Save As .pdf W/colored Jpg's Doesn't Work After Update


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After the latest update, colored jpg's print out grayscale....see attached.  I've messed with the "print with color" setting in the print .dbx, but that prints everything in color.

I want the plan to print out as grayscale and jpgs colored!

post-111-0-32077400-1431539474_thumb.jpg

post-111-0-73933900-1431539483_thumb.jpg

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Steve,

 

I have not been able to reproduce this. Could you give me a little bit more information about what you are trying to accomplish? I don't quite understand what you mean by:

 

I've messed with the "print with color" setting in the print .dbx, but that prints everything in color.

 

Choosing print in color should always print everything in color. In your before image it looks like everything is being printed in color.

 

One thing you can try to see if it resolves the issue is to go to File>Print>Clear Printer Info, then try printing again.

 

Thanks

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Brian,

 

Thanks for the reply.  Here is another example that may illustrate my problem clearer.  In the past I have been able to print a grayscale floor plan and a logo in color.

Now when the plan is printed (saved as .pdf) the logo prints out in grayscale - unless "print in color" is selected in the .dbx...but selecting that, as you mentioned, prints everything in color.

 

I've included a screenshot of the print dbx, as well.  Strange, the preview shows the logo in color, but the output file is all grayscale.

 

I cleared the printer info, but there was no change.

post-111-0-53548300-1431544552_thumb.jpg

post-111-0-97948700-1431544562_thumb.jpg

post-111-0-81942900-1431545086_thumb.png

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Steve,

 

Could you submit your plan and layout files to us via the Online Support Center so we can try and reproduce the issue?

 

It is possible the issue with the descrepancy in the print dialog is related to something specific in your plan.

 

We currently do not have a feature that gives the user the ability to specify certain aspects of a printout to be in color and others not be.

 

We did fix a bug in the 17.2 update where some plans would print in color even when Print in color was not checked or vice versa.  This fix likely resulted in the change you are seeing.

 

Thanks

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Brian,

 

Thanks for the reply.  Here is another example that may illustrate my problem clearer.  In the past I have been able to print a grayscale floor plan and a logo in color.

Now when the plan is printed (saved as .pdf) the logo prints out in grayscale - unless "print in color" is selected in the .dbx...but selecting that, as you mentioned, prints everything in color.

 

I've included a screenshot of the print dbx, as well.  Strange, the preview shows the logo in color, but the output file is all grayscale.

 

I cleared the printer info, but there was no change.

It seems like I always had to have print in color turned on to get gray scale as well as color. If I didn't have print in color on I wouldn't get the gray scale.

 

If you do 'print in color' does the gray scale print in anything other than the gray it's supposed to?

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It seems like I always had to have print in color turned on to get gray scale as well as color. If I didn't have print in color on I wouldn't get the gray scale.

 

If you do 'print in color' does the gray scale print in anything other than the gray it's supposed to?

 

If I select "Print in Color", everything prints in color...the logo, the blue and yellow walls, etc.

 

I have "Color Off is:  Grayscale" selected in the Preferences/Appearance/Display dbx. and the color toggle in the layout window is toggled to "Off".

 

I also have "Images and Pictures: 'Display in Color when Possible'" selected under Preferences/Appearance/Display.

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If I select "Print in Color", everything prints in color...the logo, the blue and yellow walls, etc.

 

I have "Color Off is:  Grayscale" selected in the Preferences/Appearance/Display dbx. and the color toggle in the layout window is toggled to "Off".

 

I also have "Images and Pictures: 'Display in Color when Possible'" selected under Preferences/Appearance/Display.

Ah I see. I have actual gray walls and they showed gray in your screen shots so didn't realize you had colored walls i.e. blue yellow. Hope you get it fixed.

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I think I can get what you want with the following settings in Layout.

This is with a .jpg imported into the Layout.

 

Preferences...Display...Display in Color when Possible - checked and Grayscale checked.

 

View...Color toggled off. I don't think makes any difference to the printing, just the on screen print preview)

 

Print Layout dbx...Options...Print in Color unchecked.

 

I assume you want to print like the second image.

post-106-0-67398600-1431571196_thumb.jpg

post-106-0-13646800-1431571217_thumb.jpg

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I assume you want to print like the second image.

 

Spot on, Glenn.  I have the settings exactly as you have, and everything looks great - right down to the preview...but when it saves the .pdf file, the .jpg files come out grayscale.

Did you print the files you posted running Chief X7 Build 17.2.0.69?  

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Steve,

 

No, sorry, I didn't print.

I was relying on the print preview.

No color here when I print to .pdf.

 

I am pretty sure that you could do this in the past.

 

I was sure there was an option somewhere that said Always Print Images in Color, or some such thing.

Maybe it am thinking of the Display in Color When Possible setting.

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For the time being you may have to do what Glenn did above and export the screen image as a jpg. Then import this back into your layout. Should then print correctly or save as pdf correctly with print in colour turned on.

 

It seems a bit weird though as the usual philosophy is WISWIG "what I see is what I get" and then you have a choice to override this when printing or saving as a pdf through the print in color, print b&w or print greyscale. In theory setting to print in color should print it the way you see it.

 

Graham

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I was sure there was an option somewhere that said Always Print Images in Color, or some such thing.

Maybe it am thinking of the Display in Color When Possible setting.

 

I think they may have changed the verbiage in X7.   I'm seem to remember the "Print Images in Color", too.

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Ste,

 

I checked X6 and it is the same as X7.

So I checked the X6 help file and under the What's new In X6 section, I found this:

 

• Obsolete Double Buffer Drawing and Always Display Images and Pictures in Color settings were removed from the Preferences dialog. See Appearance Panel.

 

 

That is what I was thinking of.

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It seems a bit weird though as the usual philosophy is WISWIG "what I see is what I get" and then you have a choice to override this when printing or saving as a pdf through the print in color, print b&w or print greyscale. In theory setting to print in color should print it the way you see it.

I agree, if you see the color on your screen, it should print that color from your printer. I'm sure the techs at CA would not argue with that sentiment and are working to get that straightened out.

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What you see when you choose the print preview option should be what you get when you print assuming that you printer can print in color.

 

The feature to display and print images in color while everything else is gray scale or black and white has always seemed an odd feature. As I recall this was done because at one point in the past images were not converted to gray scale when printing and were coming out in color because of a bug. When we added the ability to display and print an image as gray scale we added the preference to keep the original bug. I don't recall whether that was because of customer complaints or just because it was different and we wanted to avoid complaints. In any case it sounds like that feature got broken in the latest release.

 

Generally I would recommend choosing layer colors that are what you want and always printing in color. That way you can control everything the way you want.

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Generally I would recommend choosing layer colors that are what you want and always printing in color. That way you can control everything the way you want.

 

I can see what you're saying.  I'm not totally opposed to that, but I like having different fill colors (rather than different shades) for different wall types because I can quickly see and differentiate between wall types in plan view.

 

I tend to double click the plan in layout view to enter into the desired layerset for detailing.  If it is set up with everything as a shade of gray in the layerset, I think it would slow productivity a bit, not having color to aid in quickly differentiating between joists, trusses, roof plane edges, etc.

 

I know that can be handled by changing the layer/annoset once in the plan, but it adds another step to the process.

 

Perry and Larry - are you using a different layer/annoset for working in the plan, than presentation view in the layout?

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Perry and Larry - are you using a different layer/annoset for working in the plan, than presentation view in the layout?

 

Nope , I send the plan to the layout using my standard plan layer-set, which I have worked out the colors to print in grayscale. A very light color just won't print well ,so keep the colors on the dark side and use that for all your layersets as a start until you get it the way you want. Plan and presentation are the same colors for me. I do change some colors lighter and darker as needed for different plans like framing vs. floor vs roof plans

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I THINK I might use the same technique as Perry. I just shade walls various shades of gray (I usually use around 50 - get it?) as I've never really used color walls to depict various wall types, only grays and variations of gray.

 

If I remember your original request and your remembrance of the way Chief used to work, I think getting that functionality back would be pretty cool and something I might use in the future, but never really took to using colored walls, and that could be because i didn't understand Chief could print those in Gray Scale and jpg's/pdf's in color.

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