Create and Modify a Drawing Set for Publishing

You can assemble a collection of drawing sheets to publish to a plotter, plot files, or to a Design Web Format™ (DWF and DWFx) file. You can save the drawing set and modify it.

You can assemble a collection of drawing sheets to publish to a plotter, plot files, or to a DWF or DWFx file. You can customize your drawing set for a specific use, and you can add, remove, reorder, copy, and rename sheets in a drawing set as a project evolves.

You can publish the drawing set directly to paper or to a single DWF file or multiple DWF files that can be distributed using email, FTP sites, project websites, or physical media. You can save a description of a drawing set that's been assembled to publish in a Drawing Set Descriptions (DSD) file.

Procedures

To create a drawing set for publishing

  1. Click Home tab Output panel Batch Plot.
  2. In the Publish dialog box, you can modify the list of sheets by doing any of the following as needed:
    • Add sheets. To add sheets from other drawings, click the Add Sheets button (or drag drawings from the desktop). In the Select Drawings dialog box, select drawings. Click Select to add them to the list of sheets in the Publish dialog box. All of the layouts in a drawing become individual sheets in the list of drawing sheets. You can remove the individual sheets if you do not want them to become part of the drawing set. A layout must be initialized (its paper size must be defined in the page setup to any size other than 0 x 0) before it can be published.
    Note: To include all layouts when you add sheets to a drawing set, make sure the Include Layouts When Adding Sheets option is selected on the shortcut menu or in the Publish dialog box.
    • Include model layouts. If you include an uninitialized (the paper size is not defined in the page setup or is set to 0 x 0) model layout, it will be marked as Uninitialized in the Status column on the sheet list. It can be plotted if you select an override page setup for it in the Publish dialog box from the page setup drop-down list under Page Setups in the sheet list.
    Note: To include the model when you add sheets to a drawing set, make sure the Include Model When Adding Sheets option is selected either on the shortcut menu or in the Publish dialog box.
    • Remove sheets. To remove sheets from the list, select one or more sheets in the list. Click the Remove Sheets button. To remove all sheets, right-click. Click Remove All.
    • Reorder sheets. To reorder the sheets up or down one position in the list, select a sheet. Click either the Move Sheet Up or Move Sheet Down button. Sheets in the drawing set are viewed or plotted in the order shown in the list.
    • Rename sheets. To rename a sheet, select it in the list and right-click. Click Rename Sheet. Enter the new sheet name.
    • Change page setups. To change the page setup for a layout, select the sheet, and in the Page Setup list select a named page setup from the list; or select one or more sheets and right-click. Click Change Page Setup. In the Page Setup list, select a page setup, or select Import to import page setups from another drawing or template. In the Import Page Setups dialog box, select a drawing with one or more page setups. Click Import. In the Page Setup list, select a named page setup.
    Note: If you need to change the page setup for a sheet to be printed on paper, either import the page setup you need from another DWG file, or use the Plot command instead of the Publish command.
    • Copy sheets. To copy one or more drawing sheets, select the sheets in the list and right-click. Click Copy Selected Sheets. The copied drawing sheets are added and highlighted at the end of the sheet list. When a sheet is copied, its name is created by the addition of -Copy(n) at the end of the original sheet name. For example, if you create one copy of a sheet called Plumbing, the copied sheet is called Plumbing-Copy(1). Each time you copy the same sheet, the n is incremented by 1. By creating copies of a sheet, you can have different page setups and other settings for the same sheet.
  3. When your list of drawing sheets is assembled and configured the way you want for your drawing set, click the Save List button.
  4. In the Save List As dialog box, in the File Name box, enter a name for the list. Click Save.

    The drawing set list is saved as a DSD (Drawing Set Descriptions) file.

To add sheets from a drawing to a drawing set for publishing

  1. Click Home tab Output panel Batch Plot.
  2. In the Publish dialog box, click the Add Sheets button.
  3. In the Select Drawings dialog box, select drawings. Click Select to add them to the list of sheets in the Publish dialog box.
    Note: You can also drag drawings from the desktop into the Publish dialog box to add sheets to the list.

    All of the layouts in a drawing become individual sheets in the list of drawing sheets.

    You must remove the drawing sheets that you don't want to become a part of the drawing set. Layouts must be initialized before they can be published. (A layout is initialized if its paper size is defined in the page setup to any size other than 0 x 0.)

To add sheets from a DSD file to a drawing set for publishing

  1. Click Home tab Output panel Batch Plot.
  2. In the Publish dialog box, click the Load Sheet List button.
  3. In the Load List of Sheets dialog box, select a DSD file. Click Load.
  4. In the Replace or Append dialog box, click Replace to replace the current sheets with the sheets in the DSD file, or click Append to add the sheets in the DSD file to the list of sheets in the Publish dialog box.

To remove a sheet from a drawing set for publishing

  1. Click Home tab Output panel Batch Plot.
  2. In the Publish dialog box, make sure the sheets that you want to remove are listed.
  3. Under Sheets, select one or more sheets to remove. Click the Remove Sheets button.

To remove all sheets from a drawing set for publishing

  1. Click Home tab Output panel Batch Plot.
  2. In the Publish dialog box, make sure the sheets that you want to remove are listed.
  3. In the Sheet List area, right-click. Click Remove All.
    Note: Removing all sheets cannot be undone.

To reorder sheets in a drawing set for publishing

  1. Click Home tab Output panel Batch Plot.
  2. In the Publish dialog box, make sure the sheets that you want to reorder are listed.
  3. Select a sheet. Click either the Move Sheet Up or Move Sheet Down button.
    Note: Sheets in the drawing set are viewed or plotted in the order shown in the Publish dialog box.

To copy sheets in a drawing set for publishing

  1. Click Home tab Output panel Batch Plot.
  2. In the Publish dialog box, make sure the sheets that you want to copy are listed.
  3. Select one or more sheets in the Sheets list and right-click. Click Copy Selected Sheets.

    The copied drawing sheets are added and highlighted at the end of the sheet list. When a sheet is copied, its name is created by the addition of -copy(n) at the end of the original sheet name. For example, if you create one copy of a sheet called Plumbing, the copied sheet is called Plumbing-Copy(1). Each time you copy the same sheet, the n is incremented by 1. By creating copies of a sheet, you can have different page setups and other settings for the same sheet.

To rename sheets in a drawing set for publishing

  1. Click Home tab Output panel Batch Plot.
  2. In the Publish dialog box, make sure the sheets that you want to rename are listed.
  3. Select a sheet in the Sheet list, and then do one of the following:
    • Right-click. Click Rename Sheet.
    • Press F2.
  4. Enter the new sheet name.

To change the page setup of one sheet in a drawing set for publishing

  1. Click Home tab Output panel Batch Plot.
  2. In the Publish dialog box, make sure the sheet for which you want to change the page setup is listed.
  3. Select a sheet in the Sheet list.
  4. Under Page Setup, select a page setup to apply to the drawing sheet.
    Note: If you need to change the page setup for a sheet to be printed on paper, either import the page setup you need from another DWG file, or use the Plot command instead of the Publish command.

To change the page setup of one or more sheets in a drawing set for publishing

  1. Click Home tab Output panel Batch Plot.
  2. In the Publish dialog box, make sure the sheets for which you want to change the page setups are listed.
  3. Select one or more sheets in the list and right-click. Click Change Page Setup.
  4. In the Page Setup list, select a page setup to apply to the drawing sheets.
    Note: If you need to change the page setup for a sheet to be printed on paper, either import the page setup you need from another DWG file, or use the Plot command instead of the Publish command.

To import a page setup from another drawing to apply to a drawing sheet for publishing

  1. Click Home tab Output panel Batch Plot.
  2. In the Publish dialog box, make sure the sheet for which you want to change the page setup is listed.
  3. Select a sheet in the Sheet list.
  4. Under Page Setup, select Import from the list.
  5. In the Import Page Setups dialog box, select the drawing whose page setups you want to import. Click Import.

To publish multiple layouts in a drawing

  1. In the drawing area, click a layout tab that you want to publish.
  2. Press and hold the Ctrl key, and then click the other layout tabs that you want to publish.
  3. Right-click one of the selected layout tabs. Click Publish Selected Layouts.
  4. In the Publish dialog box, change any settings for the selected layouts.
  5. Click Publish.
Parent topic: Publish (Batch Plot) Drawings