I am using annotation dots to identify parts and their positioning. When I make a print to use them “in the field”, they appear very small in size, only 2.5 mm wide. I cannot find a method to print them at a larger size, I have tried printing at a larger scale, changing between raster mode and vector mode, and changing the model space scale, all to no avail.
Here are screenprints of the printing dialog (which shows annotation dots at an acceptable size), and the print result, both in vector mode and raster mode. Vector mode is marginally better than raster mode, it looks like the dot itself is not printed, but the text seems to be larger in size.
Edit: Ok, I found a way to make them larger, there is a size field in properties. But you have to make the on_screen size ridiculously large to get a reasonable printed size. My monitor is a 2560x1440 27"Mac, maybe the sizing is based on a lower resolution screen. I would like to see a better balance between screen and print if possible.
yes dots seems very unpredictable, they keep a certain relation to each other if one uses different sized dots, but the outcome still appears smaller. did you try those settings below either? i did not have any luck there but maybe its somethings to play with. i use the same resolution as you do.
Thanks for your reply, Richard. I had not discovered that one yet, but as you have probably found out as well changing the “Text dot font size” field does not have any effect on the printed text size.
I’d love to bump this again. I find Text Dots really useful, but their print size is almost impossible to control, and I cannot seem to figure out what defines how big they will print out. It is like size means one thing in Rhino and something else to the printer.
It would be great if they could just print out like they appear on the page…
Not completely.
We have two completely different ways of writing PDF files with the RhinoPDF writer. Only one of these is available on macOS, while both are available on Windows. The one that is only on Windows is by using the Print command. On macOS, it’s the operating system that takes over when you use that command. The other way is by using SaveAs or Export / ExportAll.
On Windows, using Print, there’s an option to set the size for text dots but that single size is then used for all text dots that might have different sizes in Rhino. That issue is listed as RH-47981 Wish - Printing annotation dots in different sizes.
The “Export” version is lacking this size option entirely.
This issue is listed as RH-71644 File IO: Export → PDF: Sizing Dot objects
-wim
Text Dots are super useful, but they can be frustrating getting the right size/scale right when it comes to printing. And if you ever need to export a model/drawing to say dwg format which has text dots remember to convert them to text, autocad will not even recognize your text dot labels !