# Need help Plotting multiple pages in AutoCAD R14



## norin (Dec 28, 2004)

hello, i was wondering is there any possible way to plot multiple pages with AutoCAD R14 (AutoCAD 98 LT). i have read some other sites but they don't pertain to my version of CAD.

i work for a lumber company, and am the draftsman here, some of my drawings utilize a page for floor plans, and one for elevations.

i was wondering if there was any way to print out multiple pages at once.

basically here is a scenario if you will.

i finish a drawing for a customer, they need 3 sets of the plans ( set = all pages for the project ). lets say the drawing only consists of 1 complete page ( floor plans and elevations both fit onto one page ). to make it easier on me, instead of having to go through the printing process ( CTRL+P, change device, choose printer and paper size, pick the window, preview, adjust rotation and margins if needed, finally print ) i do that each time i want to print one page, you can see how it gets annoying...

any possible way this could be achieved?


----------



## freddyhard (Jun 9, 2009)

it's been so long since i've looked at R14 i really cannot remember the print dialogue. but i am certain that you can save the plot settings for that drawing to the drawing. it's a check box on that dialogue somewhere:
save changes to layout

this will remember the orientation, page, plot device etc...

that i remember correctly, there can only be one paper space tab? which means you have to select different areas if there are several different drawings to print. you can do a batch plot in later versions of Autocad, but i cannot remember there being one in R14.


----------



## norin (Dec 28, 2004)

ok well let's try this: i'll walk you through the steps i take with my current config.

the default printer for my machine is a HP DeskJet 1120C, so when going to print in CAD i go to the print dialog, up at the top left corner, i click the Device and Default Selection button:

*STEP 1*









which then brings me here:

*STEP 2*









so then i need to click the Change button to select the plotter:

*STEP 3*









which happens to be a HP DesignJet 430. i then make all the adjustments, make the orientation: Landscape, change the paper size and then hit OK. which brings me back to Step 2, then hit OK then back to Step 1.

once back at step 1, i choose the window space to be printed, then i check the preview then adjust the margins if needed, and hit ok to print.

that's the process i go through just to print ONE page, now imagine if i need to print out 4+ sets with 2 or more pages per set, it's very time consuming, i'm just trying to think of productivity for my customers and for my company, and for myself as well.

is that all clear? or did i confuse anyone 

Now playing: Blue October - Dirt Room
via FoxyTunes


----------



## freddyhard (Jun 9, 2009)

after you configure step 3 (the plotter itself) did you try saving a PC2 file on step 2 to at least save you the time of configuring the device each time? you would still have to pick the window and set the scale, but it would save some time. i vaguely remember installing drivers for Autocad that would have come with the plotter - but this was over 10 years ago. 

maybe a better option would be to plot to a PDF printer. there are loads of free ones out there that should work well enough. once you have a PDF file created you can send that to the plotter (multiple copies) without having to setup the page every time.


----------



## Stu_computer (Jul 7, 2005)

i've used an older version of Multi-Batch and it worked okay. you can get a trial download and test it before buying.

there is also a free batch app Plot2k but doesn't work with AutoCAD LT. never tried it so don't know the quality.


----------

