Beyond the Paper

DWF Story Summary for Brazilian Article

Introduction
I was asked to send an email for an article about DWF that will be published in Brazil. The article will cover the visualization and review process of DWF. I tried to tell the DWF story in a few paragraphs. I thought I would share it with you.

DWF File publishing
Autodesk design applications come with the ability to generate a DWF file built-in. There are no extra charges for this functionality. In addition, Autodesk provides a free Autodesk DWF Writer so that our customers can create DWF files from non-Autodesk applications. The built-in and DWF Writer solutions address both 2D and 3D DWF file generation.

DWF File viewing
Autodesk provides a free Autodesk DWF Viewer to its clients. This viewer can view, manipulate, and print both 2D and 3D DWF files. The manipulation capabilities include the traditional tools like pan, zoom, turning layers on/off, named views, and navigating hyperlinks; however, for 3D, the Autodesk DWF Viewer allows for sophisticated operations like orbiting, sectioning, and pull apart. Although these tools provide an impressive array of capabilities based on the geometry inside the DWF file, what sets the DWF file apart from other file formats is its metadata. A DWF file can contain a model with a hierarchy showing the relationships among the parts. Individual objects can have properties such as cost information, schedule information, or attributes such as the fire rating on a door. All of this information is viewable with the free Autodesk DWF Viewer.

DWF File Reviewing
Autodesk Design Review (formerly known as Autodesk DWF Composer) is Autodesk's design review solution. The product lists for $199 and includes: an application to compose, markup, and measure DWF files; a DWG viewer to publish DWF files; an Inventor viewer to publish DWF files; and the Autodesk DWF Writer. So the Autodesk Design Review product has everything a customer needs to work with DWF and use an electronic review process.

The Autodesk Design Review application allows a user to do everything that the free Autodesk DWF Viewer does plus markup and measure. The comments and measurements are saved back in the DWF file. Users of the free Autodesk DWF Viewer can see these comments and measurements - they just can't add any comments or take any measurements of their own.

Autodesk customers who use AutoCAD and Autodesk Revit reap additional benefits. The markups created by Autodesk Design Review can be read back into these design applications and compared to the original design data. In the case of AutoCAD, this would be an AutoCAD drawing (DWG). So an architect who has AutoCAD can generate a DWF, send it someone, get back his comments, and make the appropriate changes to the DWG. Through the use of DWF, this is possible without the other person having AutoCAD. AutoCAD and Autodesk Design Review work together to track and update the status of these markups throughout the process. The story is similar for Autodesk Revit users.

Compared to paper processes, the overarching benefits of Autodesk DWF and viewer solutions are more efficient project coordination and reduced costs. Digital capabilities provide process improvements not available with paper: ease of distribution (compared with paper or native CAD formats); powerful markup and tracking capabilities; compact storage and archival; instantaneous transmission of data anywhere in the world; and a streamlined review-and-update process integrated with AutoCAD software, Autodesk Revit software, and the Autodesk® Buzzsaw® service.

For additional information see: Workflow Solutions are DWF's Value Add.

Autodesk DWF Composer R2 Patch Now Available

The DWF Technical Evangelist team works with other companies, DWF partners, who develop application around DWF. Much of its work involves the DWF Toolkit that Autodesk makes publicly available on the web. The team also develops the DWF Printer Development Kit (PDK) for partners who specialize in printing; however there are occasions where the team works with Autodesk customers. In this particular case, DWF Technical Evangelist and Software Engineer, Ben Cochran, worked with one of our customers on a problem related to TIFF files. As the primary software developer for the PDK, Ben is familiar with the architecture of Autodesk DWF Composer. Ben developed a patch for this customer. Rather than limit the distribution of the patch to this one customer, I thought I would share it via this blog. Please note that this is not an official Autodesk patch; however, it has worked for all those who have tested it.

Problem
When importing a TIFF file into Autodesk DWF Composer R2, the virtual page size created when saved as DWF was not always correct. As a result, when printing TIFF files, the positioning of the image on the paper was not always desirable. This problem only affects users who have TIFF files that do not match one of the predefined sizes recognized by Autodesk DWF Composer or users who wish image placement to be something other than the default behavior. In short, most users will not require this patch.

Solution
Ben Cochran packaged together an Autodesk DWF Composer R2 patch for both the printing and TIFF import problems. This patch only applies to Autodesk DWF Composer R2. After applying this patch, plots should be placed correctly on the paper and the virtual paper size should match the size of the imported TIFF files.

Steps

1. Download ComposerPatch.zip (404KB).
2. Extract ComposerPatch.exe.
3. Execute ComposerPatch.exe.

Note
ComposerPatch.exe will provide an error message if Autodesk DWF Composer is not found or a release other than Release 2 is found. This patch only works with Autodesk DWF Composer R2.

This patch only affects two files. Below are the file attributes before and after applying the patch.

File	Before	After
Persistence.dll	Size: 2.40 MB (2,520,144 bytes) Modified: Thursday, April 14, 2005, 12:46:36 PM	Size: 2.39 MB (2,514,944 bytes) Modified: Tuesday, March 28, 2006, 4:07:02 PM
EPlotViewer.dll	Size: 1.29 MB (1,352,784 bytes) Modified: Thursday, April 14, 2005, 12:46:28 PM	Size: 1.28 MB (1,343,488 bytes) Modified: Tuesday, March 28, 2006, 4:30:12 PM

By examining the attributes of these two files, users can tell if they are using an Autodesk DWF Composer R2 that has the patch applied. This patch can be applied to the purchased or trial versions of Autodesk DWF Composer R2.

Can DWF files generated from Inventor be combined?

Autodesk Vault will automatically publish a DWF each time an IDW is updated. To get auto-publish DWF with Autodesk Vault 4, you manually attach a DWF to the IDW and then specify a publish folder to which the "attached" DWF will "update itself to" upon a check-in. There is no way to "automatically" combine DWF files from multiple IDWs; however, this can be done manually with Autodesk Design Review (formerly known as Autodesk DWF Composer).

Alternatively, you could consider a merge DWF utility available at:
http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2003/09/merge_multiple_.html

Another alternative would be to use the Sean Dotson AutoSave DWF utility which simply publishes a DWF every time you save:
http://www.mcadforums.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2076

Fine Control of DWF Printing (Part 2)

As a follow up to Fine Control of DWF Printing, I have created some pictures to describe this graphically.

Recall that Autodesk DWF Viewer 6.5 has a registry entry that allows for finer control over the process of positioning the DWF on the paper with respect to:

• the physical paper (edges of the paper),
• printable region (where the printer can actually print),
• virtual page inside the DWF (author's intended page size),
• and the image (geometry in the DWF to be printed).

The registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\DWF Common\Settings
REG_DWORD pplsvpPlacementModifier has possible values of:

0	=	align the center of the virtual page with the center of the physical page [default].
1	=	align the center of the virtual page with the center of the printable-area of the physical page.
2	=	align lower left corner of the virtual page with the lower left corner of the physical page.

For the purposes of illustration, we have a physical piece of paper (light blue) with a printable area (navy blue). The DWF file has a virtual page (translucent green) with geometry that fills only a portion of the page (the area bound by the dotted rectangle). In this illustration, the physical page has a larger margin on the top than on the bottom. The left and right margins are the same:

When the registry setting is set to 0 or is not present (the default), the Autodesk DWF Viewer positions the logical view such that the center of the virtual page inside the DWF aligns with the center of the physical page:

The value of 0 ignores the margins that are present on the printer (as defined by the physical page) or were defined in the DWF file. The viewer simply aligns the centers, Since the margin at the top of the printer is larger than the margin at the bottom, and since the geometry inside the DWF is not in the center of the virtual page, the print gets clipped on the left, top, and right. In addition, a portion of the printable area goes unused:

When the registry value is set to 1, the Autodesk DWF Viewer positions the logical view such that the center of the virtual page aligns with the center of the printer's printable area:

The value of 1 takes the printable area into account. As such, the print gets clipped on the left and right but not the top.

When the registry setting is set to 2, the Autodesk DWF Viewer positions the logical view such that the lower left corner of the virtual page aligns with the lower left corner of the physical page.

The value of 2 ignores margins for both the printer and the virtual page inside the DWF. It merely aligns the lower left corners. As such, the print is clipped on the top and right.

Given a DWF file that uses a virtual page with margins that match or exceed that of a particular printer, no action is necessary. In addition, using "fit to page" avoids this issue. It is only when a DWF file is printed to scale, and the DWF image is larger than what can fit on the printer, that action has to be taken.

DWF Format Info: Between the Lines Recap (Part 1)

Before Beyond the Paper was created, Shaan Hurley, Brian Mathews, and I used to post articles about DWF on the Between The Lines blog. Here is a listing of links to some of those articles related to the DWF format.

DWF Format Info

• Nice Article on DWF by Lynn: Why We Need DWF
• The advantages of sharing DWF files instead of native AutoCAD drawings
• DWF Security
• DWF Precision Article by Brian Mathews of the DWF Team
• DWF Precision Follow Up
• Quick Article on Design Document Communication with DWF
• More DWF Benefits
• More DWF vs. PDF
• The Solar System on a 10,000" X 10,000" DWF
• Is DWF an ‘open’ file format?
• DWF-it! (comments from users)
• DWF Team Scores with Jonathan Knowles

DWF Viewer Downloads

• 5 Million Downloads of DWF Viewer!
• Over 7 Million DWF Viewer Downloads
• 8 Million Downloads of Autodesk DWF Viewer!
• Over 9 Million Downloads of DWF Viewer!
• 10 million downloads of the free DWF Viewer!

DWF has been going beyond the paper long before Beyond The Paper.

Microsoft Patch impacts ActiveX Controls like DWF Viewer

While participating in the Autodesk discussion groups, Geoff Williams noted that a recent Microsoft patch updated his Internet Explorer such that he has to press the SPACEBAR or ENTER to use the Autodesk DWF Viewer or Autodesk Design Review when accessing a DWF file embedded in an HTML page.

Jimmy Bergmark has a nice recap on his JTB World blog.

A partial workaround has been developed and documented at therippa.blogspot.com.

Autodesk discussion group participant, Steve Segarra, even provided a before and after sample HTML using a similar technique. You can download a zip file with a sample DWF file and sample HTML pages. Download DWFViewerActiveXApril11SecurityUpdateProblemExample.zip (28KB).

Autodesk Software Developer, James Macbeth, also created a solution to demonstrate a workaround. Download TryHTML.zip (6KB).

Fine Control of DWF Printing (Part 1)

There are two popular ways to print a 2D DWF via the Autodesk DWF Viewer: "Fit to page" and "Print to scale." (There is also a less frequently used "Tile Pages.") When using the "Print to scale" option, the Autodesk DWF Viewer does its best to map the "virtual page" inside the DWF file to the physical paper of the printer. Although this works quite well for many situations, there are cases where the margins appearing on the virtual page inside the DWF file are smaller than the margins on the printer. The result is that the data in the DWF file is larger than the printable area of the printer. The side effect is that the image gets clipped, normally on the right side or bottom, so that the print can maintain its scale. Autodesk DWF Viewer 6.5 has a registry entry that allows for finer control over the process of positioning the DWF on the paper with respect to:

• the physical paper (edges of the paper),
• printable region (where the printer can actually print),
• virtual page inside the DWF,
• and the image (geometry in the DWF to be printed).

The registry key is:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\DWF Common\Settings
REG_DWORD pplsvpPlacementModifier

The possible values are:

0	=	align the center of the virtual page with the center of the physical page [default].
1	=	align the center of the virtual page with the center of the printable-area of the physical page.
2	=	align lower left corner of the virtual page with the lower left corner of the physical page.

The Autodesk DWF Viewer installer does not create this key by default. You must create it. Autodesk DWF Viewer 6.5 keeps this setting in the registry for several reasons:

1. Most people will be happy with the default and will never need to change this.
2. The User Interface for this would be very complicated. Advanced users understand the relationship between physical paper, printable area, and virtual paper inside a DWF.
3. This setting was implemented in direct response from customers which occurred after the User Interface freeze for the 6.5 product.

To make it easier to set this registry setting, a zip file of available reg files can be downloaded.
Download DWFPaperPlacementRegKeys.zip (1 KB)

Spiked Text from AutoCAD

I occasionally get emails from commercial reprographers who print DWF files for clients. They are surprised to see what they refer to as "spiked text."

Believe it or not, this is not Halloween Party invitation. This is expected behavior. AutoCAD allows line joins to be set as mitered.

Setting a line join style of mitered results in wide lines that look like:

Alternatively, setting a line join style of capped results in wide lines that look like:

Plot styles in AutoCAD can be set to treat text as geometry. If this is done in combination with a line join setting of miter, you can get "spiked text." When drawings are published to DWF, those settings are obeyed.

HP Large Format Printing Academy in Malta

In November I traveled to Malta to join Director of Market Development, Jonathan Knowles, to represent Autodesk at the Hewlett-Packard Large Format Print Academy. HP has a strong interest in DWF. For example, the Autodesk DWF Viewer supports the HP Instant Printing capability available on many printer models. Some photos from the trip are available in the photo gallery.

For our first night in Malta, we had a buffet by the hotel pool. As luck would have it, Bertrand Piccard, who was listed in the conference program only as the motivational speaker, sat next to me. Recognizing his name, I asked him what his topic would be. He told me it was a secret, but it would be uplifting. Bertrand was from Switzerland, so I couldn't make any references to Chris Farley's Matt Foley character from Saturday Night Live (also a motivational speaker) and ask him if he "lived in a van down by the river." Bertrand also gives his speeches in other countries. This got us onto the topic of languages. I was apologetic that as an American I only knew one language. Bertrand shared a joke:

Two Americans are on a street corner in Los Angeles. A foreigner drives up in a rental car, stops, and asks them in French, if they can help him find his way. The two Americans look at each other and say they don't understand. So the foreigner asks again in Italian. He gets the same response. He then proceeds to ask in German, Spanish, and Dutch, is unsuccessful, and drives off. The first American looks at the second and says "Maybe we should learn another language?" The second American replies "Learning languages is a waste of time. That guy knew five languages but still doesn't know where he is going."

It turns out that Bertrand was copilot of the first solar-powered hot air balloon to circle the earth. He overcame several technical and mental challenges to complete his journey. He had inspirational stories.

Working the Autodesk booth was an experience. Many attendees who were sellers of HP equipment were also authorized Autodesk resellers. Autodesk continues to work with its partners like HP, Océ, KIP, and PLP to ensure that DWF gets to paper optimally.

Kevin Clark Wants You!

Autodesk Senior Corporate Communications Manager, Kevin Clark, writes: "On the Autodesk Design Review 2007 BETA team, I would like to gather: FIRST impressions and feedback on the features and benefits teams are seeing in the new version being tested. If you would like to provide a QUOTE or COMMENT -- that we can offer to PRESS -- Please contact me at: [email protected]."

So go to My Feedback site and sign up today. When registering at the site, you will want to check off DWF products: "Autodesk Design Review" and "Autodesk DWF Viewer." When the beta testing starts, Kevin would love to hear from you. Please note that Kevin is not technical support. As in the past, issues will be handled in the discussion forums.