Automatically open after Print as PDF

martin@enco.us
martin@enco.us
in Printing and Plotting

The built-in driver does not seem to have this option, and I don't see a variable that holds the file name for the last pdf plotted. Is there a way to automatically open a newly created pdf in a pdf viewer?

Thanks.

Comments

  • Anthony Apostolaros
    Anthony Apostolaros

    I don't have v20, but when I use the built-in "Print as PDF" printer driver in my v17, that option seems to be handled in this way:

    • If I use the Print command and don't ask to see a preview, I'm prompted for a filename and location to save the PDF file in. Then the PDF file is created there but is not automatically opened.
    • If I use the Preview command (or use the Print command and ask to see a preview) then the PDF file is immediately created and automatically opened in my default PDF viewer. Then I can choose to exit the PDF viewer, in which case the PDF file is not saved (so it really was just a preview), or else I can use the Save As command in the PDF viewer and furnish the filename and location at that point.
  • martin@enco.us
    martin@enco.us

    Anthony,

    Thanks. I see the same.

    Having the option to automatically open a pdf after printing is common. Both Bluebeam and docuPrinter have this option. I think the built-in function in Autocad does, too. I find it much more convenient to have the drawings open automatically and all in one instance of my pdf program. I sign my drawings either with electronic signatures or using the pen tool and flatten tool, so ultimately the pdf files have to be opened in a real pdf program.

  • David Waight
    David Waight

    Weirdly this option is available using Publish.

    So can't quite understand why it can't also be in Print & Export.

    So if you wanted to Publish instead of Print then you could do it that way.

    Probably not the answer you were looking for I know, but it might be of use :-)

  • Anthony Apostolaros
    Anthony Apostolaros

    @H Martin Shoemaker said:
    ... ultimately the pdf files have to be opened in a real pdf program.

    On my system, Bricscad's Preview command opens the PDF file in Adobe Acrobat Pro, which is my default PDF viewer.

  • martin@enco.us
    martin@enco.us

    Anthony,

    Thanks. I'm not sure whether I'll stay with Bluebeam's driver or change to Bricscad's. Bluebeam seems to create smaller files but I've had trouble with stability in their latest version.

  • RSW
    RSW

    I used Bluebeam as well and had stabiliity issues with its printer driver, though it behaved better than Acrobat with landscape printing at the time.

    You may want to have a look at PDF X-change from Tracker Software, that works quite nicely and a new purchase with 3 years of maintenance is even less than one year of Bluebeam Extreme maintenance. The only thing is does not as well as Acrobat and Bluebeam is showing 3D PDF files as the models will be all black instead of having colour but they are still working on the 3D PDF stuff so this should improve over time.

    If you don't need all the bells and whistles of Bluebeam or Acrobat it is one of the very few alternatives that can open 3D PDF files at the moment.