Output pdf using Iplot 1

[HabsFan]

I work for a large corporation that uses Microstation as it's design/drafting software. Sometimes there is a need to circualte designs for approval, elecronically. But, since everyone doesn't have Microstation, is thier a way to output the design file into a pdf format, using Iplot.

 

[DaveVikingPE]

This problem can be nicely solved - but only with money.

Firstly, if you own the full-blown version of Acrobat, you can print .pdf versions of Microstation files from IPLOT, simply selecting Acrobat Distiller as the printer. I've done it and the results are, provided you're very careful with fonts, not too bad.

Secondly, you can print image file (JPEG, PNG, etc.) directly from Microstion's Utilities>Image>Save... menu command. The output is worse than Acrobat's though.

Thirdly, and this is expensive, but will give you exactly what you want. You need an archiving option from the IPLOT server that will virtually plot files in the CAL format. CAL is a black-and-white (sometimes blue and white) raster format, "CAL" stands for Continuous Acquisition and Life-cycle. The MaxView Corporation (

http://www.maxview.com)

sells a program (called, incidentally "MaxView&quot that reads CALS files. There are other companies springing up with CAL readers and authoring tools, so a web search might get you a more competitively priced piece of software. You can install the FREE MaxView reader on everyone's computer, install the MaxView author on a single computer from where the documents originate. Send everyone a CAL version that is full-scale and annotatable, etc.

Hope that round-about story helps you!

 

[bundle]

you can find acrobat pdfwriter 3.03 from download sites. as daveviking said before you can solve this problem with it. if you install this that software will be seen as a printer. but you need a serial number for that software...

good luck

 

[alten]

I have installed Ghostscript on a server. It is FREE. You get the while kit from

http://www.sourceforge.net.

Don't be put off by the UNIX flavours, it is available for Windows, too. I deployed v6.52. This is old enough for Aladdin to release under a limited but free license.
You install a little program on the server called Redmon that gives you another port type to set up as a printer. The port redirects the data to a program, which you will set to Ghostscript. You use any PS print driver, set an output directory and share the printer.

Users don't use IPLOT, they use Print/plot and you set up a .plt file that directs the plot to the print queue.
The user hits print/plot, chooses your .plt file, and hits print. The .PDF file turns up in the destination directory. See also

http://www.pdflib.com/gsmanual/gs5man_e.pdf

for a helpful manual.
NOTES:
The destination folder must be on the same machine as the print queue.
The tricky lines in the print properties>ports tag are:

f:\gs\gs6.52\bin\gswin32.exe

@F:\gs\pdfwrite.rsp -sOutputfile="G:\ngl\pdf\%d.pdf" -c .setpdfwrite -f -

Program handles output

Hidden

(change the paths etc. to suit your server)

There's lots of documentation with the product.
Good luck
alasdair_tennant@hotmail.com

 

[mtk220]

Why not just give all required parties a copy of Bentley's Microstation Viewer (Bentley View). Have your CAD Administrator look into the steps required to acquire the free licenses.

I am of course assuming being a large corporation that all of your CAD drawings are on the network? Then when you want someone to review a drawing just send them a link to it. When they click the link and if the associativity is correct it will go directly to the drawing and open it for viewing......and more.

Mark

 

Another solution would be to install some of those FREEWAREs such as "PDF995" or "WIN2PDF. Using print/plot you would print to one of these and that too would give you a PDF.