When trying to print/plot an AutoCAD DWG that contains raster imagery (either downloaded with Plex-Earth or otherwise embedded into your file) to PDF, it is possible that part of that imagery may appear missing in the final output, although it is perfectly shown in the plot preview.
This issue in AutoCAD DWGs with raster images happens frequently and it has been discussed extensively in Autodesk's forum.
In the following section, we have collected the most efficient solutions that have helped our users, in order to restore their problems.
Solution 1: Change the Quality of your Raster Images
In your plot dialog:
-Select "DWG To PDF" and click on "Properties".
-From the Plotter Configuration Editor, choose "Custom Properties" and click on "Custom Properties" (down below the other custom properties).
-Go to "Raster Image Quality" and set it to a lower number. This may make your images look worse, so stay as high as you can.
-Export your drawing to PDF.
Keep in mind that images bigger than 2500 pixels may not show up in PDFs. Therefore, try to resize your images to 2500 pixels or under in all cases.
Solution 2: Make Sure that you Have no Clipping Boundaries
Select your images and then:
-Right-click and select the properties window, on the bottom, set "Show Clipping" to "No".
-Publish your drawing to PDF.
-Once you've published it, you can revert the "Show Clipping" option to "Yes".
Solution 3: Assign the Plot Quality for OLE Objects
Type "OLEQUALITY" in the command line of AutoCAD and set the plot quality for OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) to 0 or 1.
(0 - Monochrome, 1 - Low graphics, 2 - High graphics, and 3 - Automatically Select)
Solution 4: Change the Settings for Plotting Raster Images
Type "RASTERPERCENT" and "RASTERTHRESHOLD" in the command line of AutoCAD and set them to 90 and 100. The first command sets the maximum percentage of available virtual memory that is allowed for plotting a raster image and the second one specifies a raster image threshold in megabytes when printing.
Solution 5: Use Different PDF Codecs
In some cases, the full version of Adobe Acrobat may not print the images, but various freeware versions might do. In any case, use Adobe Acrobat version 8 or higher.
General Printing Tips
Lastly, here we provide you with some extra tips for PDF exports as well as more general cases.
- Try exporting your drawing as a PDF instead of printing it as a PDF. Exporting does not create a single PDF file of the entire .dwg and you will have all your sheets as layout tabs on a single file.
- If you are suddenly encountering problems with printing, you might have unwillingly changed your settings. In that case just reset your settings in AutoCAD to their defaults, as described in this tutorial. Be aware that you will lose all settings you have changed this far.
- Every time you print, remember to change the paper size so as to cover your whole drawing. The red lines, as shown below, indicate that the drawing will be bigger than the printing paper and this might create problems for your exports.
If you are still experiencing problems, please contact us at support@plexscape.com.