Recently I've seen some plotting & publishing questions come up, and I thought I'd take a few minutes to address the basics of plotting and publishing from Map 3D 2011.
There are 3 main ways to get data out of Map 3D:
- Plotting
- Publishing (includes publish to MapGuide & map books)
- Exporting
Here is a little more detail on each type and when to use which set of tools:
- Plotting - the most basic function that we inherit from AutoCAD. Use PLOT to print copies of your DWG or GIS data to a large-scale plotter. Typically you use this when you want something to show up on paper vs digitally.
- Publishing - also inherited by AutoCAD, you can use PUBLISH to combine a collection of drawings and create a paper or electronic drawing set. Formats are DWF, DWFx, PDF files, or to plotters. Use this tool to export out your GIS data to a Georeferenced DWF, which you can then open in Design Review, mark up, and round-trip back to Map 3D with redline info.
- Publish to MapGuide - this is a Map 3D only functionality (and Civil 3D), so not inherited by AutoCAD. Use this tool to push your data to an existing MapGuide site
- Map Book - this is again a Map 3D (and Civil 3D) tool, and a great tool for field crews who work on mobile devices. The idea is you have a book of sheets that cover the entire work area/DWG area, typically broken up by tiles that coincide with your town or work area.
- Exporting - to save your DWG objects to a different file format, like a DGN for example, use the EXPORT command.
The following output types are available:
-
- 3D DWF (*.dwf) 3D DWFx (*.dwfx): Autodesk Design Web Format (see 3DDWF)
- Metafile (*.wmf): Microsoft Windows® Metafile (see WMFOUT)
- ACIS (*.sat): ACIS solid object file (see ACISOUT)
- Lithography (*.stl): Solid object stereolithography file (see STLOUT)
- Encapsulated PS (*.eps): Encapsulated PostScript file
- DXX Extract (*.dxx): Attribute extract DXF™ file (see ATTEXT)
- Bitmap (*.bmp): Device-independent bitmap file (see BMPOUT)
- Block (*.dwg): Drawing file (see WBLOCK)
- V7 DGN (*.dgn): MicroStation DGN file (see DGNEXPORT)
- V8 DGN (*.dgn): MicroStation DGN file (see DGNEXPORT)
- FBX files (*.fbx): Autodesk® FBX files (see FBXEXPORT)