Customizing Print Settings

You can use either the default printing parameters, or set your own parameters when printing objects.

Objects can be printed when displayed in a standard way, or when displayed in a Manual or Automatic multi-view configuration.

The properties displayed in the Multi-Documents tab are relevant for Drafting objects, V4 objects (.model) and multipage image formats (such as TIFF, JPEG, BMP, etc.).

Before you begin:
  • You can only print an object if a default printer has been set up.
  • You print using the default printer declared by your Windows system administrator.
  • Whenever the Print dialog opens, default printing parameters are loaded. These default printing parameters are updated when pressing OK or Apply. For instance, if you select Whole document for the print area then click OK, next time you open the Print dialog box, Whole document will be selected in the Print Area list.
Related Topics
About Printing Objects
More About Customizing Print Settings

  1. Select PLM Access > Print... (or press Ctrl+P) .

    In the Print dialog box, the type of printer you choose determines the default settings:

  2. Select a printer in the drop-down list next to Printer Name.

    On Windows, you can select the printers provided by Dassault Systemes which are managed with dedicated plot configuration files. Dassault Systemes Printer Manager is part of the V6 Windows environment, combined with the native Microsoft printer manager.

    Tip: You can also
    • Click Printer Name to search for a printer using a filter.
    • Filter the list of printers according to groups that have been previously defined through the Printer List tab..

  3. Optional: To print to a file, select the Print to file check box then enter a file name or click File Name....

  4. Click Properties... to access the printer properties then click OK when finished.

    If the driver is provided by Dassault Systemes, see Adding a Printer.

  5. Define the page orientation.


    • Orientation settings differ from one printer to another.
    • The current format and page size set by clicking Page setup... is displayed as a reminder.

  6. Select the fitting option.

    Tip: To increase the scale accuracy, enter a floating-point value (e.g. "25.50") to define more precisely the print size. The value is displayed with 2 decimals and if the width or height is modified, the scale value is modified accordingly. However, if you enter a value with 3 decimals, it is rounded off to the closest value with 2 decimals.

  7. Position the image either by:

    • Dragging it to its new position.
    • Entering its position of the bottom and left corners of the image (with respect to the paper margins).
    • Using the Origin and Center buttons.

  8. Click Page Setup....

    Warning: The Use image format check box is relevant for drawing representations only.

  9. In the Page Setup dialog box, define the paper format and margins:



    For a standard paper format, Width and Height indicate the paper format compliant with the ISO 216 standard and the Width/Height ratio defined in this format is constant (i.e. 1/2).

    • If you set a new format, the image of the paper format and the image to be printed are resized accordingly.
    • If the selected format is incompatible with the printer currently selected, a warning message is displayed but this does not prevent you from setting the paper format.

  10. Select the image orientation.

  11. Select the Print Area.

    Note that the Whole Document mode potentially modifies the viewpoint to reframe all the geometry (position and zoom factor). Therefore, the result might look different from the user's view. The result also depends on the workbench you are using.

  12. Click Options....

  13. In the Color tab, set the color type for the image to be printed:



  14. Optional: Click the Banner tab.

    If needed, you can delete the $USER, $DATE and $TIME variables which, by default, print the user name, and the current date and time in the banner at the bottom of the printed output to replace them with the text of your choice.

    You can also use the following variables: $EYE (provides the eye origin coordinates for 3D documents only), $NAME (refers to the printed document), $HOST, $SCALE, $DAY, $MONTH, and $YEAR.

    Note: The application does not control the display of the banner text, whatever the value you enter in the Banner text height box. Therefore, it is recommended to preview the banner to make sure that the text is entirely displayed.

  15. Click the Various tab.



  16. Set the Rendering mode to be used for printing.


    • The Dynamic Hidden Line Removal mode available in this tab and the Dynamic hidden line removal mode available in the View Mode Customization dialog box generate similar results but use different technologies. Therefore, even though the results look similar, they might not be absolutely equivalent.
    • When the Shading with Triangles mode is selected, you can print UVR files.

  17. Set the Rendering quality factor which determines the quality of the printed output.

    Warning:
    • The higher the quality, the longer the print time, the larger the print file and the better the image quality. However, this option does not impact the print preview.
    • A maximum dpi value is computed and displayed next to Customized. If you set a value higher than the recommended value, a warning symbol appears.

  18. Set the Line width specification and the Linetype specification.

  19. Use the Line end list to choose how line ends are drawn.

    This option is especially useful for drawing representations and does not impact the print preview. See also Raster Format.

  20. Optional: Use the check boxes at the bottom of the tab to define the 3D accuracy, the text scaling and the linetype overlapping.

    The Use 3D accuracy check box is activated only when working in Hidden Line Removal rendering mode.

  21. Optional: Select the Tiling option then click Define....

    In the Options dialog box, specify how the image should be cut to be printed on several pages.

  22. Click OK to close the Tiling dialog box.

  23. In the Print dialog box, click OK.

Your parameters are validated and the object is printed.