Printer Settings vs drawing settings

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Printer Settings vs drawing settings

St Bob
This post was updated on .
Libra cad settings for printer/drawing
When preparing to print I cannot find anywhere a means of getting printer settings and drawing settings to agree. the S/W keeps arbitrarily changing the settings
In order to create and print an accurate drawing is is essential that the creator have control of the settings
Furthermore L/C does not allow separate corrections for X and Y
If I draw a horizontal line 10" long it prints a lINE 9.9 INCHES LONG
If the line is vertical at 7.5" the line prints a bit longer.
IT IS NOT  PRINTER PROBLEM !!!!
With a small correction in deltacad the line at 18" is within a very few thousands. The previous software (Draft Choice) was accurate as well.
Can someone shed someone shed some light on this?
Thanks for your time
Bob

ps I have combed through the documentation to no avail.
pps I would pay a reasonable amount for SW that works - but none of the half dozen I have tried will allow me to perform all the necessary tests.
ppps I only want to change because DeltaCad is no longer available.

June 19
I do not know what happened nor what I might have done but I now get a perfect 10" printed line for a drawn 10" line.
YIPPEE ! ! !


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Re: Printer Settings vs drawing settings

dxli
I will test print to pdf first
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Re: Printer Settings vs drawing settings

dellus
In reply to this post by St Bob
karo_inch_1_1_letter.dxf
karo_inch_1_1_letter.pdf

To see if it is a printer problem here are two sample files, a dxf and a pdf made from it.
The settings in the dxf are for letter format and 1:1 scale. When the printing procedure asks to change the settings ignore it. It only concerns the printing margins, not the scale. Truly it is a nuisance and should be worked over. On Windows you might get a printing offset, which you can compensate by shifting in Print Preview.
If the pdf gets printed wrongly scaled too, it means it is not LibreCAD's fault.
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Re: Printer Settings vs drawing settings

St Bob
In reply to this post by St Bob
Good tips

I did another test. I always create a landscape 10X7.5" rectangle and keep the drawing within that. or 16X10 or 18X12.

So, when I create and print the 10x7.5 rectangle the printed dimensions are .995 of the drawn dimension.Doesn't sound like much but it means a drill template would have holes in the wrong place.
It looks like I could correct the error in various settings but I cannot seem to make the changes stick.

I cannot blame the printer or even the software but for drawings that need better precision this will not work.

So, I went back to delta cad, my normal drawing software, and in their format (DC) I can get accuracy as good as my eyes will allow. So, If in delta cad, I create the drawing in dxf then I cannot fix the dimension problem.
I do appreciate the patience and help.

I have tried about a half dozen pieces of software and LibreCad comes as close as any to solving the problem.
I would appreciate any suggestions that would help me know how to make the settings stick.

By the way - in order to get my humble 10X7.5" rectangle to fit on a 11X8.5 page I have to use Legal size paper. Meaning - I have not found out how to manipulate the margins correctly.

Also, I make only one change at a time in order to not confuse the matter
Thanks
Bob
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Re: Printer Settings vs drawing settings

dellus
I assume you use LibreCAD V2.2.0. The trouble with margin settings came up when the multiple page printing feature was introduced. The older V2.1.3 doesn't have this feature and thus no margin settings and so no trouble with that. What is outside of the printable area just is not printed.
But V2.1.3 has it's own printing setup issues with some US paper formats, and other bugs solved in 2.2.0. So you could make the drawing in 2.2.0, set the margins at 0, and save it that way. Then use 2.1.3 to print it. You can install and use the portable version without interference in parallel to the normal 2.2.0. Just don't run them at the same time. It is still available at portableapps.com.
Some printers do have a setting for a maximum print area at the possible cost of print quality. Maybe this helps.

Concerning printing precision: a printer is not a cnc machine. Still, I myself don't get the deviation you describe. How much is the deviation if you print the sample with the grid I have provided? Within the drawing file settings are correct, so if you get a major deviation it must come from the Print Preview setup or your printer driver settings.  
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Re: Printer Settings vs drawing settings

St Bob
Great tips
I downloaded 2.1.3 and I can now print 8.5X11 with a little panning in print preview

I tried a number of things to get a printer dimension  correction but cannot get that 0.050" error at 10" to budge. For things like schematics it is not a problem.
But for drilling templates and face plate art it is still an issue.
It may be that I am looking in the wrong place to make a change.
V2.1.3 seems to be more civil when switching in and out of print preview. 2.2.0 I might lose my drawing. (Yes, save, save, save)

This LibreCad may yet be a solution for me as it is the only software I have found that might work for me.
Many years ago I was devastated when Trius Draft choice went away but I adapted to DeltaCad. But, I have been OBE and hope that LibreCad will do the trick.

I did try the grid you sent and had trouble with 2.2.0 - now I will try 2.1.3

Many Thanks
Bob

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Re: Printer Settings vs drawing settings

dellus
Now I have found out that your printer is a quite old model, 20 years or so? I suspect it is just worn out and you have slack in paper transport direction. The paper slips through the transport wheels, thus the print gets too short. You might try if a thicker paper makes a difference.
If nevertheless you want to stick to this printer, as Print Preview has no option to scale x and y direction differently the only way I see is to distort the drawing itself with Tools - Modify - Scale. Untick 'Isotropic Scaling' and you can set x and y separately. You may do so temporarily for printing without saving or save under a different name.  Still, the print deviation by slack may not be evenly dispersed and not consistent.
Another option is to export to pdf and print elsewhere, at a printshop or a friend.
Or maybe a new printer?
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Re: Printer Settings vs drawing settings

St Bob
In reply to this post by dellus
Many thanks for your time and help
When I return to deltacad and enter a print size correction, a 10" line is 10 inches long.
So, as print size is correctable in DeltaCad the printer does seem to do the job.
I am convinced that HP deeply regrets making such a fine printer. None of their printers we have had since have lasted nearly as long or have been as reliable.

I have thought about what to do when the printer gives up but I could spend a whole lot of money and maybe not get what I need. Large format printers show a huge jump in price over the standard 8.5X11.
Now Hp makes the printer quit after some times claiming the print carts are too old even if there is a lot of ink left and, they do not allow after market carts.
I tend to use thick paper so that the glue used to hold it to a box or panel does not bleed through.
And sometimes I use 13X19  paper for larger panels. The accuracy does drift at 18" but is barely perceptible.

I just did not know whether it was me or the software that could not correct the scaling.
Although the news was not great I do thank you for your most welcome help.


Your help is greatly appreciated
Bob