7. Output
7.1 Printer Output on Linux
7.2 Plotter Output on Linux
7.3 Printer/Plotter Output on Windows
7. Output  
 

This chapter provides detailed information on printer and plotter output. Thereby, we differentiate between the operating systems Linux and Windows.

Before outputting to a printer or plotter we recommend viewing the drawing in the "print preview".

  • The pen and line types of the elements should be matched as closely as possible. You can check the pen and line types even before any output is made. Therefore, activate the options All colored black and Exact line thickness located in the View menu below the drawing area. Using this "preview" you can see possible overlapping or intersecting of the objects due to their line weight.

  • Moreover, this "print preview" is important when doing colored output. Toggle the display option "All colored black" in the view menu. The pen colors change from colored to black, except for the colored fillings. Simply spoken, CYCAS copies this to printer or plotter what you see on your screen.

All elements drawn in the color of the guide lines (pink when using the default settings) will not be printed or plotted.

The elements of all visible layers will be printed or plotted, i.e. the active layer and all background layers.


 
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7.1 Printer output on Linux  
 

Printer output on Linux is always performed using the postscript format. Your printer must be configured properly, of course. If you do not possess a postscript printer, Ghostscript or CUPS must be installed.  

printer setup Print settings

The text following describes the settings you can adjust within CYCAS in order to achieve best print results. The printer settings will be saved along with the drawing and you may save them in the "default.prefs" in the menu Project, Settings additionally. (See 8.1 Settings.)

Once the printable area has been specified your drawing will be sent to the printer. However, open the Print Setup at the menu Project first and prepare the output as follows:

 

Printer : Here, you choose a printer. The option "Default" calls the system standard printer.

Printer type : Select whether your drawings shall be printed in B/W (=black and white) or colored.

Printer command : Enter the command to use for sending the drawing to your printer here. Using the default of "lpr" will send the drawing to your standard system printer without further options.

You can, for example, use the command "lpr -PLaserA3" to send the drawing to a specific printer, which of course, must be installed in your system under the name of "LaserA3". When installing a printer, please bear in mind that resolution, paper size, and printer type must be defined in the printer filters.  

Paper size : Choose the size of the paper you want to print on.

Margins : Enter the printable area of your printer. Entering these values is optional. Information on the printable area of your printer can be obtained from the printer manual. These values will be used for the preview of the printable area, thus enabling you to place the drawing on the paper exactly.  

Orientation : You can use portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal) orientation for printing your drawing. Choosing landscape will rotate the drawing by 90 degrees internally before sending it to the printer.

Scale : Enter the scale in which the drawing is to be printed. The printing scale does not effect the relative sizes of texts and line types. These sizes are controlled by the display scale (see 4.1 Project, Scale.) WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) can be achieved by choosing identical scales for printing and display.
Example: The display scale is 1:50 and the print scale is 1:100. As a result all elements would be printed at half size while the line types and the text sizes would remain uneffected.  

  • Printing on Linux

Call the menu item Print in the menu Project. All elements of the visible layers will be printed lying within the printable area. Place the printable area by setting its origin point. As soon as you confirm that point the drawing is sent to your printer.


 
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7.2 Plotter output on Linux  
 

CYCAS controls pen and matrix plotters using standard HPGL-commands. For doing a plot there surely must be a plotter installed correctly on your system. Information on installing a plotter can be obtained from it's user manual. Please keep an eye on the CYCAS ReadMe files for further notes.  

plot setup Plot settings

You can obtain the best plotting results by doing the setup as follows. Open the Plot Setup at the menu Project and prepare the output. This setup will be saved along with the drawing. Additionally, you can save it into the "default.prefs" in the menu Project, Settings. (See 8.1 Settings.)

Plotter : Choose a Plotter.

Plotter Type : Here you have different possibilities how to do the output to your plotter. Choose whether you want to plot in "HPGL" or in "HPGL/2 mono" (=b/w) or in "HPGL/2 color".

Plotter command : You can also enter the command line for accessing the plotter. This option is the equivalent of the "Printer command" option.

 

Paper size : Select the paper size you wish to plot on.

The settings regarding the start and end sequence are optional. Some plotters do not need any information for the start and end sequence. If that is the case for your plotter, you have to delete the default values.

Start sequence : The start sequence is used to send certain control commands to the plotter before the actual plotting process begins. The sequence depends on the plotter type. In case of a pen plotter you would have to e.g. select the pen speed here.

End sequence : The end sequence is used to finish the plotting process. In case of a pen plotter, you might want to adjust the end sequence in a way that the plotter drops the last pen and positions itself at the coordinate origin in the end.  

Origin : Choose whether the coordinate origin of your plotter is located in the "center" or the "bottom left" of the plot area. You will find information on this in the manual of the plotter.

Resolution [cm] : This value is very important to control the plotter using the correct coordinate system. You find the correct value in the manual of your plotter. If this option is set to an incorrect value the drawing can not be plotted using the correct scale. The resolution is specified in units of [cm]. (1 inch = 2.54 cm)  

Orientation : The drawing can be plotted using portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal) orientation.

Scale : Choose the plotting scale for the drawing. The plotting scale does not effect the relative size of texts and line types. (See 4.1 Project, Scale.) WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) can be achieved by choosing identical scales for display and plotting.  

  • Plotting on Linux

In the Project menu, you call the output function Plot. All elements of the visible layers will be plotted. Place the origin of the plotting area. There should be no elements reaching beyond the plot area. The position of the origin within the plot area depends on the settings for the origin in the plotter preferences ( "Center" or "Bottom-Left" ). As soon as you confirm the origin the drawing is sent to the plotter.


 
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7.3 Output to Printer/Plotter on Windows  
 

The output to printer or plotter on Windows is proceeded by the print settings offered in the Windows system.

First of all, the output unit must be integrated in your system correctly.

Scale : Enter the scale in which the drawing is to be printed. The printing scale does not effect the relative sizes of the existing text and line types. These sizes are controlled by setting the display scale (see 4.1 Project, Scale.) WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) can be achieved by choosing identical scales for printing and display.
Example: The display scale is 1:50 and the print scale is 1:100. As a result all elements would be printed at half size while the line types and the text sizes would remain uneffected.  

  • Print/Plot settings

    For this use the Windows settings regarding the output units.


  • Printing/Plotting on Windows

Call the menu item Print in the Project menu to start the output. All elements of the visible layers will be printed. Place the origin at the lower left corner of the output area. As soon as you confirm the origin the drawing is sent to the printer/plotter. If the settings are correct, all elements within the printable area will be printed.


 
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