TrueType Font Orientation

[TomU]

I opened a case with PTC on this issue this morning, but I thought I would throw it out to the list as well and see if anyone has any ideas.

Short Description
Drawings with portrait orientation are sent to the printer as landscape. Because of this, any true type font text is rotated when the drawing is printed using MS Print Manager.

Symptoms
True type fonts are rotated during printing if placed on a drawing with portrait orientation and printed through MS Print Manager.

Steps to Reproduce
1.) Create a new format or drawing with portrait orientation.
2.) Create one or more notes on the drawing.
3.) Set the note font style to a True Type font (CG Triumvirate for example).
4.) Print the drawing using MS Print Manager.

I have confirmed that this behavior occurs regardless of the final destination chosen from the Windows print dialog. I have tested a HP Laser printer, a Ricoh Copier, a Canon plotter, and directly to Adobe Acrobat. The same behavior is observable with all.

This problem does not occur if the drawing is sent directly to the printer using the built-in Windows "print" command instead ("print /d:destination). The problem with this though is that if the printer itself doesn't already contain each true type font (and most of them don't), then a generic one is substituted.

I have confirmed this behavior in both Wildfire 5 M120 and Creo 2.0 F000

A PDF is attached showing the behavior.

Page 1 shows how the drawing is supposed to look. It matches the screen perfectly. The other pages show different ways of printing the same drawing and the results. The first four pages are purely electronic. The rest of the pages were scanned back in after printing to show what is coming out of the different printers.

The table on the bottom of the page shows how each of the drawing was printed for each of the different pages. Pay special attention to how the prints sent through MS Print Manager to Adobe Acrobat are oriented. I think this may be the core issue. I think drawings with portrait orientation are being sent to the printer interface as if they are landscape. The true type fonts then get oriented as though the drawing is in landscape, but it's not.

Ultimately I would prefer not to use the "Stroke Fonts" option for two reasons. First, it make the fonts appear much bolder than they really are (or should appear). Second, it significantly bloats the files sent to the printer and the PDFs created. File size for stroked font drawings increases by a factor of 10 and it takes 3 to 4 times longer for the printers to process them before printing.

Finally, using the "Use TrueType Fonts" printer option shouldn't (in my opinion) change the look of non-TrueType fonts. I can understand the difference between stroking the font and sending the TrueType fonts to the printer. I don't understand why choosing to send TrueType fonts to the printer changes all the non-TrueType fonts to something else

Any ideas? Thanks!

Tom Uminn
Engineering Systems Analyst
trans-matic Mfg.
616-820-2499
-<">mailto:->


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[TomU]

The only possibly related document I could locate in the PTC knowledge base was this:

https://www.ptc.com/appserver/cs/view/solution.jsp?n=CS41120

For what it's worth.

Tom U.

[TomU]

For those who are tracking this thread, I need to clarify something.

When using the "MS_PRINT_MGR" type printer, ALL versions (WF5, Creo 1, and Creo 2) incorrectly rotate TrueType fonts (on portrait oriented drawings). When using the "POSTSCRIPT" type printer with the "PRINT /D" command, WF5 and Creo 1 incorrectly rotate the TrueType fonts, but Creo 2 keeps them oriented correctly. There was apparently some software change to how portrait orientated drawing are sent to "POSTSCRIPT" type printers between Creo 1 and Creo 2. This same change needs to be made for "MS_PRINT_MGR" type printers as well (and preferably pushed back to WF5).

Unless PTC comes up with a better solution, it looks like I will either have to create PDFs directly and then print those or fall back to using "Stroke Fonts" (with the disadvantages that come with it).

Tom U.

[A.DelNegro]

Sorry this is a bit off topic, but I didn’t get any responses via the ‘etc’ list…



Anyone know where I can get an orifice flow meter to use to check my mass flow controllers? Just looking for a quick way to check that the electronic MFC’s are still calibrated… Flow rate is 0-2LPM, CO2.



Thanx

T