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Printing with Windows


MikeC

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I am probably going to take some flak over this because I want what is already on the mac to be duplicated on Windows. I think Vectorworks needs a major overhaul of the way it prints.

From a single print command (a sort of batch print on steroids)

-I want to be able to select one or more sheet layers

-Print them to more than one printer with more than one paper size and scaling. This will mean an over-ride to the normal sheet setting.

-Preview the print

-Save the settings allowing them to be recalled later and apply saved settings to more than on sheet.

-All with a minimum number of clicks.

What really frustrates me is the lack of a print preview in the windows version. This is a paper waster, save the trees, give us a print preview (a purpose made one, not just Adobe Acrobat tacked on) after all Photoshop and Sketch Up have both managed to do it.

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What really frustrates me is the lack of a print preview in the windows version.

Tell this to the richest man on Earth.

Should I somehow contribute to the development costs of a "print preview" for Windows? All programs can do that on the Mac - it's a part of the OS.

Sorry, mate: you chose CheapWare and I, for one, am not interested in sponsoring you any more than I already do.

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Wrong.

I get print preview from my Windows programs except Vectorworks.

In this instance its a program issue.

It could be said if you want to sell a product in a specific marketplace, make sure it works as others within it do, despite what you or anybody else considers the merits of it to be.

I guess one of the other wishes recently put on the Wishlist is not going to happen then Petri. ;~)

Alan

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Sorry, mate: you chose CheapWare and I, for one, am not interested in sponsoring you any more than I already do.

Oh what short and convienent memories some users have. August 7th 1997, remember?

That "richest man in the world" announced a $150 millon investment to help the ailing Apple Computer company.

I wonder how different things would be now if they'd not got the helping hand they need then.

Edited by alanmac
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Right. So you also want me to sponsor you? Maybe the Windows programs you have can show a preview, but pray tell me what's the point in paying for every program one might ever use to have its own print preview? Why not actual printing as well - and text/font handling?

If some people prefer to use an operating system that does not provide even basic services for applications, that should be their problem.

I realise that Windows users can't afford anything better, but they should just accept the facts of life.

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No Petri I don't want you to sponsor me as you put it.

I've got an identical printer at work and at home. In OSX at work it will not function as its capable of, but in Windows it does. Should I as a Windows user be sponsoring the company to create drivers that work for Apple users when the Windows ones work as intended.

My point. Not to start another Windows V Mac stupid argument, but to point out that there are differences and there is little point to making stupid remarks when people ask in a polite and civilised way about something.

No, I don't want you to sponsor me or anybody else, but I would like you to refrain from the ill mannered remarks you seem to want to bring into your posts on this forum.

It does not bother me in the slightest, but I can see it putting off new users unaware of your nature, or others brought up less able to cope with rude, abrasive remarks and predjudices, being put off using this normally friendly and affable forum.

Surely being known as one of the forums most knowledgeable and intelligent users of VW is a whole lot better than being know as either the most loathsome, rude one or the most laughed at (not in a nice way).

You have the capability to be any of these, I for one sincerely hope you choose the first.

All the best

Alan

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Surely being known as one of the forums most knowledgeable and intelligent users of VW is a whole lot better than being know as either the most loathsome, rude one or the most laughed at (not in a nice way).

Regardless, I am the most knowledgeable and intelligent user of VW on this forum or anywhere else. Surely there are many & various special areas where I am hardly a novice, but overall no-one beats me. What the great unwashed masses think of me does not concern me. I'm sure that you would be much better off if you'd apply the "Ignore this user" setting for me: I must make you feel totally ignorant and stupid.

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-I want to be able to select one or more sheet layers

-Print them to more than one printer with more than one paper size and scaling. This will mean an over-ride to the normal sheet setting.

-Preview the print

-Save the settings allowing them to be recalled later and apply saved settings to more than on sheet.

-All with a minimum number of clicks.

Using "Batch Print" and Sheet layers, you can do most of this.

If you set your sheet layers to have the various print settings, the batch print allows you to select which sheets you want to print, whether they are in color or black and white, save the batch print set, and access the "saved list" at any point.

With VW 12, you can set the page size and DPI for multiple sheets at one time. (Select sheets in the Org dialog, click edit and contine)

If you have pages that will print at various page sizes, create a new sheet layer for each of the different page sizes and name the sheet the desired page size.

As it is right now, sending to different printers isn't possible, neither is print preview, but those are good wish list items.

All the others were things that users had suggested in the past, we listened, and implemented with batch printer in conjunction with sheets and saved views. (Mind you, the batch print also works w/ saved views, but you cannot set a different print size to different saved views.)

Edited by Katie
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OK. Let's get back to the issue at hand and ignore Bill Gates's impoverished and frustrated Mac-envious serfs.

In my experience of 20 years with MiniCAD and VectorWorks, I have very rarely encountered a situation where MC or VW would not have been WYSIWYG as comes to "paper use" or similar issues.

If one's "page setup" corresponds to the (OS level) printing set-up, everything is hunky dory. The rare exceptions are those where the printer driver sends incorrect information to the application. Surely not even the esteemed VW expert Alanmac expects NNA to test all printers in the world to see if their drivers communicate properly with the OS?

In short: a Print Preview is redundant and would only replicate (i) what you see and (ii) what you get.

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Quote "In short: a Print Preview is redundant and would only replicate (i) what you see and (ii) what you get."

So are you now saying that Apple have produced a feature that is in your opinion is redundant. Good grief that any of your money should have gone into "sponsoring" such a thing.;~)

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Dear me. Stupidity in the UK has no bounds, it seems. The print preview of Mac OS (you know: the one you can't afford because... well, you fill in the blanks) is exactly identical to the current VW view. In my experience the same applies to VW on Windows.

Your turn now: what would needed to be changed for a "print preview" for Windows? Can't Windows printer drivers communicate with the printing engine of the OS? If so, please discuss the matter with your master Mr Gates.

On the Mac platform, What I See Is What I Get.

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So given that some programs using Windows OS do show a preview if you want one and some don't you are saying this is the fault of Windows and how it communicates with the printing engine of the OS.

So what is it just luck that some do, or maybe its as you suggested earlier, that the ones that do did "test all printers in the world to see if their drivers communicate properly with the OS?* although I can't quite figure the logic in that, as I'm inclined to think its not the printers fault.

I'm not saying you are wrong in what you regard the functionality of a OS should be, or that it has any merit in use, or that VW should implement it.

But why say that and spoil a good old rant and insulting comments on your part, and a laugh at you, not with you on our part.

Just that given the circumstances of how a particular OS works, if you supply software for that, then a request for it to function as other programs do within that OS is a valid request.

Interesting that another subject being discussed regarding the Apple Mouse and its performance in VW is seen as a issue with VW despite it being an Apple product on an Apple OS and quoted as working fine in other programs. But that's a nasty old "secret grip" multibutton mouse and I guess you'll say they deserve it for using such a terrible thing.

I'm not having a go at NNA, far from it, there are things in Vectorworks on Windows that Mac users don't get, and I use both, which you Petri don't seem to have noticed whilst going about your usual unpleasant behaviour.

Alan

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What you see is not always what you get. That's less of a problem these days, but in early stages of driver development, especially on Mac OS 10, printers didn't print what you told it to print.

You may recall some situations where objects would be dropped when printing, some line styles wouldn't print correctly, large black blobs of ink instead of a pattern, etc.

The preview gave you a glimpse in what to expect before you printed without wasting all the paper and ink.

It's also a great testing tool - if something shows correctly in preview but prints wrong, there's a hardware problem most likely (could also be driver related). However, if the preview and the print show an incorrect print, the problem might be in VectorWorks or the printer driver.

It's also a nice option when you don't have the luxury of having a large format plotter in your office and use a print bureau. You can make sure the print file (if not using a PDF) looks correct before sending to the print bureau and paying for the print regardless of whether the print is usable or not.

Today, most printer drivers have evolved and are quite reliable, along with printing improvements in VectorWorks.

I can see where people want the preview... especially if they've had problems in the past with strange print results.

Printing is the life blood of the talent CAD users have. The skill isn't worth much without a picture to convey the idea/concept or directions.

One step further, the picture has to precisely convey the designers/drafters idea/concept/directions. If the print doesn't show up correctly, the idea may be missed by the viewer of the printed out piece of paper.

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