Topic: differences/issues with pin widths in ctb (switched from 2006 to 2008)

[alanjt]

recently we (finally) made the switch from LDD 06 to LDD 08. when we made the switch, we continued using the same ctb file. however, you can plot a file from 06 and it looks great, then open the same exact file in 08 and when it prints, all the lines are really thick and the colors are much more pronounced.

has anyone else encountered this problem, and/or have a solution? is there some setvar that i have different?

[Dinosaur]

Did you create new pc3 and pmp files for 2008?

[alanjt]

Did you create new pc3 and pmp files for 2008?

no, i just pathed pc3s, ctb, etc. to the exact same place and files as in 06.

[Dinosaur]

That is what we tried first . . . it didn't work.  We had to create new files for each of the '07, '08 and '09 releases.  No idea why, but poining to the old files did not work correctly.

[alanjt]

That is what we tried first . . . it didn't work.  We had to create new files for each of the '07, '08 and '09 releases.  No idea why, but poining to the old files did not work correctly.

did you have to do it all my trial and error to get it back to how it was previously or was it pretty easy to create new ones that would look like the previously used cb files?

[sinc]

That is what we tried first . . . it didn't work.  We had to create new files for each of the '07, '08 and '09 releases.  No idea why, but poining to the old files did not work correctly.

Wow.  We've used basically the same ones since 2004 with no issues, except one...

Our Canon large-format printer had issues printing with the 2006 release of software.  We had to set it up in some funky manner, such as select portrait instead of landscape in the PC3 file, and then it worked the way we wanted.  This problem did not exist in the 2007 software, so we had to change that printer's PC3 file when we installed 2007, and set it up the way it should've been in the first place, except for the weird behavior in 2006.

The really funny part was that as soon as we installed 2007 on a computer, it fixed the printing issue in 2006, too.  I'm guessing Autodesk updated something in the Autodesk Sabotage (aka Autodesk Shared) directory between the 2006 and 2007 releases, and in this case, it actually fixed a problem in 2006, instead of creating one.

Other than that, I'm pretty sure all our page setups, PC3s, and PMPs have been basically the same since 2004...

[alanjt]

That is what we tried first . . . it didn't work.  We had to create new files for each of the '07, '08 and '09 releases.  No idea why, but poining to the old files did not work correctly.

Wow.  We've used basically the same ones since 2004 with no issues, except one...

Our Canon large-format printer had issues printing with the 2006 release of software.  We had to set it up in some funky manner, such as select portrait instead of landscape in the PC3 file, and then it worked the way we wanted.  This problem did not exist in the 2007 software, so we had to change that printer's PC3 file when we installed 2007, and set it up the way it should've been in the first place, except for the weird behavior in 2006.

The really funny part was that as soon as we installed 2007 on a computer, it fixed the printing issue in 2006, too.  I'm guessing Autodesk updated something in the Autodesk Sabotage (aka Autodesk Shared) directory between the 2006 and 2007 releases, and in this case, it actually fixed a problem in 2006, instead of creating one.

Other than that, I'm pretty sure all our page setups, PC3s, and PMPs have been basically the same since 2004...

ahh! this is going to drive me crazy.
i don't think we have any pmp files, i've never seen them and the ctbs were created long before i started working here. what is and what does the pmp file do?

[Dinosaur]

We were able to keep the old ctb files for each version.  The pc3 files are plotter configuration files and pmp files are plotter parameter files.  We would create these files and plot to the desired pc3 file rather than directly through the system printer.

[alanjt]

We were able to keep the old ctb files for each version.  The pc3 files are plotter configuration files and pmp files are plotter parameter files.  We would create these files and plot to the desired pc3 file rather than directly through the system printer.

we have the pc3 files, but i don't see any pmp files. how would i go about creating and using pmp files?
actually, now that i look at it, it appears that we are plotting directly to the plotter/printer. the confusing thing is, it wouldn't work unless the path where the pc3 files are stored were set in the proper plotter setting path in options.

any thoughts? i don't know much about ctb files and i especially don't know anything about these since they were created long before i ever got here.

here's a picture of what i have right now...

[sinc]

Actually, taking a look, we don't use any PMP files, either.  We haven't needed them.  The only PMP files in there are for default Autocad stuff like "PDF to DWG" and "Publish to Web".

The PC3 files are nothing but printer settings.  If you typically select a printer, and then need to go into the "Properties" (the button right next to the Printer Name in the Plot Dialog) and change a bunch of printer parameters before you print, then all those settings you always change can be saved in a PC3 file.  All the PC3 file does is make it so you don't have to go into the printer "Properties" and make the same changes every time you print.

I have no idea why you would need to recreate either the PC3 files or the CTB files.  In theory, there should be no need to change them at all between versions (although, as I said in the earlier post, the theory is not always the same as reality).

[alanjt]

yeah, we don't ever have to change anything, you just select pagesetup (based on paper size and/or black & white or color). i created the pagesetups to select the proper plotter, etc. i just can't figure this out.

i know it's a task to ask of anyone, but if i were to post one of my ctb files and a dwg that has some linework, would someone mind plotting them out in 2 different versions of autocad, preferably 06 and 08?