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Each plotter configuration contains information such as the device driver and model, the output port to which the device is connected, and various device-specific settings.
AutoCAD lists printers or plotters configured for use with Windows in the Plot and Page Setup dialog boxes. You do not need to configure these devices with the system printer driver unless the AutoCAD defaults differ from the Windows values.
If a plotter is supported by AutoCAD, but not by Windows, you can use one of the HDI nonsystem printer drivers. You can also use a nonsystem driver to create PostScript, raster, or Design Web format (DWF) files and Portable Document Format (PDF) files
You must configure local or network nonsystem plotters and Windows system printers with nondefault settings. You do not need to configure system printers if you change only the paper size.
AutoCAD stores information about the media and plotting device in configured plot (PC3) files. Plot configurations are portable and can be shared in an office or on a project as long as they are for the same driver, model, and driver version. Shared plot configurations for Windows system printers may also need to be for the same version of Windows. If you calibrate a plotter, the calibration information is stored in a plot model parameter (PMP) file that you can attach to any PC3 files you create for the calibrated plotter.
You can configure AutoCAD for many devices, and store multiple configurations for a single device. Each plotter configuration contains information such as the device driver and model, the output port to which the device is connected, and various device-specific settings. You can create several PC3 files with different output options for the same plotter. After you create a PC3 file, it's available in the list of plotter configuration names in the Plot dialog box.
To create these PC3 files, use the Add-a-Plotter wizard in the Autodesk Plotter Manager. The Plotter Manager is a Windows Explorer window. The Add-a-Plotter wizard is modeled after the Windows Add Printer wizard. Using the Add-a-Plotter wizard, you can specify whether you want to configure a nonsystem, local, or network plotter, or a system printer. You can create any number of plotter device configurations that use either the Windows system printer drivers or Autodesk nonsystem plotter drivers. Your configurations are stored in your user profile.
There are a number of ways to modify the default settings for a Windows system printer without creating a PC3 file. For example, you can modify the properties systemwide from the Control Panel. You can also choose Properties in the Plot dialog box and plot without saving the properties.