Custom PDF Page Size

David Waight

Does anybody know of a more streamlined way of setting up custom page sizes when creating PDF's?

In the first attached file (Capture) you will see once I have opened the Page Setup Dialog, I have to open four additional dialog boxes, just so I can change to a custom page size.

Is there another way of doing this, as this is a very long winded way of doing things when I need to do multiple outputs?

All my drawings by necessity are 100% to scale (1:1) so most times when I chose an existing page size, it is either far too wide or far too high (i.e. lots of white space around the drawing) or in some cases there isn't a page size wide enough, so I have to use the custom settings.

I know I can create loads more .pc3 files, but this would also become unwieldy eventually and there will always be another drawing that didn't quite fit all the additional .pc3 files and I would have to go through the same multiple dialog boxes again!

Surely a custom page size is printer independent, so is there a way to circumvent all these boxes?

Or perhaps this is a good time to start a wishlist for V16, an area on the page setup dialog for custom page sizes (see second file) when creating PDF's.

Any ideas would be very well received.

Thanks in advance,

David

Joe Dunfee

Apparenlty page sizes are purely controlled by the printer driver.

 I have recently been doing some projects that involved custom paper sizes to put out large patterns for cloth.  Custom Postscript page sizes are what I use with the PDF Creator printer driver that I use.  But, it certainly is a pain and requires you to go through multiple windows.  And worse yet, can only create one custom paper size per .pc3 file.

I do recall using a plotter driver years ago, that permitted you to add new page sizes, and remove the ones you don't use.  I don't recall which one it was, but perhaps there is a PDF file creator that has that ability.  If anyone knows which one has that ability, please share it with us.

-Joe

Joe Dunfee

 I just did a little internet research.  I found two PDF printers that may fit the bill.  One is BullZip.  I have used it years ago, and it seemed to be a good product.

http://www.bullzip.com/index.php

Another is CutePDF.  I know other people who use it, so it seems to be OK.

www.cutepdf.com/

I am not sure when I will get around to testing these.

There is another issue that I have come across in BricsCAD.  When a drawing page setup is set for a particular printer, and that printer no longer exists, it often forgets what the paper size was.   And even if I just change from one existing printer to another existing printer, the paper size is lost.  I am not sure if this always happens.  It may be that if the new printer driver uses a different name for the same page size, the computer will not recognize them as the same. I.e. "Tabloid" vs "B-Size" or even 8 1/2" x 11" vs. 8 1/2 x 11.

-Joe

Ferdinand Janssens

David,
You state: 'Surely a custom page size is printer independent,...'
I believe the exact opposite is true. A custom page setup allows (you as a user)  to locally  overwrite factory setting of the said printer driver. It means that a such a custom page is precisely that: it is customized. It allows you to  'create' a page size which is not in the list of the said printer. But it is important to note that this becomes a local 'override', valid only on your machine, and which applies only for that specific printer (so it is definitely not printer independent).

Joe Dunfee

 I just installed and tested the BullZip PDF printer driver.  You can add paper sizes in the printer driver, though the process is odd.  You must highlight the printer in the Windows list of printers, and then select "print server properties" in the menu that is on the top of that window.  After that the process is fairly straightforward.

But, as Mr. Janssens described, that custom paper size is unique to that installation.  It will not be available on other computers.  Though perhaps you could create the same custom paper size on the other computer, and if you name the paper size the same way, you might get it to work.

-Joe

David Waight

Ferdinand & Joe,

Thanks for the replies, I think I was wording things incorrectly. What I think I meant was; there is no physical printer therefore the size should be able to be whatever you want it to be. Am I correct in saying that the PDF creators that are loaded onto your machine aren't actually what is creating the PDF (BullZip, CutePDF etc.), it seems to me that there is a mechanism within Bricscad itself that is creating the PDF but taking settings such as the sheet size, from the loaded device whether physical (an actual A4 printer for example or virtual such as BullZip). This can be borne out by me selecting my office A4 printer, setting the drawing up using one of the available page sizes (in this case A4 and then exporting NOT PRINTING the drawing as a PDF. This will give me an A4 PDF created to all intents and purposes from a desktop printer which plainly isn't capable of creating a PDF file!

Taking the info that Joe provided, I created a new form, with a custom page size (it doesn't matter if the printer you have selected can take this size) and bizarrely it is available to any of the printers accessible by my computer (whether physical or virtual) and appears in the list of available sheet sizes (When in Bricscad), but only on the printers/drivers that can accept this size!

To this end I can only conclude that it must be possible to create a custom sheet size without having to go through all the previously mentioned printer dialogs as they aren't what is actually creating the PDF, they are only providing part of the information to whatever is generating the PDF.

Perhaps a scenario whereby after selecting a Printer/Plotter in the dialog, as in my doctored image there are boxes to add sizes so there is the possibility to add your custom sheet size and if it is too big for the chosen device then you are given a warning?

Apologies if this seems like a rant, it really isn't, I am just trying to understand the mechanism of PDF creation (and see if there is an easier way of doing it), as an additional 4 dialog boxes and about 13 mouse clicks to access a feature seems far too many to my mind.

Joe's information with the forms is definitely useful, as I can now create additional sheets without the added overhead of additional .PC3 files in my list, so I have gained a little bit of functionality, for which I am very grateful.

Many Thanks,

David Waight
 

Roy Klein Gebbinck

An alternative approach would be to create every PDF using a single oversized (custom) format and then crop the PDF.
You can use Govert's PDF Cropper for this.

Jason Bourhill

As the intention is always to print at 1:1 you could use BricsCAD's internal PDF printer via EXPORT. When using the internal printer you can override the paper size to whatever size you want. Attach a LISP routine that takes advantage of this to set the paper size based on your current drawing extents, then generate a PDF that is also set to drawing extents.  i.e. It's performs a print to fit based on drawing extents, this should end up as 1:1 as the paper size has also been set to extents. I've included some width and height factors to allow adjusting (scale) of the output size.

Regards, Jason Bourhill CAD Concepts 

PDFPrintToSize.lsp

David Waight

@Roy,

Thanks very much for the tip of the PDF Cropper, it works very well.

@Jason,

Thanks for the Lisp file, it is very clever and it seems to get pretty close to what I require.
I ran the lisp and it created a PDF with no problems.

A couple of issues,
It didn't come out at 1:1; I can't select only part of my drawing to create a PDF and if the PDF file already exists there is only the option to overwrite it and not give it a new name (I hope the above comments don't make me seem grateful!).

This does give me hope that it is possible to do this via lisp, so I will investigate this further when funds allow.

Thank you to everybody that responded to my question I do appreciate the help I have been given.

Many Thanks,

David Waight

Jason Bourhill

@David Waight:

A couple of issues,
It didn't come out at 1:1; I can't select only part of my drawing to create a PDF and if the PDF file already exists there is only the option to overwrite it and not give it a new name (I hope the above comments don't make me seem grateful!).

If you only want part of a drawing you could create a layout with just a viewport on it. Set the viewport size to the paper size that you want, then shift to the part of the drawing that you want to output. You could start with the viewport scale at 1:1, then adjust to tune the output scale. This approach would also allow you to set a margin. You could setup multiple layouts for different parts of your model.

The LISP was pretty basic, it was really just a proof of concept. For now you could comment out the line that runs the EXPORT command, run it as a separate task after. This would allow you to save the PDF file however you like.

Regards, Jason Bourhill CAD Concepts 

Jason Bourhill

Attach an example using the method I described in my previous post

Regards, Jason Bourhill CAD Concepts

PDF PrintTest.dwgPDF PrintTest-Layout2.pdfPDF PrintTest-Layout1.pdf

Joe Dunfee

 I have always had troubles with the native PDF exporter, with issues like pixelated spreadsheets, and very large file sizes.  However, I decided to look again into it, since those problems are only an issue if I use spreadsheet.   But, the list of paper sizes has VERY few of the sizes used in the U.S.  And the largest is legal size (8 1/2 x 14).  So, the native PDF is really not viable.

-Joe

David Waight

@ Jason,

Jason, thanks very much for sending the routine and the additional information and drawings.

It definitely gives me plenty to think about.

I will try your suggestions and see how I get on.

I do appreciate the help you have given and will report back how I get on.

Thanks Again,

David Waight