Ever wanted to know how to perform a specific operation? Ask the experts.
#77773 by joeferguson
Sat Mar 28, 2020 3:26 pm
What have I done now?

I used to print .pdfs in black and different shades of gray.

I must have thrown a switch somewhere, now my arrowheads are green, spb fills are blue and some of the text fills show as different colours. I have tried to sort this out through my pen table but have had no luck.

Any way to fix this short of reinstalling DC?

I will attempt to upload screenshot of my pen table and sample .pdf

joe
Attachments
(176.59 KiB) Downloaded 602 times
pen table mar 28 2020.png
#77774 by Paul Nida
Sat Mar 28, 2020 4:59 pm
Your pen table shows 3 pens mapped to black all the others are not mapped so they will print in their actual color.
#77777 by Roger D
Sat Mar 28, 2020 7:03 pm
under the pen listing, is a box for "All Black" did you uncheck that by accident?
#77778 by joeferguson
Sat Mar 28, 2020 7:47 pm
Thanks, Roger and Paul, but still no cure.

Paul, I have only assigned 3 pens in the entire drawing. Checking a bunch of non-assigned pens doesn't make a difference.

Roger, I have tried just about every combination I can find on the Pen Table including All Black, Percent Density, Map to Color and Map fill colors to pen colors.

Placing a check on All Black will print everything in solid black, but I don't get the effect of density that I desire in pen 5, even though it indicates it will print at 40%.

Those unusual colours that show up in my arrowheads and in the text fill just started to appear about a week ago. Can't think of what I have done differently. Same computer, same printer, same DataCAD21 installation.

I can probably reinstall DC but am looking for a less time-consuming solution
#77779 by joeferguson
Sat Mar 28, 2020 9:04 pm
PROBLEM RESOLVED!

I thought I had tried every combination on the Pen Table. Obviously not.

For future reference, I obtained the results I want by setting my grayscale percent to 40 for the chosen pen, check the Map to Color box, AND check Map fill colors to pen colors. All Black is unchecked.

If I uncheck Map fill colors to pen colors, my arrowheads turn green, check Map fill colors to pen colors, arrowheads turn black.

Another reason this forum is great is if I get the same issue 3 years from now and forget how I resolved it, I can look it up!

ps still don't know what the Reset box below All Black does. Anybody?
#77780 by Roger D
Sun Mar 29, 2020 12:00 pm
I believe when you go to install, there is an option to repair, so it will redo the program but all settings should stay.
just saw your resolved it, so for future.
#77817 by joeferguson
Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:00 pm
PROBLEM NOT RESOLVED!!!

I'm gonna have to buy some head wax -- no more hairs left to pull out!

So my problem above was resolved to my satisfaction March 28. Now, with the same pen table settings as my resolution, I have the same problem back again.

So out of frustration, I decided to reinstall DataCAD. Saved my dcadwin and mca files so I didn't lose the custom settings like last time and reinstalled using the Repair setting on the installation protocol.

Same problem.

Next, I uninstalled DataCAD totally (I thought), downloaded a new DataCAD.exe from DC's site and installed a new (I thought) DataCAD 21. Somehow either my computer or DataCAD remembered my old pen table settings and there they are in my new DC installation -- definitely not the pen table settings DataCAD ships with.

So now I'm stuck again.

Here's what I would like to accomplish (and have accomplished many times in the past):
1. Print my drawings in all black EXCEPT I want my SPB fills at 40% density so they show up in a shade of gray on the printed paper.

2. I do NOT want my solid fill arrows to print green as they do now. Want them black. If I set the arrow colour to black, I can't see arrowheads on the black background screen. Never had to mess with arrow head colours before.

3. I do NOT want my lettering (Calibri) to show up with a black outline on the printed paper and a red infill. Want it all black. If I check the All Black box on the Pen table, then that's what I get -- all black. I lose the 40% density that I like.

Over to you, forum...............help?

joe
#77818 by Dave
Fri Apr 03, 2020 4:44 am
Does it look correct in print preview
#77819 by dhs
Fri Apr 03, 2020 1:36 pm
If you have specified a 'custom' fill colour (i.e. a colour that is not in the palette) then I believe that will always print as the colour since there is no pen assignment for the colour (unless you have 'All Black' checked, in which case it will print as solid black).

Just a hunch on my part, but I suggest you check your SBP-Fill settings and make sure you have specified a palette colour for the fill. Even if the 'custom' colour selected has the same RGB settings as one of the palette colours DataCAD may not recognise it is a standard colour (i.e. if you clicked on the 'Custom' button in the standard colour picker and then clicked 'OK' without changing the colour, DataCAD may now recognise the colour as being custom rather then from the palette) as shown below:
DCADPalette.png
DCADPalette.png (35.84 KiB) Viewed 18100 times


If you have used a 'Custom' colour then try specifying a palette colour instead and then re-hatching the filled entities (including the symbol I assume you are using the arrow heads) etc.
#80951 by joeferguson
Thu May 26, 2022 3:48 pm
Two years later, same problem.

Forgot how I fixed it two years ago so had to recreate the issue.

Turns out the answer was in the SPB Fill Settings -- check Solid Pattern Fill and enter the pen colour number. The pen table settings now work.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests

About DataCAD Forum

The DataCAD Forum is a FREE online community we provide to enhance your experience with DataCAD.

We hope you'll visit often to get answers, share ideas, and interact with other DataCAD users around the world.

DataCAD

Software for Architects Since 1984