Printing a PDF across multiple sheets?

Posted by: Roger

Printing a PDF across multiple sheets? - 08/06/2006 18:21

I'm trying to print out a table plan for the wedding. I've got the plan all put together nicely in a program called PerfectTablePlan.

Now, the printshop wants PDF, so I've installed PDFCreator, and I can successfully generate an A1-sized PDF file.

What I want to do is print it out across multiple sheets on my laser printer here, and then stick the sheets together, so that I can check that the font sizes, etc., look good in A1 size.

Any idea how?

Oh, Windows solutions only at this point, please. My printer's not plugged into my Linux box, and I can't be bothered to set that up at the moment.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Printing a PDF across multiple sheets? - 08/06/2006 18:29

I remember that being a function built-in to Aldus PageMaker back in the old days. Dunno about these days.
Posted by: Mach

Re: Printing a PDF across multiple sheets? - 08/06/2006 18:37

If you can export to an image file, then you could try Rasterbator - http://homokaasu.org/rasterbator/wizard.gas?Phase=1
Posted by: Mataglap

Re: Printing a PDF across multiple sheets? - 08/06/2006 18:56

When you print just don't select any of the auto-fit to page options and stuff like that. That is, if you're using Acrobat.

What are you using to view & print?

--Nathan
Posted by: Mataglap

Re: Printing a PDF across multiple sheets? - 08/06/2006 18:58

Ah,

Ctrl-P | Page Scaling | Tile All Pages

at least with acrobat 6

And with FoxIt, Page Scaling | Actual Size

--Nathan
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Printing a PDF across multiple sheets? - 08/06/2006 19:05

Quote:
When you print just don't select any of the auto-fit to page options and stuff like that. That is, if you're using Acrobat.

When I use the Adobe PDF viewer, and I tell it to print something that's bigger than the paper size with the options set like you say, it appears that it wants to print only one piece of paper's worth of that document (i.e., only the upper left corner of what I want to print). At least that's the indication it's giving me on the screen and in the print spooler. I haven't actually tried printing it, don't wanna waste the ink on this experment.

It'd be nice if it automatically tiled, but nothing on the screen is indicating it's gonna do that.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Printing a PDF across multiple sheets? - 08/06/2006 19:07

Quote:
Ctrl-P | Page Scaling | Tile All Pages

Option isn't one of the available options in Adobe Reader 6.0.

I guess you have to buy the full acrobat before that's an option.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Printing a PDF across multiple sheets? - 08/06/2006 19:09

Quote:
I remember that being a function built-in to Aldus PageMaker back in the old days. Dunno about these days.

Tiled poster printing is also an option in Microsoft Publisher. I'm guessing that's the kind of feature you'll find in just about any desktop publishing program.

Makes me wonder: The chart-making software that you used to make the layout in the first place? Doesn't *THAT* have a tiled printing option? Perhaps you could do your checking at THAT stage of the process instead of checking the PDF file?
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Printing a PDF across multiple sheets? - 08/06/2006 19:13

Quote:
Makes me wonder: The chart-making software that you used to make the layout in the first place? Doesn't *THAT* have a tiled printing option? Perhaps you could do your checking at THAT stage of the process instead of checking the PDF file?


Never Mind. Doesn't have that option. You're already following their instructions.

Well. Maybe printing just the upper left corner, or the middle, of the floor plan will answer your questions about readability without needing to print the whole thing?
Posted by: Mataglap

Re: Printing a PDF across multiple sheets? - 08/06/2006 19:13

FoxIt, then?

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

It's a very small download, but too big to attach.

--Nathan
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Printing a PDF across multiple sheets? - 08/06/2006 19:15

Yeah, looks like his complete soultion there.
Posted by: Robotic

Re: Printing a PDF across multiple sheets? - 08/06/2006 19:47

Could one not tile manually- zoom in on certain sections and 'print current view'?

Certainly not a fancy way to do it...
Posted by: gbeer

Re: Printing a PDF across multiple sheets? - 09/06/2006 01:12

As in trying to do something like this. It's a setting available in some print drivers.




Sorry snap show showed incorrect setting.
Posted by: Roger

Re: Printing a PDF across multiple sheets? - 09/06/2006 04:46

Quote:
When I use the Adobe PDF viewer, and I tell it to print something that's bigger than the paper size with the options set like you say, it appears that it wants to print only one piece of paper's worth of that document


Yeah, that's what it does: only print the top-left corner. It's good enough to preview the font sizes, which is cool, but I kinda wanted to see how the whole thing would come out.
Posted by: Roger

Re: Printing a PDF across multiple sheets? - 09/06/2006 04:51

Quote:
It's a setting available in some print drivers.


Except that the A1:A4 ratio isn't expressible as "1 in XxX pages" (where X is a whole number), which kinda puts the kibosh on that plan.

A1 is 4 times as tall as A4 is wide, and twice as wide as A4 is tall.
Posted by: Roger

Re: Printing a PDF across multiple sheets? - 09/06/2006 05:01

Quote:
The chart-making software that you used to make the layout in the first place? Doesn't *THAT* have a tiled printing option?


No, unfortunately, it doesn't, as you found. I've been talking to the guy who wrote it -- he's been tremendously helpful, and he says he's going to try working on the printing options for the next major release. I don't know whether tiling is on his list, though.

In the end, I previewed the sizes with just the corner, and then exported the plan to SVG and tweaked the sizes, colours etc. in InkScape, which wasn't bad. "Stable version" (on the website) is a bit of a misnomer, though, at least on Windows -- remember to save regularly.

I also remembered that these Dell 2005FPW monitors rotate into portrait mode, which made it much easier to work on the SVG without too much scrolling around.

Hopefully, Jen'll be able to pick up the finished article from the printers today, and we'll see how it all came out.