Exporting

The SPLOT program enables to export the opened file to the following formats:

HP-GL - Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language - the commonly used plotter format,

HP-GL/2 - a next generation of HP-GL,

DXY-GL - the format specific to ROLAND DXY plotters,

DXF -  the AutoCAD's  drawing interchange file format,

DXB -  the AutoCAD's  drawing interchange binary file format (please do not confuse with binary DXF),

Metafile -  Microsoft Windows interchange format widely supported by many graphics programs is intended to store a picture in a device-independent format,

PDF -  the Adobe's Portable Document Format.

Raster Image - various raster formats

The HP-GL format can be employed, for example, for plotting a picture cut on the  plotter, for the output of a multilingual text on the plotter (see the About Text Filter topic), or in case your plotter does not support all the HP-GL commands supported by the SPLOT program.  The last case is characteristic especially of the situation you own the HP ColorPro 7440A  plotter and you have not the additional graphics enhancement cartridge HP 17440A. Note that you can use a Windows HP-GL printer driver to produce a HP-GL output too (see the Printing topic), but this is usually slower method.

The HP-GL/2 format is a next generation of the HP-GL language designed not only for pen plotters but also for raster devices (e.g. ink-jet plotters).

The DXY-GL format realizes the export of a picture to the DXY plotter (usually the ROLAND plotter).

The DXF format converts a picture to a form applicable by the AutoCAD program. From AutoCAD you can read this DXF file via the DXFIN command. The exported picture is written in the form  of LINES or POLYLINES where each pen of the plotter has its own LAYER. Pen 1 has a layer with the name PEN1,  pen 2 has a layer with the name PEN2, etc.

Use the DXB format if you have problems to import a DXF output form SPLOT to AutoCAD (applies to AutoCAD rel. 13 and above) or if you need a more compact (although human unreadable) output. The layers are handled in the same way as for DXF export. To load a DXB file in AutoCAD enter the DXBIN command.

A Metafile is a collection of structures that store a picture in a device-independent format. Device independence is the one feature that sets metafiles apart from bitmaps: unlike a bitmap, a metafile guarantees device independence. There are two types of metafiles: Enhanced and Windows.

The PDF format is a graphically oriented file format designed for electronic interchange. It was developed by Adobe Systems Inc. In a PDF file, any page in a publication can be displayed or printed by a user in a form virtually identical to the page that appeared in the publication.

The Raster Image export converts the drawing to the following raster formats: TIFF, PNG, JPEG, BMP, WMP. See here for detail.

To start and configure exporting use the Export dialog under File menu.

You can also export more files at once using the Batch operation.