How to Prepare a House Plan for Printing and Plotting

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Properly preparing your house plan for printing and plotting is crucial to ensure that your design is accurate, legible, and properly scaled when transferred to physical media. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you prepare your CAD drawing for printing or plotting:

Step 1: Set Up Your Drawing Units

Before starting the plotting process, ensure that your drawing is set up with the correct units (e.g., feet and inches or millimeters). To check and set the drawing units:

1. Type UNITS in the command line.
2. In the "Drawing Units" dialog box, select the desired unit of measurement for your project.
3. Click "OK" to confirm.

Step 2: Check the Drawing Scale

Your drawing needs to be scaled correctly so that it prints at the correct size. To adjust the scale for plotting:

1. Open the "Layout" tab to view the paper space.
2. In the "Page Setup Manager" (type PAGESETUP), select the printer/plotter you intend to use.
3. Choose the correct paper size (e.g., A1, A3, or 24x36 inches).
4. Set the appropriate scale (e.g., 1:100 or 1:50) under the "Plot Scale" section.

Step 3: Set Up Layers and Lineweights

Ensure that the layers in your drawing are organized properly and that each layer has a corresponding lineweight that will appear correctly on the print:

1. Open the "Layer Properties Manager" (type LA).
2. Adjust the lineweights for each layer to control the thickness of lines when printed (e.g., thicker lines for walls, thinner lines for details).
3. Ensure that the correct layers are visible and the unnecessary ones are turned off.

Step 4: Adjust Plot Area

Next, set the plot area to include the entire house plan you wish to print:

1. In the "Page Setup Manager," select "Window" under the "Plot Area" section.
2. Use your mouse to select the area to be plotted, ensuring that all relevant portions of the floor plan are included.
3. Confirm that the selected area fits within the chosen paper size.

Step 5: Choose Plot Style

You can choose from different plot styles (e.g., monochrome or color) to control how the drawing is printed:

1. Open the "Plot Style Table" dialog.
2. Select a plot style, such as "monochrome" for black and white printing or a custom style with specific color settings.
3. Apply the chosen plot style to the drawing.

Step 6: Preview Your Plot

Before sending your drawing to the printer or plotter, it’s important to preview the printout to make sure everything is aligned and properly scaled:

1. Click the "Preview" button in the "Plot" dialog box.
2. Check that the drawing appears correctly on the selected paper size.
3. Make sure that there’s no clipping or cutoff at the edges.

Step 7: Print or Plot

Once you're satisfied with the setup, proceed to print:

1. Click "OK" or "Plot" to send the drawing to the printer or plotter.
2. If using a physical plotter, ensure the correct media (e.g., architectural paper) is loaded.

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Tips for Efficient Printing

• Paper Size: Always double-check the paper size to avoid scaling issues.
• Quality Control: Print a test page to check lineweights and legibility before printing the final version.
• Use PDF: Consider saving your drawing as a PDF before printing, as it allows easy sharing and prevents accidental modifications.