Plotting+UG NX II

[par1]

This question is @ Plotting with UG NX II.
I have couple of dwgs & need to plot on 8 * 17 inch paper size but it gives me very small size on the paper while plotting.

1. How do i select a given dwg by window selection?

2. How do i get the dwg size with appropiate to paper size rather than original size of dwg?

Thanking you in advance,

 

[Xwheelguy]

Make sure you're using Plot & not Print. Print is just a screen dump. I believe you'll have to set up an individual queue for the specific paper size you're wanting. Once you do that, it's a matter of incorporating the correct plotter switches to get the scaling correct.

You will more than likely have to have plotter switches for paper size & auto scale. If you have the documentation, there should be plenty of information to get you going.

Tim Flater
Senior Designer
Enkei America, Inc.

http://www.enkei.com

 

[rghay]

Just some added information:

We have a single queue for plotting. We plot all sizes through that queue to a HP DesignJet 430.

Be careful of scaling, as you might not get 1:1 in your plot if that is important.

 

[par1]

I am in a plot mode (not the print one).
I am following the steps below & let me know if i am doing mistake.

I am using NX II.

1. Selcting a printer

2. Clicking a swg

3. Make sure that scale is 1.0

4. Build Plot file & press OK


Questions?

1. How to select a dwg by click & draging a window?

2. I am assuming that dwg size doesn't matter- means even dwg is A4 (8 * 11 inch size) I can print on 11 * 17 size?

 

[Xwheelguy]

Answers:

1. You can't.

2. You are correct.


rghay,

Is this a multi-roll plotter you're using? How are you setting the scale of your drawings when you plot; using auto scale or what? If you're using a wide roll (say 36 inch roll) & plot an 8.5 x 11 drawing size at 1:1, aren't you wasting a ton of paper & don't you have to cut the paper on multi-page drawings? I'm just curious how others have set up UG for plotting, not saying one is better than the other.

I should have been more specific in my original reply. If you're plotting to a PRINTER that supports multiple trays (paper sizes), a queue is needed for each paper size.

Tim Flater
Senior Designer
Enkei America, Inc.

http://www.enkei.com

 

[par1]

Tim,

The UG system is isolated from the nework & it has one printer(not the 36 nch plotter but the paper size 8.5 * 17 inch).
I am trying to plot it throgh the above mentioned printer.
I am just typing 1 for the scale below the pen assignment in UG NX II.
I also tried to o through on context help but couldn't help me out,

Thanking you for your help,

 

[Xwheelguy]

As I said earlier, your plot queue has to know what the paper size is. You will have to use PQMGR (plot queue manager) outside of UG to input the correct settings. UG's documentation comes free of charge & you should have a copy of it somewhere. In the documentation, there is a Plotter User's Guide that will explain what to do in more detail than I can do here. Pay special attention to the plotter switches towards the end of the manual.

Without seeing your queue, it's almost impossible to guess at what the problem exactly is. I can GUESS that you don't have the auto-scale switch or the page size switch set (since 8.5 X 17 is NOT a standard paper size in UG).

If any of this doesn't make sense to you, I would strongly suggest calling GTAC & have them walk you through using Plot Queue Manager.

Tim Flater
Senior Designer
Enkei America, Inc.

http://www.enkei.com

 

[rghay]

nkwheelguy

The designjet we use is a single roll fed machine. Yes, if your sheet size doesn't match the width of the roll, you will have to hand trim the drawing and loose some paper.

Most of our drawings are D and E. C size drawings, if full scale high quality plots are required, cost us paper. Generally for C size we plot to a file and process the file with a software utility which converts it to a good quality .tif file which is then printed on a laser printer at 11 x 17. D size drawing can be handled the same way and are readable, but E size drawings would require a magnifying glass to read printed on 11 x 17.

We save both the UG part file and the drawing .tif files in our database system, so the .tifs are not a waste.

 

[Xwheelguy]

That's what I was thinking you did. I mainly do design work on UG for GM parts & when they switched from roll sized to 11x17 drawings, we found it more cost effective to buy a printer versus trimming the paper & throwing it away. I was just making sure we hadn't overlooked a plotting function or something of that nature.

Of course, at the time we made this decision, PDF wasn't as popular or accepted throughout the engineering community. As a matter of fact, I believe GM was still requiring UNIX as an operating system.

Tim Flater
Senior Designer
Enkei America, Inc.

http://www.enkei.com