P Retondo

Is there anyway you can add a feature allowing the program to scale printer output to allow, for example, a 24x36 sheet to be printed on an ordinary printer? I have an HP 1220C, which handles 13x19 sheets, max. When using zoom at 50% and the largest possible sheet size (e.g., 13x19), my output consists of 4 pieces of the drawing printed on 4 sheets at 50%!! Apparently I can't print at 50% because, in their wisdom, VW programmers have chosen to automatically tile the output when a sheet smaller than the "page size" is selected within print setup. HP provides the zoom feature, but not a 24x36 sheet size option. I don't recall having this problem working on a Mac platform with a HP 4ML printer, so my particular issue seems to arise using Windows (2000) and/or my particular printer. Surely there is a way to guarantee the ability to scale output regardless of printer or platform by scaling the printfile (like, gulp!, AutoCAD does - I can do the above referenced printing task easily in AutoCAD).

I use an HP1220C with VectorWorks 8.5 (tried 9.0, shelved it). Both print okay, but the lack of a scaling utility in VW is a sore point. HP's "Smart Zoom" utility doesn't work with VW because VW automatically tiles a document according to the paper size selected in the printer driver. So, for example, if you want to print out a 24x36 document at half size, you're out of luck. The 1220C driver doesn't offer a 24x36 paper size, so VW tiles the document into at least 4 sheets. When you try to print out at 50%, you get four 50% size sections of the drawing. The work around is to change layer scales - a real pain, but doable. The printer itself is fast, quiet, and gives great output. It can also take a 13x19 sheet. VW programmers take note! You need to provide printer output scaling!

Dear scubohntr, I share your frustration with VectorWorks documentation. It is far too sketchy. Here is a pobable solution, though, to your problem: you are working an a map at a "large" scale, where the symbol you are trying to use is at a "small" scale, like 1/4" = 1'. Put the symbol on a layer with a small scale, and it will show up in properly sized. This is a problem one wouldn't encounter in AutoCAD, which uses a completely different system for these things. VW responds to scaling a symbol, as opposed to an ordinary object, as an illegal command and just does nothing in response. If you convert the symbol to a group, however, it can then be scaled using the scaling tool.

After two days of trying VW 9, encountered many bugs - you will no doubt work through them. Sluggish performance is not a bug - it's a basic design issue. 3D solid operations, doors and windows, simply changing the width of a wall object, all take unacceptably long periods of time. If you have a strategy to get back at least to the user performance of v 8.5, let me know. Otherwise, can't use VectorWorks in the future.