Templot Club Archive 2007-2020
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posted: 9 Sep 2009 19:44 from: Mark Leigh
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Hi Everyone, I have managed to find a local company that are able to print my modest 800mm x 2550mm Test Track out in one continuous run for a modest £10.00 but it has to be in PDF File. Overjoyed with this i set about converting it to PDF file. In normal DXF file print it takes about 9 A4 page lengths when converted it takes 2? I have now managed to get it with the aid of win2pdf to show as a PDF file on 3x A0 pages which is great but i'd rather it be on one continuous run. Try as i might i've now ran out of ideas. The baseboard is all but made, most of the pointwork has been made in sub-assemblies ready to be laid. This cannot happen until the Templot has been laid onto the baseboard. Being not so clever on PC i'm sure that this can be overcome- just that i can't figure it out. If you have any solutions then please can you post them in "idiot-proof" format. I have attached both the .BOX and .PDF files so you might be able to help. I'm keen to work the reason out as this is just a Test Track to convert "00" gauge locomotives to P4 then from DC to DCC. Next will be the layout and so i will eventually come across this problem again. Thanks for your help Mark |
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| Attachment: attach_645_930_P4_Test_with_Sidings_and_Program.box 352 | |||
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posted: 9 Sep 2009 19:45 from: Mark Leigh
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Here's the PDF file |
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| Attachment: attach_646_930_P4_Final_Test_Track.pdf 396 | |||
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posted: 9 Sep 2009 19:58 from: Martin Wynne
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Mark Leigh wrote: I have now managed to get it with the aid of win2pdf to show as a PDF file on 3x A0 pages which is great but i'd rather it be on one continuous run.Hi Mark, You need to create a new "form" in the Windows printer spooler, of the required size. Even so, Win2pdf might not agree to use it.  See this topic for a solution coming soon: topic 753 In the meantime, I will convert your .box file to a single-run PDF page for you later this evening. (If it's more than about 4 metres long you will need the (free) Foxit PDF Reader instead of Adobe.) Care to share the name of your PDF printing firm? Is that price for black & white, or colour? regards, Martin. |
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posted: 9 Sep 2009 20:57 from: Mark Leigh
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Hi Martin, Thanks for your help. I've read the update for Templot and agree "A Big Thumbs Up"  I'll confirm the Name and Price tomorrow hopefully (when it goes to print) as the negotiations have been by phone and i'd hate to quote it now without confirmation, especially seen as one company in my region quoted £65.00. Many Thanks for your time Mark   |
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posted: 9 Sep 2009 21:52 from: Martin Wynne
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Hi Mark, Here are your PDF files. 800mm x 2550mm page size. View at 100% and scroll in the PDF Reader to see the detail properly. I made a couple of changes: The page origin is at -10mm on X to give you a bit more margin. The half-diamond templates in the slip I moved to the top of the storage box (low template numbers) so that the overlaid switches show the rail edges correctly. First for black & white printing (actually it's grey-shade, which is neater than basic black/white only), file attached. Martin. |
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| Attachment: attach_647_930_pdf_for_mark_grey.pdf 330 | |||
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posted: 9 Sep 2009 21:55 from: Martin Wynne
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Hi Mark, Now here is the same in colour. Let me know if anything is not how you want it and I will do them again. They are quite quick to do. regards, Martin. |
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| Attachment: attach_648_930_pdf_for_mark_colour.pdf 432 | |||
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posted: 9 Sep 2009 22:14 from: Mark Leigh
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Hi Martin, Once again Thanks for you help I'll let you know the outcome on cost tomorrow. Mark |
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posted: 9 Sep 2009 22:42 from: Martin Wynne
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Mark Leigh wrote: I'll let you know the outcome on cost tomorrow.Hi Mark, Thanks. If that's the correct price they could corner the Templot market!  One important point. It's essential to tell the printing firm to set "No page scaling" in the printer dialog. This is not the usual default setting, so you need to emphasize this point. Tell the operator at least 3 times. Check afterwards by measuring the 50mm grid lines very carefully. regards, Martin. |
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posted: 10 Sep 2009 17:59 from: JFS
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Mark, Not sure about your PDF printer but I use PDF995 which is freebie. In that, you can select all sorts of page sizes (upto about 12" x 180" or something) and it comes up with the goods. However Martin, I have come across a different problem and that is that I connot get Templot to print in anything other than B & W. If I select Colour or Grayscale, Templot says that the printer is set to B & W - even though it seemd to me to be set correct. Any thoughts? Best Regards, Howard |
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posted: 10 Sep 2009 18:52 from: Martin Wynne
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JFS wrote: However Martin, I have come across a different problem and that is that I connot get Templot to print in anything other than B & W. If I select Colour or Grayscale, Templot says that the printer is set to B & W - even though it seemd to me to be set correct. Any thoughts?Hi Howard, It's a bug in pdf995. When asked if it can do colour, it says no. Templot takes it at its word and changes to black and white printing. It is of course a lie. It can do colour fine, and if you just send colour data without asking first, it creates a normal colour pdf. This is what most other programs do. There is no workaround for this at present, but I will add an override to ignore the reported printer capabilities and just send it regardless. In the meantime, there are several alternatives to pdf995 which work in colour without problems. The free trial of pdfFactory is fully functional with no time limit, if you don't mind a logo overprint on each page: http://www.fineprint.com/products/pdffactory/ Likewise Win2PDF, which prints additional pages in the free trial mode: http://www.win2pdf.com/products/win2pdf.htm I tested several of these PDF generators a few years ago and came to the conclusion that Win2PDF produced the best match to Templot's native print output. But that was then -- no doubt they have all upgraded since then, and also we now have the excellent Foxit Reader as an alternative to Adobe for printing PDF files. The most important point is to remember to set page scaling to "None" when printing templates from PDF. See also this topic: topic 604 regards, Martin. |
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posted: 11 Sep 2009 17:01 from: richard_t
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How did the printing go? And was it as cheap as they suggested? What's the quality of the paper? Thanks. |
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posted: 11 Sep 2009 20:46 from: JFS
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Martin, Many thanks for this. It comes as a surprise as I have used PDF995 many times in colour without problems - including printing some rather large signal box diagrams! I suppose, to keep things in perspective, we lived with monochrome for years before Templot, but - given the option - I would prefer to avoid both logos and spare pages (especially if the page size is 24 x 108!) and to have the colour! Many thanks, and Best Regards, Howard. |
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posted: 11 Sep 2009 21:05 from: Mark Leigh
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Hi Richard, Printing Companies Plotter gone wrong. Meant to be fixed today 11/09/09 but parts never showed up. Thinks it'll be Wednesday!!!!! Confirmed with company and prices were £10 +vat for Greyscale and £35 +vat for Colour. That was on 100gsm single roll print. They have given me another company to call, "If i'm that desperate", but there in Maidstone. Will call anyway to get another quote and let you all know how it turns out. Unfortunately thats the downfall of relying on other people - untimely delays - God i'm sounding like a representive for BR now End of the day i'll be going for Greyscale as it's only gonna be covered up. richard_t wrote: How did the printing go? And was it as cheap as they suggested? What's the quality of the paper? |
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posted: 11 Sep 2009 21:52 from: Martin Wynne
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JFS wrote: Many thanks for this. It comes as a surprise as I have used PDF995 many times in colour without problems - including printing some rather large signal box diagrams!Hi Howard, Just to repeat -- the bug is in PDF995, not Templot. All other similar PDF generators work fine in Templot and in colour. There are dozens of them to choose from. Win2PDF has proved to be one of the best. The extra page can be turned over and put back in the printer. Or you can buy the paid-for version, of course. Everything will be solved soon when Templot can create its own colour PDFs to any size you like, as demonstrated in the ones I did that way for Mark. regards, Martin. |
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posted: 12 Sep 2009 08:18 from: JFS
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Hi Martin, It seems that this 'bug' is quite widespread - I just downloaded both PrimoPDF and CutePDF and they both exhibit the same problem - perhaps they are actually the same engine rebadged. So all this proves there is no such thing as "free" software, but all the same, paying 20 quid for a print driver does seem a bit steep, but does remind us that Templot is pretty good value for money . So really looking forward to the "built-in" version! Best Regards, Howard. |
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posted: 13 Sep 2009 08:41 from: richard_t
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Mark Leigh wrote:Hi Richard, Thanks for the update. |
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posted: 3 Oct 2009 17:34 from: David Catton
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We celebrated my wife's retirement earlier this week - she was a professor at a large Northern University. During the chit-chat session that preceded the presentations, I noticed that her IT Support chappie had taken possession of an HP Designjet 800 which used to belong to a research group that is now disbanded. It's connected to his PC and when asked he said he was willing to run off some prints for me. This printer can handle 42" wide roll paper and length seems not to be an issue. I would certainly like to have the layout of the trackwork that my good friend, Tony Wilkins, has completed so far (see <http://www.clag.org.uk/track-construction1.html>) printed off as large as possible to help with planning the baseboards. If I forward the box file, can anyone help me prepare a .pdf file that can be printed on this HP device, please? Thanks in anticipation, David Catton |
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posted: 5 Oct 2009 21:19 from: Martin Wynne
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David Catton wrote: If I forward the box file, can anyone help me prepare a .pdf file that can be printed on this HP device, please?Hi David, Sure. Just attach the .box file here and I will create a PDF for you. It's very likely that your friend could print a DXF file from Templot anyway -- see: search Templot Club for DXF regards, Martin. |
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posted: 5 Oct 2009 22:30 from: David Catton
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Martin Wynne wrote: David Catton wrote:Many thanks, Martin - .box file attached. It is based on a large scale OS Map of the area in the 1950s.If I forward the box file, can anyone help me prepare a .pdf file that can be printed on this HP device, please?Hi David, ATB, David C |
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| Attachment: attach_664_930_Engine_shed_7.box 285 | |||
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posted: 2 Nov 2009 18:07 from: Martin Wynne
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Hi David, Your PDF files for printing. These should open and print in the Foxit Reader, or in Adobe Reader 9 or later. It is ESSENTIAL that the printer operator changes the setting to "no page scaling" -- this is not the default. I noticed that the design is unfinished -- I assume this is just an initial planning print? There is a lot of timber shoving still needed, and many templates overlap. There didn't seem to be any reason to print the timbering wrong, so I have done these PDFs with the timbering turned off. Also it was prepared using version 078e of Templot. There are significant additional functions available by upgrading to 091c. Page 1 is 1000mm x 5000mm Page 2 is 1000mm x 3500mm There is a 25mm side-by-side overlap. Click these links to download (both 2.3MB) Page 1 Page 2 Please let me know if any problems. (Page 1 may be too long to open in versions of Adobe Reader earlier than version 9. All OK in the Foxit Reader.) regards, Martin. |
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posted: 5 Mar 2010 17:20 from: David Catton
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Hi, I raised this was a while ago (before Christmas) and the friend who has access to an HP roll printer has been unable to print the .pdf files for me. His report was: "It took me some time (and some paper, and some ink) to work out how to print as a continuous roll rather than a specific paper size but I've done it. Unfortunately though, the output is not what I was expecting. If you take a look at the attached photo, you should see what I mean - There are several blue lines running vertically down the plan. I'm not sure where these have come from as they're not visible in the PDF on screen. Also, not long after i took this photo the printer froze and wouldn't complete the job. I left it for half-an-hour to see if it just needed a "moment" but it was no good. The only way to get any response was to turn it off and on again." 1570_051214_350000000.jpg  I have no problem printing out the .pdf files Martin prepared for me - but only at A4 size (the size of printer I have at home). Can anyone shed any light on what happened to add spurious lines to the print-out - I can confirm that Foxit was used as Martin receommended? Martin Wynne wrote: Hi David, |
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posted: 1 May 2010 15:30 from: JFS
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Further to the discussion about printing to PDF files, I have just been pointed in the direction of 'doPDF v7' which works ansolutely fine from Templot, including printing to colour, scale and everything else. and it seems to be free and has no limitations (unless I am going to find some in the future!) Regards, Howard. |
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posted: 3 May 2010 21:49 from: wcampbell23
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JFS wrote: Further to the discussion about printing to PDF files, I have just been pointed in the direction of 'doPDF v7' which works ansolutely fine from Templot, including printing to colour, scale and everything else. and it seems to be free and has no limitations (unless I am going to find some in the future!)I have just tried "doPDF v7" and although the Templot track design was fine, the background shape I had used was not reproduced correctly. It appeared as though the paging for the background shape was the reverse of that for the Templot pages. The trial was with the page size set to A4. A copy of the pdf is attached. The next message will have a screenshot from the print screen of Templot showing the correct paging. Regards Bill Campbell. |
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| Attachment: attach_790_930_Templot_Pages.pdf 256 | |||
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posted: 3 May 2010 21:50 from: wcampbell23
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Hi again The screenshot from Templot is attached. |
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| Attachment: attach_792_930_screenshot.jpg 296 | |||
| Last edited on 3 May 2010 21:52 by wcampbell23 |
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