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As you can see from the table, the consequences of not including a custom font aren’t that dire: The recipient still will see your text, but the font will be different. Of course, the new font may look somewhat odd, extremely odd, or even cause spacing or visibility problems within the drawing. If, on the other hand, you forget to send xrefs or raster graphics that are attached to your main drawing, the objects contained on those attached files simply will be gone when the recipient opens your drawing. Not good!

Technical Stuff Like so much else in AutoCAD, the tools and rules for mapping fonts are flexible but somewhat complicated. Look up the “FONTALT” and “FONTMAP” system variables in the AutoCAD online help system for detailed information.

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

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

   If the drawing is already open, save it. ETRANSMIT requires that any changes to the drawing be saved before you proceed.

2. Choose FileðeTransmit.

3. On the General tab, specify the file assembly transmittal settings that you want to use.

   I recommend these settings for most purposes:

   • Type: Folder (set of files)

   • Location: Choose a folder that’s separate from your main project folder

   • Preserve directory structure: Off (unchecked)

   • Remove paths from xrefs and images: On (checked)

   • Send e-mail with transmittal: Off (unchecked)

   • Make Web page files: Off (unchecked)

   Use the dialog box help for more information about each setting.

   Warning The default Type setting, Self-extracting executable (*.exe) is the worst choice, especially if you plan to send your files to others. Exe files can harbor viruses, and even though your self-extracting exe may not contain a virus, recipients will be rightfully wary of it. If you want to package a single drawing, choose Zip (*.zip) instead of Self-extracting executable (*.exe). If you intend to send more than one file, choose Folder (set of files) and, when you’re finished using ETRANSMIT on all the files, assemble all of the files into a single ZIP file for sending, as described after these steps.

4. Click the Files tab.

   You see a list of the files that ETRANSMIT can include with the main drawing.

5. Remove the check mark next to any file that you want ETRANMSIT not to copy with the main drawing.

   You don’t need to copy standard AutoCAD font files, such as Romans.shx and Txt.shx (see Chapter 9 for more information). Except for a bump in file size, it doesn’t hurt to include them, though.

6. Click the Report tab.

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

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

8. Click OK.

   ETRANSMIT copies all of the files to the Location folder.

Warning Many SHX and TTF files are custom fonts, which work like licensed software. Sending them to others is just like sharing your AutoCAD program CD with others. No, I don’t mean that it’s easy and fun; I mean that it’s illegal and unethical. Before you send a custom font file to someone else, find out what the licensing restrictions are on the font and be prepared to work within them.

In many cases, you’ll want to send more than one drawing to a recipient. In this situation, you must open each drawing and run ETRANSMIT on each in turn. You can specify the same Location folder for all of the drawings. When you’ve processed all the drawings, use a program like WinZip to package the files into a single zipped file before sending it.

Tip Although AutoCAD 2004 automatically compresses its DWG files, zipping files manages to compress them even further (about 20 percent more, in my experience). More importantly, zipping creates a single, tidy package of all your DWG, raster image, and font files. No one likes to receive an e-mail message carrying an endless cargo of attached files. Do everyone a favor: be hip and zip.

The only downside to zipping is that creating a zipped file and extracting files from it require a separate zip/unzip program. Several good shareware utilities are available, including WinZIP (www.winzip.com).

FTP for you and me

FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, is a simple but robust protocol 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 disk is accessible over the Internet. The person who configures the FTP server can place restrict-ions so that only people who enter a particular logon name and password can see and download files. FTP overcomes the file size limitations that often occur with e-mail.

Because of all these FTP benefits, it’s increasingly common for people at larger companies to place drawing files on their company’s FTP site and tell you to go get them. This approach relieves them of having to e-mail you the files, and relieves you of waiting for that 10MB e-mail download when you least expected it.

In most cases, the person making the files available to you via FTP will send you a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that looks like a Web page address, except that it starts with FTP:// instead of HTTP://. If you open your Web browser and enter the FTP URL into the address field, the browser should connect to the FTP site, ask you for a location and name to use for the file when it gets copied to your system, and begin downloading the file. If the FTP site uses password protection, you’ll have to enter a logon name and password first.

If you want fancier FTP download options, you can use an FTP utility program such as WS_FTP (www.ipswitch.com).

Tip Even if you work for a small company, you may be able to post files on your ISP’s FTP server in order to make them available to others. Check with your ISP to find out whether you can do it and, if so, what the procedures are.

Warning FTP transfers are more prone to user confusion problems than are e-mail files, especially if the recipient hasn’t used FTP before. For example, it’s very common for the person posting the files to forget to tell the recipient the logon name and password, or for the recipient not to have an FTP program — or to not know how to use it. Check with your recipient the first couple of times you use FTP to transfer files to make sure they got the files successfully — and don’t be surprised if they ask you to use e-mail or overnight delivery instead.

Bad reception?

Other sections in this chapter focus on sending files to others. What happens when you’re on the receiving end? Not everyone will be as conscientious as you are about following the Golden Exchange Rule. You’ll receive drawings with missing dependent files and no information or support files for plotting.

When you receive an e-mail message or FTP download containing drawings (zipped, I hope!), copy the file to a new folder on your hard disk or a network disk and unzip the files.

Tip Check at least a few of the drawings in the package to make sure that all of the xrefs, fonts, and raster image files were included. You can perform this check by opening each main drawing in that folder. After you open each file, press the F2 key to view the command line window, and look for missing font and xref error messages of the following sort:

Substituting [simplex.shx] for [helv.shx].
Resolve Xref "GRID": C:\Here\There\Nowhere\grid.dwg
Can’t find C:\Here\There\Nowhere\grid.dwg

A Substituting. . . message indicates AutoCAD couldn’t find a font and is substituting a different font for it. A Can’t find. . . message indicates that AutoCAD couldn’t locate an xref. Any missing raster files appear as rectangular boxes with the names of the image files inside the rectangles. Alternatively, you can open the Image Manager dialog box, which reveals any missing raster image files. (See Chapter 13 for details.)

Write down each missing file and then tell the sender to get on the ball and send you the missing pieces. While you’re at it, tell that person to buy this book and read this chapter!

Tip Press the F2 key after opening any drawing that you didn’t create so that you know right away if any fonts and xrefs are missing.

Warning If you receive drawings with custom TrueType font files (files whose extensions are TTF), you must install those files before Windows and AutoCAD will recognize them. Choose StartðSettingsðControl Panel and then double-click the Fonts icon to open the Fonts window. Then choose FileðInstall New Font.

Help from the Reference Manager

In Chapter 13, I warn you about the complications of xref paths and the potential perils of AutoCAD not being able to locate xrefs if you move project folders around or transfer drawings to or from someone else. A similar danger exists for raster image files (Chapter 13) and font files (Chapter 9). The ETRANSMIT command, described earlier in this chapter, does a good job of gathering together dependent xrefs, raster files, and font files, but it can’t gather what AutoCAD can’t locate.

New for 2004 AutoCAD 2004’s new Reference Manager utility is a real lifesaver if you find yourself suffering from xref, raster image, or font path perils — whether they occur in your own company or when sending files to or receiving them from others.

Reference Manager is a separate utility program, not a command inside AutoCAD. Follow these steps to launch the utility:

1. Choose StartðProgramsðAutodeskðAutoCAD 2004ðReference Manager.

1. Choose the Add Drawings button to add one or more DWG files to the drawings pane on the left.

2. Click the Export Report button to create a text report listing all of the dependent files and their paths, or click the Edit Selected Paths button to modify paths.

   Click the Help button in Reference Manager to find out more about the utility’s capabilities.

Tip If you always keep parent and child DWG files in the same folder — the simplest approach to dealing with xref paths — then you probably won’t need to use the Reference Manager.