Error when saving PDF with a long file name in AutoCAD

Autodesk Support

Oct 8, 2023


Products and versions covered


Issue:

When generating a PDF in an AutoCAD product, a message appears, stating:

"AutoCAD Error
There was an error saving the file C:\User\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD 201x\enu\Plotters\PMP Files\<filename>.pmp"

For example:

User-added image

The exact path will vary, depending upon which specific AutoCAD product and release (year) is in use.

Another problem is that images are only plotted partially when plotting to PDF.

Environment:


Causes:

The complete file path shown in the error message exceeds the Windows 255-character limit.

Solution:

Locate and delete the PC3 file involved in creating the PDF. This will be in the Plotters folder. Also, locate and delete the PMP file shown in the error message (if it exists). It will be in the PMP folder, inside the PMP folder. If no such file exists, delete the PMP file which matches the PC3 file for the plot job you were trying to execute.

Replace the deleted files with those found in:

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 201x\UserDataCache\Plotters

Going forward, when prompted to save modifications to the PDF PC3 file, overwrite the existing one, instead of accepting the suggested file name, which adds an "a" to the file name each subsequent time (which results in the longer and longer file names that leads to the error).

Also, be aware of publishing/plotting to the AutoCAD PDF PC3s when the page setup uses a paper size that is not defined within the selected PC3. This can happen when a previous page setup points to a different printer that has its own custom or nonstandard paper sizes. To keep the paper size consistent, a new PMP file is created with each plot/publish operation, leading to many new PMP files, each with one more 'A' in the file name, leading to the problem of too many characters. Avoid the problem by editing the PDF PC3 file and add the desired paper size, using the same name, if possible. Alternately/additionally, create a named page setup that uses that PC3 file, selecting the new paper size, and apply that new page setup for subsequent plot and publish jobs.

For images not plotting issue

See Also:


Products:

AutoCAD Products;


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