2D draft printer calibration

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tadinltd
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri May 17, 2019 8:02 am

2D draft printer calibration

Post by tadinltd »

Hi,
I use the Draft workbench for simple 2D drawing for paper 2D printing.
Unfortunately I find that the printed size is far from accurate.
My printer is well calibrated with other software (example: PowerPoint), but printing FreeCad is far from calibrated (3-4% error), with different error in X and Y.
I looked for FC 2D print calibration but could not find any.
Is there a way to make 2D Draft printout calibrated?
Thx
chrisb
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Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 9:14 am

Re: 2D draft printer calibration

Post by chrisb »

How do you currently print? If you use TechDraw you can create a pdf which is extremely accurate. However, usually there is a printer setting for automatic scaling, which must be switched off if you want accuracy.
A Sketcher Lecture with in-depth information is available in English, auf Deutsch, en français, en español.
tadinltd
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri May 17, 2019 8:02 am

Re: 2D draft printer calibration

Post by tadinltd »

chrisb wrote: Mon Oct 28, 2019 6:25 am How do you currently print? If you use TechDraw you can create a pdf which is extremely accurate. However, usually there is a printer setting for automatic scaling, which must be switched off if you want accuracy.
Thx chrisb.
I run FreeCad 0.17 on Win10 64 Pro.
I print by the simple File-Print command (with or without preview).
I have tried 'export pdf' and 'print to pdf' printer, results are even worse.
I changed to print from TechDraw and from Sketcher for no avail (it somehow permanently changed the output to 80% of the size!).
What you mean by printer automatic scaling? Is that a FreeCad or printer setting?
My DeskJet printer is calibrated as is evident by other software, so calibration must come from FreeCad.
Any other idea that may help?
Tadinltd
chrisb
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Re: 2D draft printer calibration

Post by chrisb »

tadinltd wrote: Mon Oct 28, 2019 7:24 am I print by the simple File-Print command (with or without preview).
I have tried 'export pdf' and 'print to pdf' printer, results are even worse.
All of these print what you see in 3D view. This has absolutely nothing to do with the dimensions of your object, it's useless for your purpose.
I changed to print from TechDraw and from Sketcher for no avail (it somehow permanently changed the output to 80% of the size!).
Printing from Sketcher is the same as above. TechDraw has a scale for pages and views. Make sure it is set to 1! I would recommend you upgrade to 0.18 or 0.19, because only these versions are currently supported.
What you mean by printer automatic scaling? Is that a FreeCad or printer setting?
It's a printer setting.

If you don't succeed, upload a FreeCAD file containing a TechDraw view of your object which you want to print and we can try to get things sorted.
A Sketcher Lecture with in-depth information is available in English, auf Deutsch, en français, en español.
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pl7i92LCNC
Posts: 208
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 3:03 pm
Location: RLP DE

Re: 2D draft printer calibration

Post by pl7i92LCNC »

as well you need in 2D to take kare of the linewidth it may give you also some persentige as part lines are usaly 0,7mm in draw
tadinltd
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri May 17, 2019 8:02 am

Re: 2D draft printer calibration

Post by tadinltd »

Well, I upgraded to 0.18 (not thinking it will solve my specific printing problem though), and to my surprise the Print command on 0.18 does not seem to work at all. I have now 0.17 and 0.18 side-by-side.
I Don't know if this is a bug, but suggest someone with more FC experience to try and report.
In any case, I attach here a very simple drawing that I wish to print as 2D with accurate dimensions.
I use an HP DeskJet 46XX series printer with Win10 Pro.
Fork1.FCStd
(15.27 KiB) Downloaded 44 times
Thx.
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Roy_043
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Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2018 12:28 pm

Re: 2D draft printer calibration

Post by Roy_043 »

With your procedure (File -> Print) the scale of the PDF depends on the current zoom level. As already mentioned: you need to use the TechDraw WB.
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