Beyond the Paper

A Commercial Printer's Perspective on DWF and PDF

I have been a member of a commercial printing (reprographics) forum hosted on Yahoo. Today one of the reprographers shared his perspectives on processing DWF and PDF files received at his shop. I thought I would share it with you. Recall that there are several ways DWF files can be handled at a reprographers shop. This reprographer played and tested various file ripping software with various DWF and PDF files for both full size and half size printing requirements. The shop uses Océ Repro Desk Server 1.6.5.

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Ghostscript: This is great for fast ripping of PostScript and PDF files that are not complicated. Mechanical, Civil, and Electrical disciplines are good examples where these consultants generally do not require top notch quality.

Océ Client Tools: DWF full size prints are acceptable, but they really do not use it much for ripping. Half size printing of scaled line weights are acceptable but solid hatching quality is poor. The Océ Client Tools suite does not support direct rip to half size files.

Océ Postscript 3: This handles PDF files only, and they find it is about 10 versions behind in updates (slow and not recommended).

CADzation AcroPlot Repro: This works great with PDF and some DWF. As they tested, they found light line weights drop from time to time with different files, especially 45 degree lines. But for the most part, AcroPlot Repro worked well for both full and half size DWF and PDF files (recommended).

PLP PlotWorks Convert: This was the best rip software available with great support. They use this as a standard for file ripping if they need to rip any DWF or PDF files. Both full size and half size prints are excellent quality and, like AcroPlot Repro, has a few different dither patterns. They get the best solid fill hatch pattern printing using PlotWorks Convert. The draw back is that it is more expensive and their clients prefer them to rip the files with PLP so they are currently spending more time processing files than they did months back as the clients send unprocessed PDF files in via Repro Desk (highly recommended).

Full size and half size ripping (two separate files) is recommended when using the AcroPlot Repro or PlotWorks Convert when using anything other than the default settings. Océ VIC (Vector Image Compressed) or generic PLT files still have the best output quality of all file types in the reprographer's opinion as they can be used as one file prints all (vector based) sizes but with all the collaboration and printers that reprographers and project teams use today and the in-ability for the file creator to review the files prior to sending (unless they use Repro Desk) it can cause problems with the quick turn arounds expected in today's world.

The reprographer agreed with the forum from another reprographer that reprographers are having more difficulty ripping or printing PDF files than DWF files. He also agreed that there are too many 3rd party PDF writers that have been customized and Ghostscript has not been able to keep up. Some of their PDF issues also come from Macintosh based design software as they find it difficult to troubleshoot these types of PDF files.

Today reprographers spend more time file ripping to TIFF from PDF and DWF file types as there is nothing on the market that our clients can use in place of Ghostscript for file prepping before sending. The reprographer coined new terms:

• "Print Ready files types" being PDF and DWF
• "Printer Ready file types" being VIC/LDF (Layered Document Format), PLT/HPGL, and TIFF

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So when it comes to DWF, you can see that reprographers have a variety of options. Autodesk continues to work with the reprographics industry. To get beyond the paper, DWF has to be able to get to paper first. Reprographers have choices available that make that possible. As with all things in life, some choices are better than others.

--Scott

Oce Repro Desk Server 1.6.5 with improved DWF support

recently broadcasted the availability of an upgrade to its Océ Repro Desk® Server software. Customers operating on Océ Repro Desk Server 1.X and Oce Repro Desk 4.X platforms can now upgrade to Océ Repro Desk Server 1.6.5. Océ Repro Desk Server software enables commercial reprographers to connect their print shops electronically with their AEC customers and streamline workflow from design desktop to digital print room.

Key benefits and features included:

• New device support - Océ Repro Desk Server 1.6.5 now provides support for the new Océ TDS700 and the Océ TDS320 printers. Also, Océ Repro Desk Scan Server support has been added for the Océ TDS450. Océ Repro Desk Server continues to support other Océ printers.
• Océ Client Tools(TM) 1.6.5 - A new version of Océ Client Tools software is now available and can be downloaded at no charge from http://www.oceusa.com/ClientTools . This release of Océ Client Tools incorporates the latest Autodesk support mentioned

DWF Issues Resolved:

• The line attributes of short lines (length 0) was not being rendered correctly. The correct weight and cap style was not being applied. In some cases this produced fill patterns to render incorrectly.
  In some uncommon cases AutoCAD 2007 produced DWF packages with multiple sections whose names differ only by case. This resulted in a section name collision and some of the sections could not be rendered. With the PDK 1.3.0.17, all the sections in these DWF files can be rendered. This was only a problem with some DWF large DWF files published from AutoCAD 2007.
• When outputting objects with a color alpha value of 0 (100% transparent) and rendering with kGrayPalette or kPalette, the objects rendered opaque. Some apps needlessly add transparent geometry to DWF for hyperlinks, this geometry requires a 32-bit color space. The PDK has been corrected to handle these 100% transparent objects when using either the kGrayPalette or kPalette color space. The problem was detected on hyperlink areas in DWF files published by Autodesk Revit.
  MinLineWeight now applies to lines and dots. Before this change dots rendered as single pixels. Now calling SetMinLineWeight will affect both lines and dots. The problem was detected in fill patterns that appeared too light. The dots were not large enough to yield the same amount of darkness compared to AutoCAD output.

Océ Client Tools software continues to help users simplify printing by making digital print job submission fast, easy, reliable and secure and will help architects and designers:

• Eliminate the need to create plot files
• Save time by batch processing AutoCAD® DWF and DWG(TM) files
• Reduce mistakes and waste by enabling digital file previewing of exactly what will be printed, avoiding the need to print check plots
• AutoCAD 2006 support - Support is now available in both Océ Repro Desk Server and Océ Client Tools 1.6.5 for AutoCAD 2006. Additionally, Océ Client Tools 1.6.5 is backwards compatible and will support printing to any 1.6 version of the Océ Repro Desk Server. Also, support is now available for Autodesk Land Desktop 2006, which previously has not been supported.
• DWF Design Web Format processing - DWF processing is supported better than ever via an updated Autodesk toolkit.

--Volker

Make Sure Digital Files are Complete Before Sending for Printing

On his The Blueprint blog, John Cronin noted that there is a focus in the reprographics industry on charging for digital services. The International Reprographics Association (IRgA) has created a committee to set standards for charging more. As an Autodesk employee sympathetic to Autodesk customers, I am saddened by this news. Imagine if an airline charged me more for booking a flight electronically instead of calling their 800 number to talk to an agent. After all, someone has to pay for web servers, internet connections, and software to book the reservations and collect the money. Extra charges for services like file creation (e.g. publishing plot files from a set of AutoCAD drawings) or file storage/archiving (keeping masters around for reprinting) seem like fair game, but should I really pay more for printouts because I email a reprographer a DWF file instead of providing a master copy? After all, the time it takes for the print operator to scan in my master is eliminated. In the grand scheme of things, this seems like a wash.

The IRgA standard lists the difficulties that reprographers face when working with digital files:

1. The art and science of organizing and distributing high fidelity, project-critical content from digital files grows more and more complex every day.
2. Additional expertise is required to handle jobs, and more communication is required – from the digital operator, to the salesperson, to the customer – to get the job right.
3. As a reprographer accepts digital files, he or she must look for missing fonts and graphics, software limitations, corrupt files, file conversion problems, and other unexpected digital anomalies.
4. 50-70% of jobs submitted in a digital format are incomplete!

To mitigate these issues, the IRgA standard suggests that when providing digital files, reprographic customers should:

1. Include all support graphics and links.
2. Include graphics in a proper resolution (for the equipment to be used).
3. Include all screen and filter fonts.
4. Include complete instructions with day/night contact numbers (based on your store’s hours of operation).
5. Contact the store sales representative or owner if the job is complicated, or if it will require special attention.
6. Include a color go-by for matching color or color samples. Color matching cannot be guaranteed without a go-by (aka: mock-up or comp). Colors on a monitor or local printer may not match the output device selected.

As someone also sympathetic to the reprographers' plight, if you don't want to be charged more, you need to do your part to ensure a smooth workflow that starts with design software, e.g. AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor, and makes it all the way through to the paper. Perhaps the extra charges should only apply if the submitted job was incomplete? DWF can go beyond paper, but it has to get to paper first. Doing that optimally costs everyone less - reprographers and Autodesk customers alike. By working together, everyone wins.

Two Printing Issues Corrected in PDK 1.3.0.17

Autodesk supplies some of our DWF partners in the commercial printing industry with technology that allows DWF files to be printed by reprographic software. This technology is referred to as the DWF Printer Development Kit (PDK).

A reprographic customer recently reported two problems:

1. In printouts received from his reprographer, dot-based fill patterns were printed too dark. Printing to same device directly from the DWG using AutoCAD yielded the expected results. Printing to the same device directly from the DWF using the Autodesk DWF Viewer yielded expected results.
2. Some sheets contained in a DWF file were printed as blank pages.

PDK Software Developer, Ben Cochran, developed fixes for these issues:

1. AutoCAD often draws dots as lines where the starting point is the same as the ending point. In the DWF PDK, the line attributes of short lines (length 0) were not being rendered correctly. The correct weight and cap style were not being applied. In some cases this produced fill patterns that did not render correctly.
2. In some uncommon cases AutoCAD 2007 produced DWF packages with multiple sheets whose sheet names differed only by case, e.g., Sheet ABC and Sheet abc. This resulted in a sheet name collision and some of the sheets could not be rendered. This was only a problem with some DWF large DWF files published from AutoCAD 2007. The DWF PDK was not handling sheet names in a case sensitive way.

PDK 1.3.0.17 includes Ben's two corrections. PDK 1.3.0.17 is being integrated into updates for PLP PlotWorks and KIP Powerprint. Océ Repro Desk Client Tools 1.6.4.002 uses DWF PDK 1.3.0.9. This application does not yet benefit from these corrections.

In case you are wondering why there was a difference between DWG printouts, DWF printouts, and the printouts from the reprographer (from the PDK), the goal is to get the same printing from all of the following use cases:

1. AutoCAD/Revit/Inventor/etc. printing directly to a printer via the printer’s Windows print driver.
2. AutoCAD/Revit/Inventor/etc. printing to DWF and then using the Autodesk DWF Viewer to print the DWF to a physical printer’s Windows print driver.
3. AutoCAD/Revit/Inventor/etc. printing to DWF and then using the PDK to render an image which is then printed to a physical printer.

Note that in each case if the user has objects (lines, etc.) with “zero weight” then AutoCAD will send the zero-weight object to the output as an object with a weight of 1 pixel. As you know physical printers can’t print lines with a single pixel.

1. In case 1 above, the printer manufacturer’s Windows printer driver will automatically thicken 1 pixel weights to be something thicker that is printable. This is a device dependent setting since it is applied by the print driver and NOT by AutoCAD/Revit/Inventor/etc.
2. In case 2 above, the DWF will receive the 1 pixel weight from AutoCAD and will store that 1 pixel weight in the DWF file. The DWF Viewer in turn will print to the Windows print driver where the device manufacturer’s code will again auto-thicken the 1 pixel weight to a printable weight that is device specific. This thickening done by the print driver (not by the DWF Viewer) is exactly the same thickening that occurs in case #1 and thus the output from the DWF is the same as the output from AutoCAD.
3. In case 3, there is no device manufacturer’s driver involved. Thus the thickening of very thin geometry has to happen in the DWF PDK. The PDK allows an application, such as PLP PlotWorks, to specify how much you want the PDK to thicken so that the output can match what a device manufacturer would have done in their device specific driver. Applications should set your the default PDK thickening value to match the device you are attached to. There is no reason for users to play with this setting.

Although DWF allows you to go beyond the paper, getting the design data on the paper is also important. Autodesk continues to support the reprographics industry in the printing of DWF files.

DWF Files: Use Internally; Smaller for Reprographers

In my part of our Autodesk University 2006 presentation on "What Can DWF Do For You?", I used an example provided by Kirkor Architects:

One of our customers, Luis Cevada from Kirkor Architects in Toronto, CC’d me an email he sent to his commercial reprographer. His reprographer was accustomed to receiving plot files for printing, but Kirkor sent him DWF files instead. In his email, Luis shared the benefits of using DWF files in house and then sending those same files to a commercial reprographer for printing. Not only can Kirkor use the same files, but the files are smaller. In his example, the Plot file and PDF were about 3MB each. The DWF was only 667K. Smaller files are easier to store and transmit. As such, Kirkor Architects standardized on using DWF.

Truth be told, the DWF file was 666K not 667K. I just said 667, because I was not comfortable using the 666 number ("and his number shall be 6-6-6...") while standing in front of and presenting to 328 people. :-) Thanks Luis and everyone at Kirkor Architects!

List CTB or STB settings right in the DWF file

Back in the stone age, reprographers would receive native DWG files. Reprographers would fire up a copy of AutoCAD, load the DWG files, apply the pen mappings using CTB (Color Table) or STB (Style Table) files, and generate PLOT files specific to their devices. They would then send the device-specific files to their high-speed printers. If anyone wanted to know how a printout was processed, the reprographer could point to the CTB or STB file to show what line thicknesses and line patterns were applied.

Now reprographers receive DWF files. The CTB and STB settings have already been applied. The resulting lines widths and patterns are in the DWF file. All the reprographer has to do is print. Still, sometimes the question comes up - "How was the file processed to generate the printout?"

Autodesk has a free tool, CTB and STB Printing Tool for AutoCAD 2007, which is available for download from the Autodesk web site. This could be used to provide a permanent record of how a DWF file was processed. A user would:

1. Use the CTB and STB Printing Tool (table_print_tool.exe) to convert the CTB or STB to text (TXT) file.
2. Rename the TXT file to a comma separated list (CSV) file. (Attempting to directly convert a CTB or STB to a text file with a CSV extension crashed the table_print_tool application.)
3. Load the CSV file into Microsoft Excel. Print from Microsoft Excel to the Autodesk DWF Writer for 2D to produce a 2D DWF file showing the mappings.
4. Use Autodesk Design Review to combine the sheet from the 2D DWF file with other design data that is being sent to the reprographer.

An alternative to this process is to open the CSV file in Microsoft Excel, save it as a workbook, and insert the workbook into one of the layouts of the DWG. The layout would then be published to the DWF along with the other layouts.

I tried a simple example:

• Download monochrome.stb (0.4K)
• Download monochrome_stb.csv (1.0K)
• Download monochrome_stb.dwf (3.0K)

When anyone asks how the sheets in the DWF file were processed, a reprographer could look at the sheet in the DWF. The information would be right there - all in one place - the DWF file.

DWF - how do I print thee? Let me count the ways...

In his address to the International Reprographics Association (IRgA), Senior Architect and DWF Technical Evangelist, Brian Mathews, pointed out the ways in which DWF files can be printed.

Basically DWF files can be printed 4 ways:

1. Directly from a DWF viewer
   The Autodesk DWF Viewer and Autodesk Design Review provide basic Windows printing capabilities. Unlike AutoCAD which has drivers specific to the application, the Autodesk DWF Viewer and Autodesk Design Review use standard Windows printer drivers. Thus DWF files can be printed to any Windows printer. In addition, Autodesk Design Review includes a Batch Printing solution that prints to Windows printers. Features like HP Instant Print make printing of many files, including DWF, even easier while reducing paper waste.

2. Using a Converter Program with Legacy Commercial Reprographics Software
   The workflow at many commercial reprographic shops is not suited to printing via the user interface of an Autodesk viewer. These shops need a process where a DWF file can be printed through an automatic process without user intervention. Many legacy printing systems for commercial printing were developed prior to the advent of DWF files. For these systems, conversion software is used to convert the DWF file to a format that is known to the printing system such as Tiff. The resulting Tiff file then integrates into the reprographic shop workflow. AcroPlot Repro from CADzation is an example of a DWF to Tiff converter program. Similarly Océ Client Tools 1.6.4 converts DWF to the Océ LDF format.

3. Using Modern Commercial Reprographics Software
   As the popularity of DWF files continues to grow, Autodesk continues to work with industry leaders to build support for DWF into commercial reprographics software. Solutions like Océ Repro Desk Server 1.6.3 (with makeldf.exe as an integrated processor), Océ Repro Desk 2.0, PLP PlowWorks 5.7, and ARC MetaPrint accept and process DWF files. Document Fulfillment System 2.2 from Adenium Systems allows DWF files to be viewed on the web and printed via Tiff or through HP Instant Print.

4. Through Native Device Support
   Some hardware manufacturers recognize DWF as a differentiator when it comes to comparing printing devices. As such they integrate support for DWF into the controllers for their devices. This allows the DWF file to be sent to the device where it will be processed to paper. The KIP 3000 was the first device to do this via Powerprint 6 that is included with the printer.

In addition to these technical working relationships, DWF has also been featured in some promotional activities. Autodesk DWF Composer R2 (former name of Autodesk Design Review) was bundled with devices from HP and Epson.

For DWF to go beyond the paper, it has to get to paper first. There is more than one way to skin a cat. There is also more than one way to print a DWF.

Reprographers Who Don't Charge More for DWF: They're Out There

A reprographics shop is much like an emergency room. Just like a doctor who wants to get patients in and out, a reprographer wants to get print jobs in and out. Some patients are critical and need immediate attention. Some print jobs are urgent and need immediate attention. It's all about processing time.

On August 4 I posted an article about why reprographers might try to charge more for printing DWF files. That article included the results of a survey on whether or not reprographers charge more for processing DWF files. On August 30, PLP included a blurb in its newsletter that I was collecting data on how reprographers charged for processing DWF files. Though I received additional responses, the overall results remained the same:

• 54% of the reprographers who responded did not charge extra fees for printing DWF files. The other 46% did.
• Plot files are still the most popular file type received by shops. On average, 17% of incoming jobs are exclusively DWF for shops that do not charge more; however, that number is on the rise. For shops that do charge more, only 6% of the jobs are DWF.

For example, some of the shops who do not charge more for processing DWF include:

• A&D Technical Supply
• ABC Repro - Denver, CO
• Ace Reprographic Service - Paterson, NJ
• Advance Reprographics - San Diego, CA
• Carbon Copy Digital - Edmonton
• Cianoplan - Spain
• Digital Publications - San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Edmonton Riley's Reprographics & Printing  - Edmonton
• FXWB Reprographics - Chicago, IL
• Fastprint Reprographics - Phoenix, AZ
• Hyline Paper & Reprografix - Salt Lake City, UT
• Key Companies - Columbus, OH
• Les Industries Poly Inc. - Montreal
• Marbaugh Reprographics - Indianapolis, IN
• PacBlue Digital Imaging - Vancouver
• Pacific Coast Reprographics - Irvine, CA
• Reliable Graphics - Van Nuys, CA
• SBR Technologies - Salt Lake City, UT

The future looks brighter for more and more reprographers to move in this direction. The latest version of PLP PlotWorks 5.7 includes processing time improvements for DWF. That's just what the doctor ordered.

Autodesk® DWF™ Writer - The New Universal Driver?

Joe Mooring of PLP included a DWF-related item in the latest PLP newsletter.

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Autodesk® DWF™ Writer - The New Universal Driver?

One of the many challenges we encounter in the wide-format AEC world is the selection of a single Windows print driver that will function properly regardless of the application from which you are printing. For example, while a particular HP Designjet driver may produce excellent HP-GL/2 files from AutoCAD, the same driver may produce unacceptable output from Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Project, or Bentley MicroStation. The undesirable effects of driver incompatibility may include incorrect scaling, incorrect image placement, incorrect paper selection, missing data, missing images, and in some case stray vectors or "digital garbage."

Several PLP customers are now using the Autodesk® DWF™ Writer as their universal driver. This free download from Autodesk quickly creates a Windows printer that allows you to create a DWF file from any Windows application. If you are using PlotWorks to control your wide-format device, the output from the Autodesk DWF Writer may be redirected through a PlotWorks Print-to-Queue port directly to the print queue.

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Thanks to Joe Mooring and the team at PLP.

PlotWorks Version 5.7 Now Available

Joe Mooring reports that the latest generation of PLP's reprographics software includes new features and methods that improve performance, output quality, and interoperability. PlotWorks users will experience a dramatic improvement in DWF processing speeds compared to earlier versions:

• Processing DWF files is approximately 350% faster than the default installation of version 5.5.2.
• Performing DWF to TIFF conversions is approximately 160% faster than the default installation of version 5.5.2.
• Processing DWF files is approximately 85% faster than processing to LDF when using the version 1.6.4.002 of Océ Client Tools.

As mentioned in why reprographers may consider charging more for processing DWF files, at a reprographic shop, it's all about processing time. With PlotWorks 5.7, processing time is less of an issue. We are always happy to share good news from our partners regarding DWF!