THINGS TO BE DONE BEFORE PRINTING:

 USE A SUITABLE LINETYPE SCALE:

1. Check your original drawing limits using the LIMITS command: they are
from (0,0) to (a,b) (e.g. a = 12, b = 9)
2. Check the dimensions (AxB) of your paper, in mm (e.g. 297x210 for A4 or
420x297 for A3 paper)
3. What scale is to be used, 1:S (e.g. S = 50 for 1: 50 scale)
4. Approximately, the linetype scale should be (A/a)xS (e.g. 297/12x50). This is
set in Format – Linetype Scale (for the Global Scale Factor)

 USE APPROPRIATE LINEWEIGHTS:

1. Choose File – Plot Style Manager (the following table

appears)

2. Double click “acad.ctb” (a file which stores the lineweight information by color)
- click “Form View” tab and the following menu appears:

3. Select the color that you used for each line type when creating the drawing. E.g.
you may have used red (color 1) for all center lines; purple (color 6) for hidden
lines, blue (color 5) for steel bars, black (color 7) for solid lines (title block and
concrete outline, etc.).
4. Assign the appropriate lineweight for each color (e.g. 1mm for blue, 0.5 mm for
black, etc.) – Save & Close.
 SET UP THE PLOT DETAILS:
File – Page Setup Manager (the Page Setup Manager menu appears)

Select “*Model*” and click “Modify…”, then the following menu appears:

1. For Plot style table, choose acad.ctb – Yes to use the lineweightes you assigned
2. Choose Printer/plotter (e.g. BarnCL5) and Paper size (usually A3)
3. In Plot Area, choose what to plot (e.g. by window & choose corners of title
block)
4. Plot scale:
 Check “Fit to paper” if scale is unimportant (e.g. just a rough draft)
 If a scale is specified, then uncheck “Fit to paper”
 Suppose scale is 1:50 (meaning: 1 mm on paper will represent 50
mm of actual object), while drawing dimensions are in mm.
 Choose “1:50” directly or choose “Custom” and set 1 mm (on
paper) = 50 units (on drawing)
5. In “Plot offset”, select “Center the plot”
6. Always Preview: change the orientation to Portrait or Landscape if needed
(right-click - Exit to exit preview). Click “OK” – “Close” if all is OK.
Finally, to plot the hardcopy: File – Plot – Preview (zoom in and ensure all
lineweights look OK, then right click and Plot)