20

Drawing on the Internet

In This Chapter

Understanding AutoCAD Internet features

Exchanging drawing files via e-mail and FTP

Using Reference Manager to view and fix file dependencies

Using Design Web Format

Protecting drawings with passwords and digital signatures

Sharing and collaborating with AutoCAD WS and Autodesk Cloud

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 20 years, you know that the Internet is causing major changes in the way people work.

Because of the ’Net, most of us communicate differently, exchange files more rapidly, and phone out for pizza less frequently. (Well, ordering

pizza over the Internet is very easy, but they still have to work out a few of the details to be able to deliver it that way.)

In this chapter, we show you how and when to use AutoCAD Internet features. We also cover how the Internet features can connect with traditional CAD tasks, such as file sharing. The emphasis of this chapter is on useful, no-nonsense ways to take advantage of the Internet in your CAD work.

The Internet and AutoCAD: An Overview

The web is changing so quickly that it’s almost impossible to write the definitive chapter that spells out exactly how everything

works and what’s best for you. Our intention in this chapter is to steer you toward the features that we feel are of most interest.

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450 Part IV: Advancing with AutoCAD

You send me

E-mail and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) have largely replaced blueline prints and overnight delivery as the standard means of exchanging drawings. Snail mail is dead! Sending and receiving drawing files doesn’t differ much from sending and receiving other kinds of files, except for the following:

DWG files tend to be bigger than word-processing documents and spreadsheets. Consequently, you may need to invest in a faster Internet connection.

You can easily forget to include all the dependent files. An AutoCAD file may not be an island unto itself, but may also require other files to go with it. We tell you in the next section how to make sure that you send all the necessary files.

It’s often not completely obvious how to plot what you receive. Read Chapter 16 as well as the “Bad reception?” section, later in this chapter, to solve plotting puzzles.

Whenever you send DWG files, ask the recipient to try opening the drawings you sent as soon as they get them so you both have more time to respond if there’s any problem.

Send it with eTransmit

Many people naively assume that an AutoCAD drawing is always contained in a single DWG file, but that’s often not the case. Each drawing file created in AutoCAD can contain references to more than a dozen other kinds of files, the most important of which are described in Table 20-1. Thus, before you start exchanging drawings via e-mail or FTP, you need a procedure for assembling the drawings with all their dependent files.

Table 20-1 Kinds of Files That DWG Files Commonly Reference

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Chapter 20: Drawing on the Internet 451

Table 20-1 doesn’t exhaust the types of files that your DWG files might refer to. Custom plotter settings (such as custom paper sizes) may reside in PC3 or PMP files. If you use sheet sets, a DST file contains information about the sheet structure. (We don’t cover sheet sets in this book. If you’re interested, check the online help.) An FMP file controls some aspects of font mapping.

Look up sheet sets and the FONTALT and FONTMAP system variables in the AutoCAD online help system for detailed information.

Rapid eTransmit

Fortunately, AutoCAD’s ETRANSMIT command pulls together all the files that your main DWG file depends on. Follow these steps to assemble a drawing with all its dependent files by using ETRANSMIT:

1.Open the drawing that you want to run ETRANSMIT on.

If the drawing is already open, save it. ETRANSMIT prompts you to save before you proceed; it’s not essential to do this, but it’s usually a good idea.

2.Click the Application button and choose Publish and then eTransmit from the Application menu.

The Create Transmittal dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 20-1.

Figure 20-1: Rapid eTransmit.

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452 Part IV: Advancing with AutoCAD

3.On the Files Tree or Files Table tab, remove the check mark next to any file that you want ETRANSMIT not to copy with the main drawing.

Unless you have assigned custom font mapping, you can omit the

Acad.fmp file.

If you’re an AutoCAD LT user, the equivalent file is named Acadlt.fmp.

4.Select a transmittal setup from the list.

Transmittal setups contain settings that control how ETRANSMIT processes the drawings and creates the transmittal package. Click the Transmittal Setups button to create new or modify existing setups. The default Standard transmittal setup works fine for most purposes. In any case, you should view the settings (click the Modify button) just to see what options you can change if you need to later.

If you want AutoCAD to include SHX and TTF font files, including any custom fonts that you’re using, you must turn on the Include Fonts setting in the transmittal setup. As we discuss in Chapter 13, however, many custom fonts work like licensed software: Sending them to others is just like sharing your AutoCAD program DVD with others. No, we don’t mean that it’s easy and fun; we mean that it’s illegal and unethical. That’s why we strongly advise against using custom text fonts.

5.Click the View Report button.

You see a report listing the files that ETRANSMIT will copy, along with warnings about any files that it can’t locate.

6.Review the report and make sure that ETRANSMIT was able to find all the files.

7.Click OK.

ETRANSMIT displays a file dialog box so that you can specify the name and location of the transmittal package.

8.Click Save.

ETRANSMIT creates the transmittal package (which is a Zip file by default). Zipping creates a single, tidy package of all your DWG, DGN, DWF, PDF, raster image, plot style table, and font files all ready to be e-mailed.

FTP for you and me

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a system for copying files over the Internet. A computer that’s connected to the Internet can act as an FTP server, which means that part of its hard drive is accessible over the Internet. The person who configures the FTP server can place restrictions so that only people who

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