Datasheet

■ WORKING WITH AUTOCAD 2011 DRAWINGS

Figure 1.9 Limiting the color depth of the output

19. Finally, click the Finish button in the Add-A-Plotter Wizard to create the

ImagePrinter.pc3 file on your hard drive.

Creating a Plot Style Table for Images

In manual drafting, architects used to press harder on the pencil to make important

lines thicker. These days, plot styles control line thickness in AutoCAD. When you

convert vector line work, ideally you want the lines showing up as single-pixel-width

lines in the image. Thin, unbroken lines provide the most ﬂexibility in Photoshop (as

you’ll see in Chapter 2). For now, let’s focus on how plot styles control line width in

AutoCAD output.

Note: I believe it’s better to add lineweight intentionally in Photoshop by using the stroke effect, rather than

exporting thicker lines directly from AutoCAD because stroked lines in Photoshop feature anti-aliasing, which

reduces the jagged appearance of angled lines.

There are two kinds of plot styles available: color-dependent and named. I rec-

ommend using color-dependent plot styles in preparing drawings for export to images

because of their simplicity, even if you use named plot styles in production work.

Note: Use the CONVERTPSTYLES command in AutoCAD to convert an existing drawing from a named plot

style to a color-dependent plot style, or vice versa.

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