topic Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems ' in Visualization

To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Anonymous — Thu, 11 May 2023 13:53:59 GMT

So I've just finished Univeristy for the summer and I want to prepare myself for the second and forthcoming years of Archiecture.

One thing that I want to do, which is very basic but is quite important is to create crisp lines when it comes to printing. Students who use AutoCAD have really clean lines and I know this is something that has been discussed here on the ArchiCAD forum. Is there a way that I can export ArchiCAD 2D plans/sections/elevations to AutoCAD then simply export them from AutoCAD to a PDF ? Would this make the lines appear more crisp when it comes to printing or would I need to re-draw everything in AutoCAD ? Also, if I had fills and shadows in my sections, how would AutoCAD read them i.e would they change in any way?

I'm not sure if simply imprting and exporting from ArchiCAD to AutoCAD will re-draw (?) the lines for me.

Thank You

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Erika Epstein — Sun, 23 May 2010 18:37:43 GMT

Nathan,
Let's first see if we can help you print crisply direct from archicad.

Can you post 2 samples one of a non-crisp archicad drawing and the other of a crisp autocad one so we can see what you see?

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Anonymous — Sun, 23 May 2010 19:04:01 GMT

Erika wrote:
Nathan,
Let's first see if we can help you print crisply direct from archicad.

Can you post 2 samples one of a non-crisp archicad drawing and the other of a crisp autocad one so we can see what you see?

The lines on the screen appear crips, however when I go to print the plan etc. there do not appear as crips as AutoCAD lines...

I heard this a few weeks ago on this forum too and wondered what the solution would be...

EDIT: I don't print directly from ArchiCAD. I have to save as a PDF then crop the page to remove the ArchiCAD Educational License logo, otherwise the tutors tell me off and take points off

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Anonymous — Sun, 23 May 2010 21:09:55 GMT

NStocks wrote:
Erika wrote:
Nathan,
Let's first see if we can help you print crisply direct from archicad.

Can you post 2 samples one of a non-crisp archicad drawing and the other of a crisp autocad one so we can see what you see?
The lines on the screen appear crips, however when I go to print the plan etc. there do not appear as crips as AutoCAD lines...

I heard this a few weeks ago on this forum too and wondered what the solution would be...

EDIT: I don't print directly from ArchiCAD. I have to save as a PDF then crop the page to remove the ArchiCAD Educational License logo, otherwise the tutors tell me off and take points off

It could be a PDF issue. I thought this was fixed a while ago but once upon a time Postscript printers (the underlying predecessor of PDF) would make technical drawings look like c**p. It had to do with the different priorities of graphic design vs technical drawing. This should be solved with high resolution in the PDF. Maybe you need to bump up the dpi of your output.

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Anonymous — Sun, 23 May 2010 22:41:30 GMT

Matthew wrote:
NStocks wrote:
Erika wrote:
Nathan,
Let's first see if we can help you print crisply direct from archicad.

Can you post 2 samples one of a non-crisp archicad drawing and the other of a crisp autocad one so we can see what you see?
The lines on the screen appear crips, however when I go to print the plan etc. there do not appear as crips as AutoCAD lines...

I heard this a few weeks ago on this forum too and wondered what the solution would be...

EDIT: I don't print directly from ArchiCAD. I have to save as a PDF then crop the page to remove the ArchiCAD Educational License logo, otherwise the tutors tell me off and take points off
It could be a PDF issue. I thought this was fixed a while ago but once upon a time Postscript printers (the underlying predecessor of PDF) would make technical drawings look like c**p. It had to do with the different priorities of graphic design vs technical drawing. This should be solved with high resolution in the PDF. Maybe you need to bump up the dpi of your output.

I see.

I will use a DPI of 600 or more next time I export my files. So does ArchiCAD have the same crispness of lines than what AutoCAD has ? There is a post on here, where somebody was saying that there lines are not as crisp as AutoCAD users, but then they may be exporting to PDF too...

Also, when I take a drawing into Photoshop, the lines/file is rasterized. How can I preserve the data in terms of line crispness when using it in Photoshop ? On another post I made ( in this topic ) a member said that he ' cleans up' the lines in AutoCAD then proceeds to Photoshop by means of an EPS () file... is this something that I could do ?
Thank You

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Anonymous — Mon, 24 May 2010 02:17:30 GMT

ArchiCAD linework is every bit as crisp as AutoCAD (except for its lack of square ends). As a vector based program the resolution is effectively infinite.

Photoshop is a raster/pixel based program so it will rasterize anything you bring into it. When you open a PDF in Photoshop it asks you what resolution you want.

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Dwight — Mon, 24 May 2010 05:11:27 GMT

You seem to be going to a lot of trouble to cut off a licensing logo.
Why not just cut the paper down after printing?

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Anonymous — Mon, 24 May 2010 12:09:34 GMT

Dwight wrote:
You seem to be going to a lot of trouble to cut off a licensing logo.
Why not just cut the paper down after printing?

Because I have my own A3 printer, and 70% of my work is on A3 sheets, therefor I can't cut those down. If I print on A2,A1 or A0 I can quite easily cut those down, but it's A3 that I need the most.

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Dwight — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:54:29 GMT

Time to invent a new format.

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Anonymous — Mon, 24 May 2010 16:20:39 GMT

Dwight wrote:
Time to invent a new format.

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Anonymous — Mon, 24 May 2010 16:36:50 GMT

NStocks wrote:
Dwight wrote:
You seem to be going to a lot of trouble to cut off a licensing logo.
Why not just cut the paper down after printing?
Because I have my own A3 printer, and 70% of my work is on A3 sheets, therefor I can't cut those down. If I print on A2,A1 or A0 I can quite easily cut those down, but it's A3 that I need the most.

Does it take a roll feed? Would that help? (I've never seen the watermark.)

I still can't understand a prof dinging a student for using an educational version of the software.

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Anonymous — Mon, 24 May 2010 17:07:47 GMT

Matthew wrote:
NStocks wrote:
Dwight wrote:
You seem to be going to a lot of trouble to cut off a licensing logo.
Why not just cut the paper down after printing?
Because I have my own A3 printer, and 70% of my work is on A3 sheets, therefor I can't cut those down. If I print on A2,A1 or A0 I can quite easily cut those down, but it's A3 that I need the most.
Does it take a roll feed? Would that help? (I've never seen the watermark.)

I still can't understand a prof dinging a student for using an educational version of the software.

Yes, it does take a roll feed but this will mean that more time is ' wasted ', cutting each page especially when I work very closley to the deadline aka printing 1 day before due date !

Does a PDF loose that much quality as apposed to printing directly from ArhiCAD ? ( I will test this later )

I agree with you with regards to the watermark/logo. They know that it's an educational liscense, they even have the same issue with the University computers, but it's something every student gets told off for. At least with ArchiCAD it's only in the top right, AutoCAD students have it across all sides of the paper, and it spreats across basically the width of the page. The watermark is only on educational licenses, which is why you won't see it.

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Dwight — Mon, 24 May 2010 17:13:16 GMT

Like, print out your title block separately and glue it over top of the logo, then.

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Anonymous — Mon, 24 May 2010 17:37:14 GMT

Dwight wrote:
Like, print out your title block separately and glue it over top of the logo, then.

We get told off for ' Sticking and Gluing ' ....

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Dwight — Mon, 24 May 2010 17:45:35 GMT

Let me tease you further with:

Those guys are jerks, eh?

Who says a drawing has to be a rectangle?
Why not just cut out the annoying logo entirely then?
But be sure to make some other cutouts, too, in an attempt to convey your unique artistic style.

You could be the first student to unreasonably be told off for a new transgression of their idiotic rules.

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Dwight — Mon, 24 May 2010 17:47:50 GMT

Seriously, now, how about matting? One of the most effective presentations I saw at school was hand sketches in pencil on plain newsprint with dark, irregular mat board surrounding it. You could COVER the logo without pasting....

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Anonymous — Mon, 24 May 2010 18:00:34 GMT

Dwight wrote:
Seriously, now, how about matting? One of the most effective presentations I saw at school was hand sketches in pencil on plain newsprint with dark, irregular mat board surrounding it. You could COVER the logo without pasting....

...and reuse the matting for the next one (cost presumably being an issue)

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Anonymous — Mon, 24 May 2010 18:09:44 GMT

No matting, no fancy borders, now glued on paper, no educational/software logos/ no colour in plans, the title box must be to a minimum ( at least in 1st year )

Seriously, they don't let us do anything. They assume that we are able to produce professional documentation straight away. They don't realise the implications that educational software has ( well at least autoCAD with activation ), or the fact that their printers are c**p, or that the Uni computers are way too slow.

They are *suppose* to be getting more new computers this summer and A3 printers but I don't rely on it which is why I live at home. For £3,290 per year, you don't get a lot for your money. In fact, you just listen to lectures and get a studio tutor who in my case at least never show up on time, leave their own photocopying to the last minute when we need it ( feedback forms ) as well as other problems.

Anyway, enough of that rant this is a CAD forum, not a University forum !

I'm going to print out a few test pages in both PDF and directly from ArchiCAD to see how different the quality is. I will also print from AutoCAD and compare, also comparing the DPI.

Thank You

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Ralph Wessel — Mon, 24 May 2010 20:37:04 GMT

NStocks wrote:
Does a PDF loose that much quality as apposed to printing directly from ArhiCAD ? ( I will test this later )

In theory, a PDF should be at least as good as a plot file. After all, it's a richer file format. It all comes down to the printing process and the quality of the rendering software.

For example, if you open the PDF in Photoshop and reduce it to a bitmap, you might render it at 600dpi. But the printers' resolution might be 1200dpi (or higher), in which case you have produced a courser image before printing has even started.

If you need to edit the PDF, the best approach is to use software that can edit the PDF natively without reducing it to a bitmap, e.g. Adobe Illustrator. This preserves the vector data, enabling the target printer to render the image at its highest resolution.

Re: To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

Dwight — Mon, 24 May 2010 21:03:40 GMT

They take off points for using Illustrator.
They can tell, those tricky professor types.