batch printing pdf?

[bonus]

When I print with "batch print" on my printer it works - all checked viewports are printed one by one. I smile and whistle a tune...

But I also want to make pdf files of these viewports - each one being one drawing. But then only one of the checked viewports is "printed".

I figured each pdf would get the viewport name + .pdf, but no....

Is this a bug, a shortcoming in VW or just old stupid me?

[Tom K]

I am trying to do the same thing. I set up a virtual printer on my MAC, when I choose this printer it creates a pdf file and sends it to a folder on my desktop instead of a printer. (this bypasses the need to go save as pdf each time.) The problems I am still having are that it seems to only be able to create letter size drawings and it gives each page the same name. This means that if I send 5 pages to print, each one replaces the previous one and the only pdf I have in the end is the last one printed.

[bonus]

Which printer, what OS and which VW version do you use?

First you need to download a printer driver from HP or Epson or any printer manufacturer, that has all the paper sizes you would need.

Then you install the driver and add it to your printer list. There are different ways to do that depending on the OS version you have.

Anyway, with this new driver you will be able to set to paper sizes others than those your own printer can manage.

On the other hand the size of a pdf is not essential other than the resolution level that might be to low if printed in larger format.

Now printing pdf-files is done as you describe and the problem with the nameing of each drawing is anoying.

Now with VW12 there is a shortcut "export pdf", but that does not change a lot. Especially for us mac owners. We have our own shortcut in the print function "print as pdf".

So what we still need is a printout feature that names every sheet or view automatically - and that is a simple thing to do if you're in the software business....so please NNA, get it done for 12.0.1!

[Tom K]

I have printers with required paper sizes installed. The problem is that the virtual printer is a backdoor access to the MAC OS X operating system's ability to create PDF files. Unfortunatly this seems to default to letter size paper. In the mean time I will continue to hunt for a solution to batch printing. I also would like to be able to batch print sheets from multiple drawing files, the same way as the AutoCAD batch print utility works.

[bonus]

That would really be nice. Now I think we may be hoping for too much...

Maybe it is as simple as this with the paper size:

In OS X you create a pdf with "print" - there you get the option to set the "print format" (whatever it's called in english - I have a Swedish version). If you check there a new window opens with the page setup. There you will find "alternatives" on the right hand side. Click there and I believe you might change the default setting for the pdf option.

It's not obvious in OS X, as one tends to move around in circles and get back to where you started without knowing how it all happened.

good luck anyway.

[Kevin]

This is an old issue and certainly one that should be remedied. Batch printing will not automatically create uniquely numbered PDF images.

The process requires the user to click the print button for each sheet and give that sheet the desired name. Once all sheets are printed they can be combined with various programs.

Page size is controlled by Page Setup. I have no difficulty creating 24x36 documents in PDF.

OS10.4.3, VW11.5

[Roman]

Speaking of batch printing...

When printing a set of drawings, customarily we have to open about 45 files and hit print on them. This takes someone in the office 1/2 - 1 hour. We've started to consolodate a lot of the drawings with sheets/viewports, but we're still wasting a lot fo time for printing.

Now, in OS 9 I remember you could drag a number of files to the printer icon on the desktop and the program would quietly launch and print everything without any input from the user.

Is this possible with OS 10.3 or 10.4? Could this be done with a vectorworks script?

[Kevin]

Perhaps Mr. Armstrong could figure this one out. Islandmon, are you listening?

[mclaugh]

quote:

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Now, in OS 9 I remember you could drag a number of files to the printer icon on the desktop and the program would quietly launch and print everything without any input from the user.

Is this possible with OS 10.3 or 10.4? Could this be done with a vectorworks script?

---

OS X supports drag-n-drop printing; you just need to create a desktop printer icon to access it.

To create a desktop printer icon:

1. Open the Print & Fax control panel.

2. Click the "Set Up Printers" button

3. Highlight the printer you want in the list of installed printers.

4. Select "Create Desktop Printer" (Command-Shift-D) from the "Printers" menu.

Start dragging-n-dropping.

[mclaugh]

quote:

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Originally posted by Kevin:

This is an old issue and certainly one that should be remedied. Batch printing will not automatically create uniquely numbered PDF images.

The process requires the user to click the print button for each sheet and give that sheet the desired name. Once all sheets are printed they can be combined with various programs.

---

Re:solve has a free batch printing plug-in for VW 11 (both Mac and Windows) that simplifies the process, although it doesn't automatically create unique file names. It's written for 11.0.1, but works just fine in 11.5.x.

[Kevin]

For the sake of this thread I will revisit the Resolve plug-in. I have used it before and did not see any difference or improvement over the stock VW Batch Print.

[Kevin]

My thanks to mclaugh for suggesting re:solve's batch print plug-in. However, I do not see it as a benefit. I tried both the VW and re:solve batch prints and they work the same with one exception.

The re:solve menu did not list my saved views in alphanumeric order. The stock VW batch print dialog was much better in my opinion.

I tested these on VW11.5, OS10.4.3. The batch print under VW12 was not different.

So the question still remains... Is there a way to automate the naming of PDF sheets so that a user can start a batch print operation and then walk away?