Tipster James Bainbridge sends us a tip he uses to ensure others can plot his files correctly.

"When exchanging CAD files with other firms for coordination and data exchange, I find it a useful and time-saving idea to include our CTB file along with the drawings. That way they can just drop the CTB file into their search path location and our files are instantly added to the publish list for plotting. This avoids the need to set up our files to match their lineweight or linestyle settings and everything looks just the same as if we plotted it, especially our shading and hatching."

Notes from Cadalyst Tip Patrol: This is a practice we recommend, and you can automate the process using AutoCAD's E-transmit command. It gathers all files related to your drawings in one place so you know you are sending everything needed by an outside vendor or client who uses your drawing files. E-transmit will include SHP files for fonts, linetype files, CTB files, xrefs, and more.