In this Article:
Plot Setup
File > Plot...
Use this command to setup VX for plotting. You can plot in a variety of formats, to a device attached to your local workstation, network or to a file. The Plot Setup Form documented below contains many new features including the ability to preview the plot job based on the current settings, new attribute priority settings and the ability to calibrate the configuration to your plotter.
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Modify the default plot setup configuration for your plotter (see below for each tab on the Plot Setup Form).
- Pick Dismiss to keep the current setup and close the form or select the Plot button to output to a local or network plotter.
 Plot Setup Form - Plot Tab
Use the Plot tab to specify the plotter name, select from the available plotters, define the plot destination, color and format. You can plot to a device, a command or a file. You can plot in color or black and white. VX supports a number of plot formats including HP-GL, HP-GL/2, EPS, PCL 5, TIFF, EMF and BMP.
Plotter
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Name
This list shows all plotters (local and remote) that are currently defined for use by your system. Select the name of the plotter from the list that you wish to plot to.
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Tray
This list shows all of the tray sizes that are available to the selected plotter. Make a selection from the list.
An example Plotter Tray list is shown below.
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Output file
You will notice that in the list of available plotters (see Plotter name above), there is a selection called "File". When selected, this "Output file" options is activated. Enter a file name you want to plot to or select the folder icon to select a file to be overwritten.
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Number of copies
Enter the total number of copies that you wish to output.
Page Setup
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Units
These are the units for the plot margins (see below). They are either inch or mm. The Units designation comes from the current operating system where VX is installed. Typically, this will be mm.
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Size
Select from the list of paper sizes. Make sure the same paper size in loaded into your plotter in the same Paper orientation shown on this form.
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Width, Height
If "Custom" is selected for the "Size" setting above, enter the Width and Height of the custom size paper.
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Scale to fit
Check this box to scale the plot to fit the selected paper size.
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Scale
If "Scale to fit" (see above) is not checked, enter the plot scale (i.e., 1.0=Full Scale).
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Select View Origin
Use this option to select the origin for the plot. The specified scale will apply about this selected origin.
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Rotation
Pick 0, 90, 180, or 270 degrees of rotation. Plot rotation is measured counterclockwise about the plot origin.
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Use paper margins
Checking this box will allow you to define margins for each side of the paper (see below).
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Top, Bottom, Left, Right
If "Use paper margins" above is checked, enter the size of the margins in the input fields provided. Refer to Units (see above) for your current units designation. Typically, the units are in mm.
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Plot drawing border
Check this box to plot the drawing sheet borders. Otherwise no borders will be plotted.
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Color/Grayscale
Select Color if you want the plot in color or Grayscale to plot in black and white.
Plot Setup Form - Advanced Tab
Use the Advanced tab to set advanced features of the plot setup. This tab contains six additional tabs for Color, Line Style, Line Width, Device and Calibrate settings. Refer to each tab below.
Advanced / Attributes Tab
Use the Attributes tab to specify additional plot attributes such as geometry x,y scale and line width and line style scale. You can set three levels of plotting priority and specify the plot tolerance. There is also additional data that you can plot with each plot job such as file name, path, time and date.
HP-GL/2
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Optimize
The HP-GL/2 plot format allows for the following optimization techniques. Check the optimization methods that you wish to enable.
Color
Vectors are sorted by pen color rather than the order in which they were received.
Endpoint
(Bidirectional plotting) swaps successive vector endpoints to minimize pen-up moves.
Geographic
Sorts all vectors by their geographic area before moving to another area.
Plot attributes
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Geometry x scale, Geometry y scale, Line width scale, Line style scale
Enter the plot scale for the geometry x axis direction, geometry y axis direction, line width and line style for all geometry (i.e., 1=Full Scale). If you want all geometry, line widths, and line styles to scale uniformly, set all to the same scale value.
Attribute Priority
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High, Medium, Low
These options allow you to set three levels of priority for plotting based on Color, Line Style and Line Width. Make a selection for each.
Plot tolerance
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Arc step size
Enter the arc step size for plotting arcs, circles, and curves measured in degrees. This setting is used for plotting only.
Plot data
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Plot file name, Plot file path, Plot info, Plot time
Use these attributes to plot additional information. The
Plot file name option also plots the active object name.
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Plot date, DD/MM/YYYY, MM/DD/YYYY
If you select the
Plot date attribute, also choose one of two date format to use.
Advanced / Color Tab
Use the Color tab to map VX colors to specific plotter pen numbers, set the pen speed and the maximum pen distance. You can also set the line style and line width for each color of use the default VX attributes.
Pen/color assignments
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Color
Lists the VX default color number and color for plotting.
VX supports true 2-color mapping (e.g., black on white). For the pixel-based plot formats TIFF and BMP, only color numbers 15 and 16 are enabled. Color 15 represents the foreground color and 16 the background color.
In VX, set your background color to black or any other solid color. Also, the gradient background and background image options on the Background tab of the VX Configuration Form should not be enabled (i.e., not checked). You can then set color 15 and 16 to your desired two colors.
You can also set the background color to white while using other color plot formats by setting color 16 to pen # 15. Use the
Plot Preview option to experiment and verify your results before plotting.
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Pen #
Your plotter?s pen number. Enter the Pen # for the assigned color or margin.
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A Pen #
Your plotter?s alternate pen number. The alternate pen is used when the same primary pen has been used continuously for the Max Pen Distance without being swapped out. Enter the A Pen # for the assigned color or margin.
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Speed
Your plotter?s pen speed measured in centimeters per second. Enter the pen Speed for the assigned pen.
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Line style
Left-click and drag to select a line style to assign to each pen. If Ignore is selected, this attribute is ignored and the assigned VX line style is used. This refers to the default line style defined in the Line Attributes Form at the time the geometry was created.
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Line width
Left-click and drag to select a line width to assign to each pen. If Ignore is selected, this attribute is ignored and the assigned VX line width is used. This refers to the default line width defined in the Line Attributes Form at the time the geometry was created.
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Max pen distance
The maximum distance a pen will travel in a single run. When this distance is reached the A Pen # (Alternate Pen Number) is used.
Advanced / Line Style Tab
Use the Line Style tab to customize the output of the VX default line styles. You can specify the exact lengths of the line and space segments that make up each line style. You can also customize the output line widths and colors assigned to each line style or use the VX default line widths and colors.
Line styles
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Line style
Refers to the default line styles defined in the Line Attributes Form. Geometry assigned to each of these line styles will be plotted based on the definition in this form.
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Line style definition
Defines the pattern for each line style. Refer to the note Defining Line Style Text Strings below.
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Line width
Left-click and drag to select a line width to assign to each line style. If Ignore is selected, this attribute is ignored and the assigned VX line width is used. This refers to the default line width defined in the Line Attributes Form at the time the geometry was created.
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Color
Left-click and drag to select a color to assign to each line style. If Ignore is selected, this attribute is ignored and the assigned VX color is used. This refers to the default color defined in the Line Attributes Form at the time the geometry was created.
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Use adaptive length line styles
This setting is specific to HP-GL and HP-GL/2. The line patterns are automatically adjusted to make sure two lines always meet at corners.
 Defining Line Style Text Strings
The line style text string is a series of numbers separated by commas. It defines the pattern for that line style. Lets look at an example.
The first number (15.600) defines the overall length of the pattern. The second number (3.00) defines the length of the first solid line portion of the pattern. The third number (3.00) defines the length of the first broken portion of the pattern. The remaining numbers define the lengths of the solid/broken portions remaining in the pattern. The pattern begins with a solid length and ends with a broken length.
Line Style Definition Example
Advanced / Line Width Tab
Use the Line Width tab to customize the output of the VX default line widths. You can specify the exact line widths and customize the output line styles and colors assigned to each line width or use the VX default line styles and colors.
Line widths
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Line width
Shows the default line widths defined in the Line Attributes Form. Geometry assigned to each of these line widths will be plotted based on the definition in this form. You can change the line widths values here to override the default line widths.
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Line style
Left-click and drag to select a line style to assign to each line width. If Ignore is selected, this attribute is ignored and the assigned VX line style is used. This refers to the default line style defined in the Line Attributes Form at the time the geometry was created.
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Color
Left-click and drag to select a color to assign to each line width. If Ignore is selected, this attribute is ignored and the assigned VX color is used. This refers to the default color defined in the Line Attributes Form at the time the geometry was created.
Advanced / Device Tab
Use the Advanced tab to set advanced features of the plot setup including plotter origin, software clipping, the plotter device unit and plotter control strings. You also use the Advanced tab to load/save your own custom plot setup configuration files. This allows you to personalize a setup configuration to your needs and then load it when you need it. There are also default setup configuration for a number of popular plot formats.
Plotter origin
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X offset, Y offset
Use the X and Y Offset values to fine tune the placement of the plot on the paper.
Software clipping
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Enable software clipping
Clip geometry to the set paper margins.
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Plot software clip area
Similar to the Plot paper margins option. Refer to the Plot tab.
Plotter device unit
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Device unit
For vector based plots (e.g., HP-GL, HP-GL/2, EPS) the device unit refers to the smallest distance recognizable by your plotter. Set it to the valued specified by your plotter user?s manual.
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Dots Per Inch (DPI)
For raster based plots (e.g., PCL 5, TIFF and BMP) the DPI refers to the highest resolution your plotter is capable of producing. The actual resolution of the plot is based on the screen resolution within your monitor?s graphics window.
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Image size (pixel)
This will be the image size measured in pixels based on the current paper size (see Paper Tab above) and the DPI settings (see Dots per inch above).
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File size (MB)
This is the size of the file measured in megabytes (MB) if you output the plot to a file.
Plotter control strings
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Plot prefix
Plotter command codes that should be sent before the plot file. Refer to your plotter user?s manual for available command codes. Pick Yes or No to enable or disable the plot prefix.
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Plot suffix
These are plotter command codes that should be sent following the plot file. Refer to your plotter user?s manual for available command codes. Pick Yes or No to enable or disable the plot suffix.
 If you have a roll-feed plotter you can disable the page advance command code by emptying the Plot suffix input field or by selecting No next to Use suffix. |
Plotter setup file
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Available files
VX contains preset plot setup configuration files for many of the supported formats. You can also save and load your own configurations. All settings currently active in the all of the Plot Setup Form (i.e., all tabs) are saved with the configuration.
This makes it convenient for example when the majority of your plot jobs use the same size paper or the same plotter. You can personalize and save the configuration to your needs and then load it when you need it.
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Setup file
Use this input field to load or save plot setup files. You can customize the plot setup, enter a name (do not enter a path) and then use the Save Setup File option below to save the current setup.
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Load Setup File
Load the plot setup file currently displayed in the Setup file input field.
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Save Setup File
Save the current plot setup to the file whose name is currently displayed in the Setup file input field. If the file exists pick OK to overwrite it or Cancel to close the form without saving.
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Make Default
Make the plot setup file currently displayed in the Setup file input field the default setup at startup.
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Delete Setup File
Delete the plot setup file currently displayed in the Setup file input field. Pick OK to confirm the deletion or Cancel to close the form without deleting the file.
Advanced / Calibrate Tab
Use the Calibrate tab to calibrate the current plotter setup configuration to your specific plotter. Follow the steps outlined on this form to complete the calibration.
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