Expert: Bill DeShawn - 2/23/2008

Question
I have hp LaserJet 1010 printer. when ever i give auto cad drawing print, only a small section of the drawing is printed, How can i print whole drawing on a A4 Size paper. Please let me know the process for printing the auto cad drawing on a A4 size paper.

Answer
Kishore:  I just checked the specs. and your printer is a printer that will accomodate the A4 International paper size.  So, that's good.  When printing, I find that it's best to print to a window.  That means you need to pick an area on the drawing that you want to plot.  Sometimes I overexplain because I know that people outside the U.S. might need a little more explanation, so If I am guilty of overexplaining, please forgive me.  If you have plotting set to limits, and your limits aren't set right, you can get the kind of result that you got when you printed.  Develop the habit of plotting to a window to avoid errors of this kind in the future.  Also, make sure that when you print, you pick a scale that will allow the part of the drawing you want to print, to fit on the paper you are printing on.  Be sure to preview your work before printing.

Also, here is a very common mistake people make:  They print directly to the printer in the printer folder.  It is best to set the printer driver in the printer folder to print PORTRAIT, which is the default setting for any printer driver.  Never change it to landscape.  That will just confuse the driver.  AutoCAD has a PLOTTERMANAGER.  In there, you can make PC3 files that will assist you with all your plotting needs.  It is in the PC3 file that you can make adjustments to orientation like LANDSCAPE if that is what you wish.  You can have a PC3 file for black and white printing, or for printing on different or special size sheets if desired.  It's always best to use the PC3 files.  That way it doesn't disturb the printer settings for printing from other applications.  

Let me know if you have any other questions.  I tried to cover as much as I could think of even though your question was not very specific.  So, I did the best I could here with a quick version of "Printing 101".  It's also a good idea to include the version of AutoCAD you are running when asking for assistance.

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Bill DeShawn
http://my.sterling.net/~bdeshawn