PLOTTING NIGHTMARES!

[bowlingbrad]

I can't seem to figure this one out. I am trying to plot elevation sheets to an HP1055 with 128mb RAM and an 8 gig HD. Revit previews just fine and when I plot, about a third of the model is missing. The annotation looks like is printed, just no model. I tried printing to DWF file. THIS IS A WHOLE OTHER STORY. I print the elevation sheets and the filled regions that simulate the grade do not cover the foundation. The heavy grade line is there but the 'white' doesn't show up. It shows up fine in the view and the plot preview. I print to this plotter with every other piece of software WITH NO PROBLEMS. I even tried printing to the CutePDF driver and Revit is dropping tiles. Anyone? Please help. My boss isn't liking this at all. :-(

[bowlingbrad]

Here are some screen caps.
DWF problems.
PDF problems (very similar to direct plotting)

[aaronrumple]

Printing raster?

[bowlingbrad]

Nope. Vector.

[aaronrumple]

Vector will sometimes give me these dropped elements. Try raster - usually cleans all that up. With that said. Vector really should work (...right factory?)

[iru69]

I've had similar problems with our HP1055. If switching to raster doesn't fix it, you might try lower print quality settings as Aaron suggested in this thread:

http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=16264&highlight=1055

[bowlingbrad]

I'm already at medium...

Funny thing, I can plot to my HP 5si 11x17 laser printer just fine IN PRESENTATION mode!

[bowlingbrad]

Just tried raster... NO DIFFERENCE!!! ARGHHH! :mad:
Any other help would be appreciated! Thanks.

[sjsl]

Are you printing just Black?

[bowlingbrad]

Raster processing - Low raster quality / grayscale gave me a complete plot. BUT IT LOOKS LIKE *^%&^!

[Wes Macaulay]

Brad, even though I don't have any answers to the problem, I gained great enjoyment of your handwritten comments on the plot

[bowlingbrad]

Laughter is always a stress reliever. ;-)

--- Back to my issue... (Just this minute) I was on hold with support (waiting for a technician) for about 20 minutes when the phone began to ring on the other end of the line. OOH great! I then got an automated message stating that the office is closed for the HOLIDAY!? "Call back tomorrow." Click. WTF! :veryevil:

[LMSmith]

bowlingbrad-
Sorry to hear you are having such nightmares. Try setting you printer driver to process in your computer and see if that helps. I will also try to contact support to see if we can take a look at the file.

[bowlingbrad]

Thanks for the condolences, LM.

I have already sent off a bunch of stuff to them. We have spoken about it too. They say that the DWF output may be a bug. I'm just glad it's all not me ;-)

I've tried the 'in computer' option before. I can't have my computer sit idle for that long. I'm loosing productivity. I've already wasted 6+ hours on this today alone! I just can't wait to get home, give the wife a kiss, the dog a pet, sip a diet pepsi and zone out for a while (not necessarily in that order). Heehee

I AM determined to figure this out. I'll let you know the outcome. Stay tuned...

[LRaiz]

Do consider starting a printing job with computations in computer as opposed to doing it in printer memory before heading home. Your printer might be overwhelmed by the demands that Revit is placing on it and using computer memory might be an answer even though it ties up your computer for an extended period of time.

[bowlingbrad]

Thanks Leonid, but still doesn't plot.

STILL NO SOLUTION!

I had our HP rep come by and install new memory, and update firmware. NO BETTER! He took some plots back with him and he will be discussing this issue with HP.

Spent the last hour or so on the phone with Rami at support. Very supportive with a lot of suggestions that all produced the same unsuccessful result.

Question for the masses... If you use an HP1055cm plotter, what drivers (type & version) do you use? Also, what 'special' settings have you determined to work the best. Any driver download websites would be much appreciated.

Desperation is setting in... I cannot get the elevation out of Revit. I can only export to Autocad plot that way. This is terrible! We use solid fills on our tags so that they hide the patterns behind them. We used filled regions to simulate ground planes. They come into Autocad as solid hatches. I have to go around and delete all of the hatches (or create a routine to do it). AT LEAST IT PLOTS FROM AUTOCAD! How embarrassing :Oops:

[sbrown]

Well I can help you with the solid fills, change them to no hatch and they will still hide but won't export black.

We have a 1055cm and it drops out info unless we print to pdf(adobe pdf writer, not pinebrush or anyother). then print to it from the pdf. I'm sorry if you allready said you tried pdf. if not, try it and under properties select presentation instead on normal if you lose some data, this usually gets it all for me.

Did you make sure your far clip plan is turned on and only showing as far as you need and all furniture and interiors are turned off?

[bowlingbrad]

Thanks, Scott. I'm going to try your suggestions. Could you tell me what PDF driver you are using?

[mlgatzke]

Brad,

Scott's probably using Adobe Acrobat - either version 6 or 7 (probably 6).

If you're not familiar with Acrobat, it's an application that installs itself in the your printer list. You then print to it as though it's a printer in your office. Then, instead of printing to paper, it prints to a pdf file. You can also use this software to assemble multi-page pdfs.

[bowlingbrad]

Thanks, mlgatzke

We have a copy of Acrobat on our 'community' machine. Too expensive to install on all machines that will have Revit. I started using the free CutePDF driver. Then tried the Revit PDF writer (from version 7). I also tried the Revit DWF writer. Spoke with support and they think there is a bug (only one?).

Still going to try some of Scott's suggestions today. Thanks again for the info.

[mcuevas]

I don't know if this helps but we were having similar problems where it would not print everything on the screen and it would crash when we plotted multiple sheets at once. We have an Oce TDS600 printer and were using the Oce Windows Raster Driver with it. We just created a new printer Using the Oce TDS600 but changed the driver to the Oce Printer Driver for Adobe PostScript 3/PDF. And things have been working fine ever since....

[bowlingbrad]

PostScript 3/PDF....

I've just tried using our ps3 driver for the 1055 (for the nth time), just to be sure, and NOPE no luck. I've also got a support call pending with the guys in Redmond... I'm starting to get scared... I can't get some of our drawings out of the box! I'm going to try to send files to our repro house today...
It's funny, sometimes I can plot. I don't know why! :screwy:

Here's why I think it's Revit.
1. Only some of the sheets won't plot or won't completely plot.
2. The other software that uses this plotter doesn't experience this issue (AC2002, Illustrator, Photoshop).
3. UPDATE>>> I have had some success plotting to file and copying to plotter via command prompt.

[LRaiz]

Revit is sending a lot of data into printing pipeline; much more than any other application that I know of. The most demanding part of printing happens when Revit does hidden line removal using OpenGL.. That happens sometimes even if user selects Vector HLR. In order to carry out the operation Revit subdivides printing area into tiles and produces raster bitmaps for each tile in computer memory. It then sends tile bitmaps to a printer. Printer in turn must reassemble tiles using computationally intensive raster image processing (RIP). This part of entire printing pipeline (reassembling raster tiles) is the most fragile piece because printer drivers at times are not sufficiently debugged/optimized for RIP type of utilization.

I am afraid that what you experience is not entirely Revit's fault. It is rather Revit asking a printer driver to do more then it is capable of doing. Thus the problem might show itself on some but not all sheets and may even be intermittent.

The things to try if your printer is giving you troubles -
(A) make sure that as much computation as possible is carried in a computer not in printer. This includes -
A.1 Turn on "use computer memory" switch if your printer has one
A.2. Turn off spooling. Spooler mediating between Revit and printer may be chocking on too much data traffic. Have you tried it yet?
A.3 Print to file. The fact that you have some success with this confirms that the problem is in Revit/Printer communications.
(B) try different printer drivers (this includes using pdf or dwf format)

[Scott_Bloss]

Brad,


Try this PDF writer! I have been successful in using this to help correct some of my PDF printing problems. http://cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp The download is free. It has help me greatly.

[bowlingbrad]

Thanks, Leonid. I'll give your suggestions a try.
Scott, I am currently using CutePDF.
Thanks to all for your help.

[roy.70844]

Revit is sending a lot of data into printing pipeline; much more than any other application that I know of. ...

Whoooaaaa there!!!!!!!!!
If this is a known Revit issue (and not a driver / plotter issue) then there must be some measurable limit to the file size / complexity or sheet print coverage percentage that Revit can handle.

Please, Please, Please tell me this isn't true. If it is true, and word gets out the competition will have a field day. Just imagine the sales guy from Archaic-Cad (see what I did there)...
Archaic-Cad Sales guy: "Revit creates big files! Hey guess what? Revit can't plot big files.

It is sometimes far easier to highlight your opponents faults rather that your own strengths. Just look at our last election campaigns!

So what's the story?
Roy

[bowlingbrad]

Guess what. IT PLOTS! :Puffy: Leonid was right. It had to do with spooling. I guess I'm still a little skeptical but, I did get the plots out of the 1055 yesterday. Haven't tried it today. Does the spooling issue in any way relate to the fact that we still are 100Mbit ethernet not 1 Gbit?

I agree wholeheartedly with Roy. BIG PROBLEM. Hey Factory, please look into this and let us know.

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I'm feeling better today.

[BillyGrey]

I just want ya'all to know have been plotting big-big graphically rich files through Revit for some time now (HP500). This problem appears in rel. 8 as far as I know, and I betcha factory is well aware of it by now. Also, if Leonid's method works, then it is the best practice :).

[bowlingbrad]

Something new...

Using worksets.
Printing same sheet from two separate computers.
Computer 1 - Print file 10meg - print looks fine
Computer 2 - Print file 3meg - plot looks like low resolution
Both computers are set up the same (down to identical computers).
Both local files have latest worksets loaded.
Both users have headaches.
Boss is getting frustrated.
Autodesk is looking into it.

[sbrown]

I think it is wise to not sugarcoat revits issues with your boss. We have found that you need close to an entire day to print a set of documents(78 sheets) from Revit. In autocad you could say I have a meeting print out a set and in 2 hours you would have a set. This is not true in revit and you need to know this so you don't cause problems for your boss. Recognize this is not a slam at revits printing, its an understanding issue. Sheets with the same kind of drawing as acad will print quickly, ie detail sheets with drafting lines and detail components(basically what every acad sheet would have been). Now elevations and 3d views are having to process hidenline removal, something that doesn't need to get done in acad. This can take a few minutes per view. So just be upfront an make sure everyone is aware that certain sheets will take longer to print.

Some tips are

1. DONT BATCH PRINT your whole set, while in theory this is a great feature, you will most likely have memory issues and lose sheets and have to go back and print some, not to mention your machine will be frozen for a couple hours possibly. Instead
Batch plot sections, IE all the sheets that are linework only,
then print the trouble sheets.

2. Print from a second computer, this allows you to keep working.
3. If your computer appears to freeze while printing DONT cntrl alt delete, cancel your print from the print server/spooler. This will free up revit again.
4. Print to dwf or pdf not directly to a printer, this will allow you to reprint sheets without having to open revit. Also if something happens to your model while you are making changes that mess up views, you can still get out a print the way it was.

5. on the trouble sheets(elevations, sections, 3d views) make sure the view extents are as limited as they can be and the visibilty of items not seen are turned off. for example on exterior elevations you don't need to see interior partitions, plumbing, furniture, etc. make sure these items are on sep worksets from the exterior so they can all be turned off(this alone should make most elevations print much easier).

I hope this helps.

[bowlingbrad]

Well I can help you with the solid fills, change them to no hatch and they will still hide but won't export black.

Scott,
I'm trying your suggestion regarding setting the fill to 'No Pattern' so that the export to autocad is better. You said that even when the fill is 'no pattern', it will still obscure the background stuff. I can't seem to get this to work. Here's one of my annotation families. At your leisure, please look at it and tell me what to do. Thanks in advance, Brad.

[sbrown]

It works for me with a generic annotation family, however it doesn't seem to work with your family, I have no idea why. Take a look at this family, place it using the symbol command and it masks over anything, but exports fine. Note this is in 7.0, I did try it in 8.0 and it still worked, however the exact same process with your window family didn't work, I have no idea why.

[sbrown]

Note the whiteout technique using no pattern still works with filled regions in you wall sections, details, etc. I really can't understand why its not working in your one family.