Choosing between Color-Dependent and Named Plot Style Tables

Choosing between Color-Dependent and Named Plot Style Tables

You can think of a plot style as a virtual pen that has the attributes of color, width, shape, and screen
percentage. A typical drawing may use several different line widths, so you use a different plot
style for each line width. Multiple plot styles are collected into
plot style tables
that allow you to control
a set of plot styles from one dialog box.
AutoCAD offers two types of plot style tables: color and named.
Color plot style tables
enable you
to assign plot styles to the individual AutoCAD colors. For example, you can assign a plot style
with a 0.50 mm width to the color red so that anything that is red in your drawing is plotted with
a line width of 0.50 mm. You can, in addition, set the plot style’s color to black so that everything
that is red in your drawing is plotted in black.
Named plot style tables
let you assign plot styles directly to objects in your drawing, instead of
assigning a plot style in a more general way through a color. Named plot style tables also enable
you to assign plot styles directly to layers. For example, with named plot styles, you can assign a
plot style that is black and has a 0.50 mm width to a single circle or line in a drawing, regardless of
its color.
Named plot styles are more flexible than color plot styles; but if you already have a library of
AutoCAD drawings set up for a specific set of plotter settings, the color plot styles are a better
choice when you’re opening files that were created in AutoCAD R14 and earlier. This is because
color plot styles are more similar to the older method of assigning AutoCAD colors to plotter
pens. You may also want to use color plot style tables with files that you intend to share with an
individual or office that is still using earlier versions of AutoCAD.
The type of plot style table assigned to a new drawing depends on the settings in the Plot Style
Table Settings dialog box, which you access through the Plot And Publish tab of the Options dialog.
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You can change the type of plot style table assigned to a drawing. See the sidebar “Converting
a Drawing from Color Plot Styles to Named Plot Styles,” later in this chapter, for more information
on plot style conversions.
Here’s how to set up the plot style type for new files:
1.
Open the Options dialog box, and click the Plot And Publish tab.
2.
Click the Plot Style Table Settings button to open the Plot Style Table Settings dialog box.



3.
In the Default Plot Style Behavior For New Drawings button group, click the Use Color
Dependent Plot Styles radio button. In a later exercise, you’ll use the Use Named Plot
Styles option.
4.
Click OK. Then, click OK again in the Options dialog box to return to the drawing.
After you’ve set up AutoCAD for color plot style tables, any new drawings you create are
allowed to use only color plot style tables. You can change this setting at any time for new files,
but after a file is saved, the type of plot style that is current when the file is created is the only type
of plot style available to that file. If you need to change a color plot style to a named plot style
drawing, see the sidebar “Converting a Drawing from Color Plot Styles to Named Plot Styles,”
later in this chapter.
Next, you’ll set up a custom color plot style table. Plot style tables are stored as files with the
.ctb
or
.stb
filename extension. The table filenames that end with
.ctb
are color plot style tables.
The table filenames that end with
.stb
are named plot style tables.
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You can also select between color and named plot styles when selecting a new drawing template.
When you choose File 
New, you’ll see that many of the template files in the Select Template
dialog box have “Color Dependent Plot Styles” or “Named Plot Styles” as part of their name. If you
have AutoCAD set up to use the Startup dialog box, you’ll see the color and named plot style template
files when you select the Use A Template option from the Create New Drawing dialog box.