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

[Anonymous]

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

Haha

Nope, that's one thing we are allowed to do. We were told in out last project ( Contextual Design Project ) to include images/photos of the site and use them in out drawings. The majority of student use AutoCAD and so they exported as an EPS file to PS, their lines seemed perfect on screen. I used a PDF file and my lines came out fuzzy, even at 600 DPI. I prefer to use Photoshop because I know how easy it is, but I'm learning how to use similar tools in Illustrator so the I don't rasterize the file. ( confirmed by Ralph in the post below )

I'm not sure what the University printers resolution is so I can't have a set workflow for this ( well at least not for layouts larger than A3 ), but I can find out what my own A3 printer ( Epson R2880 ) resolution is and work from there.

[Anonymous]

Here's a screen capture of the PDF file at default settings, directly from ArchiCAD.

If you have a PDF of your work, do your lines look similar to these or are they more crisp. ( I realise the upload may be lower quality )

[Ralph Wessel]

NStocks wrote:
If you have a PDF of your work, do your lines look similar to these or are they more crisp. ( I realise the upload may be lower quality )

It's too hard to tell from the attached image, primarily because it has been rendered at such a low resolution. Any chance you post an original PDF somewhere?

BTW - when you refer to the crispness of the lines, do you mean that lines look pixelated? Or does the antialiasing look a bit rough? Or are the lines too thick?

[Anonymous]

Nstocks, not sure if this has been mentioned already but have you checked the settings in Advanced redraw options under Work Enviroment? Looks like 2D anti aliasing...

[Anonymous]

Ralph wrote:

NStocks wrote:
If you have a PDF of your work, do your lines look similar to these or are they more crisp. ( I realise the upload may be lower quality )

It's too hard to tell from the attached image, primarily because it has been rendered at such a low resolution. Any chance you post an original PDF somewhere?

BTW - when you refer to the crispness of the lines, do you mean that lines look pixelated? Or does the antialiasing look a bit rough? Or are the lines too thick?

The lines look a bit rough. They look as if someone has taken sandpaper to the edges and removed the sharp, crisp line. I don't have my Mac with me but I will see if I can find the backup and possible upload a PDF to yousendit.com...

[PB]

Just to go back to your logo issue: Can you generate your drawings to a size that fits across two A3 sheets - with only the unwanted logo on the second sheet: You then print only the desired sheet?

P.S. Out of curiosity, which University are you studying at (if you don't mind divulging such info!)?

[Anonymous]

PB wrote:
Just to go back to your logo issue: Can you generate your drawings to a size that fits across two A3 sheets - with only the unwanted logo on the second sheet: You then print only the desired sheet?

P.S. Out of curiosity, which University are you studying at (if you don't mind divulging such info!)?

That's something I will have to look into. I'm not sure how that would work though, since my printer only does A3 sheets. or oversize A3 on a roll. I would need to look how ArchiCAD deals with this.

I'm studying at the University of Lincoln, School of Architecture BA (Hons), due to start second year this September. Let me know if you want more info!

Thank You

[Anonymous]

RE the antialiasing, are these setting suppose to reduce the line 'fuziness' ?

I will upload a his-res link to a PDF later to see if my PDF are OK.

Thank You

[Anonymous]

The links below take you to my dropbox. The first link is a 1200DPI straight out of ArchiCAD. The second link is the PDF cropped in Adobe Acrobat Professional to remove the logo.

(originally the page was A2, so it's being cropped to A3)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1055166/1200DPI%20With%20Logo%202.pdf

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1055166/1200DPI%20Without%20Logo%20.pdf