What are your preferences relating to plotting with PC3 & CTB plotter configuration files? We do most of our work in house, and also have to plot drawings from other sources. They generally come in from engineering firms, as a proposed project for a quote. So we can’t get picky with asking them to conform to our layers and color conventions. Also emailing them to send us their plotter configuration file is not an option that we want to consider. Some times we are asked to plot them on B-size up to D-Size to fit. I created a Generic.ctb file which plots all layer colors light but readable.
Is creating and using a CTB file more universal and easier to work with than a PC3 file?
Terry,
I am a bit confused by your last question. please Correct me (or anyone FTM) if I misunderstood you.
A CTB file is different than PC3 file. A PC3 file is just Windows plotter driver with custom settings. It has nothing to do with a the CTB file (or STB file) which looks at just the color of the layers and plots line weight thickness (just one thing) by color. For instance; our ctb is set up so all 256 colors are set to 7 different pen widths.
As for emailing the CTB to and from your consultants, you should ask for it up front in your proposal. If you are paying them for a product then you get the product in a fashion that gives little or no work to configure it so you publish it. Plus it makes things much more easier to read and understand your consultants thinking than what an monochrome or and all-pen-whatever. I have never been happy with all-pen-whatever plots.
We don't ask our consultants to comply to our standards with the exception of our title block. some choose to use our title block with their logo some where in the title block. They take our title block and modify the layers to suit their CTB files. Just so long as it close to our pen weights we don't care.
