Saving sheets to scale

[Robert Darden]

I usually save my sheet layers as pdf's, either in 11x17 or 8.5x11 format, then request my printer to enlarge them to either 18x24 or 24x36.

However, my printer recently told me the prints would not be to scale.

How do I save my sheet layers as pdf's so they will print to architectural scale?

[Mitchell Brooks]

Your work flow is backwards to the way we do it.

We typically set our sheets to 24x36, and PDFs from them can be printed at that size to scale. If we want 11x17 prints of them in the office because we can print them fast and/or because they are a convenient size to take to a client meeting or the site, we just adjust the scale of the page setup to 50% (if scale is important) or something like 45% if we want to get the whole sheet on the 11x17.

[Robert Darden]

I send my pdf's out to be printed.

So how do I save the pdf's to 24x36 formet so they print to scale when sent to an outside printer (i.e. - Staples)?

[Bryan G.]

If your sheet layer is set to 24x36 and you Batch PDF the resulting PDF's should be 24x36 but you can the set the size based in Adobe Page Setup. Here you can adjust to 11x17 of whatever.

As for your printer the print settings should be set to NOT scale and you should be ok.

[Bryan G.]

for clarification. the sheet layer size should be set to the desired output size. then all is to scale.

[CipesDesign]

Robert, I think I understand your issue. If you do not have a printer/plotter that will produce 24 x 36 prints then that page size is not available in the standard pulldown list (in page set up). Therefore you are have to use "Any Printer" which is usually not good as you have to guess regarding the actual printable area (or margins). What I think you need to do is add a fictitious printer to your Mac and then test the printable area by trial and error back and forth to your print shop.

One way that might work is to create a 24 x 36 document and place on it a series of concentric rectangles, starting with exactly 24 x 36 and then decreasing 1/4" each, down to about 23 x 35. Make sure to label each clearly so that when you get the print back from the shop you can identify the one that is clearly within the printable limits. Then use this to create a template...