PDF from Bricscad creating strange filled square on Print

I have been having this issue on several projects now. As shown in the image, when printing a pdf with the Bricscad 'Print as PDF' driver, I get a filled rectangle on the printed version. The digital version in the PDF does not show the filled rectangle.
Has anyone encountered this issue?

Bricscad v20.2.10
Print as PDF (Briscad PDF driver)

Comments

  • Can you post the PDF file and the DWG file?

  • Sure thing.
    The supplied PDF does not show the filled rectangular region. The attached TIF (a scan of the printed PDF) file shows the issue.
    Initially I thought it may be a printer issue, but I have found it prints this way with several different printers.

  • goodonline
    edited November 2020

    Here is the TIF File.
    Dropbox Link

  • Anthony Apostolaros
    edited November 2020

    I misunderstood your original post. I thought you were talking about a PDF underlay that generated a filled rectangle, something which I've seen before. But now I see that you meant the filled rectangle is not in the PDF file that Bricscad created but is in the hard copy printed from that.

    When I re-distill the PDF file you posted (i.e. make a new PDF file by printing that PDF file to PDF), using PDF Creator, then an interesting thing happens: in the new PDF file only, the filled rectangle isn't there normally, but as I zoom in and out on that area quickly it sometimes flickers on and off. That new PDF file is posted here, as "flicker.pdf."

    So there's some kind of defect in the L-shaped hatch of the wall at that corner, which gives it an alternate identity as a rectangle instead of an L-shape. I have no idea why or how that happens, but I think you may be able to get rid of it by re-doing the L-shaped hatch, maybe as an associative hatch, or maybe as two hatches separated by a diagonal line (on Defpoints layer) at the corner.

    If that solves the problem, file a support request and tell them all about it. They'll fix whatever causes it and you won't have to use that workaround in the future.

  • Anthony,
    When I open up the Flicker.pdf, I see the filled rectangle (no flickering).
    I will utilize your work around. I will also refer Bricsys support to this thread.

    Thanks Anthony!!

  • @goodonline said:
    When I open up the Flicker.pdf, I see the filled rectangle (no flickering).

    Very interesting! What PDF reader did you open it with?
    I get the flicker only in Acrobat. No filled rectangle at all in Foxit or Nitro.

  • I opened it (flicker.pdf) using PDF Tracker and don't see any flickering or a filled rectangle.

    I also tried to open the original PDF in Coreldraw and it failed and said the file was corrupt.

    I opened it in two other Graphics packages and as you can see from the screengrab attached there are 6 elements in that corner. I don't know how many there are in the original .DWG as I haven't opened it; I would hope there aren't 6.

  • The plot thickens.

    The DWG file just shows a single L-shaped solid hatch, non-associative, and in the proper location inside the wall. None of those other L-shaped things, and nothing in that corner of the room.

  • Michael Mayer
    edited November 2020

    I see no rectangle or problems in that corner in the PDF,
    with Apples Preview.
    Just the TIFF shows it.

  • RSW
    RSW
    edited November 2020

    There is definitely something odd with the hatch, it has an additional corner point that should not be there

    The corner itself is not a closed polyline so my guess is that the hatch created an overlapping point halfway the two corners which can display/print as the rectangle you are getting. The flickering of the rectangle in the PDF seems to happen only in Acrobat as some people already mentioned.
    The same happens to printing, when printing from PDF X-change it does not print the black rectangle, when printing from Acrobat it does.

    Closing the polygon and then rehatch might solve the issue.

  • I initially thought that too.

    But I think it is just the geometric center mark.

  • That extra grip can be used to drag-move the whole hatch, whereas dragging one of the other grips changes its shape. Every hatch has one of those centroid grips, but usually it's inside the hatched area so you don't notice it.

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