hello

i have a plan in GIF image when i print it it comes on a 8.5 x 11 sheet. how do i get the full scale of this plan i use microsoft photo editor to get the image.

thank you

What kind of printer are you going to use?

Get the FREE version of TurboCad. You can make the plan any size you want. And It will print it on as many sheets as you need to make a copy of the entire plan.

Robbie

A GIF image is a poor selection for scaling up.
The resolution is limited to the original size of the image. Unless it's a HUGE .GIF, all you'll get is very fat lines with lots of zaggies (no relation).
Best to obtain the .DXF format of the plan. That can scaled up properly in a CAD program and printed, or the DXF file can be printed at a local print shop.. possibly Kinko's can do those.

Paul,

When I took my JPG Sportwin plans to the local Kinkos, they charged me 30 bucks just to open the file on the disk. It was 10 bucks a copy as I recall.

Know anywere else cheaper? I am getting ready to print the Sportwin XL plans, and 50 bucks buys a lot of balsa.

tim

bump....hoping for help.

Originally posted by Lutin
hello

i have a plan in GIF image when i print it it comes on a 8.5 x 11 sheet. how do i get the full scale of this plan i use microsoft photo editor to get the image.

thank you

Scan again at 900-1200 DPI preferably in 1-bit mode (B&W), save as BMP (no loss), print using Adobe Illustrator. I do this, and printing on my e-size plotter makes very good drawings when plotted max size.

Andy

I got this suggestion from Mark Rittinger and it works great.

Kinko's generally can't do .dxf files. The printer probably can, but the people don't know what you're talking about.

If convert your picture (gif, dxf, whatever) to acrobat (.pdf), it can be printed at Kinko's on one of their big printers.

I recently did a 36x96 inch plan. Done by them (I hand them the CD-ROM) it costs about $22-25 to open the file and hit print.

Doing it yourself costs computer time (about $1) and $16 per print. I let them do the first one for me, as you pay for each print even if you screw up the orientation. (make sure the page size is big enough even if you have to make a custom page size in page set-up).

Once you have one copy, their big printer is actually also a copying machine for up to 36 inches wide. The cost is 12 cents per inch, so my 96 inch plan was about $12 to copy it on the same machine that costs $16 to print direct from the computer. Go figure!

Ted,
Can they scale up/enlarge on their printer?


tim

Lutin,

I rescale the gif/jpeg/whatever to whatever size I require. Then, using a selection marquee equivalent to the size of an A4 sheet, print out the plan a bit at a time.

A bit of careful taping, and there you go!

tim

doddle

Tim,

Have you tried the print shop over at NOB? I betcha they'd do it for free, or very cheap. The lan drop for the plotter in my office is busted, or I'd offer to print it off for you; I'm going to try and get the drivers loaded on my laptop so I can hook it up and print directly. (This printing 8.5x11 and taping together bites the big one!) If I get it working, I'll let you know

Steve,

that would be a *very* good thing!

Tim, if you're in a hurry, I can't really help- I'm out of the office for another two weeks and won't even be able to attempt to plot. I don't think I'd be able to print a jpg on it either; I've only ever had success plotting to it from AutoCAD. Do you have a dxf/dwg file of it? It shouldn't be a big deal to find calcomp drivers for my laptop, and I know I have a printer cable for it. Of course, this is assuming the damned plotter works, it hasn't been used for about 6 months, lol. Still turned on, though! People took my little "never turn this plotter off for more than a few minutes at a time or the hard drive will sieze up" note literally, I guess, which is good or the hard drive probably would have seized up by now. Or, I suppose I could call the lan trouble desk and get the media converter replaced and the plotter serviced. well, either way, I'll let you know

Steve,

No big hurry. I have it as a JPG and an Illustrator file. I don't know if I have the intelligence/software to convert to an AutoCAD file.

tim

No bitmap type file (and this includes: BMP, GIF, PNG, TIF, JPG) scales up any better than any other with the exception of JPEG files which are worse because of artifacts. Hey, if the pixels aren't there, they aren't there. Vector files like DXF, 3DM and others have unlimited scale potential because the software redraws the picture from line endpoint information. The software to convert bitmaps to vectors is expensive and imperfect. Usually, the more expensive, the more accurate. If you happen on someone that is willing to convert your file to a DXF or other common vector file, grab the opportunity while you can. Here's a trick that may work. Using freeware such as Paintshop Pro or other, thicken the lines with a "dilate" or "erode" command. Then try "resizing" to the final size. Then try reducing the color depth to 2 to suppress artifacts and save as a 2 color PNG, GIF, or BMP. The result is sometimes reasonably acceptable.

Q