Properties: often 'Letter'.

When the NONE form is selected, I believe InterPlot will automatically trim the paper size to fit the plot area size. So that may give you the behavior you want. However, there are a couple caveats to be aware of -- assuming you are using the default PWDCS printer with 1200 x 1200" max limits.

(1) The PDF page aspect will be correct, but the size may not be. It would depend on whether a print scale was specified in the .set file. If you maximize to the NONE form, then you're maximizing to a 1200 x 1200 inch page.

(2) If maximizing to NONE, be careful never to submit a design containing shaded content that must be printed in rasterized mode. At 300 DPI, a 1200 x 1200" rasterized plot would require an incredible 123904 tiles to complete -- would likely never finish. To be safe, if using the NONE form, make sure the Rasterized setting is explicitly turned off in your .set file.

If not using the NONE form, then yes, since iCS for PDF does not have the ability to automatically set a paper size based on information in the design file, it's necessary to define different .set files and corresponding rendition profile presentations if different paper sizes are needed (and you care about the size and aspect ratio of the PDF). iCS for PDF was designed for relatively standardized printing workflows.

RE: large white border when rendtion

Luc Poulin — Fri, 09 Aug 2019 18:17:02 GMT

Andrew, I got it now

As you mention I set the size to a name that is recognized "D size sheet", I struggle for a bit as it did not work......

Then........after reading more on the subject.

I had to go in the ICS server and change printer properties in two location to:

Under general and under Advance using admin rights

I match the paper size and set the portrait to have landscape output???

Things I'm afraid, and will probably discover when the question arise, what if we need to print to a different file format than D???

Also my settings at the moment are fence with points, will do more tests to see how Sheet option behave, which I believe may be more useful that define the plot area using point. As user could place the print area anywhere on the paper space.

Another test I may have to do is set the paper size to None in the properties. which I expect to allow me any paper ratio.... will see

Thank you for your input, it was helpful.

The next stage of my configuration will be to have different rendition profile to have layer on and off and have PW properties to show up on the drawing ( Which I believe will require having multiple title block)

Quick collateral question? if people print AutoCAD drawing (like C3D) should the Aplot be use? Which I assume will need acad to be install on the server.

RE: large white border when rendtion

Andrew Edge — Fri, 09 Aug 2019 15:09:36 GMT

That's really bizarre; I don't have an explanation for that. InterPlot Organizer's ProjectWise integration could to be blame. I don't know exactly what "Save" does. I'm pretty sure the PW document object would have been created by then, but whether it actually uploads the .set file at that time I'm not sure. To be safe, make sure to exit InterPlot Organizer completely before trying to open the .set file on a different PC.

Your setup looks normal to me except for the paper size name. By default, InterPlot Organizer running on the iCS for PDF server uses the printer "ProjectWise Dynamic Composition Server". This printer uses the forms defined in the Windows forms database. You can see which forms are acceptable by opening the printer preferences dialog for that printer and expanding the paper size list. Unless you change the printer (see IP_DCS_RENDITION_PRINTER in ip.cfg), any iCS for PDF presentation .set file will have to use one of those paper sizes. And "34x22" is not one of them. An invalid paper size name in the .set won't fail the job, you'll just get the square max limits.

One option is use "D size sheet". Another option, which makes it easier to manage .set files if you use printer drivers on your desktop PCs that publish their own custom form names, is to install that printer driver on the iCS for PDF server, create the printer (can use FILE port), and configure ip.cfg to use that printer instead of the PWDCS one. If you're an InterPlot user on the desktop, the idea is to have .set files that work equally well on the desktop and in iCS for PDF. And to be able to manage .set files from your desktop PC rather than having to log into the iCS for PDF server.

But based on your error message, you may have an empty .set file. That needs to be resolved by testing interactive InterPlot Organizer before you can hope to get iCS for PDF working properly.

Also you can check your paper size dimensions in Acrobat to see if the .set paper size is being honored.

RE: large white border when rendtion

Luc Poulin — Thu, 08 Aug 2019 15:18:26 GMT

Thank you Andrew

After doing more test..

1- I realize that when I'm on the ICS server and create a new .set file ( Interplot organizer» edit » Settings Files » Create .......save)

and open it on my machine using interplot organizer, I got the message no section define in the .set file

When I do the opposite ( initiate the .set creation from my pc) I do not have this problem.

Could this be an indication of something?

Once I figure this out.......

I configure the .set according to your recommendations ( see picture above)

The pdf still display the white bands.

As sheet is select, I define the Plot shape

And the option change to Plot Shape

the white band is still there

Then I define Fence point using four points ( for some reason could not load the picture)

my points are

X Y

0:0:0 0:0:0

34:0:0 0:0:0

34:0:0 22:0:0

0:0:0 22:0:0

Same results the white band is still present above and below the drawing

Let me know if you think about something else

RE: large white border when rendtion

Andrew Edge — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 21:05:05 GMT

The aspect ratio of your plot area does not precisely match that of your paper size. There can be a number of causes; it depends on how your plot area is determined.

The easiest workflow is to use a sheet model in the DGN and specify the corresponding paper size in the .set file (aka rendition profile presentation) used by iCS for PDF. Unlike MicroStation printing, iCS for PDF does not have the ability to automatically set an appropriate paper size from a sheet model. It must be specified explicitly to get anything other than the maximum printer limits (in a default config, 1200 x 1200 inches). Multiple rendition profile presentation options may be necessary if you create renditions with different paper sizes.

Likewise, if your .set file indicates that the plot area is to be determined by building a fence from a shape or monument points, then there is no implied paper size and it must be specified explicitly in the .set file if the default square limits are undesired.

If you are not using sheet or fence plot area, e.g. the plot area is just a numbered view, then the resulting plot area is imprecise, unpredictable, and could result in the whitespace you depict. Only sheet or fence plot area should be used with non-interactive printing such as iCS for PDF or InterPlot Organizer.