PDF Extension
Overview
The PDF writer creates a PDF document that consists of images of objects in the referenced project. Normally, the user would want to convert a paper-type Page into a PDF document. The objects on the page are all converted to images, and those are put on the PDF page. The PDF document is stored for the current patient and current measurement.Details
How to use
To use the PDF extension, you need to call the SEND_TO action ("SEND_TO"), in the following way:Suppose you have a page in your project that is called 'PDF Page' and this page has PageType set to 'printable';
Action: SEND_TO
Value: PDF Writer > [$year$,*][$month$,*][$day$,*]_[$hour$,*][$minute$,*][$second$,*].[$alias$,*].[$ext$,*]
Address: $PDF Page
In the Value property the PDF Writer is called. Then an arrow symbol '>' follows, and then arguments for the PDF Writer. As an argument the file name is specified. In the example above, the file name is made of variables (this is the default name), but you could also write a fixed name here if you want. So the following line is also correct:
Value: PDF Writer > MyPDF.pdf
- or -
Value: PDF Writer > D:\My File Folder\MyPDF.pdf
If no explicit path is sepcified, the PDF file will be stored for the current patient and the current measurement session that is open. If no measurement is open, a new measurement is created automatically (to control this, please see the Measurement Information operator ("Measurement Information")).
If an explicit path is specified (like in the last example above), then the PDF is written to that location.
The Address of the SEND_TO action points to the page you want to be rendered in the PDF.
Multiple pages in the PDF document
To create a PDF document with multiple pages, you need to set the Page count property (Advanced) of the printable page to the required number of pages. The pages are added to the PDF in that order, using the settings of those pages.PDF size versus print quality
By default, a printable page may have 100 dpi resolution. This means that texts and graphs can have a maximum detail of 100 pixels per Inch, if you print the PDF to paper.On a monitor screen 100 dpi may look fine, but on paper this may look somewhat coarse. Most printers are able to print at least 600 dpi, which makes graphs look much smoother.
You may change the resolution of the printable page in the properties of the page. Please note that a higher resolution will increase the size of your PDF document.
So, what is the right resolution for your PDF?
- if it is to be printed to paper, take 300 or even 600 dpi.
- if it is to be viewed on screens, 100 dpi is often enough.
Other features
In the page properties you can write a description and author of the page. This information, together with the caption of the page, is copied to the properties of the PDF page.Limitations
- You can only print pages to a PDF that are marked to be printable-type pages.- Depending on the properties of the page that is to be rendered to PDF, a PDF in portrait or landscape is created, but only in one of the following formats: DIN A5, A4, A3, A2, A1, A0, Letter or Folio.
- The PDF documents could get pretty big if a high resolution is chosen, because all the items on the pages are rendered as bitmap images, and not as vector images or normal text.
- You cannot print transparent objects on a PDF page. Those objects will be drawn in black.