Differences in PDF-generation from NX6 to NX8

[Nougatti]

Hello all

I'm looking for someone to help me with an annoying problem I'm having with shaded views in exported PDFs of drawings.
We upgraded to NX8 this spring but there have been a few issues. One of them is this:
There is tremendous aliasing/jaggies going on in the shaded views of drawing-PDF's now
example:

NX6-generated PDF:

NX8-generated PDF:

Both examples are A1-drawings zoomed to 400% in Adobe Acrobat Pro.

This effect looks even worse in detail-views with shading as the circular view boundary wreaks havoc on the inside edges

Anyone know any workarounds?

Best regards
Daniel

I am Norwegian.
I design mechanicals for hydroelectric powerplants.
I use NX 8.0.3.4
----------------------------
Tom you can't knit at these speeds! Nobody can! DON'T BE A GODDAMNED HERO TOM!

 

[JohnRBaker]

OK, a couple of observations but first a question; for both NX 6.0 and NX 8.0, I assume that you used the same NX-based...

File -> Export -> PDF...

...function, correct? That being said, I have the following comments:

First, particuarly for an issue like this, when you compare two images it's best to use the exact same scale and orientation for both views.

Second, the first view was set with the lines displaying as wider than the second which could hide some of the 'jaggies'. Make sure that both drawings were created using the same drafting standards and that you used the same PDF line-width options.

Third, make sure that both images were produced using the same PDF dialog 'Image Resolution' setting.

Note that I just tested both NX 6.0.5.3 and NX 8.0.3,4 using the same drawing and using the same PDF settings. The resulting images, even when displayed at 400% magnification, were identical. So please try again, following the advice given, to see if this might resolve the differences.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[Nougatti]

I use the File->Export->PDF function, yes. We have it mapped to a button that automatically saves the drawing as a PDF in a PDF-folder of that specific project.
The scale is exactly the same in both views, but the orientation is slightly different.
Still, regardless of the orientation and the line-thickness you can clearly tell the lesser quality of the second picture if you look at the blends/fillets (this is a corrugated gate for a waterpower plant) where the line thicknesses are the same. Just looking at the color-distribution in these areas, it would seem the resolution is much lower on the NX8-generated one. Though the lines are thicker on the former, it's abundantly clear that this isn't just about line thicknesses hiding the "jaggies".

Since we no longer use NX6, it's hard to find out exactly what settings we used back then, but could you perhaps direct me to where the settings for shaded resolution are?

I am Norwegian.
I design mechanicals for hydroelectric powerplants.
I use NX 8.0.3.4
----------------------------
Tom you can't knit at these speeds! Nobody can! DON'T BE A GODDAMNED HERO TOM!

 

[Nougatti]

Man do I feel dumb...

This little guy was set to Scale Factor: 1.000

When I set it to "Full Scale" (which I thought was the same), the whole thing was fine..

Thanks for the patience, John!


I am Norwegian.
I design mechanicals for hydroelectric powerplants.
I use NX 8.0.3.4
----------------------------
Tom you can't knit at these speeds! Nobody can! DON'T BE A GODDAMNED HERO TOM!