CAD Software Forum

I am attempting to create 24x36 inch drawings from Intellicad on a PC that is running Windows 98. I had someone convert my dwg to an AUTOCAD Document and sent that file to a printer and that worked.
I want to be able to create a print file for a 24"X36" drawing using intellicad. Can someone help.

As an AutoCAD Drawing your file can be opened, viewed and plotted in IntelliCAD.

Normally in CAD you draw in full size so if an item is 10" it is drawn as 10 drawing units. When plotting (printing as it's called in CAD) you can set a scale that will size drawing to the correct paper.

You have only one choice in IntelliCAD to send your drawing directly to the printer so there is no need to send to a file.

Now the good news!

In Windows you can select the printer properties and instead of sending the drawing to a printer port ie LPT1, LPT2 or Com1 etc. you can send your drawing to a file and let Windows handle the rest.

A lot of CAD users install their printer drivers twice: one that has it's default set for direct printing to their printer and one that has it's default set to print to a file. If you are sending files to another person for printing, just install their printer drivers and set the default to a file. This way you can use print preview to see what the output will be like and pass the file over with confidence.

You can select different printers in IntelliCAD using File-->Print Setup and select the printer you want to use. This selection is also available to you on the print form dialog when you select File-->Print, you will see a button "Print Setup".

The plotting/printing help in IntelliCAD will guide you through the print options and if you get stuck on any parts, just post your question here.

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Regards
John Finlay

My drawing is scaled 1" to 40' when drawn to scale it fits a 24"X36" sheet of paper I have used windows to create a print file, however my windows drivers will not create a 24X36 size drawing file. Hewlett Packard has a windows driver (HPGL2) that I can be down load which links to AUTOCAD during it's install, that will create such a drawing.
Is there a windows driver that links to Intellicad that will creat a 24"X36" dwg.
Thank you

If your drawing is already scalled then you need to plot your drawing at a ratio of 1:1

In AutoCAD you have a choice of using the printer drivers that have been setup especially for AutoCAD or using the Windows drivers. In IntelliCAD the only choice is the Windows drivers so to print out on a 24"X36" sheet you must load printer drivers that have that paper size as an option and there are a lot of them about.

Yes, HPGL2 drivers can be freely downloaded from the web and installed on your computer.
This will give you the option of printing large format prints to a file. I will add, this is the most used drivers by CAD people.

When you install the printer drivers make sure you set it up to print to a file as default.

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Regards
John Finlay

[This message has been edited by John Finlay (edited 01-18-2003).]

The windows drivers on my machine will not product a print file greater than 11X27.
You say there are a lot of windows drivers available that will produce a 24"X36" drawing.

Please name two or three and identify where they can be obtained.

Thank you

Try:
http://productfinder.support.hp.com/tps ... Submit.y=5

Download the printer drivers for a HP Deskjet 500 and install these on your computer.

It is better to select the drivers for the printer that will be doing the printing job. Obtain the make and model of the printer and download the drivers from the manufacturers web site. For example if the printer is an Epson stylus pro 7600 go to the Epson web site at http://www.epson.com and select "Drivers and Support" follow the prompts and install the drivers on your computer.

What printer/plotter will be doing the job?

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Regards
John Finlay

I may be wrong, but I think John means Designjet, not Deskjet. For hpgl-2 output you should use the 700 series Designjet printers (I think the 500 series use a different format)
One tip: avoid TTF fonts if you use the windows drivers to generate hpgl-2 files. They never seem to render properly.

Thank you avaernes.

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Regards
John Finlay

Another option is of course to install the pdf995 printer driver to generate pdf files instead. Pdf is after all the standard format for document transport, and you are likely to have fewer problems with it than with hpgl2.
www.pdf995.com

Does the pdf generator allow one to plot lines with a shade or screen applied, i.e. 25%, 50% or 75%?

No, I don't think so. A pdf will open in Photoshop, however, for further processing.

I downloaded the Desk jet 500 printer you recommended. The max dwg size it will produce is 8.5 X 13 dwg. It will not work.

HP650 driver does work I installed it.
I opened intellicad drawing, select HP560 printer, select (properties), select (paper source), select (roll), then select (24"), select (more sizes), select (Architectural), select (Application page size), select (Arch D 24X36). After Selecting print I set print scale to 1 printed unit to 40 drawing units. and this produced a drawing file with a prn extension. I changed prn to plt to get it to run property on a commercial printer.

Thank you all for the help.

Sorry about the Deskjet I meant Designjet (as avaernes pointed out). I used 500 because I set a client up on a HP Designjet 500 with IntelliCAD and it worked fine.

Anyway i'm glad it all worked out.

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Regards
John Finlay