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Organize Your Plot Styles
Tip# 3611 By Danny Korem On 27-Mar-2011
3.5
Rated By 2 users
Categories : Styles
Software type : AutoCAD 2011
Rename File To : No Files to download.
Organize the support files needed for proper printing.

Tipster Danny Korem shares with us some tips to help organize some of your support files in AutoCAD, particularly those needed to print drawings properly. This tip provides quick and easy access to your files and provides a way to organize third-party files.

"Open the AutoCAD Options Manager. In the Files tab, locate the Printer Support file path. Click on the + to the left to expand the file pathway, and click the letters so you can right-click and copy. Close all dialogs and minimize AutoCAD so you have access to your desktop. While on the desktop, right-click and select New > Shortcut. Paste the Printer Support file path you copied earlier, then click Next and Finish.

"Double-click the shortcut: This is the best, quickest way to make a link to the file where your support files are located. Now you can always locate this folder and get it organized. Move all unused CTBsSTBs to another location so your list while selecting these files is kept to the shortest possible length.

"If you interact with someone else's drawing files that use other CTBsSTBs and you don't want to mix them with yours, locate them in another folder. Put the location of the new folder in the Printer Support file path. This will cause AutoCAD to temporarily expand its Singular file path. Whenever you like, you can delete this link. You can always move the location of the folder at any time. By doing this you will be able to restore your original list when opting for a regular–domestic plot style."
 
Notes from Cadalyst Tip Patrol:
Printing is one of the most important things to do in AutoCAD, but it's also one of the most difficult tasks to do well. The CTB and STB (color-based and style-based plot tables) files control how certain linetypes print or plot. Many companies have created customizations of these files, which ensure that everyone's drawings will be created in a similar style.

Managing these files is very important. Creating a desktop shortcut is useful because the support files are buried on your machine. Moving clients', partners', or outside vendors' files to another folder helps to keep them organized and out of the way. It also helps you know where they are when you need them.

If you have created CTB and STB files or use third-party versions, it is a good idea to back them up. Creating backup copies also helps when you migrate to a new computer or a new version of AutoCAD.
 

 

Average Rating:
3.5


User comments
Comment by Anderson,Jim
Posted on 2011-03-29 06:52:50
Up to now, I've pointed the printers & plot style option in AutoCAD to folders located in the network - so they can be backed up & managed by me without having to visit each users PC. In addition, I put a shortcut to another read-only folder on the network, which has the "standard" printer & plot styles. This works fine, apart from using Etransmit or the Archive function, when the system doesn't collect a copy of the styles in the ZIP file. I think that AutoCAD 2012 (disk not received yet) has been tweaked to allow the option paths to point to more than one plot style location. This will do away with the extra folder shortcut & is a "cleaner" solution.