Land F/X
  • Portal
  • Products
    • Design F/X
    • Planting F/X
    • Irrigation F/X
    • F/X CAD
    • Plugin for Revit®
    • Plugin for SketchUp®
    • Lighting
    • Plugin for Rhino®
    • Manufacturer Connection
    • Academic
  • Support
  • Videos
  • Who We Are
  • Trial
  • Purchase
Land F/X
  • Portal
    • Dashboard
    • Account
    • Licenses
    • Data
    • Support
  • Products
    • Design F/X
      • Product
      • Features
      • Trial
      • Purchase
    • Planting F/X
      • Product
      • Features
      • Trial
      • Purchase
    • Irrigation F/X
      • Product
      • Features
      • Trial
      • Purchase
    • F/X CAD
    • Plugin for Revit®
    • Plugin for SketchUp®
    • Plugin for Rhino®
    • Site & Hardscape
    • Lighting
    • Manufacturer Connection
    • Academic
    • Purchase
  • Support
    • Knowledge Base
    • Documentation
    • Submit Ticket
    • Updates
    • Forum
    • Install
    • Remote Assistance
  • Videos
    • Power Tips
    • Webinars
  • Who We Are
    • Contact Us
    • Careers
    • Gallery
    • News
  1. Knowledge Base
  2. F/X CAD & AutoCAD
  3. Plotting Issues & Techniques
  4. Layers, Lines, or Blocks Mistakenly Plotting in Green or Red, or Opposite Spectrum Color

CTB Files are Missing or Unavailable

Issue

Your CTB plot styles (for example, LFX.ctb) are missing or unavailable, and you can't see them in the Plot Style Table pull-down menu in the Page Setup dialog box.

 

 

You might see one or more STB files in the Plot Style Table menu, as pictured to the right.

Plot Style Table

 

 

 

Menu completely blank

Or the menu might be completely blank, as pictured to the left.

 

Missing PC3 files

Missing PC3 Files

Are your PC3 files missing from the Printer/plotter menu? If so, please see our Missing PC3 Files article.

 

 

Causes

This issue has different causes, depending on what you see (or don't see) in the Plot Style Table menu.

 

Potential Cause #1:

 

If you see STB files in the menu, it means your CTB files have either been deleted or converted to STB files.

Solution >

CTB files have either been deleted or converted to STB files

 

 

Potential Cause #2:

Options dialog box

If the menu is completely blank, the the Printer Configuration Search Path in the CAD Options dialog box is most likely assigned to the wrong folder.

Solution >

 

 

 

 

Solutions

Solution #1: Converting STB Files to CTB Files

 

Plot style table menu

If you see STB files in the Plot style table menu, you'll need to convert these STB plot files (also known as named plot files) to CTB, or color-dependent, plot styles.

 

It might sound complex, but this is actually a quick and simple process.

 

First, type CONVERTPSTYLES in the Command line and press Enter.

 

 

You'll see a message that the command will convert a Named plot style drawing to use Color Dependent plot styles.

 

 

Click OK to convert the STB plot styles to CTB styles.

Convert to STB plot style to CTB styles

 

 

 

You should now be able to select your CTB style from the Plot Style Table pull-down menu in the Page Setup dialog box.

 

 

Verifying the Conversion

To verify that the conversion was successful, return to the Page Setup dialog box and expand the Plot Style Table pull-down menu.

 

 

If you've closed the dialog box, open the Page Setup Manager:

 

Output ribbon, Page Setup Manager button

Output ribbon, Page Setup Manager button

 

 

 

 

 

 

type PageSetup in the Command line

File menu, Page Setup Manager option

File menu, Page Setup Manager option

 

 

 

Page Setup Manager, Modify

In the Page Setup Manager, click Modify.

 

 

 

The Page Setup dialog box will open. Expand the Plot style table pull-down menu.

 

 

The menu should now contain your CTB plot styles (files ending in .ctb).

 

 

You can now select the CTB plot style you want to use when you plot.

Select the CTB plot style

 

 

 

Solution #2: Point the Printer Configuration Search Path to the Correct Folder

 

If the Plot style table menu is completely blank, you'll need to go into the CAD Options dialog box and assign the Printer Configuration Search Path to the folder where your office's CTB files are stored.

 

 

 

Open the Options dialog box:

 

Manage ribbon, Options button

Manage ribbon, Options button

 

 

 

type Options in the Command line

 

 

 

 

right-click in the Command line and selecting Options from the menu

Tools pull-down menu

Tools pull-down menu

 

 

 

You may receive a message that the Printer Style Table Search Path is invalid. You'll be correcting that issue with the following steps, so you can close the message.

 

 

Options dialog box

In the Options dialog box, select the Files tab.

 

 

Expand the Printer Support File Path by clicking the plus (+) sign to the left.

 

 

Expand the Plot Style Table Search Path in the same way.

 

 

Check the folder path listed under Plot Style Table Search Path.

 

 

If this path is not pointing to the folder where your office stores your CTB files, click on it to highlight it. Then click Remove.

 

 

 

You'll now point the path to the correct folder:

 

1. With the Plot Style Table Search Path still highlighted, click Add.

 

2. Click Browse.

 

3. Browse to the folder where your office's CTB files are stored.

 

4. Click Apply.

Plot Style Table Search Path, Add

 

 

 

CTB file in the plotter menu

You should now see your CTB files in the plotter menu.

 

 

 

More on CTB Plot Styles

CTB, or color-dependent, plot styles are settings for how the 256 available colors in AutoCAD will appear when you plot them, including the lineweight assigned to each color. Each CTB style is stored in a separate file in your Land F/X / Admin folder. When you use CTB styles, you are essentially adapting some or all of the colors 0 through 255 to meet your office standards for plotting. You can use Color Plot Styles to plot in black and white or color.

For more information, see our About CTB Plot Styles page.

Contact

  • Land F/X
  • PMB 351
    3940 Broad St. STE 7
    San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
  • +1 805-541-1003
Email Logo Facebook Logo Instagram Logo LinkedIn Logo
Land F/X Logo

Our software tailors AutoCAD®, Revit®, SketchUp®, and Rhino® to the needs of landscape architects, irrigation designers, and other professionals. We automate your most tedious tasks and ensure accuracy, giving you more time to design.

  • Portal
  • Products
  • Support
  • Videos
  • Who We Are