Documentation | Help File | UI | 2D Mode | Menu | File | Print

Clicking on the File/Print menu item provides the means for printing or exporting to a PDF (Portable Document Format) file the data currently open in the Editor, that is, the contents of the Map area, Legend and MiniMap. The printout layout is managed through the Editor print templates. The print templates are stored in files in the PrintTemplates subdirectory of the Editor installation folder. The Editor comes with three standard print templates: Simple (Map area only), With Legend (Map area with the Legend panel), With Legend and MiniMap (Map area, Legend panel and MiniMap panel). The standard templates are always listed in the Print dialog Template list. An example of a more advanced template, including images and multi coloring, is provided in the TatukGISCustom.tpl file.

Print dialog box displaying sample printout setup.

To print the content of the Map area

1. Use the Zoom mode, Zoom extended mode and Drag mode to adjust the extent visible on the Map area such that it displays the area to be printed.
2. [OPTIONAL] Prepare the appearance of the MiniMap if it is to be included in the printout.
3. Click on the File/Print menu item - this invokes the Print dialog box.
4. [OPTIONAL] To display the preview of the printout, check the Preview checkbox by clicking on it.
5. Within the Print dialog, choose a print template from the Template list. If the desired template is not listed in the Template list then choose the From file… item - this invokes the Open dialog box. Within the Open dialog box, select the appropriate drive from the Look in list, locate the template file by entering the directory that contains this file, and double-click on the file name.
6. Enter the printout title in the Title text box. [OPTIONAL] To refresh the preview with the new title, press the Enter key or click on the button.
7. [OPTIONAL] To customize the print settings such as the printer used to generate the printout or the printout orientation, click on the Print Setup button - this invokes the Print Settings dialog box.
8. [OPTIONAL] To generate the printout in draft quality, check the Draft checkbox. This option is useful for speeding up the printing procedure but significantly lowers the quality of the printout.
9. [OPTIONAL] To generate the printout in high compatibility mode, check the Compatibility mode checkbox. This option may have a significant impact on the printout quality and is meant to be used only when the printer is not capable of printing in normal mode or the generated printout contains errors.
10. Click on the Print button - this invokes the system Print dialog box.
11. Within the system Print dialog box, set the number of printout copies in the Number of copies box.
12. Click on the OK button.

System Print dialog box.

To generate a PDF file from the content of the Map area

1. Use the Zoom mode, Zoom extended mode and Drag mode to adjust the extent visible on the Map area such that it displays the area to be printed.
2. [OPTIONAL] Prepare the appearance of the MiniMap if it is to be included in the printout.
3. Click on the File/Print menu item - this invokes the Print dialog box.
4. [OPTIONAL] To display the preview of the printout, check the Preview checkbox by clicking on it.
5. Within the Print dialog, choose a print template from the Template list. If the desired template is not listed in the Template list then choose the From file… item - this invokes the Open dialog box. Within the Open dialog box, select the appropriate drive from the Look in list, locate the template file by entering the directory that contains this file, and double-click on the file name.
6. Enter the printout title in the Title text box. [OPTIONAL] To refresh the preview with the new title, press the Enter key or click on the button.
7. [OPTIONAL] To change the printout orientation, click on the Print Setup button - this invokes the Print Settings dialog box. Within the Print Settings dialog box, choose one option from the Orientation list.
8. [OPTIONAL] To generate the printout in draft quality, check the Draft checkbox. This option is useful for speeding up the PDF creation procedure but significantly lowers the quality of the document.
9. [OPTIONAL] To generate the printout in high compatibility mode, check the Compatibility mode checkbox. This option may have a significant impact on the document quality but ensures compatibility with almost any printer when the PDF file is meant to be printed later.
10. Click on the Print button - this invokes the Save As dialog box.
11. Within the Save As dialog box go to the drive on which you want to store the PDF file.
12. Enter the folder in which you want to save the PDF file.
13. Enter a name for the PDF file in the File name field.
14. Click on the Save button.

• The icon on the Standard toolbar.

The Ctrl+P key combination.

• The process of installing and configuring a printing device is controlled by the Windows operating system. Each type of printing device has its own properties. Detailed information about installing and configuring a printer can be found in the manual supplied by the printer manufacturer and in the Windows help system.
• Checking the Compatibility mode option causes the data to be converted to an image representation before proceeding with the printing/PDF exporting procedure. This especially affects the quality of a PDF document (which natively supports vectorial graphics) while exporting vector type layers.