How Do I Print my Design to PDF?

To create a PDF output from Plandroid you usually need to print to PDF using a software printer. In most cases you do not save or export to PDF to create a PDF. If you print to PDF your document will be in a vector format (that is, made of lines instead of dots or pixels) which means it will still be at high resolution when you zoom in on the image or later send the document to a paper printer. If you Export your design to a .PNG image, that image will be pixelated, and if you zoom in enough you will see that it is a raster image made of dots.

Only on the Report page can you use the menu item File -> Export Report as Word, RTF, or PDF Document to export your report as a PDF document. In this case if you have attached any design images to the report document, they will be raster images even though the file is a PDF.

On Windows 10, you can get excellent PDF results with the Microsoft Print to PDF printer option. Otherwise, you will need to install 3rd-party PDF printing software to be able to print to PDF from Plandroid (or from almost any other program). A PDF printer program, once installed, will normally appear as a printer in your available printer list. You can print in the usual manner, using the menu item File -> Print, selecting your PDF printer program as your current printer.

Although there are a number of free and good quality PDF printer programs available, few offer a solution as good as the native Windows 10 PDF printer. But if you do not have this option, we recommend using Nitro PDF Reader, which comes with a good PDF printer. Not all PDF printers are able to print semi-opaque images to a PDF correctly, which the Nitro PDF printer is generally able to do. Another reasonable option is Primo PDF Printer, although this program has a less attractive presentation of load zones.

Printing Multiple Plan Levels to One PDF Document

If you need to print multiple plan levels to a single PDF document, you need to use a PDF printer program that supports the append print option. From the Design page, print all of your design diagrams to the same PDF document and add them with the append print option. This will produce a single PDF document with a page for each plan level. (Note that not all PDF printer programs support the append print option, but it is supported by Nitro PDF Reader amongst others).

Printing Reports to PDF in High Quality

If you print your design to PDF from the Design page, it will be printed in vector format, which means it will be at full resolution on any paper size or at any zoom level. However, if you print your design from the Report page as an inserted design diagram, that diagram will not be printed at full resolution as it is no longer in vector format. It can appear pixelated (as if made of blocks) to some degree when zoomed in or when printed at high resolution. A work-around for this situation is to print your report document to PDF without any design diagrams, and then to go to the Design page and print your design diagrams to the same PDF document with the append print option, as described above. In this way you can produce a single report document in PDF, but with your designs at full vector resolution.

When printing to PDF, the print dialog will often have a Preferences button that provides access to the printer quality settings. Print-ready conversion quality will provide the highest quality image (but also with the largest file size).