PDO Files are worse than...

[DeBunyon]

Hello paper modelers!

I am DeBunyon, I am brand new to the art-from of crafting out of paper, cardboard, foam, etc.

I am TRYING to print out some templates for the all-impressive Fallout Power Armor and cannot for the life of me translate from PDO to PDF I admit, I am not a computer genius.

In this thread, feel free to add your horror stories of PDO files (hopefully with helpful endings) or even just a comparison relationship to PDO files. For example, I think PDO files resemble flesh-eating diseases. They are way too good at being impossible to fix and they slowly degrade your flesh (patience). Death is almost inevitable.

Glad to be here!!

-DeBunyon

PS- seriously, though. please help me figure out how to access these files

[cafe]

Hi!

Two options if you're on a Windows machine :
a) print to a virtual pdf printer like PDF Creator
b) use Imcold's program to convert the PDO to PDF (PDO Tools)

[rickstef]

Welcome DeBunyon,

Your PDO question is actually simple to fix

Make sure you have one of the latest version of Pepakura, I am using version 4.0.8
The software will tell you if an update is available.

In post #6 in PDO to PDF Converter, I show how to print a pdo file to a pdf file.

Do keep in mind, that Pepakura is written by a Japanese company, so their default paper size is A4, 8.29x11.69 inches, our Letter size papers are more than wide enough, but just a bit too short, a solution to that is to order Legal size(8.5x14 inch) card stock from your local printer, or a ream from Amazon(where I get mine).

If you have any questions, just ask

Rick

[DeBunyon]

You guys are amazing. I downloaded the free version of Pepakura and a virtual PDF printer and now have enough access to those files to print and get to work. Thank you!!

#PDOdefeated

[JohnM]

I just opened a 14 page PDO in Pep 4 .... clicked on the printer icon ... adjusted the printer name to "Microsoft Print toPDF ... clicked OK .... and Bingo there appeared a same name PDF right in the same folder that the pdo came from. Ain't Win 10 great?

Well, I say Bingo ... it did take 14 seconds, 'cos it was a 14 page design.

People have been complaining about the .pdo format ever since I joined here sooooo many years ago. I'd never heard of .pdo before then, but personally it is by far my favourite format now. No real need of instructions 'cos you can easily see which bits go where and how they need to be shaped. In Pep Designer you can adapt the model to your own requirements and even change the colours and textures if the designer has left the file unlocked. Even if it is locked, it can ripped into a pdf, and from there (Via the Gimp) into .jpg where it can redrawn to your hearts content.

OK, I admit that you do need to put in the time to learn to use the software. I've never found any in depth instructions for Pepakura, even in Japanese, but it's quite forgiving ... just play with it. The GIMP is another matter though. Last time I looked the on-line manual was hundreds of pages long, but it is there. Ya just gotta read it.

[SCEtoAUX]

The main complaint I have about a pdo is when the person generating one does not pay attention to the parts lay out on the pages relative to the page boundaries. You sometimes get one part spanning two or more pages. It is like the person making the pdo chooses a page grid setting and then just throws the parts down on the grid regardless of the page boundaries.

[JohnM]

No, it's the unfolding facility that does that Doug. You have to follow up to separate and move the bits around to get an efficient printing layout, and it can be difficult to make some larger designs fit onto an A4 page.Regrettably, there are quite a few designers around who haven't yet learned to use the software fully. It would help if an instruction manual were written, even if only in Japanese. Google Translate is beginning to get the hang of Mandarin, so it should soon be usable with Japanese and Korean too.

My big bugbear is with the excellent 3D renders that get uploaded to Pepakura Gallery and elsewhere that haven't even been unfolded. I've tried unfolding a few myself, but I'm not too good at it yet.

[Paper Kosmonaut]

Well then, what really really bugs me, being a mac-user, is that most pepakura users apparently are too lazy to also make a PDF-copy of their creations so literally everyone can easily print them out.

[rickstef]

the below screen shots are from a pdo of a Hulk Buster file
this was just "unfolded" and thrown up on the pepakura site, no editing done for the parts, no logical layout, and nothing set to a particular size.
completely unbuildable

[sparrowhawk]

Point is, a lot of pepakura models are made by unfolding polygon models from computer games without the designers ever having done a more advanced paper model.
About a year ago, I built a pepakura model of the Citroen C4 WRC rallye car. Yes, it had some tricky spots, but it was doable and it looked like it had been thoroughly test built before publishing it. It all depends on the designer...

Cheers, Martin