progeCAD support, tips and troubleshooting forum. progeCAD works very similar to some versions of AutoCAD. Moderated.

Moderators: caddit, Moderators

#2224 by AFujikawa
Tue Mar 10, 2015 4:28 pm
The company that I work for has recently switched from using AutoCAD to progeCAD, and we cannot figure out a way to plot our drawings to PDF with the hidden lines function set to ON without the file sizes being unreasonably large. (For example, a PDF created with AutoCAD that is around 50kb is coming out of progeCAD at about 1Mb). The progeCAD manual states that the program cannot plot with hidden lines at all, which is confusing to me. After some trial and error with the print quality settings within progeCAD, we were able to make the plotted PDF appear smooth (at the expense of even higher file size). However, when i plot a 2D drawing the generated file size is small as expected.

A supervisor has suggested that the difference between the two programs may be that AutoCAD generates a vector image, while progeCAD generates a bitmap image. So it appears that progeCAD treats the plotting job differently when the hidden lines function is set to ON.

So far my "work around" is to send myself the CAD file over the network so that I can use our old AutoCAD to plot to PDF. This is both highly inefficient, and displeasing to my boss (who would prefer me use the new software and new computer that he just bought for me to use).

Does anyone know if there is a fix for this? Or even just a work around within progeCAD?

#2226 by caddit
Wed Mar 11, 2015 2:13 pm
Dear AFujikawa,


Can you try once to create a PDF of the same drawing using "Add-On" > "3D PDF Export". Be sure to click the option to "include 2D". You will need Acrobat Reader XI to read the resulting PDF file.

We are not suggesting this as a solution at this point, just asking if the resulting file shows any improvement.


Thanks.

#2234 by AFujikawa
Tue Mar 17, 2015 4:27 pm
Thanks for the reply, but that method did not produce the results that we are looking for. Also, I did not find where to set "include 2D" to ON.

#2235 by caddit
Thu Mar 19, 2015 3:08 pm
Dear AFujikawa,


There seems to be a difference in compression levels used between the two PDFs, but we will need some time to look into it more deeply.

#2236 by AFujikawa
Thu Mar 19, 2015 4:29 pm
How do I attach a file to a comment?

#2255 by AFujikawa
Thu Jun 25, 2015 9:59 pm
I am currently using V. 2014, so this update that you have suggested won't apply to me.

Is it correct to assume that the issues that I am experiencing may not be fixed unless I purchase V. 2016?

#2258 by caddit
Tue Jun 30, 2015 9:37 am
Dear AFujikawa,


Yes and no. Note we are only suggesting that you try it first, to see if the problem is being addressed for you.


Due to its low price and high development costs we can only provide mainstream patches in code form for the current version of progeCAD. To be honest the PDF size hasn't come up as an issue with anyone before. We have taken measures to try to offer additional flexibility for PDF image compression in the software code but as I said, we can only do that for the current version.


The problem is that both AutoCAD and progeCAD must use a raster-based rendering when printing the extended graphics for hidden lines. Based on your feedback we have introduced a new setting in 2016 version to help with the compression. As a work-around for 2014 version I can suggest first some experimentation with the line weight and dithering settings with the Print Style Table used and also the DPI settings in the PLOT window itself.

#2261 by AFujikawa
Wed Jul 01, 2015 4:20 pm
Ok. I will continue to try different combinations of settings. Thank you for your time and efforts.