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Patriot_1776
Patriot_177622-Sapphire II
22-Sapphire II
September 24, 2019
Solved

The pentable issue rears it's ugly head again...

  • September 24, 2019
  • 5 replies
  • 8113 views

Couldn't find my other thread so...

I'm in Creo 3, M130

I've found some other threads about it, and copied what text I could, and it all didn't do a d@mn thing.  I read that the filename of the ".pnt" file could be anything.pnt, but is that correct?  It SHOULD be, but.  I have the config.pro settings:

pdf_use_pentable  yes

use_8_plotter_pens yes

pen_table_file C:\FRANK\(C) PROE\(C) CONFIGS\franks_pentable1.pnt

 

So that should be ok, and my actual file is:

!PEN1 = Geometry (White)

pen 1 thickness .020 in;

!

!PEN2 = Drawing text (Yellow – dim lines and extension lines, leader lines, centerlines, etc.)

pen 2 thickness .015 in; color 0 0 0; letter_color; selected_color; shaded_edge_color

!

!PEN3 = Hidden Line (Gray - hidden lines, dashed lines, phantom lines, etc.)

pen 3 thickness .015 in; color 0 0 0; sketch_color; curve_color; primary_highlight_color

!

!PEN4 = Highlight - Primary (Dark Red), Selected (Red), Secondary Selected (Orange)

pen 4 thickness .015 in; color 0 0 0; geometry_color; edge_highlight_color

!

!PEN5 = Sheet Metal (Dark Green –Sheet metal solid geometry)

pen 5 thickness .020 in; color 0 0 0; drawing_color; preselection_highlight_color

!

!PEN6 = Sketched Curve (Blue - Sketcher section entities)

pen 6 thickness .015 in; color 0 0 0; quilt_color; hidden_line_color

!

!PEN7 = Highlight - Secondary (Dark Gray - Toggled sections, Grayed dimensions/text, Dim tangent edges

pen 7 thickness .015 in; color 0 0 0; datum_color; previewed_geometry_color

!

!PEN8 = Highlight - Edge (Green - Spline surface grid)

pen 8 thickness .015 in; color 0 0 0; dimmed_color; section_color; background_color

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks!

Best answer by Patriot_1776

Well, maybe I have the answer!  Ok, so, after F@#$#$% with it most of the day, what I found was:

1.  The path didn't matter, it worked the same as the syscol.scl, and .dtl files etc.

2.  The FILENAME seemed to matter (like it does for config.pro vs franks_config.pro or syscol.scl vs franks_syscol.scl, so I just used pen_table.pnt

3.  I believe the text and/or formatting in the .pnt file matters because my file was exactly like yours, but it wasn't the same file.  Dunno, but as soon as I simply changed the values in your file for pen weight, and made sure the paths worked, BOOM!, everything worked.  I wasn't gonna spend time trying to debug the "code" of the .pnt file, I was just happy it worked.  So then I tweaked the numbers until I got a nice heavy line for geometry, and a lot thicker one for dimension/extension lines, centerlines etc. than I was getting before playing with the pentable file and what your file gave me.  And got one that was noticeably thinner line than the geometry line, yet a LOT more readable.  We sign then scan the signed dwg PDF's and add them as attachments (along with STEP files and vendor data) to our dwgs, so, you simply couldn't see the dimension or extension lines or centerlines at all after the scan, it totally $ucked.  This is gonna work WAY better, thanks guys for your help, and I've attached the numbers I came up with for line thickness.

 

@unknown:  You guys REALLY need to change things with the pentable file and how all that works, and make line thickness variable by TYPE of line, not COLOR.  For instance, I use phantom lines for tangent edges (i.e. for rounds) and if I was on the drafting board they would be the same lineweight as centerlines, dimension lines, etc.  Because lineweight is set by COLOR, those lines are white, meaning they print the same thickness as geometry lines, which is incorrect.  OR, better yet, you should change any tangent lines like that to a COLOR that will print thinner.

 

Anyways, y'all give it a spin and let me know what you think!

5 replies

T
23-Emerald IV
TomU23-Emerald IV
23-Emerald IV
September 24, 2019

Pen table file name and extension can be anything you want.  You just need to make sure the config option matches.  Our's is:  pen_table_file H:\Library\Plot\pen_table.txt

 

I'm not sure spaces and parenthesis are allowed in the file path.  Might need to remove those...

pen_table_file C:\FRANK\(C) PROE\(C) CONFIGS\franks_pentable1.pnt

 

Everything else looks okay...

 

Patriot_1776
Patriot_177622-Sapphire IIAuthor
22-Sapphire II
September 24, 2019

'Sup Tom!

 

I copied straight from the Windows explorer path that shows up when you highlight the bar, and Creo recognizes the path to my syscol.scl and tree.cfg file (same exact folder).

 

This is kinda p!ss!ng me off.  Never played with a pentable before.  I'm gonna try a REALLY drastic change and see what happens.

M
MartinHanak24-Ruby III
24-Ruby III
September 25, 2019

Hi,

1.]

Copy franks_pentable1.pnt into C:\FRANK directory.

2.]

Set pen_table_file C:\FRANK\franks_pentable1.pnt in your config.pro file.

3.]

Start Creo and check whether your config.pro is loaded.

File > Options > Configuration Editor.

4.]

Open drawing.

File > Print > Print > Settings > Printer tab > check the contents of Table file field

    Patriot_1776
    Patriot_177622-Sapphire IIAuthor
    22-Sapphire II
    September 25, 2019

    Thanks for the reply guys, I think the license server is down now since I can't even get into Creo.  I'm gonna try Tom's file in C:\TEMP and see if that's it.  Like I said, the colors and tree files work fine, so, I'd be surprised if there was an issue with that same folder just because it was looking for a .pnt file.  But, it IS Creo, so...  😉

    Patriot_1776
    Patriot_177622-Sapphire IIAuthor
    22-Sapphire II
    September 26, 2019

    Oh, and is it egotistical and/or self-centered to mark my own solution as "accepted" if it actually IS the solution?  Just trying to get that "diamond" rating, Yo!  LOL  🙂

    Patriot_1776
    Patriot_177622-Sapphire IIAuthor
    22-Sapphire II
    October 1, 2019

    Sooo....did anyone give this a spin and see how it printed for them?

    Patriot_1776
    Patriot_177622-Sapphire IIAuthor
    22-Sapphire II
    October 2, 2019

    Crickets?

    Dale_Rosema
    23-Emerald III
    Dale_Rosema23-Emerald III
    23-Emerald III
    October 2, 2019

    Took the moment to check. Nothing notably different from my pen table where everything is set to .02. Had a colleague check to make sure I didn't miss anything. 

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