Making Printable plans from the dxf files (Scaled PDF drawings)

I regularly receive requests to make printable plans from the DXF files for things like control panels and front doors from the CAD drawings. In my continual quest to make my life easier, I have tossed together this quick How-To to assist everyone.

First off, I am assuming you have downloaded the *.DXF file in question. You will need to have the current version of DraftSight installed on your computer as well.  For this how-to, I am using DraftSight 2016 x64 SP2. The menus change slightly from version to version.

Start out by opening your DXF file in DraftSight.  For this example, I am using the side panels and key from the Canyon bomber, but you can use any drawing you want.

For this how-to, I changed the drawing color from the default of dark red to cyan to make it more viable in the pictures. The color is not important.

Next, you will want to line up your parts near the axis marker. In the drawing to the left, they are circled in Red. When you line up your items to print, you want to make sure that everything is above the x-axis and to the right of the y-axis (vertical red line).

NOTE: You will want to try and line up your items vertically and as close to the y-axis as possible. This will help to minimize paper width and help to keep the printing costs down.

Next, you will want to measure how wide your items are that you want to print.

To do this, you will want to go to Annotate - > Dimensions -> Linear


Click on the widest part of the drawing and drag across and click on the line on the opposite side. In this case, it says the width is 27.125"


Repeat this process for your height of the print as well.

Now you are ready to print your filed to PDF.

Go to the Draft Sight Icon and click -> Print -> Print

Click on the Printer / Plotter properties.

Now you need to select the parameters for your paper size.

Most paper widths are 28" wide, 36" wide, 40" wide, or 48" wide.

Select custom sizes -> Add

Enter your sizes in the width and height (36" x 90" in this example).

MAKE SURE YOU CHANGE UNITS TO INCHES!

Click OK.

Next, you will need to adjust the scaling of the drawing under Print Scale.

Uncheck the box "Fit to paper size"

Next go to scale, and change it in the drop down to 1:1. This will print the drawing making one inch on the drawing equal one inch on the printed page... in this case PDF.

Next, under Print Range, select Specify.

This will allow you to highlight the areas you want to print. Draw a box around the object. If all is well, the drawing in the to right will be in green signifying that you object fit on the printable page. If the drawing in the top right is red, it means you have exceeded a dimension somewhere.  If this happens, go to the Specify Window button an re-select your drawing again.

When you are done, click OK, and it will prompt you for where to save the PDF drawing.


Hope this helps.

Last updated 7/5/2017