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PDF Printing taking hours....

cdj_maytree
Contributor

Hello all,

 

First post - please be gentle.

 

Small firm, all running AC25 (build 5010) and all versions and libraries are up to date. All workstations are M1 chip iMacs all connect to a NAS where our projects and libraries etc are stored.

 

With the release of AC25 we took advantage of the ability to output textures & materials in elevation etc (Image attached 'Forum_01'). We've been experiencing a problem on some jobs where the exported PDF set (Image attached 'Forum_02' and 'Forum_03') takes so long to print it stalls the system and needs to be cancelled, or the printer simply moves on to other jobs.

 

I have tried, with no success, several possible fixes...

 

1. I saw that the textures being used were stored locally on our designers computer and used in AC25 via the Embedded Library. I addressed this, I exported all relevant files from the embedded library to our textures library, deleted the originals and re-linked all surface textures etc. Re-exported and printed - no improvement.

 

2. The texture files that were being used were too large, with some files being 5MB and over. Brought everything into photoshop, reduced DPI to 150, reduced canvas size, exported as PNG files (all now in the hundreds of KB) re-exported and printed - no improvement.

 

3. Maybe there's too many drawings on one A3 sheet, and the individual page is 1.8MB. Split those drawings over two pages.... you guessed it - no improvement.

 

4. Searched the internet, tried all suggested fixes. Don't colour manage: no improvement. Print as image: no improvement. Reduce file size: no improvement. Compress images: no improvement. 

 

Has anyone come up against this fault before? Does anyone have any insight into whether this is a short coming in the software? Maybe the texture/material export is at fault? If anyone has any advice whatsoever - please, I beg you... share it with me.

 

Thanks


Forum_01.pngForum_02.pngForum_03.png
11 REPLIES 11
David Shorter
Advisor

Can you Print to PDF and post that image?

Archicad 4.1 to 27 Apple Silicon
you can't build a line
Mac Studio
iPad Pro
iPhone

Are you using Preview or Adobe Acrobat to print from? In the past I've had color printing issues from PDFs made from Archicad printing from Preview. Opening in and printing from Acrobat was a workaround that printed. I never found what the root of the problem was though.

I guess for emergencies you can open the PDFs in Photoshop which would do a raster conversion (or in Preview and choose to Export to JPG). Set the dpi to be 300 and print from there, should all else fail.

Rex Maximilian, Honolulu, USA - www.rexmaximilian.com
ArchiCAD 27 (user since 3.4, 1991)
16" MacBook Pro; M1 Max (2021), 32GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, 32-Core GPU
Apple Vision Pro w/ BIMx
Creator of the Maximilian ArchiCAD Template System
cdj_maytree
Contributor

Hi David & Rex,

 

Please excuse the lengthy delay in my reply - I got hit with covid!!

 

David - attached are two PDFs that have been the primary source of the problems, meaning whenever the printer gets to these pages it stops. One is a plan view with a floor tile, the other is a number of elevations with a wallpaper. Both of these surface materials are smaller PNG files, and we ask Archicad to 'tile' over a surface.

 

By reducing the size of the 'source image' I was able to print the floor tile PDF without problem, but the wallpaper remains a problem - no matter how far I reduce the image size or bit depth of the source image. I have also tried reducing the number of elevations on a single A3 page, but this doesn't offer any improvement either.

 

Rex - thank you for your suggested workaround. We do use the 'Preview' app to print etc, I'm told the majority of our builders aren't using Adobe Acrobat hence our decision. I will test with Acrobat and with print to JPG and see how we go.

 

Thanks

 

*note - the title block information has been redacted to protect client privacy, not relevant to the issue at hand.

Hi

Hope you are feeling better!!!

Its all in the texture map. Attached is a reduced size PDF which should print. I have sized it down from 21.9Mb to 2.6Mb.

Let me know if that  prints OK and/or send me the original texture map. Bit difficult to properly resolve without the original texture.

Hope this helps

 

Archicad 4.1 to 27 Apple Silicon
you can't build a line
Mac Studio
iPad Pro
iPhone
cdj_maytree
Contributor

Thank you David!

 

I have attached the wallpaper image - which I'm assuming is the 'texture map' that you're referring to. I've also attached a screen shot of the settings in use for this image.

 

I'm currently working out of office but am very keen to hear your response. Thanks again


Screen Shot 2022-08-11 at 1.30.10 pm.pngA02_Wallpaper 2_new.png

I created a plan the same size as the toilet 890x2111 approx.

A surface using your png file see SurfaceSetting.pdf

I placed the views on and A3 sheet at 1:20. see A3 Landscape .pdf attached. The resulting PDF is 1.1 MB. The I texture size is slightly smaller than yours although the width is the same. Also attached is a plan view showing the extent of the IE settings

So I'm not sure why your PDF is 20 times larger unless the IE setting are different somehow .

Hope this helps

Archicad 4.1 to 27 Apple Silicon
you can't build a line
Mac Studio
iPad Pro
iPhone
cdj_maytree
Contributor

It sort of helps David..... In that, I'm sure your solution works - I'm just not entirely sure I understand it... Was it simply that my wallpaper image was being 'tiled' out of aspect ratio? I noticed your is 660mm x 999mm where mine was 660mm x 660mm....

 

That's the only difference that I can spot?

Its interesting that your image is the correct size even though the height is incorrect. I suggest unchecking the keep proportions box with the image loaded and then check the keep proportions again and use the image you sent me then we will know we are comparing eggs with eggs. Save the Surface and try again and let me know.

Good luck !!!!

Archicad 4.1 to 27 Apple Silicon
you can't build a line
Mac Studio
iPad Pro
iPhone

@cdj_maytree wrote:

Rex - thank you for your suggested workaround. We do use the 'Preview' app to print etc, I'm told the majority of our builders aren't using Adobe Acrobat hence our decision. I will test with Acrobat and with print to JPG and see how we go.

 How did it go with your Acrobat print test?

Rex Maximilian, Honolulu, USA - www.rexmaximilian.com
ArchiCAD 27 (user since 3.4, 1991)
16" MacBook Pro; M1 Max (2021), 32GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, 32-Core GPU
Apple Vision Pro w/ BIMx
Creator of the Maximilian ArchiCAD Template System