Publish dialog box

The Publish dialog box allows you to send one or more drawings, layouts and sheets to the printer or export them in PDF format. This is useful for batch printing of books of drawings.

To print a batch of drawings when BricsCAD starts, write in the Terminal the following command

bricscad.exe /pl <"the path of your *.dwg file"> <"the path of your *.dsd file">

For example:

bricscad.exe /pl "C:\Users\user\Desktop\doc.dwg" "C:\Users\user\Desktop\doc.dsd"

Also, in the Page Setups section of the Drawing Explorer dialog box set the printer you use in the Device name.

  1. Sheet List
  2. Drawing
  3. PDF options
  4. Publish to

Sheet List

Displays a list of sheets. If you have a *.dsd file (drawing sheets for publishing), you can select it and the Load Sheet List dialog box will appear.

Save Sheet List
Saves the current sheet list to a *.dsd (Drawing Set Description) file. Opens the Save Sheet List dialog box.
Load Sheet List

Loads a saved sheet list. Opens the Load Sheet List dialog box. If the current list is not saved yet, you are prompted to save it.

If you are trying to load a file with an existing name, after you press the Open button in the Load Sheet List dialog box you are prompted to replace or append the sheets to the list.

Automatically load all open drawings

Determines how open drawings are handled:

  • On (checked): adds all model and/or paper space layouts to the list of sheets to be plotted
  • Off (unchecked): adds the model and/or paper space layouts of the current drawing only

This option also sets the value of the PUBLISHALLSHEETS system variable.

Include

Determines which sheets must be included:

  • Model: includes only model tabs of open drawings.
  • Layouts: includes only layout tabs of open drawings.
  • Model & Layouts: includes both model and layout tabs of open drawings.

Drawing

Layout
Page Setup
Specifies the Page Setup name of each sheet. Click the Page Setup name, then click the down arrow to select a different page setup or choose Import… to import page setups of another drawing. This will open the Import Pagesetups dialog box.
Plot Device
Displays the name of the plot device, as defined in the Page Setup dialog box of the sheet.

PDF options

Output location
Displays the path where the PDF will be saved. Opens the Choose a folder dialog box to change the path.
File

Select an option:

  • Single – sheet files: each layout is published to a separate *.pdf. The file names are: <drawing>_<layout>.pdf
  • One Multi – sheet file: layouts are published to a single file. You can choose to specify a name or to be prompted for a name when the publishing procedure starts.
Name options

Select an option:

  • Prompt name: after you press the Publish button you are prompted to insert the name you want for your *.pdf in the Specify PDF file name dialog box.
  • Specify name: the field for Name becomes available. Insert here the name you want for your *.pdf.
  • Generate name: the *.pdf will have the same name as the drawing.
Name
Allows you to type the name you want for your *.pdf. This field is available only for the Specify name option.
PDF/A Support
Allows you to select from the drop-down list one of the options.
Layer information

  • Don't use layers: no layers are exported.

  • Use all layers with visible entities: only layers which are current ON and Thawed are exported.

  • Use layers with entities, including OFF and FROZEN layers: all layers containing entities are exported.

TrueType Text

Select an option:

  • As text: ensures that the text in the PDF looks exactly as in the drawing.
  • As geometry: converting to geometry increases the file size and pixelation might occur when viewed at a high zoom level.
Embed TrueType fonts

If the font is not embedded, a substitute font might be used by the PDF viewer.

Note: Licensed fonts cannot be embedded.
Vector DPI
Controls the resolution of vector graphics and gradients.
Merge control

Determine whether overlapping lines are merged or lie on top of each other.

Select an option:

  • Lines Overwrite: the lines on top overwrite the lines below.
  • Lines Merge: the colors of crossing lines are blended into a new color.
Image anti-aliasing
If the resolution of an image is too low to match the Image DPI setting, then the raster image is anti-aliased (generate pixels artificially) to make the raster image look more smoothly. Without that setting an image with a too low resolution is embedded "as-is".
Image DPI
Defines the resolution of the resulting image in the PDF for raster images. This setting allows you to lower the resolution of the original raster image to avoid including a gigabyte raster image in the PDF. For printing the resolution should match the output resolution of the printer. For on-screen viewing high resolutions (2400 dpi +) are required.
Export hyperlinks
If checked, it allows you to export hyperlinks in the *.pdf.
JPEG image compression
This setting applies to all included raster images in the PDF, both raster images and rendered views. It applies a JPEG compression to these images to reduce the PDF file size. When switched off, the images are embedded as raw bitmaps. The JPEG compression is lossy compared to the raw bitmap introducing small imperfections.

Publish to

Note: When Publish to is set to Plotter named in page setup, the PDF options from this dialog box disappear.
Number of copies
Sets the number of copies for each sheet to be printed.
Include plot stamp
If this option is checked, it adds a plot stamp.
Plot Stamp
Opens the Plot Stamp dialog box.
Publish in background

Determines if the sheet is published in the background:

  • Yes: sheets are published in the background, which takes longer to produce the prints, but allows you to continue to work in the program.
  • No: sheets are published in the foreground, which is faster, but prevents you from working with the program until the print job is completed.

The BACKGROUNDPLOT system variable controls whether documents are published in the foreground or background.

Open in viewer when ready

Determines if the sheet set will be opened in the viewer when it is ready.

Note: This option is not available when Publish to is set to Plotter named in page setup, only when Publish to is set to PDF.