Free Plans Drawing Software

[cjard]

if your computer doesnt have a PDF printer installed, then I'd install Foxit PDF Reader which a) comes with one and b) has some nifty PDF editing/decoration features

Print to PDF isn't a menu option, it's just File.. Print. For a long time now PDF virtual printers have been avaialble - they look to the computer like a normal printer but they take the print data and turn it into a PDF instead.

You go file.. print.. choose Foxit PDF Printer.. click print.. a SAVE dialog appears and you choose where to save the PDF. If you don't have foxit, install from here:
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/Secure_PDF_Reader/

Brilliant bit of software. If you have a particular aversion to it, there are other PDF printers.. BullZip, CutePDF, PDF Forge.. I don't sue these because I prefer FOxit for my PDF viewer and it comes with a good PDF creator (printer)

 

[davidnow]

Ah, I see what you mean.

I'm on a mac and foxit seems to be a windows only download.

However, I'll look for something similar and let you know how I get on.

Thanks again

 

[davidnow]

Success !!!

There is a utility which comes with MacOS called Preview

When I select print in Sketchup there is a PDF pull down menu in bottom left corner which allows me to 'Save as PDF'

when I do that and print to A3 and preview the PDF file I get an A3 page with the correct scale.

I should be able to upload those without needing to find an A3 printer.

The A4 hard copies at random scale will do for my records.

Thanks for your advise and patiece

 

[davidnow]

oh , and preview allows a much better interface for annotating the drawings.

 

[cjard]

Good job - when you've finished making your PDF beautiful, make sure to save it. If you need to change your model (planning dept will probably want some changes) then the new PDF you print won't have your annotated bits but copy and paste should help you out quickly