Accucadd Color and Printing
(You need at least a 256 color display to see the Printer Colors
dialog properly).
Accucadd is a 32-bit Windows program, and it uses Windows printers and
printer drivers. This means that it is inherently compatible with all Windows
printers. It also means that it does not use RoboCAD Plotter and Printer
descriptor files (drivers) - the PLT and PRT files. As a quick check, if
you can print something from WordPad (or Microsoft Word), then you can
print to that same printer with Accucadd. Conversely, if you can't print
to the printer from WordPad, you won't be able to print from Accucadd either,
and that's a Windows printer problem, not an Accucadd problem.
If you are not printing to a color printer, you can have all Accucadd
drawing elements (lines, arcs, etc.) print as black, or (if supported by
your printer and printer driver) in shades of gray approximating the color
brightness. Most monochrome printers will support about 32 shades of gray.
If you are printing to a color printer, you can print Accucadd drawing
elements in the same color as they appear on-screen. Windows does not offer
built-in color matching, so you may not get the exact same shade of color:
however, green should print green, red should print red, and so on.
Accucadd uses Windows dialog boxes. If you are not sure of how to use
a standard Windows dialog, please review the Windows Tutorial in the Windows
Help system. Notice that the Print dialog (below) has an RGB check box.
With RGB checked, you will get shades of gray on a monochrome printer,
and colors following the screen on a color printer. This also means that
white (and very light gray) won't print on most printers: you will not
see a white line that you have drawn over a darker background - the white
line will not print.
With RGB unchecked, all colors will print black on a monochrome printer.
On a color printer most colors will be as they are on the screen, except
that white (and very light gray) will print as black.
Accucadd Print Dialog Box
Accucadd Printer Colors Dialog Box
The Printer Colors dialog box appears when you click the Colors button
on the Print dialog. The results are different on color and monochrome
printers, as you would expect. Click the Print button on this dialog to
see how your printer/plotter (technically the driver and printer in combination)
renders screen colors.
To check how your printer renders Accucadd colors, click on the Print
button of the Accucadd Printer Colors dialog.
Color printers
The colors generally print in a similar tone to the screen color—green
on-screen will print as green, red on-screen will print as red, and so
on. Don't expect precise color matching - Windows does not support it.
If your printed output matches your screen color exactly this is a (fortunate)
coincidence. With RGB checked, you will often get better color rendering.
However, Accucadd color 7 (white) will print white—lines drawn in color
7 will therefore not print. This is also true of very light grays.
Monochrome printers
If you have a monochrome printer, you won't see the Printer Color dialog
colors unless you also check the RGB check box. With RGB checked, most
monochrome printers will render the 256 Accucadd colors as approximately
32 shades of gray, but white and light gray will not generally print, as
noted above. With RGB unchecked (cleared), every one of the 256 colors
will print as black.
Line styles
Checking the Windows Line styles box on the print dialog converts
Accucadd Line styles to Windows Line styles. There are only six Windows Line
styles,
so there is some loss of quality. However, all printers can (or are supposed
to) print Windows Line styles. By not checking this box, Accucadd will try
and reproduce all of its eight line styles on the printer. This will work
in most cases.
Line weights
Clicking the Line weights button on the Print dialog pops up
the Printer Line weights dialog, below. Checking the Use Windows Line weights
box makes Accucadd convert its line weights to Windows line weights. These
match the default values of the Accucadd line weights (below). If you want
to use different line weights, uncheck this box and enter values for each
Accucadd line weight number (1 - 8 and A, B) that you wish to change. As
with RoboCAD 20, the line widths are always specified in millimeters -
as also are drafting pens and pencils.
Accucadd Printer Line weights Dialog Box
This box appears when you click the Line weights button on the Print
Dialog.
