‘PDF Export’ palette

Specify the path and name for the PDF file in the data entry box or click

to do this in a dialog box.
Allplan proposes the name of the layout with the lowest layout number.

Add bookmark adds a bookmark to the PDF file. You can enter a name for the bookmark in the data entry box.
When you select several layouts, this name is used for the first PDF file. The file name assigned automatically is used as the bookmark for the other PDF files.

When you select Password, you can specify a password. A user who wants to open the PDF file must enter this password.

You can only select this option if the file already exists in the folder specified for the Path or when you have selected an existing file by clicking

. When you have selected several layouts, you must select the Combine layouts to a single document option too.

Append to file adds the new PDF file to the existing file. Otherwise, you can overwrite the existing file.

Open with associated application opens the new PDF file in the application linked with the pdf file type.

This option is only available when you have selected several layouts for output in Layout Editor. When you select this option, Allplan exports all the selected layouts to the file you have specified for the Path. Otherwise, Allplan creates a separate file for each layout.

You can specify the resolution you want to use to export bitmap images, fills with gradients and OLE objects to the PDF file. You can enter a value between 32 and 2,400 DPI. The DPI value has an effect on the size of the PDF file, defining how long it takes Allplan to create the PDF file.

The print quality of a layout and the size of a PDF file depend on the resolution of bitmaps (for example, fills, background images, rendered images) embedded in the layout.

As you do not always require the highest quality for printing, you can choose from five levels, defining the resolution of bitmaps for PDF export and thus the size of the resulting PDF file. Depending on the level of quality selected, Allplan creates a small PDF file (when set to minimum) or a large PDF file (when set to maximum). The compression rate depends on the data, that is to say, the ratio between bitmaps and vector graphics: the more bitmaps, the higher the compression rate.

Important!
The selected setting also applies when you output the entire layout as a bitmap using the Export document as a bitmap option. Here, too, the higher the quality of the bitmap, the greater the file size and vice versa.

This option exports the entire contents of the layout as a bitmap file. The advantage is that fills with transparency stay as they are and that the resulting PDF file is protected against unauthorized copying, as it cannot be imported in vectorized form again.

However, the amount of data generated increases significantly, which may lead to problems sending or importing PDF files of large layouts.

Note: When you select this option, Allplan automatically grays out the parameters it does not take into account. As the Hidden, Animation and Sketch view types display bitmap images, this option is the default setting for exporting PDF data from

Print Preview. You cannot change this setting.

The Export high-quality data option produces PDF data of higher quality, resulting in precise circles, ellipses, splines, clothoids and pattern lines.

However, depending on the data exported, this option may increase the file size considerably.

This option is only available in Layout Editor. Entire layout contents exports the entire contents of the layout to the PDF file. The sheet size of the PDF file depends on the contents of the layout (the page size is irrelevant). If Document size is set to Page, the program enlarges the layout by the margins of the page.

PDF/A is an ISO standard that specifies how to use the Portable Document Format (PDF) for long-term preservation of electronic documents. As opposed to the standard PDF format or other proprietary CAD formats (DXF, DWG, DGN), the ISO standard provides a permanent, nonproprietary certification that can be accessed by everybody.

Some advantages of archiving documents in the PDF/A format:

You can archive layouts straight from Allplan. You do not need additional tools or make edits later.
You can use a file format certified by ISO.
You can archive digital layouts more quickly, easily and inexpensively than paper layouts.
Archive DVDs require less space than paper layouts.

Compared with the conventional PDF format, PDF/A has some restrictions so that archiving is possible:

Layers cannot be transferred
TrueType fonts must be embedded
Transparent fills cannot be used
Passwords cannot be assigned
Printing cannot be restricted or excluded

You can find further information about PDF/A at http://www.pdfa.org.

Export layers creates a level in the PDF file for each layer in the drawing files and documents used. Hidden layers are not transferred as levels to PDF files. You require Acrobat Reader Version 6 or later to display levels in PDF files. You can download the current version of Acrobat Reader from Adobe's website.

Embed TrueType fonts integrates all TrueType fonts in the PDF file. This ensures that the document is always displayed correctly, whether or not the relevant font is installed.

This option is only available in print preview. When you select the Grayscale check box, color fills and bitmap areas will be converted to grayscale during export.

Note: You can use

Save as a favorite to save the settings in the Properties area as a favorite file, which you can retrieve and adjust using

Load Favorite. You can use

Restore basic settings to reset the settings in the Properties area back to their defaults.