Layout sheet head explosion

[Keith_K]

Lest I be accused of complaining, as has happened in the past, let me state from the outset that I am not. I am simply totally exasperated.

Because I need to see the whole of the plan of my office block in order to adjust the sizes of offices and because my monitor is too small to accomplish this and have it legible I thought that I would send the plan to a layout sheet and get it printed so that I can scrawl all over it and then go back to the file and do what I need to do.

I looked for articles in the HD Tech Help website and found KB-00527. Unfortunately this supplied four pages of quite comprehensive instructions which, on reading, applied only to HD Pro 2015 with a reference to scroll to the end of the article for instructions for Pro 2014 and earlier. Those instructions barely covered a single printed page and, for me, are quite useless as they give no real help at all.

I have since spent hours with the reference manual flipping backwards and forwards because of the perpetual "see page 123" references and in the end my head exploded.

I then thought that I would set the preferences for the layout and drawing sheets and try sending the plan to one or the other and then save it as a PDF. HD doesn't provide an option for A0 paper (1150x1525 cms) so I created a new page with those dimensions naively hoping that this would work. I then created a layout page as per the aforementioned feeble instructions and when I sent the plan to the supposedly pre-preferenced layout I got this:

Reference is made in the error message that I should adjust the size with some tool that I cannot find.

In this country we use drawing scales such as like 1:100 (1cm = 1m), 1:50 (2cm = 1m) etc. Given what I have read in the user manual I assume that my drawing is in 1:100. I would prefer 1:50 but as this requires a paper size of 60x40 cms and knowing the limitations the software offers I won't even consider going there.

So after all that preamble (which I hope is in good enough English to be understood) my questions is: Can someone please direct me to an article/help topic which will give detailed and clear instructions of how I might achieve my objective so that I don't end up in a padded cell trying to find a solution on my own.

Thank you.

[RichardPark]

I cannot help with the printing, but perhaps you could teach my grandchildren some proper English!  

[Kbird1]

He could Richard , Keith is from the Mother Country

 

This is a deliberate crippling on HD Pro Keith  , max. size you can Print too is 18"X24" or Architectural C - 18" x 24"  (or Ansi C at 17"x22")

 

http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00539/181/Home-Designer/Printing/How-are-the-Architectural-and-ANSI-paper-sizes-different.html

 

 

The Workaround is to print to PDF at 1/2 your normal scale , and then have the File printed at 200% at the Copy Shop to double the scale back up to the needed scaled.

 

Note you are not printing at 18x24 for this...

 

ie  1/8"=1' scale  on 12x18   printed at 200% is 1/4=1' on 24X36 (Standard Arch.D Paper)

 

Ansi sizes

1/8"=1' scale  on 11x17 (ansi B )  printed at 200% is 1/4=1' on 22X34 (Standard Ansi D Paper)

 

 

 

2015 allows Printing direct to PDF but earlier versions need a PDF Printer Driver , usually PDF995 is with HD titles and works well , I use it for all sorts of Printing to PDF especially if emailing something . CutePDF is another free PDf Driver but it Adds other programs to your computer too , at least it did when I tried it several  months ago , it added Comodo Dragon a web Browser and other crap, so I went back to PDF995 which shows a splash screen as it "prints" but is harmless other than that.

http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00484/181/Home-Designer/Printing/Generating-a-PDF-File.html

 

you don't have to send to layout 1st , most views can be printed directly as can the whole page but if you are sending to layout , set the plan View window to Print Layout/Preview before sending it so you can see if it is going to fit on your page.....make sure "show drawing sheet" is checked in the Print DBX 1st. 

more info in this post I did a while back https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/1253-dimension-size-on-layout/#entry9849

 

There is a KB Article on printing to scale too, but on Imperial plans the default is 1/4=1'  though that is often too big esp. if printing to 8.5x11 paper though I have started using 11x17 landscape (also called tabloid) which works better if your printer can handle it.     this is then doubled to 22x34 if needed.

 

https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/1253-dimension-size-on-layout/#entry9849 

 

 

You can create different sized layout pages for different sized papers if need , just make sure your printer is setup 1st ( page setup) so it sends to the right size.

 

hope this will get you started

 

Mick.

[DavidJPotter]

To back up Mick's rather through answer, I observed that you set your scale in "File - Print - Page Set UP" to a scale that is larger than your drawing sheet is set to. That is why it looks the way it does in your posted image. You use the tools available to find a scale which will fit on your maximum paper size (18" x 24" in your case), print it to PDF, Then take the results to a printer service and have them double the paper size, thus 18" x 24" can be blown up to 36" x 48" (Architectural "E") which is quite large whether in Imperial or Metric units. The presettings have to be in accord with each other in order to gain a useful product.

Developing your own competence is often a frustrating job, I understand, I have spent many a failure filled hour until success was gained.

 

DJP

[Keith_K]

Thank you for your replies.  

 

"Deliberate crippling" seems to be a de rigueur tactic by CA in an effort to force people spend more money on "improved" versions, Mick, but as I don't have the money to spend I'll just mutter under my breath about capitalists and stuff and try and make the best out what I've got. 

 

The problem I have with the limited page size offered by HD Pro 2014, David, is that in this particular instance it would make the plan illegible because the smaller the size the more the dimensions overlap each other and appear in places where they shouldn't be.  While the current sheet size might be suitable for domestic dwellings ,should this particular plan ever come to the stage of having to have proper layout pages with borders and text etc. to satisfy the local authority I will just have to make my own.

 

However, following some of the suggestion proffered by Mick, I downloaded PDF995 and after about two and a half hours of being told that various page sizes were "not supported" and that I HAD to use a certain much smaller page size  I managed to persuade it that the Arch C page could actually be supported and have now managed to create a PDF document in that size which I will be taking to the printer tomorrow after which I will hopefully be able to crack on and finally put this plan to bed.  

 

The romance has gone out of our relationship and I am becoming quite bored with it now. 

 

p.s.  RichardPark, I don't come cheap.   

[Kbird1]

Hmmm  Keith .....Arch C is the MAX size Pro will Print  (18x24) , so it should not have "needed persuading" , nor should it have been difficult except  perhaps to find the right scale to fit your Office Block onto Arch C. which is where using Print Preview helps ,making sure "show drawing sheet" is checked on the Page setup DBX 1st and you may need to use the "Center Sheet" option on the Print tab too .You can select/highlight the "sheet" and move it onto the drawing too.

 

Did you look at the PDF you have ?   if I try to Print to 24x36 (arch d)  it will do it EXCEPT it will be on 4 pages of 12x 18 not 1 page 24x36 

so if you have found a way around the inbuilt limitation please let us know what you did.... if I set any paper bigger than 18x24  , it warns you to set it smaller and then it just wont print, even if you don't heed the warning.

 

this is my current Print preview ,with the "paper" drag to the drawing

 

 

Not sure if it is the same in 2014 but in Pro 10 the Printer Settings are NOT sticky ...at least for me , might be how win7 is handling my default printer ? I have to reset it each time I need it.

 

M.

[Keith_K]

I seem totally incapable of dragging anything onto the paper.

However the printer printed the Arch C PDF I created onto A2  paper (420x594mm) and when I went to collect it yesterday I discovered that the image was exactly half in scale of the 1:100 scale I am used to (i.e. 2.5 centimetres equalled 5 metres) so we decided that he would print it again onto A0 paper (841x1189mm) and double the size of the print so that it should then be exactly the 1:100 scale I am used to working in. This means I can use my scaled ruler on the prints to work out exactly where I want the stud walls to be while being able to so the whole plan and then go to the computerised plan and do the necessary.

I'm off to collect the new prints now, full of hope that our calculations worked.

[Kbird1]

yep does take a bit of "playing" I found to get the sheet to select so you can drag it , Usually I need to zoom out and try the different edges , then you get the center handle and can move it over the drawing . Use the  "center sheet tool" 1st , it usually gets it close , then you can finalise the position with the drag if needed.

 

The A2 to A0 should work Keith , it's the same idea I mentioned above going Arch B to Arch D.....  

 

Hope you have a big table    that's one massive Print....

 

M.

[Keith_K]

And they did work!  I got the prints exactly to scale and with enough blank space around them for plenty of scribbling and calculating. 

 

When I cut off all the blank space I found that with a bit of experimenting the printer bloke could probably have fitted the plan onto Arch C and still have got the plan to scale.  Unless, of course, his printer didn't allow very narrow margins.  That's an exercise for the future because it would have been a lot cheaper.