plot maker is awful

[Anonymous]

plot maker is the most awful program.... do i have to use it? is there something else... it's so frastrating and slow i've spent half my time setup drawings in plot maker, some times more time then to do the archicad drawing.. the commands do work the same etc... i think it would be quicker and easyier to use autcad in replacement of plot maker....

What do other people use.

[Dwight]

like making gumbo

[Anonymous]

I have some sympathy with D Broughton. It's all very well that Plotmaker can arrange your 3d views, jpegs etc, but eventually the demands of any projects is a lot of 2D construction drawings - in a hurry!

Like D Broughton, I find it a chore to finish a drawing and then have to spend time in Plotmaker before I can plot it. And how often do you have to go back into Archicad to make an amendment, re-publish it, go back into Plotmaker, go back into 'Drawing Usage', force an update audit and then update the modified drawings (phew!) Has anyone ever tried amending a .PMK file from within Plotmaker - forget it!

Djorde says, try opening "the same AutoCAD drawing on a different machine and find your placed images", but has he tried moving a layout book to a different location on the Network and then finding the placed images?

Also: am I right in thinking that publisher (in Archicad) will only publish different storeys at the same scale? I've tried setting the scale within the publisher window - but it always seem to revert to the scale of the first storey in the set.

[Anonymous]

Hi Keith,
some answers to your wonders ...

Djorde says, try opening "the same AutoCAD drawing on a different machine and find your placed images", but has he tried moving a layout book to a different location on the Network and then finding the placed images?

That would not be a problem if you have checked the box for "Include all linked file", or you could always re-direct the links under the "Drawing Use Mode" in PM.
As long as there is a functioning file structure at the office, this should not be very traumatic either

Also: am I right in thinking that publisher (in Archicad) will only publish different storeys at the same scale? I've tried setting the scale within the publisher window - but it always seem to revert to the scale of the first storey in the set.

Whatever View Sets you have saved will also be available for the Publisher function. Save sets in different Scales with your choice of Display Option settings/Layer Combinations and - if crucial - Zoom degree to then be able to Publish them all or just a few of them ...
Why not put some time in to adding all the Combinations needed for a typical project at your firm, and then save the empty project (with the Cloned std. views included) as a Template file?

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Susanne - still a bit confused, though.

The save option 'Include Linked Files' seems to embed the links - so that they have to be updated manually (like binding an XREF). I wouldn't want to have to do that, at least at the drawing development stage.

However, although the 'help' file tells me that, if I don't check this option, the links will always be in updated state, I still have to update them manually every time I change the model, even though I haven't checked the 'Include Linked Files' box. Maybe there's something wrong with our system?

I tried publishing differently scaled views from the same model again - and it worked! There's something very odd about the publisher dialogue box in which the scale box reverts to whichever scale was chosen last - not the scale at which the view will plot.

[Anonymous]

I back,

I have been using Autocad instead of plot maker for creating layouts with images and one plan see attached... this works great.... i don't use standard view sets because the don't look as good... however i have to render each view which takes time... if i was to do a house plan etc. or another type of drawing i would use plotmaker for elevations, sections and plans... but then use autocad to do image presentations such as this.... i'm still learning PM but for now i need productivity which PM does not have...

dbroughton

[Anonymous]

If I had my way...I prefer Bentleys Microstation......Plotmaker comes close but no cigar....for example....why are we dimensioning in AC and not Plotmaker....why can't you resize something in Plotmaker....what happen to break lines....yada yada...but I would agrees that Plotmaker is far better than Autocad....I mean c'mon....how many different types of drivers do you need to plot with...lets see...CTB, STB, PCP, PCP2 and CFG....shyt my wife shops faster than that....lets face it, Autodesk is doomed with out 3 Studio.... ...I will vote for Graphisoft on this one

[TomWaltz]

why are we dimensioning in AC and not Plotmaker

Why would you WANT to dimension in Plotmaker/Paper space? Shouldn't you be concerned about being able to see the text/dimensions/etc while you are working on your plans/elevations/etc?

[Dwight]

Autocad is twice doomed once Graphisoft gets hold of this:

http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0,14632,Soldiertech_DREAD,,00.html?ESRC=soldiertech.nl

[Rob]

but then use autocad to do image presentations such as this.... i'm still learning PM but for now i need productivity which PM does not have

mate, can you send me a little bit of that stuff that you are raving on? It seems to be hell of a good one.

[__archiben]

dbroughton wrote:
however i have to render each view which takes time... if i was to do a house plan etc. or another type of drawing i would use plotmaker for elevations, sections and plans... but then use autocad to do image presentations such as this.... i'm still learning PM but for now i need productivity which PM does not have...

which version of archiCAD/plotmaker are you using?

it also sounds as though a couple of days training would be a very worthwhile investment . . .

~/archiben