Faded PDF or lost reference

[AHdesigner]

Hi all, I've never had this problem before... When sending an elevation (with a glass house reference) to layout:

1 - I send as Plot Lines but it loses the glass house reference along the way, or

2 - I send as Live View and it looks good in the print preview but is faded/washed out on the PDF when I export it.

 

Any suggestions? I've researched and tried a bunch of things already. I've tried some work-around but would love to just get it right if possible.

Thanks in advance!
Amanda

Chief Architect X17

Edwards - layout.layout

Edited February 10 by AHdesigner

[Renerabbitt]

On 2/9/2026 at 7:27 AM, AHdesigner said:

I send as Plot Lines but it loses the glass house reference along the way, or

Send your existing(reference ) files elevation, and in the shame sheet space, send your proposed elevation. Just one elevation on top of another

[AHdesigner]

Both should be on this attachment... if I understand what you're asking for with the elevation.

Edwards - plan_AS IS.plan

[AHdesigner]

I continue to have problems. Exporting or printing (to PDF) looks right but when I open the PDF the elevations are faded.

 

I've tried plot vs live view (but then lose the reference). Line weights haven't been changed. "Print in Color" is selected on the print box.   ...What else can I do?

 

Anyone have any other suggestions? I'm at a loss.

 

 

[SHCanada2]

you might want to log a ticket with support, I'd be interested in seeing what they saw.

 

I have had similar issue but not to this degree

 

[BenMerritt]

See this response for one of the most common causes of "faded" lines in PDFs. Live views can exhibit issues even more strongly because the lines get drawn into a bitmap image, so PDF viewers are very likely to make them look faded when the PDF is scaled down to fit on the screen.

[AHdesigner]

I checked out that response. It led me to try a few other things...

 

When I print directly from Chief Architect, the line weights look great.

 

When I use "Chief Architect Save As PDF" it looks good on the print preview but not on the PDF or the print itself. Furthermore, all other pages look fine (floor plans, framing, etc.), it's always just the elevations that looks faded.

[Renerabbitt]

19 hours ago, AHdesigner said:

I checked out that response. It led me to try a few other things...

 

When I print directly from Chief Architect, the line weights look great.

 

When I use "Chief Architect Save As PDF" it looks good on the print preview but not on the PDF or the print itself. Furthermore, all other pages look fine (floor plans, framing, etc.), it's always just the elevations that looks faded.

See my response from earlier. Use plot lines ..send your new and send your existing in the same xy sheet space using plot lines 

[AHdesigner]

2 minutes ago, Renerabbitt said:

See my response from earlier. Use plot lines ..send your new and send your existing in the same xy sheet space using plot lines 

Thanks. I have done that before. It does work as a work-around. These references have worked with no fading as long as I've had Chief Architect. Only recently has this acted up. It makes me think there's a setting that needs adjusted. Thanks for the suggestion in the meantime.