[comp.lang.postscript] AUTOCAD -> PostScript

knight@csli.Stanford.EDU (Bob Knight) (07/29/89)

A friend of mine is generating .DXF (?) files out of Autocad and needs a
good filter (under MSDOS) to PostScript.  Does anybody know of such a 
beast, free or not?

Please respond directly to knight@santafe.edu.  If there's enough
interest, I'll summarize to the list.

Thanks in advance,
Bob

dario@techunix.BITNET (Dario Ringach) (07/04/90)

Does anyone know of a software to get PostScript out of AUTOCAD output?
Thanks in advance!
--
Dario

sun@me.utoronto.ca (Andy Sun Anu-guest) (07/05/90)

In article <9735@discus.technion.ac.il> dario%techunix.bitnet@jade.berkeley.edu (Dario Ringach) writes:
>Does anyone know of a software to get PostScript out of AUTOCAD output?
>Thanks in advance!
>--
>Dario

AutoCAD Release 9.0 or above comes with a PostScript driver for generating
PostScript outputs. If you do not have an updated version, it's about time
to upgrade. If you have the new version, the PostScript is in "plotter"
options, not "printer" options. Although it is a laser "printer", it is 
under "plotter". So beware of that.

Andy 

d87-jse@garbo.bion.kth.se (Joakim Sernbrant) (07/06/90)

In article <90Jul4.151140edt.19579@me.utoronto.ca> sun@me.utoronto.ca (Andy Sun Anu-guest) writes:
>In article <9735@discus.technion.ac.il> dario%techunix.bitnet@jade.berkeley.edu (Dario Ringach) writes:
>>Does anyone know of a software to get PostScript out of AUTOCAD output?
>>Thanks in advance!
>>--
>>Dario
>
>AutoCAD Release 9.0 or above comes with a PostScript driver for generating
>PostScript outputs. If you do not have an updated version, it's about time
>to upgrade. If you have the new version, the PostScript is in "plotter"
>options, not "printer" options. Although it is a laser "printer", it is 
>under "plotter". So beware of that.
>
>Andy 

Another quirk with the driver is that it doesn't handle different
line widths at all. I have written a program that converts AutoCad
ADI plotfiles to either PostScript or Calcomp PCL language; and it
handles different linewidths. This allows our users to just make
the plot (to a file); and only later decide if they want it on
A4 paper or A1 film. It also saves them from exiting AutoCad to
reconfigure it each time they select a new device.
  Since I have written this program at work, I'm not sure if I
can distribute it here. If there is enough interest I can investigate
the matter. (btw it's in TurboPascal 5.x).

Jocke

--  Joakim Sernbrant, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
--  Internet:  d87-jse@nada.kth.se
--

sun@me.utoronto.ca (Andy Sun Anu-guest) (07/06/90)

In article <1990Jul5.204032.7793@kth.se> d87-jse@kth.se (Joakim Sernbrant) writes:
>
>Another quirk with the driver is that it doesn't handle different
>line widths at all. I have written a program that converts AutoCad
>ADI plotfiles to either PostScript or Calcomp PCL language; and it
>handles different linewidths. This allows our users to just make
>the plot (to a file); and only later decide if they want it on
>A4 paper or A1 film. It also saves them from exiting AutoCad to
>reconfigure it each time they select a new device.
>  Since I have written this program at work, I'm not sure if I
>can distribute it here. If there is enough interest I can investigate
>the matter. (btw it's in TurboPascal 5.x).
>
>Jocke
>
>--  Joakim Sernbrant, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
>--  Internet:  d87-jse@nada.kth.se
>--

It makes sense for the AutoCAD PostScript driver to ignore the setlinewidth
PostScript command since AutoCAD itself does not allow linewidth
manipulations anyway. My above statement (and thus the comments made by
the above poster) is not exactly correct since commands pline and trace DO 
allow linewidth variations, and those effects can be handled by the PostScript 
driver, although they do it the stupid way (drawing multiple lines to increase 
the width instead of using setlinewidth). However, I have to admit that 
altering the linewidths in the drawings by pline or trace is a bit awkward. 
I will like to see future versions of AutoCAD having linewidth as an
attribute of an entity.

Andy

amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Allen J Michielsen) (07/06/90)

In article <1990Jul5.204032.7793@kth.se> d87-jse@kth.se (Joakim Sernbrant) writ
>In article <90Jul4.151140edt.19579@me.utoronto.ca> sun@me.utoronto.ca (Andy S
>>In article <9735@discus.technion.ac.il> dario%techunix.bitnet@jade.berkeley.e
>>>Does anyone know of a software to get PostScript out of AUTOCAD output?
>>AutoCAD Release 9.0 or above comes with a PostScript driver for generating
>>PostScript outputs. If you do not have an updated version, it's about time
>Another quirk with the driver is that it doesn't handle different
>line widths at all. 
>reconfigure it each time they select a new device.
   The claims are that these both are fixed in the new release verison
11.  I have yet to see this myself, but only reporting what I have been
told.  All other claims sounded & seemed as reasonable, so wouldn't YET
classify them with comp.software.urban.myths
al