To solve ArchiCAD line ' problems '

[Anonymous]

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

[Erika Epstein]

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?

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

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.

[Dwight]

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?

[Anonymous]

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.

[Dwight]

Time to invent a new format.

[Anonymous]

Dwight wrote:
Time to invent a new format.