Generating a Black & White DWF file from Color Test Plots

The background for Generating a Black & White DWF file from Color Test Plots was covered in the preceding 5 posts from last week.

1. AutoCAD Drawing Layouts
2. AutoCAD PLOT command
3. AutoCAD Sheet Set Manager
4. AutoCAD PUBLISH Command
5. AutoCAD Drawing Named Page Setups

Using AutoCAD 2006 to generate a multisheet DWF file for printing on a black and white device (although color-based PC3 files are associated with the layouts) requires a two part process. The first part is a one time setup. The second part is executed each time a DWF file is generated.

One Time Setup

1. Arrange your sheets in a hierarchy using the Sheet Set Manager.
2. Ensure that each layout has been set for a particular color device or to the DWF6 ePlot pc3 file.
3. Create a dummy DWG file whose layout has been set.
   1. Start AutoCAD.
   2. Use the tabs to navigate to Layout2.
   3. Delete Layout2.
   4. Use the tabs to navigate to Layout1.
   5. Invoke the File->Page Setup Manager.
   6. Click on New to create a new Named Page Setup.
   7. Use the Name pull down to select "DWF6 ePlot pc3" as the device.
   8. Use the Plot style table (pen assignments) pull down to select the monochrome.ctb file.
   9. Save the new Named Page Setup as Monochrome.
   10. Delete the *Layout1* Named Page Setup. This is optional.
   11. Save the empty drawing as monochrome_pentable.dwg.

Each Time to Generate a DWF File

The Sheet Set Manager has a "Publish using Page Setup Override" command. This would be perfect for overriding color with monochrome. But noooooooo! Alas, this command produces one DWF file per layout. So the strategy is to load all of the sheets from the Sheet Set Manager into the Publish command.

1. Open the sheet set using the Sheet Set Manager.
2. Select the appropriate node in the Sheet Set Manager tree that contains the sheets you wish to send for printing.
3. Click on the Publish icon that appears in the Sheet Set Manager toolbar. Use the pull down to select Publish Dialog Box.
4. Select all sheets in the resulting dialog box.
5. Use the pull down in the Page setup column to select Import….
6. Navigate to monochrome_pen_set.dwg and select it.
7. Select Imported:Monochrome from the list. Notice how it applies to all of the sheets, since you had them selected.
8. Click on Publish.
9. Accept the default file name or specify a new one.
10. AutoCAD prompts you to save the current list of sheets. You can optionally save the set of sheets under a specified name if you will need to submit that same set of sheets again.
11. AutoCAD publishes the sheets to a multisheet DWF file and notifies you when complete.
12. Check the Plot and Publish Details log for errors.

I believe it is coincidence that the second part is a 12 step process. :-)

It is customary to provide a black and white DWF file to a commercial reprographer for printing instead of a color DWF file. Viewing the black and white DWF file in the Autodesk DWF Viewer before submitting to the reprographer shows what the prints will look like before they are actually printed. When color DWF files are submitted to the reprographer, the mapping of colors to shades of gray does not always meet customer expectations. Leveraging the what-you-see-is-what-you-print power of DWF mitigates this issue.