Solidworks 2010 printing 1:1 scale at 100% of 11x17 paper is not right 3

[aliensquale]

I have Solidworks 2010, I am printing on 11x17 paper, my sheet and model scales are at 1:1. I choose in page setup to scale 100%. I print the page out, then take my caliper and measure the actual printout to see if the scale is right on to the measurements called out on the drawing... what I'm finding is that the printout is actually slightly larger than 1:1 scale? For instance I have a part that is 5.5" long, and the drawing dimension shows 5.5". When I print it out on 11x17 paper at a 1:1 scale then I use my caliper to measure the actual printout.. my caliper is reading about 5.6". So the scale is not printing correctly... the same holds true for when I save the drawing as a PDF and print the PDF out as well.. same scale issues..

does anybody know why this is?

 

[handleman]

Try different printers. Ours are pretty dang close.

-handleman, CSWP (The new, easy test)

 

[enginerd1959]

I've never had luck printing to an exact scale from ANY CAD program.

Maybe the best you can do is to force the software to print the scale you need by measuring the output & adding a scale factor. For example if a 5.5" part comes out 5.6", next time try a scale of .982.

I know it's silly, but some times you have to work around the system.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

I would think this is more a function of the printer/printer driver than of SW output.

 

[Updraft]

handleman is correct in pointing you to the printers. About the only time to use a print for an "exact" scale drawing is when it is used for a layout or template for physically making a part. If this is required then you should try this exercise and have your eyes opened to the world of printers. Draw a rectangle that is the largest you can accurately measure. If you have a 6" caliper then draw a 6" square. Print it at the 100% scale, 1:1 drawing scale, etc. Then measure both sides of the square. Chances are the side aligned with the feed direction of the paper through the machine is longer than it is supposed to be and the crosswise dimension is pretty close to its target value. Smiling yet? This is not a problem with SWX, but with the printer. The only way to deal with this is to compute the correction factor required and rescale the part accordingly, but only in the affected direction. This is not always easy. Good luck.

- - -Updraft

 

[MatthewTavares]

I was having this problem at one point and if I recall correctly, I found a checkbox that said something along the lines of "scale and rotate to fit page" and that did the trick.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

I just tried a 12" x 8" rectangle on our Toshiba ES230, and the measured sizes were spot on.

 

[MatthewTavares]

One thing you might want to try to see if it is solidworks or your printer driver is to save your drawing to a pdf and then print the pdf. Alternatively, you could also save it as an e-drawing and try printing from there...

 

[ctopher]

Printers should 'never' be trusted for scale.
If you want scale, use a plotter designed to plot drawings.

Chris
SolidWorks 09 SP4.1
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

 

[Gurjjeet]

exactly...plotter are the way to go if you want exact output........Mostly the reason for printing 1:1 is to cut the paper to check some profile or use it otherwise........in that case plotters can also be used to cut the stuff straightway rather than printing it first & then wrestling with scissors.

 

[aliensquale]

well I'm thinking it's also something up with the printer.. but this was interesting... I did a print using the 'selection box' option, I put the box around a view of one of my 1:1 scale parts... I printed it to a different printer.. a laser printer than can only do 8.5" x 11" prints. When it printed out there the scale was almost exactly on when I measured it with calipers. So it seems there is a difference with the printers.

I wish this wasn't the case because I do manufacture parts and many times I will print the parts out at scale 1:1 and then hold the finished part up ontop of the printout to verify some dimensions just for quick measurements.

 

[macduff]

aliensquale,
go to the 3d model, and try printing it from there. get into a view plane like your drawing view and print 100%. this usually works for me.

on the same subject...what's the use of having "100%" as an option, if it doesn't print at 100%? Whether it's the SW software or the print drivers, you shouldn't have to tweak scales, sofware codes, etc...It's just not right. Yes plotters is the way to go, but most companies have printers nowadays.

Colin Fitzpatrick (aka Macduff)
Mechanical Designer
Solidworks 2009 SP 4.1
Dell 490 XP Pro SP 2
Xeon CPU 3.00 GHz 3.00 GB of RAM
nVida Quadro FX 3450 512 MB
3D Connexion-SpaceExplorer

 

[handleman]

Many times it's not even necessarily the printer drivers. You seem to be forgetting something. A printer is not magic. It's a mechanical device. It has performance specs/tolerances/etc. The print driver may be telling it to print exactly right, but the servos/steppers/piezos/etc. all function within performance spec limits, which may be looser than you wish. If you buy a cheap, crappy bubble jet printer and stick thick or slippery paper in there, you are likely to get feed inconsistencies, etc. that won't particularly show up visibly on any print unless you actually measure it. YGWYPF.

-handleman, CSWP (The new, easy test)

 

[andrzejls]

Hi, guys
If I am right, the federal law prohibits printer manufacturers to produce printers capable of printing true 100%. It has something to do with money.

 

[ctopher]

Everything has something to do with money.
If a printer printed 100% scalable, there would a lot more counterfeiters.

Chris
SolidWorks 09 SP4.1
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

 

[macduff]

Hmmm.....good point.

Colin Fitzpatrick (aka Macduff)
Mechanical Designer
Solidworks 2009 SP 4.1
Dell 490 XP Pro SP 2
Xeon CPU 3.00 GHz 3.00 GB of RAM
nVida Quadro FX 3450 512 MB
3D Connexion-SpaceExplorer

 

[Updraft]

So, at the end of the day aliensquale (we) have the following situation:
1. Printers are everywhere in many forms and qualities. They are far more prevalent than plotters.
2. Printers do not always print at 100% scale and might not even print at the same scale in feed and cross-feed directions. Why this is is irrelevant.

The issue becomes how to deal with offscale printing. It is typically not the fault of the software, but of the printer. If you cannot change the printer characteristics then you must find a way to compensate by sending it information that yields the result you want. Scaling your object seems to be the only way, but if the printer is not off by the same amount in both directions then this becomes a lot more involved. Otherwise you could just tell it to print at 98.95% if that would give you the lines at 100%.

- - -Updraft

 

[MikeMcL]

Its COPIERS that the Fed limits RE 100%.

Every laser printer I've had at work had the same problem, stretching in the direction of paper feed. When I print the same job on the roll fed large plotter it is dead on. Every plotter we've had has done this.

Most printers wrap the paper around something in the print process. A plotter usually has a straight through paper path so there's less chance of distortion.

 

[EEnd]

AutoCAD has functionality for calibrating printers for scale. I have not found that functionality in either SolidWorks or DWGEditor. The best solution that I can think of is saving the drawing to a PDF and using some other program to rescale the PDF to get printed output at the desired scale. I did a Google search on “scale pdf” and found a number of utilities which might allow unequal x and y scaling.

Eric

 

[stefan8989]

yeah i had this problem, i got so anoyed with it i just exported my drawings to autocad and printed it fron there, so i dont think its your printer because, from autocad 1:1 was bang on