Saving to VW 8.5 from VW 12.5

[Maui]

I am running VW12.5 and need to save a file to VW8.5

To make a long story longer... The only plotter service I can afford in my area is an old HP large format pen plotter .. really old but works really well, they will let me use it if I supply the paper and pens, so the problem is the Mac that it?s hooked up to it is a very old 8100/100 that happens to have VW8.5.

From VW12.5 I can ?export as Vectorworks 10?, but the old VW8.5 does not understand that file.

I am guessing that if I could get a hold of an old copy of VW10 it should be able to save backwards to 8.5. I don?t know what the system req?s are for VW10 but I should be able to run it on one of the macs.

Where could I get an old version of the software?

Is there an easier way to do this?

any ideas are much appreciated

[mike m oz]

Get them to download the VW 12 Viewer version. If the current viewer version will not work on their computer the VW 10 Viewer is still available: http://www.nemetschek.net/downloads/fundamentals/index.php

[Guest]

What printer and OS are they running?

[Maui]

The printer is a HP DraftMaster RX and the mac is a 8100/110 running OS8.0 with 144MB

[Maui]

Sorry, the 144MB is RAM

[Guest]

All of the viewers require OS 9 or newer, so that's not an option.

Do they have another large format printer/plotter that they could print to?

If so, then you could have them use the VW 12 viewer to print to another plotter.

Otherwise, you can create PDF files from VW and send them PDF files. This does not require any software other than one that can read PDF files.

[Petri]

Can the service plot from DXF?

If not, then maybe the solution is CADintosh or GraphicConverter. The former can read a DXF-file and write an HP-GL -file, the latter reads PDF (vector) and writes HP-GL.

Hmm. I guess I did not read carefully... Only an ancient Mac? Pen plotter? Dumping a plot file from a Mac to the plotter is possible, but not, I recall, easy.

Edited December 12, 2006 by Petri

[Maui]

They do have other plotters, current models hooked up to new macs, but I can't afford to pay for thier services... if I can figure a way to use the old pen plotter I only have to pay for paper and pens, no other charges.

Could I post a new thread "wanted add" for an old copy of VW10? There must be someone out there that has the old package collecting dust and taking up space.

[Guest]

YOu can try - before you buy, the seller must contact NNA directly to relinquish rights to the software and transfer the license to you.

[mclaugh]

Maui,

VW 11.x exports to VW 8. Assuming you upgraded to 12.5 from 11.x, reinstall 11 and you should be good to go.

Katie,

Would I be relinquishing the right to future upgrades if I relinquish my rights to 10 and transferred the license to Maui?

[Guest]

You could, depending on the versions you have. The best thing to do would be to contact a sales rep for clarification. They can examine order history and make the decision.