Print Area, View Group, and View

When Print Organizer creates a Fixed print definition or prints a Variable print definition, the initial print area is determined as follows:

• If the active model contains a sheet definition and the Fence creation method is set to None, the print area is obtained from the sheet definition.
• If the active model contains a sheet definition and one of the Fence creation methods is set, the fence defines the print area.
• If no sheet definition exists and the Fence creation method is set to None, the print area is set to view.
• If no sheet definition exists and one of the Fence creation methods is set, the print area is set to fence.

The model selection and fence creation methods on the Fence tab are applied before any of the other tabs. Therefore, it may not be necessary to specify a print area, view group, or view when creating print definitions, since these properties are derived from the model selection and fence creation methods.

You can, however, use the Area controls on the Main tab to override the print area, view, and view group that are obtained from the model selection and fence creation methods.

Print to 3D

With the release of Acrobat Version 7.0 or later, Adobe's PDF format supports the embedding of 3D content within documents. Any 3D content within a PDF document is stored in "Universal 3D" (U3D) format. This format was introduced by the 3D Industry Forum as a means for transferring three-dimensional data from CAD systems to mainstream applications such as marketing, training, sales, technical support, and customer service.

Rasterized

Selecting the Rasterized check box allows you to create rasterized print files. The printer driver must support raster, so you can not create rasterized prints using the Bentley HP-GL/2 printer driver.

In a rasterized print, the graphics hardware is used to render the print in the same manner as the view display. Rasterized printing is generally closer to WYSIWYG ("what-you-see-is-what-you-get") than non-rasterized printing. When creating a rasterized print, MicroStation breaks up the view into many tiles and makes multiple passes over the design to render each tile. The more tiles required, the longer the print job will take.

The output of a rasterized print is a print file consisting entirely of raster tiles. When printing a vector DGN file, a rasterized print file will usually be larger than a non-rasterized print file. However, if the design contains a raster background image spanning the entire view, there should not be a noticeable file size difference.

There are some features that require rasterized printing, such as transparency and anti-aliasing effects. Designs containing large amounts of raster data may print more efficiently in rasterized mode, but it is not a requirement.

Printer driver configuration files provide an option (Default Output Mode) for setting the default Rasterized check box for the Print dialog and Print Organizer. You can force the Rasterized check box on or off (in which case the control becomes disabled), or mark it as preferred on or off (in which case the Rasterized check box is set to the desired value automatically when the printer driver configuration is loaded, but can be changed afterwards). By default, the printer driver configuration is set to "No Preference," and the Rasterized check box defaults to the most recently used setting from the user preferences.

In a non-rasterized print, the application of line caps and joins to vectors is the responsibility of the printer driver. Some printer drivers support more cap and join styles than others, and their appearance may vary depending on the printer firmware. In a rasterized print, the line caps and joins are applied by the graphics hardware and the results are embedded in the raster tiles—ensuring consistent appearance when printing to any printer driver or printer.