DWF Printing for Reprographers

Are you "DWFing IT?" If not, you should!! I use DWF files all the time for print jobs. I wasn't around for the PLT days so main reason I'm a DWF junkie. I've been using AutoCAD professionally for about 4 years now and DWF is by far, my weapon of choice. Some problems I've heard about PLT (I've never made one & hope I never have to..:)..) is you plot to PLT, and pretty much cross you fingers that the print was plotted to PLT correctly once you get your paper prints back. I think there are some PLT viewers out there, but why go through the hassle? DWF allows you to take you DWG file, plot to DWF, then simply e-mail to your reprographer for prints. Our local print house has been using the Oce publisher tools for about a year or so now, and tells me all the time how much they like it. They said every week there are new clients of theirs starting to test the waters of DWF and find printing to DWF is much faster and less hassle than PLT or PDF. By plotting to DWF kills two birds with one stone. You get a electronic plot of your entire job in one Multisheet DWF for in house viewing and you can simply send that small DWF file over the Internet for hard copy prints.

So how do you get YOUR reprographer set up with DWF printing? Well first off you need to do a little investigating. I recommend you contact your reprographer and find out what type of plotter they have. If they have an Oce, HP, or KIP you are all set. These three manufacturers apparently have been working closely with Autodesk to develop some software to help reprographers print DWF files. I've also just got some information that KIP apparently has a new software that plots the DWF files tremendously faster than other software. But all these give great results. For more information on DWF and DWF plotting refer to the DWF FAQ sheet. By DWF Technical Evangelist Scott Sheppard. Or I suggest posting a question on the Autodesk DWF Newsgroup and I'm sure someone like Scott will help you out. http://discussion.autodesk.com/forum.jspa?forumID=114

Here is some links to some of the manufacturers websites to get information on their software.

Oce Publisher Tools: http://www.oceplancenter.com/download.asp

PlotWorks: http://www.plp.com/www/products/plotworks/index.html

Link to supported Printer types: http://www.plp.com/www/products/plotworks/supported_devices.html

Kip: http://www.kip3000.com/ Go to Network printer, then DWF Printing.

HP Instant Print: http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2005/050525a.html

Here is a nice portion of the FAQ sheet on reprographer printing.

If you use a reprographer who has:

1. Océ Repro Desk, then you have two choices. One avenue is to download the Océ Client Tools can then be sent to the reprographer. Alternatively, your reprographer may be using Repro Desk Server 1.6.3 which can be configured to accept DWF files and automatically convert them to LDF. For these reprographers, you can send them DWF files directly. Additional details regarding available options with Océ hardware can be found in the Océ white paper Océ Repro Desk workflow

2. has obtained the PlotWorks DWF to Tiff module. This module is available at no cost to reprographers who have a maintenance contract with PLP. For these reprographers, you can send them your DWF files for printing. In cases where neither of these possibilities exists, you will need to use the Autodesk DWF Viewer to print your DWF files to another format, e.g. HPGL, and send the resulting files to the reprographer. and batch process your DWF files into LDF files. The LDF filesIntegrating DWF Printing into your.PLP Plotworks, then you should check with your reprographer to see that he Can I send DWF files to a commercial reprographer for printing?

Comments

[Mark McDonough]

I encourage you to subscribe to the "apprenticelist" group on Yahoo Groups (http://groups.yahoo.com), then read up on the numerous message threads on DWF printing. The people that are posting comments there, are for the most part, reprographers, a good resource to see their first-hand "take" on the DWF printing issues. There's been a raging debate over the issues with printing DWFs, but it looks like things might be getting better.