Autocad Files

[Arseneau]

Anyone have any idea where or how to get AutoCAD files printed in full size? Does Kinkos do it? Staples? I've called a bunch of local print shops but most of them say they can only print them if I convert them to a .plt file or something which I can't seem to figure out how to do. I've found a couple of tutorials on the Net for converting them but I can't get it to work and it seems way too complicated.

You guys MUST have some easier way of getting your designs printed, am I right?

Thanks in advance for your info

[mammoth guitars]

Some print drivers allow printing to a file, usually an EPS which you should be able to print at Kinkos.

[redwhiteandthemaple]

Yes, I print mine from Kinko's

If it's in 1:1 ratio, just give them the file and tell them to print it.

If it's not.. you might have to figure some out, the guys at Kinko's were nice enough to help me out

That's wierd though... .plt file? I think .pdf would be so much easier..

The guys at Kinko's always converted to .pdf and printed, they used Adobe Illustrator I think

It usually comes to about Canadian 5/6/7 bucks, so it's not that bad

But I have a question, how are you viewing your AutoCAD files? AutoCAD programs, 3d Render.. Adobe..?

[MzI]

I am currently using Autocad 2007 to view my files that I draw up.

Really the best way is to give Kinkos a pdf file. You can plot out of autocad to a file and save the file as a pdf just make sure its saved 1:1 scale as mentioned above.

MzI

[Xanthus]

Yes, I print mine from Kinko's

If it's in 1:1 ratio, just give them the file and tell them to print it.

If it's not.. you might have to figure some out, the guys at Kinko's were nice enough to help me out

That's wierd though... .plt file? I think .pdf would be so much easier..

The guys at Kinko's always converted to .pdf and printed, they used Adobe Illustrator I think

It usually comes to about Canadian 5/6/7 bucks, so it's not that bad

But I have a question, how are you viewing your AutoCAD files? AutoCAD programs, 3d Render.. Adobe..?

Oh man...... *thinks of the time saved* I should've done that a looong time ago.

Know what I did? I opened up my CAD viewer (the Free DWG Viewer), calibrated the ruler on something I was positive I knew the length of (a humbucker, for example) and used the ruler to get all sorts of crazy measurements. Then I drew them all on a piece of cardboard and ended up with a really blocky version of my template. Which I had to smooth out.

Then I took a pic of the guitar off the website, converted to black-and-white, erased everything except the outline, and blew it up full size by guesstimating from the measurements I took from my CAD picture.

Then I made a final template, a combination of the picture and the measurements.

Man, I'm so dumb.

Not that I think my body shape is incredibly UNaccurate (I made some of my own modifications to it, eventually), but man... It'd have saved me a ton of time.

Next time, I'll know

-Xanthus

[Arseneau]

Thanks for the response.

I use AutoCAD 2005 to view the files.

How exactly do I convert the .dwg file to a .pdf file? Sorry if this seems obvious but I'm pretty inept when it comes to graphics software.

Thanks

[ToneMonkey]

It's in the print menu. You print it to .pdf instead of saving it to .pdf

I haven't got the Adobe writer, I use PDF995 (it's free) and it automatically goes to the print options. I'm doing it at the minute while I'm writing this.

Alternatively, give me your email address and I'll send you an email from my works address. Reply with the drawing attached and I'll do it for you.

Kaj

[Southpa]

I used to have a friend who worked at a small marine engineering firm that used ACAD exclusively for generating all their drawings. I would email him a dwg file and he would simply plot it out for me during his lunch hour. Unfortunately, he has moved on to a bigger and better company (BC Ferries) so its not possible any more. But if those sort of circumstances are available to you it doesn't hurt to ask.