PS vs PCL
PS vs PCL
(OP)
When exporting .pdf files from NX6 we have run across a problem. It seems that .pdf looks just fine on screen, but it prints incorrectly (incompletely, really) on some printers and fine on others. Please offer up any tips, tricks or other solutions to this apparent PS vs. PCL problem.
Thanks for your time,
KLINE
Thanks for your time,
KLINE





RE: PS vs PCL
RE: PS vs PCL
Thanks for the suggestion, anyone else?
RE: PS vs PCL
We discovered the issue, and .pdfs from NX6 are the only ones that are still doing this. On the way to print from Adobe Reader one must first select the printer they intend to print to and pick the correct orientation of Landscape in Print Setup. Then they can proceed to print, but make sure the 'Auto-Rotate and Center' is turned off in the Page Handling.
In summary, it appears that the 'Auto-Rotate and Center' is the culprit (even though it may preview fine), however it would be nice if Landscape could be somehow defaulted into the PDF as most drawings (all here) are Landscape. Note, some of this may sound like standard print procedures, but all other programs we have here that right out .pdfs will print correctly regardless of whether or not 'Auto-Rotate and Center' is checked.
I intend to submit an enhancement request, but I will wait a few days to see if anyone knows of this being fixed in a subsequent release (we're running 6.0.0.24) or if anyone knows of a setting that can be changed to fix this. Does anyone know?
Thanks for your time,
KLINE
RE: PS vs PCL
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: PS vs PCL
Regards,
KLINE
RE: PS vs PCL
Thanks,
KLINE
RE: PS vs PCL
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: PS vs PCL
Thanks,
KLINE
RE: PS vs PCL
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: PS vs PCL
Are you saying that the software (and control) of File->Export->PDF... is owned by Adobe and I should take this up with them? If not, and it is owned and controlled by Siemens, should I submit a GTAC to have this issue investigated?
Thanks,
KLINE
RE: PS vs PCL
Thanks,
KLINE
RE: PS vs PCL
To that end I just tried the following using NX 6.0.4.3:
I opened a file of a simple part, created a Drawing (A1 drawing format) and while displaying it in what was the default 'landscape' orientation in NX, I went to...
File -> Export -> PDF...
...accepted all the defaults in the Export PDF dialog and created a PDF file of the A1 drawing sheet. I then opened the PDF file in Adobe Reader 8, selected...
File -> Print...
...accepted all of the defaults (including where I saw that 'Auto-Rotate & Center' was toggled ON, which I left that way) and hit OK. The print that I got from our Xerox WorkCentre 5645 was just what I had expected, an A1 drawing oriented on the page in 'Landscape' fashion.
Are you saying that you're performing a similar workflow, but getting a different result?
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: PS vs PCL
One can either fix the print setup orientation and turn off auto rotate, or (and this is our work-around now) print the .pdf with the 'as image' turned on in the advanced tab.
P.S. I have found rumblings on one other CAD Software that seems to be doing a similar thing printing blank pages, but we have not found a single .pdf yet (including old .pdfs of these very same drawings; produced with distiller 3.0) that produces errors such as these particular ones have from NX6.
RE: PS vs PCL
File -> Print...
...and changing nothing, I hit OK. Both pages of the 2 page document were printed in 'Landscape' orientation by our Xerox WorkCentre 5645 laser printer, as I had expected them to be.
Note that this is the only printer that I have my system configured for here in the office, but when I get home tonight I'll try this with my personal Epson R800 photo-printer.
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: PS vs PCL
Just as an observation I'm using NX5 and printing has always been fine with all the default settings. Note that for PDFs I do the following:
1. Install Cute PDF writer software onto my computer from the web.
2. File > Print just as if I was going to a normal printer.
3. Select 'Cute PDF writer' as my 'printer'
4. Save off the file name for the PDF.
This works fine for me and the quality of the PDF print is better than the OEM NX print to PDF option... Also prints anything to PDF reliably from any software that prints to a regular printer.
Rgds Rob.
Solid Edge; I-Deas 7 to 12; NX4 & currently NX5.
RE: PS vs PCL
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: PS vs PCL
John, with such a lengthy thread, I deserved for it to work properly for you. I don't what to say either, but I can't send a whole pile of problematic .pdf files. Even then, I am not sure we could definitely find the error, and with the 'print as image' setting now working flawlessly for everyone here it really is a non-issue.
Thanks for your time.
Regards,
KLINE