How to Print a full scale drawing

mitch_b708

I've just started using OS. I've drawn a shape on a plane and would like to print it. The overall dimensions of the shape are about 13" x 25" and it must therefore be printed across multiple sheets of paper at full scale. Is there any way to do this. When I try to print, It just print a part of the picture on one page.

I'm using Safari 12.1.2. Mac OS 10.14.6 (Mojave)

thanks,

Mitch

wayne_sauder

@mitch_b708
I'm not sure what options you have with mac or your printer. Here is one way that I have done it. Download your sheet as a pdf, then open in Adobe and select print, if you have the options as shown in my screenshot set it and print, then trim your paper and tape it together. Convoluted? Yes, will it get you what you need? in some situations. 

mitch_b708

That's a great idea and I have figured out how to create a drawing of a part. 
For reference, these are my two parts. I want to create the drawing of the FACE of one of the parts, so I can print it out, trace it onto a piece of wood, then cut it out. 

What I want is a drawing normal to the face of a part. Is there a way to do that?

Thanks again,

Mitch

mitch_b708

Great idea. @wayne_sauder. I have a followup question. 
I want to print the drawing, and use it as a template for cutting a piece of wood to that shape. The shape is tilted and I can't figure out how to create a drawing that is normal to the face of the shape.
Is there a way to create a drawing that is normal to a selected face? Whenever I try to create a drawing from a part the drawing is tilted a little.

mitch_b708

Thanks @wayne_sauder. Worked perfectly.

wayne_sauder

@mitch_b708
Does this help. 

mitch_b708

Ahhhh. Create a named view. Perfect solution. Thanks. 

john_smith077

wayne_sauder said:

@mitch_b708
I'm not sure what options you have with mac or your printer. Here is one way that I have done it. Download your sheet as a pdf, then open in Adobe and select print, if you have the options as shown in my screenshot set it and print, then trim your paper and tape it together. Convoluted? Yes, will it get you what you need? in some situations. 

How do I "download a sheet as pdf" ? [I am new!]

Do I have to create a drawing?

e.g. If I am in a Part Studio, I can right-click on the name of my Sketch and then either:
A. Create a Drawing
B. Or export as DXF/DWG 

wayne_sauder

@john_smith077
To do what I described here, yes you will need to create a drawing. DXF/DWG are a CAD communication file 
 Think of drawings as your paper if you want it on paper create a drawing. 

john_smith077

wayne_sauder said:

@john_smith077
To do what I described here, yes you will need to create a drawing. DXF/DWG are a CAD communication file 
 Think of drawings as your paper if you want it on paper create a drawing. 

Thanks Wayne, but: 
A. Which is better to use DXF or DWG drawing format (plus which version of whichever format should I choose)?
B. Also how can I make sure that no extra stuff (descriptive boxes etc) is added to the drawing?
C. Do I then still need converat the drawing format file into a PDF (or can I export directly from OnShape into PDF?

wayne_sauder

@john_smith077
 I am not sure what your end goal is?
 For myself I never use DXF or DWG for anything. The only time I export that file format is if our laser cutter ask for it, if you use almost any kind of cutter on the market or sent a file to a commercial cutter you will probably need this type of file. And I always use the latest version unless otherwise requested. 
 To create a drawing there is no need to worry about file format as long as you stay inside of Onshape. 
 If I am creating a drawing for the aforementioned workflow, I just choose one of my standard drawing templates and window select the whole page and delete, then insert the part view I want. If doing a lot of it then it may be worth the time to setup a blank template. 
 Yes you can export directly to PDF, right click on the tab containing the drawing select export then set to PDF. 
 I would suggest looking through learning center to gain a better understanding some of these things. 

brett_sutton

I found the details here a little vauge so here is the detailed process I used.

Note I'm starting from a sketch not a part, so the above notes on selecting a specific part view to create a drawing may apply to you.

1: from the part studio, select the sketch

2. right click the sketch and select ' Create Drawing of Sketch…'

3) Select any of the templates - if you have a blank one that would be better

4) Click OK to create the drawing.

5) Place your sketch into the drawing - doesn't matter where for the moment.

6) Delete all of the other element from the template - borders, drawing specs etc.

7) Open up the list of sheets (the little multi-page icon that appears halfway up the left hand border).

8) You should now see Sheet (1)

9) Right click on 'Sheet (1)' and select 'properties'

10) change the scale to 1:1

11) change the size to 'Custom'

12) change the size of the page so that it is at least 10mm bigger than your drawing (to allow for print margins).

13) reposition your drawing so it is fully enclosed within the sheet - if it doesn't fit then go back to 12.

14) From the OnShape document menu (three horizontal bars) select Print

15) The browser will now show a print preview and it should have a download option - select download

16) Now as described in prior posts, open the PDF in the likes of Adobe and use the Poster option to print the PDF.

In my case I used the free GIMP software using the following procedure:

Among other methods it is suggested to cut the image into pieces with gimp and print them separately

1. Open the image in GIMP by clicking File-> Open
2. Select View-> Show Grid and check this option.
3. Select Image-> Configure Grid. Select the Line Style from the drop-down menu. Enter the Spacing dimensions of each segment, making them no larger than the paper size. Leave the Offset at zero pixels. Click OK.
4. Use the Rectangle Select tool. Select the first segment. Copy the segment by clicking CTRL+C.
5. Press CTRL+N to make a new image. Enter the image dimensions that match the size of the segment you copied. [You can use a size bigger than needed, and after you pasted (6) you can use Image->Crop to content option]
6. Paste into the new image with CTRL+V
7. Select File > Print and select the printer, change options...

Repeat this process (4-7) for each image segment.

Printing:

When printing be sure to disable margins and set the page size to match the paper you are printing on.