Copyright 2014 Tekla Corporation March 2014

Print Drawings to PDF

1. Purpose and description
This extension provides a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) preview of a selection
of drawings and provides options to export them as PDF files, save them as plot files and to
print them on a selected printer.
2. System requirements
Tekla Structures
.Net Framework version: 4.0
3. Installation
To install the extension:

1. Close Tekla Structures.
2. Install the extension using the appropriate 32bit (x86) or 64bit Print Drawings to PDF
installation package.
3.1. User toolbar
Some extension installers may create a user toolbar in Tekla Structures. However, it is user
(that is, Windows user account) specific; which means, the user installing the extension
would get the user toolbar in Tekla Structures and another user would not.
To manually add an extension to a user toolbar in Tekla Structures:
1. Click Tools > Customize to open the Customize dialog box.
2. On the Toolbars tab, click New...., a new toolbar with the name User Toolbar 1
appears in the toolbar tree. You can enter a new name for the toolbar.
3. Search for the extension on the list on the left, click on it and then click the right arrow
to add it to the toolbar. Some extensions are started from a macro, entering macro:
in the Filter input box will list those extensions.
4. Repeat step 3 if you would like to add more extensions to the toolbar.
5. Click Close.


Limitation:
If you want to create a user-defined toolbar for drawing extensions, create it in the modeling
mode, otherwise the toolbar is not saved.



Copyright 2014 Tekla Corporation March 2014
4. Usage
To use the extension:
1) Open the drawing list and select a set of drawings:

2) Click on the Print Drawings to PDF toolbar button:

This opens the main dialog and provides a preview of the selected drawings. Use the
'Previous' and 'Next' buttons above the preview to scroll through the set of selected
drawings.


Copyright 2014 Tekla Corporation March 2014
At any time, the user may change the set of drawings selected in the Drawing List
and the contents of the preview will change to make those drawings accessible for
viewing and printing.
Note that instead of opening the extension from the modeling view mode, if a Tekla
Structures drawing has been opened and the Tekla Structures main window is in drawing
view mode, it is still possible to preview and print the currently open drawing using this
extension, but it is not possible to preview or print any other drawing.
Also, if a drawing needs numbering to be updated, the Perform Numbering dialog will be
displayed. You should therefore ensure that numbering is up-to-date for all drawings that you
wish to print or export to file.
On the top left of the dialog there are two tabs labelled 'Options' and 'Line Thickness':



Copyright 2014 Tekla Corporation March 2014
4.1. The Options tab:
This provides three principal options for saving drawings to files or sending them to the
printer.
PDF file: This converts drawings to PDF format and when selected the adjacent part of the
dialog changes to this:

Settings:
'File location' text box: use this to determine where the file is to be saved. Use
the adjacent 'Browse..' button to select a specific folder.
'Open folder when finished' check box: if checked the selected folder will be
opened in explorer after the drawings have been exported.
'Open file when finished': opens the file or files in the appropriate viewer when
they have been converted and saved.
'Output to single file': if checked, the drawings will be exported in a single file, if
unchecked then a file will be exported for each drawing.
'File prefix': allows the use of a specified prefix in the file name. Note that when
a prefix is entered, the file name preview displayed below will change to reflect
that prefix.
'File suffix': allows the use of a specified suffix in the file name. Note that when
a suffix is entered, the file name preview displayed below will change to reflect
that suffix.
'Fit to paper' or 'Scale': allows the choice of either adjusting the drawing to fit a
specific paper size, or forcing the print to be at a specific scale. Note that the
Scale value will turn red if the drawing cannot fit onto the chosen sheet.
'Print on multiple sheets': if printing to scale it is possible that the print would be
larger than a single sheet. This allows the use of multiple sheets to provide
sufficient print area.


Copyright 2014 Tekla Corporation March 2014
'Paper size': choose the paper size to use or select 'Auto'. Auto means that the
extension will select a paper size from the sizes defined for the extension in its
configuration files (see explanation below) which has the least wasted area
when the scaled print is fitted to the sheet's printable area.
'Orientation': allows a choice of paper orientation or 'Auto'. Auto means that the
extension picks the orientation that wastes least space.
'Color': choose if the output is to be Color, Black and white or Grayscale.
'Embed fonts': if selected the font will be embedded in the output file. This
ensures that they may be reproduced on a system that does not have them
installed, but does increase the file size. (Note that in certain cases fonts may
automatically be embedded). When using non-Latin fonts it is recommended
that embedding is selected otherwise the PDF may not display correctly. Note
that when fonts are embedded, in order to keep the file as small as possible
only the subset used in the document are embedded, not the full range.
Note that the file name is controlled by the standard advanced option switches for
customizing print file names (except when you generate a single combined multiple drawings
pdf file). For more information see the help article: Switches for for customizing print file
names.

Press the 'Print' button to start the process and 'Close' to close the dialog when finished.



Copyright 2014 Tekla Corporation March 2014
Printer: This sends drawings to a selected printer:

Settings:
A drop-down box allows the choice of available printers and the normal properties dialog
gives access to its particular properties.
'Fit to paper' or 'Scale': allows the choice of either adjusting the drawing to fit a
specific paper size, or forcing the print to be at a specific scale. Note that the
Scale value will turn red if the drawing cannot fit onto the chosen sheet.
'Print on multiple sheets': if printing to scale it is possible that the print would be
larger than a single sheet. This allows the use of multiple sheets to provide
sufficient print area.
'Paper size': choose the paper size to use or select 'Auto'. Auto means that the
extension will select a paper size from the sizes defined for the extension in its
configuration files (see explanation below) which has the least wasted area
when the scaled print is fitted to the sheet's printable area.
'Orientation': allows a choice of paper orientation or 'Auto'. Auto means that the
extension picks the orientation that wastes least space.
'Color': choose if the output is to be Color, Black and white or Grayscale.
'Number of copies': allows more than one copy to be printed in the same print
job.
Press the 'Print' button to start the process and 'Close' to close the dialog when finished.



Copyright 2014 Tekla Corporation March 2014

Plot file: This converts drawings to print files in a format suitable for the selected printer and
saves them in a specified location:

Settings:
A drop-down box allows the choice of available printers and the normal properties dialog
gives access to its particular properties.
'File location' text box: use this to determine where the file is to be saved. Use
the adjacent 'Browse..' button to select a specific folder.
'Open folder when finished' check box: if checked the selected folder will be
opened in explorer after the drawings have been saved.
'File extension': allows the specification of the extension applied to the file
name when the plot file is created.
'File prefix': allows the use of a specified prefix in the file name. Note that when
a prefix is entered, the file name preview displayed below will change to reflect
that prefix.
'File suffix': allows the use of a specified suffix in the file name. Note that when
a suffix is entered, the file name preview displayed below will change to reflect
that suffix.
'Fit to paper' or 'Scale': allows the choice of either adjusting the drawing to fit a
specific paper size, or forcing the print to be at a specific scale. Note that the
Scale value will turn red if the drawing cannot fit onto the chosen sheet.
'Print on multiple sheets': if printing to scale it is possible that the print would be
larger than a single sheet. This allows the use of multiple sheets to provide
sufficient print area.
'Paper size': choose the paper size to use or select 'Auto'. Auto means that the
extension will select a paper size from the sizes defined for the extension in its


Copyright 2014 Tekla Corporation March 2014
configuration files (see explanation below) which has the least wasted area
when the scaled print is fitted to the sheet's printable area.
'Orientation': allows a choice of paper orientation.
'Color': choose if the output is to be Color, Black and white or Grayscale.
Note that the file name is controlled by the standard advanced option switches for
customizing print file names (except when you generate a single combined multiple drawings
pdf file). For more information see the help article: Switches for customizing print file names.

Press the 'Print' button to start the process and 'Close' to close the dialog when finished.



Copyright 2014 Tekla Corporation March 2014
4.2. The 'Line thickness' tab
This provides a mapping of drawing colors to line thicknesses.

Line thicknesses are expressed as a multiple of the Tekla Structures advanced option
XS_BASE_LINE_WIDTH which typically has a default value of 0.1mm. This means that a
line thickness value of 5 would in this case result in a line width of 0.5 mm. For more
information see the help article: XS_BASE_LINE_WIDTH. Note that in the dialog (see
example above) the current value of XS_BASE_LINE_WIDTH is displayed, in this case as
base line width = 0.1 mm, this would change to reflect any different setting.
5. Printable areas
It is normal for a printer to be unable to print on the full area of a sheet and leave borders.
The printable area is shown in the previews above with a white background. The border is
shaded gray. The printable area is determined for the chosen printer when the options
'Printer' or 'Plot file' are selected. In the case of creating a PDF file, the printer is not known
so the output is sized to the full sheet. However, when printing a PDF the same problem
exists and the drawing content would be fitted to the printable area of whatever printer is
being used. For this reason, care must be used as it is often difficult to predict the final scale
of the printed output.
6. Configuration files
Two configuration files are installed with the extension, PaperSizesForDrawings.dat and
DrawingSizes.dat.

1. PaperSizesForDrawings.dat defines a list of paper size names that the extension is
allowed to use and their dimensions.


Copyright 2014 Tekla Corporation March 2014
2. DrawingSizes.dat provides a list of properties that should be set up to match the
drawing sizes configured in the Tekla Structures drawing layout definitions. It is used
by the extension to link those drawings to the paper size name that each drawing was
set up for, and provides information about those drawing's sizes and the margins
around them.

Default values are provided in the files installed with this extension and should be
appropriate in most cases. However, the optimum values are dependent upon the details of
the existing drawing layout definitions. Should the printed area of the drawing need to be
moved, or if inappropriate paper sizes are being selected, full instructions about how to make
adjustments are detailed in those files.

The extension will search for these files and use the first that it finds. The search order is
1. In the model folder.
2. In the project folder as defined by the XS_PROJECT advanced option.
3. In the firm folder as defined by the XS_FIRM advanced option.
4. In the folders as defined by the XS_SYSTEM advanced option
5. In the case that no files are found default values will be assumed.

It is suggested that any changes to these files be done on copies held in a test model's folder
and the results are validated before overwriting those in the project, firm or environment
folders.

Note: It is strongly recommended that you keep backup copies of these files in a safe
location as installing later versions of this extension will over-ride your own settings.
7. Known limitations of this version
Cannot print to more than one printer in a single batch printing operation.
There is only one set of color line thickness settings, that is, you cannot save different settings
for each printer.
Images in drawings are previewed in color even if you choose Grayscale or Black and white
and for color printers are always printed in color unless the user turns on black and white in the
windows printer options.
You cannot save more than one set of dialog settings.
The hatches hardware_BRICKS, hardware_CHESS and hardware_LINES are not supported.
Advanced option XS_PLOT_VIEW_FRAMES is not currently supported.
When Tekla Structures has an open drawing you can only preview and print/export that
drawing. Also, when opening another drawing (for example, by double-clicking on another
drawing in the drawing list) the preview may not update. Select the drawing again (single-click)
in the drawing list and the preview should now update to match the selection.
8. Licensing (in addition to the Tekla Structures license)
The PDFsharp portions (that is, PdfSharp-Hybrid.dll) of this software are Copyright (c) 2005-2012
empira Software GmbH, Troisdorf (Germany).

PDFsharp is published under the MIT License. Details of the PDFsharp license and other third party
licenses used within the PDFsharp library may be found in the
\nt\bin\applications\tekla\model\DPMPrinter\ folder of your Tekla Structures installation.