Set up plot screening

Issue

You want to set up plot screening.

Solution

You can use plot screening to set the color intensity of objects when you plot them. To set the color intensity, you enter the amount of ink to use as a percentage. Valid plot screening settings are 0 to 100:

Plot screening requires that dithering is enabled in the Plot Style Table Editor. Dithering is automatically turned on if a color screening value of 99 or less is entered.

To set the screening value:

1. On the File menu, click Plot Style Manager.
2. Double-click a plot style.
3. In the Plot Style Table Editor, Form View tab, select a color from the Plot Styles list.
4. Under Properties, adjust the value in the Screening box.
5. Click Save & Close to save the changes and close the Plot Style Table Editor.

You can also adjust plot screening for individual plot styles that are set to grayscale. For screening to work, both dithering and grayscale must be enabled (turned on).

To set the screening value for grayscale plot styles:

1. On the File menu, click Plot Style Manager.
2. Double-click a plot style.
3. In the Plot Style Table Editor, Form View tab, select a color from the Plot Styles list.
4. Under Properties, select the On option from both the Grayscale and the Dither drop-down lists.
5. Under Properties, adjust the value in the Screening box.
6. Click Save & Close to save the changes and close the Plot Style Table Editor.

To plot a true grayscale based on black (as done in AutoCAD R14) change the plot style color to black. You must do this for each plot style you want to assign to a true grayscale.

1. On the File menu, click Plot Style Manager.
2. Double-click a plot style.
3. In the Plot Style Table Editor, Form View tab, select a color from the Plot Styles list.
4. Under Properties, select Black from the Color list.
5. Under Properties, select the On option from both the Grayscale and the Dither drop-down lists.
6. Under Properties, adjust the value in the Screening box.
7. Click Save & Close to save the changes and close the Plot Style Table Editor.

To quickly set all colors to black:

1. On the Table View tab of the Plot Style Table Editor, select Color 1 of the color-dependent plot style table.
2. Select Black from the Color list, right-click, and click Copy on the shortcut menu.
3. Right-click and click Paste to All Styles from the shortcut menu.

Note: Plot screening also requires that driver properties be correctly configured. Screening does not work with a bitonal (two colors, foreground and background) setting. Monochrome devices must be configured to grayscale; color devices must be set to either monochrome grayscale, or at least 256 colors.

See also

Use plot style tables
Enable dithering when plotting
Plot style table settings explained
Plot white lines on dark background