How to Plot a Drawing to a PDF With AutoCAD 2000
Portable Document Format--or "PDF" for short--is the easiest and most consistent way to share computer documents of any kind. It is especially helpful in the engineering industry, as most interested parties on any given project do not have the specialized engineering software necessary to view drawings in their native formats. Converting AutoCAD 2000 drawings and documents to PDF can be done with a small piece of free software, and is literally as easy as sending the document to a printer.
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Instructions
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Printing to PDF
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Choose a PDF Creator. There are several free options (see the resources for a link to one: "PrimoPDF"), and of course, several commercial options. For simply sharing drawings as they appear in AutoCAD, a free application is all you need. Commercial options, such as Adobe Acrobat, allow extra functionality in manipulating PDF's, such as adding notes and comments, organizing individual PDF's into groups, etc.
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Install the application. The installation instructions will vary depending on what application you choose. In the case of PrimoPDF, click the download link, and follow the directions on the page that appears.
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Print a test document. After completing the PDF creator's installation, Open a drawing in AutoCAD, and enter "plot" into the command line. Press "Enter" to bring the plot dialog up. In the printer drop-down box, you should see your installed PDF creator as an option (i.e. "PrimoPDF"). Choose the PDF creator, and set up the plot just as you would for a physical printer/plotter.
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Save the PDF plot. When you plot the drawing from AutoCAD, a dialog will appear asking you to specify a location and file name to save the PDF. The PDF application will now save the plot output of AutoCAD into the specified file in PDF format, for viewing and sharing as needed.
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Tips & Warnings
This process is not limited to AutoCAD 2006, or AutoCAD at all, for that matter. It will work with any software that can output to a printer.
To view PDF documents, you need the ubiquitous Adobe Acrobat Reader. This is most likely already installed on your computer, but if not, it may be downloaded for free (see the "Resources" section).
References
Resources
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