Configurations
File > Plot Setup > Configurations
Create plotting configurations by defining the following settings for each configuration: Enable/disable items, Pen replacement, Pen thickness (in model), Pen colours, Fonts, Pen thickness (on plotter).
The configuration settings determine which drawing information is plotted and which is not, and how it is plotted. Configurations can be selected in the function File > Plot in various Hull applications.
It is also possible to perform other modifications than these settings allow by executing a user defined macro. The macro must be stored in the %ncghelps% directory.
Clicking Restore defaults button restores all settings in the selected configuration to their default values.
Configuration settings
The configurations are grouped into settings groups. Each settings group has its own tab in the Configurations dialog, as described below.
When plotting with a configuration, settings are also handled in the order presented below.
Enable/disable items
Plotting the following items can be enabled/disabled:
- hatches
- partnumbers
- overlap symbols
- shrinkage compensation symbols
- butt and seam numbers in Shell views
- welding codes
- soft seams
- bevel symbols
- use real thickness
- 3D-attribute text.
Pen replacement
Replace a pen number with another pen number. The order in which replacement is executed is top-down.
Pen thickness (in model)
Define a thickness for a pen number that is applied to the model itself. All lines drawn with a particular pen are affected.
Pen colours
Define the colour for a pen number. Select the pen number, click Edit properties, and select the color.
Set current colours selects colors that have been defined for all applications in the Drawings > Pen Colours function.
Note: The pen colors for plotting are not linked to the pen colors in the various applications. Therefore changes in these pen colors may result in colors being plotted differently than expected.
Note: Plotters created with a Hull version earlier than version 2023T2 that use PDF (Portable Document Format) as the Output file format cannot use the pen colours defined in plotting configurations, but always print out as black and white. To enable the pen colours, save the plotter again in Hull version 2023T2 or later.
Fonts
Define a specific font for each font number. First select the font number, and then select the font. Select Font preview to display the font in the graphical window. Font numbers 1-15 can be defined for each configuration. The default font specifies which font should be used if no specific other font is selected for plotting.
The fonts available here are defined in Drawings > Fonts > Windows Fonts and Native Fonts. See Fonts for more information on managing fonts.
A configuration can have either Windows or Eagle native fonts defined for it (not both). Windows fonts should be used to ensure full support of Unicode character set. Native Eagle fonts are provided for compatibility reasons only.
Note: Output formats that are generated by the ViewCompanion application do not support Windows fonts. Therefore, native Eagle font configurations must be used for those output formats. The output formats generated by ViewCompanion are indicated by a "VC" prefix, and include the following: VC-EMF, VC-WMF, VC-DWF, VC-TIFF, VC-BMP, VC-CALS, VC-DXF, VC-PDF.
The native Eagle font files are located in the directory %eaglehome%\fonts. Font settings are stored in %ncfonts%, and can be used for multiple Hull software versions. The location of %eaglehome% and %ncfonts%. can be checked in Help > About CADMATIC Hull.
Note: Fonts in DXF/DWG output
Normally fonts are set in the Hull user interface. However, with DXF/DWG output, when Connection type is set to Share/Direct connection or Network (IP/Host), this is not the case. Instead, the fonts are defined in the file %ncghelps%\dxfplotfonts.dat. The Hull System Administrator must manually edit the file with a text editor to set the fonts in this case.
Pen thickness (on plotter)
Define a thickness for a pen number that is applied in plotting.
Note: For connection types Share/Direct connection and Network (IP/Host) Pen colours and Pen thickness (on plotter) settings can only be used with the HPGL/2 plotter language. The plotting device must be set to accept pen settings ("software-mode").