O.T. Converting PRN file to a PDF.

[elevmike]

Eric, That's not my drawing. (just kidding)

So what version of Excape E did you use, the $750.00 one or the $3,800.00 one?

I saw this but a) was unsure it was going to work, and b)Had a real hard time with the co$t.

I'm gonna download it and try it anyway.

Thanks.

 

[elevmike]

Ok so Excape E works perfectly!! Now I'm looking for something a little more cost effective.

 

[Eric Nelson]

So what version of Excape E did you use, the $750.00 one or the $3,800.00 one?

WOW! I didn't notice the price...



-Eric

 

[elevmike]

Eric,

it seems you've found what I'm looing for (a PCL viewer). Once I can view the drawing in windows I can print it to ANY printer. I'd be ready to spend maybe $50.00 to $100.00 or so, but all the PCL viewers I've found are like $500.00+. I'll stick to scanning for now.

Thanks for the effort.

 

[Eric Nelson]

Yeah, I looked at a bunch of PCL viewers. All were big $$$...

Don't feel bad. The company I work for is now silkscreening tubes, bottles, etc., and most of the graphics we get are generated on Macs. Graphic artists LOVE Macs...

I'm the one stuck converting files from one type to another...



-Eric

 

[elevmike]

Graphic artists LOVE Macs...

Everybody I know who owns a Mac is A) an artist, and B)a Liberal.

Go figure...

 

[rsdoran]

You may want to check this out, they have a program for $89:
http://www.pcltools.com/pcltools.php
This is a limited version of their main software that costs $495....

This is a program for printing prn files: http://www.download.com/3000-2088-10237963.html

Cheewoo Software (make a CAD program) also offers VaryView (shareware $50) that I think will do what you want:
http://cheewoo.com/eng/shareware/index_1.htm

 

[Borte]

Just as info: I'm using a program called PDF-XChange 3.0 to print to PDF files. It takes anything I have printed in windows (so far). You might wanna try it to see if that works.

Btw: I was trying to print the ladder file but couldn't figure out how to print just a file. Can anyone explain?

Cheers
Borte

 

[rsdoran]

Depends on which PLC program you want to print from
RSLogix500 (I assume the other versions too) offers Report options (under File) that lets you select what you want to print

Simatic S7 I am not as familiar with but any open block etc when viewed in LAD/FB/STL can be printed by going to File>Print. Hopefully S7Guy, Jesper or someone can explain how to print a complete project.

DirectSoft32 you can do a Print preview and select the pages and items you want to print.

 

[elevmike]

Borte,

That's the problem. Getting the file to view so that it can be printed on other then a PCL printer. Once I get the file to view in Windows, it can be printed on any printer, including a pdf.

 

[Borte]

I know how to print to a file or print a plc project and so on, what I meant is that I didn't know how to print the .prn file that was attached to a earlier post in this thread.

Edit: I you posted while I was posting ElevMike, ok I see the problem now. You have a file that you can't open in windows, hence unable to print it...

Cheers
Borte

 

[rsdoran]

Sorry, misunderstood. I know the middle link I posted above will print .prn files but its not a viewer, it just allows you to print from windows. It depends on certain things but (in DOS) you can use a line command to print

I found the Cheewoo software while looking into CAD programs, the VaryView shareware program seems to do what Mike wants at a price he can live with. I have not used it but may be worth the effort to try.

In many cases you can print a prn file using a command prompt:
To open a DOS prompt, you can click on Start / Run, then enter CMD.EXE and press enter. Now use the CD (change directory) command to navigate to the folder where the .PRN file is stored. For example,

CD \Myfiles​

The format of the print command depends on the type of printer you have.

If you have an older printer that's connected via the parallel port (it will have a 1/4-inch cable with large connectors on both ends), then here's the command to use. (Substitute your actual print file name for TMP.PRN below.)

COPY /B TMP.PRN LPT1:​

If you have a printer that's connected via the USB port (thin wire with small connectors) then here's the command to use.

COPY /B TMP.PRN \\computer_name\printer_share_name​

To find your computer name go to Control Panel, open the System folder, then click on Computer Name. The info you want is shown after the tag "Full computer name". If there's a period at the end of the name, ignore it.

To find your printer share name, go to Control Panel, open the Printers folder, then right-click on your printer and select Sharing. The share name will appear there. If your printer is not shared, select the Share this printer radio button and enter a share name.

Okay, let's assume your computer name is MYCOMPUT and your printer share name is MYPRINTER. That would make the print command as follows:

COPY /B TMP.PRN \\MYCOMPUTER\MYPRINTER​

 

[Borte]

This worked like a charm for printing the file to the network printer, but when trying to print to my local shared PDF generator... No luck! Typical!

Cheers
Borte

 

[elevmike]

Ron,

Thanks for the links. I downloaded VaryView and it did work. However the image quality was poor, and it ran very slow. It seems that this is the case with anything that costs less then $800.00.

The command line will only print to a PCL-compatable device (the printer it's self decodes the vector image file), so it wont print to a pdf printer.

Right now, as a result of this all, I've got about 10 PCL viewers on my PC that I need to remove. It seems that I'd better get my AutoCad skills togeather...In the mean time I'll be scanning hard copies to make PDFs.

Thanks for all the effort. Mike.

BTW, this is a throw-back to a previouse problem I encounted when upgrading from Win 98SE to XP. With Win 98 you can do a screen print from dos, open it in Paint, or something similar and print the image to a PDF printer. Not so with XP. (XP cant caputre a Full screen dos "screen shot"). The word "Upgrade" seems to be an oxymoron in this case.....

 

[JesperMP]

Depends on which PLC program you want to print from
RSLogix500 (I assume the other versions too) offers Report options (under File) that lets you select what you want to print

Simatic S7 I am not as familiar with but any open block etc when viewed in LAD/FB/STL can be printed by going to File>Print. Hopefully S7Guy, Jesper or someone can explain how to print a complete project.

Ha ha. I think that Mike wants to make PDFs of real ladder drawings, not PLC ladder logic.
But since you are asking, I am using a PDF printer driver called "Visage Expert PDF".
The nice thing about is that it keeps appending print jobs until you ask it to finish the job and generate the PDF. This is a really a requirement when making program listings from STEP7, because it actually makes a print job for each program block (which there may be hundreds of). Other PDF drivers can combine several print jobs, but you must do it manually so it is not practically possible.