×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

PLT files - How do i plot?

PLT files - How do i plot?

PLT files - How do i plot?

(OP)
Hello,

I have been asked many times to supply .plt files to architects so they can have a professional printer plot the drawings. How do i plot these same files if someeone else sends them to me?

Thanks in advance

RE: PLT files - How do i plot?

(OP)
It might help if you knew i was running win98 and win me and an hp660 designjet plotter

RE: PLT files - How do i plot?

drag them from a folder to a printer icon

RE: PLT files - How do i plot?

Hi,

1. PRN files can be obtained when you select the "Print to File" option in the Print dialog. These PRN files are written by the printer driver in a language that can be interpreted by the given printer and you can
simply copy this file to the printer in the DOS prompt.

2. PLT files can be saved while you select "Plot to File" in the Plot dialog. These are HPGL2 files that you can simply copy to the printer in the DOS prompt.

Examples:
Sending a PRN/PLT file to a printer/plotter connected to the local LPT1 port:
copy /b filename.prn lpt1
or
copy /b filename.plt lpt1

Sending a PRN/PLT file to a printer/plotter shared on an ethernet network:
net use lpt2: \\server\designjet
copy /b filename.prn lpt2
net use lpt2: /delete

or
net use lpt2: \\server\designjet
copy /b filename.plt lpt2
net use lpt2: /delete

A good utility program here http://hem1.passagen.se/ptlerup/index.html

Regards
Fernando

RE: PLT files - How do i plot?

Hi

You can download a freeware program from the following web site in order to print plt files.

"http://www.output.tmfweb.nl";

RE: PLT files - How do i plot?

If you look up the help content on it, it says plt files are for dos commands.  For printing at the dos command, using the file ext plt, dos can print the file without using autocad, though untried on my end.  In theroy I would think it would be a way for anyone to print autocad drawings without needing autocad.

RE: PLT files - How do i plot?

Alex
You need AutoCAD or similar CAD to create the .plt file in the first place.  Then anyone can plot the .plt.
You cannot satisfactorily bring a .plt back into AutoCAD.
There is software to do it, but you will find that all intelligent information on polylines, dimensions, 3d information, blocks attributes etc has been lost.  All you will have is lines and text in 2d.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources