Long-time readers (both of you) may recall this post from nearly two years ago. It contains a link to a page on the Autodesk website from which you could download a utility program (tableprint8.exe) that would export the content of a Plot Style file (STB or CTB) to a comma-delimited text file, suitable for printing or opening with a spreadsheet program such as Excel. For those who prefer the challenge of finding that page from the Autodesk home page, you can start there, then click on each of the following links to hop from one page to the next to get there: Home > Building > Products & Services > Autodesk® Architectural Desktop > Training > How-to Articles > Routines, Tools and Add-ons > Plot Tool: CTB and STB Printing.
If you use one of the 2004-format versions of ADT (2004, 2005 or 2006), that is the file you want, and if you have not already downloaded it, you may want to do so soon, as there is not telling when the version on that page will be replaced with the current, 2007 version, tableprint9.exe. If you are already using ADT 2007 (or any other AutoCAD-2007-based product, you can grab tableprint9.exe on this page. For those who like to navigate on the Autodesk site, you can start at the home page and follow these links: Home > Building > Products & Services > Autodesk® Architectural Desktop > Data & Downloads > Utilities & Drivers > CTB and STB Printing Tool for AutoCAD 2007 under the Autodesk® Architectural Desktop 2007 section.
Whichever version you use, be certain to read and follow the installation instructions. The EXE file will need to be copied to the same folder as the acad.exe file.
There are a lot of other interesting items on the intermediate pages, so while clicking on the direct link here will speed you on your way, you may want to explore the other items available when you have a spare moment or two.
Showing posts with label CTB STB. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CTB STB. Show all posts
January 02, 2007
January 23, 2005
Changing A Drawing's Plot Style Type
There are two types of plot styles: color-dependent plot styles [CTB extension] and named plot styles [STB extension]. When plotting, you will only see plot styles of the type the drawing you are plotting is set to use. If you are not seeing your plot style file, and you are certain that it is in the plot style folder [check this in the Options dialog, on the Files tab], then you likely have a file that is set to use the other type of plot style files. Verify this by opening the Properties toolbar in Autodesk® Architectural Desktop 2004 or 2005 and examining the rightmost control, for Plot Style. With no active command, if it is grayed out and displaying “ByColor”, you are in a color-dependent plot style file. If it is not grayed out and you can click on the arrow to see a list of plot styles, you are in a named plot style file.
STB to CTB: Type CONVERTPSTYLES at the Command: prompt to convert your file to use color-dependent plot styles.
CTB to STB: You will need a conversion file to map your layers [by color] to a named plot style. If your office migrated from CTBs to STBs, you may already have one of these, based on your old CTB file; if you can access that, use it and skip the CONVERTCTB step that follows. Type CONVERTCTB at the Command: prompt and select a CTB file, to create a translation file. Then type CONVERTPSTYLES and select your translation file. NOTE: This will convert the file to use STB plot styles, but will assign plot styles to layers based on their color and the corresponding named plot style in the translation file. You will likely need to reassign plot styles, based on the STB file with which you wish to plot.
How to avoid the above mess? Set up template files - or use the out-of-the-box ones - that use your desired plot style type and make certain all new files are started using one of these templates. You can also set your plot style type preference in the Options dialog [Plotting tab], but this will only cover drawings started without a template ["from scratch"], which is generally not a good idea in Autodesk® Architectural Desktop, or when opening a pre-AutoCAD 2000 file, which was before the introduction of plot styles.
STB to CTB: Type CONVERTPSTYLES at the Command: prompt to convert your file to use color-dependent plot styles.
CTB to STB: You will need a conversion file to map your layers [by color] to a named plot style. If your office migrated from CTBs to STBs, you may already have one of these, based on your old CTB file; if you can access that, use it and skip the CONVERTCTB step that follows. Type CONVERTCTB at the Command: prompt and select a CTB file, to create a translation file. Then type CONVERTPSTYLES and select your translation file. NOTE: This will convert the file to use STB plot styles, but will assign plot styles to layers based on their color and the corresponding named plot style in the translation file. You will likely need to reassign plot styles, based on the STB file with which you wish to plot.
How to avoid the above mess? Set up template files - or use the out-of-the-box ones - that use your desired plot style type and make certain all new files are started using one of these templates. You can also set your plot style type preference in the Options dialog [Plotting tab], but this will only cover drawings started without a template ["from scratch"], which is generally not a good idea in Autodesk® Architectural Desktop, or when opening a pre-AutoCAD 2000 file, which was before the introduction of plot styles.
January 17, 2005
Printing STB and CTB Files
Autodesk provides a tool that will allow you to export the contents of a named or color-dependent plot style table to a comma delimited text file. You can look at or print this text file directly, or import it into most spreadsheet programs for additional formatting, sorting, etc. This can be quite useful when setting up an office standard or trying to compare several plot style files.
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