SW printing capabilities...

[D3sign3r]

Is it just me or is the solidworks printing functionality useless?
Whenever i need to print special views out of a drawing (like quick 1:1 zoomed-in-views for the guys on the shopfloor) i need to save the sw drawing as a dwg file...open up autocad and use the printing options there, which are easy to use and work like charm. Even Autodesk's Inventor's printing options were far superior.
I've tried the 'selection' option in the print window, but the view-frame doesn't even show up now when i select the 'custom scale' option in sw.

When will sw finally improve their printing functionality??

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

http://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/subscription/Enhancements_submit.html

Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091

 

[ctopher]

Have you been to the SW site?

http://solidworks.com/pages/services/subscription/Enhancements.html?pid=383

We do 2D dwgs in SW. Not good if it were exactly like ACAD.
A lot of us are getting away from prints anyway. 3D modeling allows us to send the model for manufacturing without the creation of dwgs.
If you want to be proficient in SW, I suggest thinking like SW. It's a different world from ACAD.

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 05
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

 

[D3sign3r]

Well im all about keeping current...but there will always be the 'old school' vendors and fab shops out there that cant afford fancy equipment that accepting parasolids, nor can they afford a licence of any high-end cad software that matter :-( So i gotta deal with both ends of the spectrum.
The Design Engineering field is such a vast field...i suppose its tough for any cad company to cater everybody.

 

[smcadman]

1:1 is metric, 1/1 is inches

You peaked my interest because I was under the impression that 1:1 was metric, and 1=1 was imperial.

Searched online for ANSI standards , and found "Engineering Drawing Practices Aerospace and Ground Support Equipment" from the John F. Kennedy Space Center.

http://www-lib.ksc.nasa.gov/lib/DOCUMENTS/GP435v1.pdf

(not sure if that document is supposed to be public because I can't access the top-level website).

Page 46 of this pdf, section 2.4.2 "Indication of Scale",
"The scale shall be indicated as a decimal or common fraction". I just used the SW default scale notation and never thought twice about it.

Flores
SW06 SP3.0

 

[ctopher]

smcadman,
Thanks. I did find the difference between the two in a ASME or ANSI standard. But, I don't have them right now to look up. I'll keep searching.

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 05
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

The "=" is/was used when actual units are/were shown ... 1"=1'-0" or 1/8"=1'-0"


Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091

 

[ctopher]

CBL, I missed that. You're correct.
thanks

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 05
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

 

[Heckdogg]

I agree Heckdogg, zooming out does fix the problem with that window not showing up. The only issue now is that if you print it out 1:1 and measure it with a ruler, it's hit and miss weather its accurte or not.
Alot of guys on the floor like to place certain parts on a 1:1 plot for quick reference of size and accuracy (sort of like a paper version of a shadow-board).

Anyhoo ... printing at 1/1 most likely will not get you an accurate print. It's in the printers/plotters, not the CAD software. Most printers/plotters will get you very close.

I would have to agree with ctopher, at least with the 3 or 4 different plotters and printers we have in our building here, when we print 1:1, we could get 3 or 4 different "scales" of the part.

This has happened everywhere that I have ever worked at, weather it was using SolidWorks or AutoCAD. I have always been told it is just a combination of the resolution of the printer/plotter, and the orientaion (portrait or landscape) you are printing to.

SolidWorks 2006 SP3.1
Intel Xeon 2.8GHz 2GB Ram
NVIDIA Quadro FX3000

 

[wes616]

when printing 1/1 for scaling off dwgs, I always include a not that the dwg will tolerance +/- .10. I actually talked to someone at a plotter company, and they told me that no matter what anyone says, the best tolerance a plotter pin will hold will be .1...

this is the reason why one should never scale off a plotted dwg... if you want to do this, take the time to draw a part with pencil.




Wes C.
------------------------------
When they broke open molecules, they found they were only stuffed with atoms. But when they broke open atoms, they found them stuffed with explosions...

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

I've just made some tabloid size test prints to a HP Deskjet 1000C, and a Toshiba ES230, and a letter size test to a HP LaserJet 2550L. All of them are accurate to within .005" over 12" (using a steel rule & eyepiece). Maybe I've just been very lucky, but I've never had a problem.


Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091

 

[ctopher]

.1 seems kinda big? I have used a plotter/printer that was +/-.004

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 05
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

 

[D3sign3r]

Im guessing .1 tolerance was based on the old ribbon dot matrix printers back in the day. I belive laser printers are pretty reliable.
When i used to work with autocad 14 a few years ago, and print drawings 1:1 on the old hp laser printers, the results were pretty accurate. If I wanted extreme accuracy, i'd bring my drawings to a aircraft facility and print off their ploters that are calibrated frequently

 

[StefanHamminga]

I'm CBL and Chris, the last two years I printed hundreds of drawings for a steel cutting table (with an optical contour tracer), they were all within 2mm on a meter (in the paper feed direction) and spot on perpendicular to the feed direction. These drawings were between 200mm and 8 meters in length, generally around 3/4th square meters.
The drawings were printed on the following printers:
HP Designjet 430 (an oldie, most drawings were printed on this one)
HP Desingjet 130nr
HP Desingjet 500
Canon W6400Pg
We actually checked the drawings often, just as a precaution (before wasting a couple 40mm steel plates).

Stefan Hamminga
EngIT Solutions
CSWP/Mechanical designer/AI student

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

wes616 ... that's gotta be .10mm (.004")?


Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091

 

[ctopher]

CBL, that's makes sense. When he typed 1/1, I assumed in inches.

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 05
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

 

[wes616]

Sorry guys...

.01" (inches)... my goof... I feel like an A$$

Wes C.
------------------------------
When they broke open molecules, they found they were only stuffed with atoms. But when they broke open atoms, they found them stuffed with explosions...

 

[ctopher]

just a typo, no big deal.
Thanks

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 05
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

 

[D3sign3r]

Well I submitted several enhancement requests to solidworks, one regarding Printer options. It would be nice to have some more plotting control in later revisions.