ArchiCAD to DWG Template File

[Anonymous]

I have created a simple template file on AutoCAD 2000 to use with my ArchiCAD/Plotmaker translater. I have pointed my translater to this template file in the "Save Options" section of the translator set up.

For some reason the settings I have in my template file (like the drawing units and the font for the "Standard" text style) do not carry over into my translated plotmaker drawings.

Any thought what I may be missing.

Thank you.

[Djordje]

John wrote:
I have created a simple template file on AutoCAD 2000 to use with my ArchiCAD/Plotmaker translater. I have pointed my translater to this template file in the "Save Options" section of the translator set up.

For some reason the settings I have in my template file (like the drawing units and the font for the "Standard" text style) do not carry over into my translated plotmaker drawings.

Any thought what I may be missing.

Thank you.

You have to set the units and the fonts in the Transaltor regardless of the Template. What cannot be done without the Template, however, is the good AutoCAD practice of having colors and pens Bylayer, and the proper layer conversion.

A bit of work, but it pays eventually, especially if you work with AutoCAD using people who have a system.

[Rex Maximilian]

I'm using the AutoCAD template system fully. Full layer name translation to NCS style layers, By-Layer control, text styles, dimension styles, etc. The only thing I CAN'T do is map specific fonts to AutoCAD fonts that have a horizontal scale factor. I can do this if I map ALL fonts to the active font style that is horizontally scaled, but not if I want only certain fonts from ArchiCAD to map to a particular scaled *.shx font in AutoCAD. Many, many users still use *.shx fonts in AutoCAD that is scaled at 90% width or so...

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Rex Maximilian

[Anonymous]

Djordje,

Thank you for the quick reply. I still seem to be getting erratic behavior from my translator setup so it looks like I'm just going to buy a few grande lattes a settle down with the system 'til I figure it out.
If there is a resource out there that clearly outlines which AutoCAD parameters can be controlled with the template file please let me know.

Rex,

If I understand your post correctly I should point out that in AutoCAD users apply a "horizontal scale factor" (refered to in AutoCAD as Width Factor) to text styles and not to the font. This allows the same font to be used with two different width factors in the same drawing. So I don't think you can actually scale a SHX font and certainly feel that most AutoCAD users (myself included) adjust the width factor by style and not by font. Therefore you should be able to set up several AutoCAD text styles with the appropriate width factors and then map your various ArchiCAD fonts to the AutoCAD styles. The last part is the part I still don't know since I am having problems getting ArchiCAD to even recognize my template file at all.

I hope that helps and I did not miss your point entirely.