AutoCAD 2004 Design Publisher
By Alireza Parsai,
March 31, 2003
AutoCAD 2004 presents many new features. One of them is Design
Publisher. With design publisher you can pack a series of
different drawing files and layouts in a single multi-sheet DWF
file. You can also print the sheets sequentially. The latter
action is similar to Batch Plotter but conducted inside AutoCAD.
Note: If you are not familiar with DWF files, read
the following article first:
AutoCAD 2002 Web-Publishing Feature.
To enable Design Publisher you should invoke PUBLISH command
through one of the following methods:
Standard Toolbar:
File menu: Publish…
Command line: publish
If the current file is not saved you will view a warning message
[Figure 1], otherwise the Publish Drawing Sheets dialog box
appears [Figure 2].
Figure 1
Figure 2 -
Click on image to enlarge
Click Add Sheets to add sheets from different drawing files
[Figure 3].
Figure 3 -
Click on image to enlarge
The list consists of the Model and Layouts of the selected
files. You can use the Remove button to remove unwanted layouts.
If you select a layout in the list, the Move Up and Move Down
buttons can be used to change the order of the selected item in
the list. Right-click on the layout name and select Rename Sheet
from the shortcut menu to rename it [Figure 4].
Figure 4
The next step is to define the output destination. You can
either specify name and location for a multi-sheet DWF file or
plot the layouts as they are [Figure 5]. The DWF file can be
protected with a password.
Figure 5
By specifying the location of the DWF file you can save the list
for later use. Click Save List to create a DSD file that keeps
the list information. Later you can use the Load List to build
the list based on the DSD file [Figure 6].
Figure 6 -
Click on image to enlarge
Click the Publish button to build the multi-sheet DWF file or
plot the sheets. This may take a few minutes based on the number
of sheets and the complexity of the drawings. At the end of plot
session you can save the log file, view the DWF file, or close
the dialog box [Figure 7].
Figure 7
Autodesk Express Viewer is capable to view such DWF files. This
application is automatically installed along with AutoCAD 2004.
You can also download it for free from the Autodesk website at:
<http://www.autodesk.co.ae/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=555657&id=2445291>.
Tutorial
Let's build a multi-sheet DWF file.
1. Download the following drawing files and save them in an
easy-to-access location. The files are in AutoCAD 2004 and
cannot be opened with other releases.
2. Start AutoCAD 2004.
3. Invoke PUBLISH command.
4. Click Add Sheets.
5. Locate and select all the downloaded files. The list is built
[Figure 8].
Figure 8
6. Remove all sheets that are based on the Model Space. The
names of all such sheets are ended to Model. Finalize the list
as shown in Figure 9.
Figure 9
7. Specify the name and location of the DWF file.
8. Save the list for later use.
9. Close the dialog box.
10. Invoke the PUBLISH command again.
11. Load the list.
12. Click Publish.
13. View the file in Autodesk Express Viewer. Figure 10 shows a
sample sheet.
14. Back to AutoCAD close both dialog boxes.
Figure 10 -
Click on image to enlarge
About the Author
Alireza Parsai is the founder of cadpanel.com. He is a
mechanical engineer with more than 12 years experience with
AutoCAD. Alireza is an Autodesk Authorized Author, the AutoCAD
consultant for Al Khawarizmi Institute, a contributing editor
for Augiworld magazine, a writer for CAD Digest, an instructor
for AUGI Training Program, and an elected speaker for Autodesk
University 2002. He has written 7 books in Farsi, 3 booklets in
English, and more than 30 articles for different magazines and
newsletters. You can reach him at
alireza.parsai@cadpanel.com or visit his website
www.cadpanel.com.
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