Plot Preview

The right part of Page Setup and Plot dialogs is the window for preview of the specified plot setups.

Change of plot setups is dynamically displaed in the preview window.

The preview window provides two options for displaying the specified plot area: schematic (simplified) and normal, in which the plot setting is displayed in the view it will be output to the plot device.

Conventions in schematic (simplified) preview:

Dashed line – the plot area boundaries for the selected plot device and specified paper format.

Numbers – size of the specified paper format and indentations to the plot boundary. Indentations from the paper edge to the plot boundaries depend on the selected plot device.

Blue hatch and letter A – location and orientation of the specified plot area on the page.

Red line – warning that the specified plot area is outside the plot margins.

Switching of schematic symbol in the preview window to a normal one and vice versa is carried out by selecting/removing Preview checkbox, located above the preview window; the information about the specified paper format is also displayed here:

Options of the preview dialog box (for normal view):

Additional options displayed for a multipage plot:

It is possible to zoom and pan an image in the preview window by a mouse after clicking inside the window:

·         to zoom an image – rotate the mouse wheel.

·         to pan an image – move the mouse with the left or right button pressed and held, as well as with a mouse wheel.

A separate Plot Preview dialog box with normal view of the plot set can be opened from:

    Ribbon: Output – Plot >  Preview

    Menu: File – Preview…

    Toolbar: Main –

 Hot keys: CTRL+F2

 Command line: PREVIEW

In the Batch plot dialog box, the Plot preview is opened by Preview button.

The possibility of quick plot of the content using the Plot button is added to the parameters of the preview window in the Plot Preview dialog box:

When plotting individual files (with rich graphics, a large number of viewports, etc.) the message “Not enough memory to create preview” can appear in the preview window. In this case it is necessary to change the setting in the Print preview mode settings section (Graphic settings item of the Options dialog box).

By default, the Metafile (WMF) parameter is set:

Modifying and Adding the Paper Formats

The composition of paper formats list of the Paper size and orientation section in Plot and Page Setup dialog boxes depends on formats specified in the Papers section of Options dialog (the Tools menu– Options). In the same section it is possible to change the existing paper format or create a new one.

To edit the list of paper formats:

1.    Enter the Papers section of the Options dialog box.

2.    Set the label of formats that should be displayed in the list:

To add a new paper format:

1.    Select the Papers section name of the Options dialog box. To create a new paper format based on the existing one, select the required format in the section list.

2.    Click the Add button.

3.    In the opened Add paper format dialog box:

·        specify the new format name;

·        select the measurement units;

·        enter the values of format width and height;

·        if necessary, set size of the internal frame: set the Internal frame mark and specify the values of margins from the format edge in the Frame margins section:

4.    Click OK to close the dialog box.

5.    Click OK to close the Options dialog box.

To modify a paper format:

1.    Enter the Papers section of the Options dialog box.

2.    Select the format to be modified.

3.    Click the Modify button.

4.    In the opened Modify paper format dialog box, repeat actions of 3-5 items from the previous section. You should not change the format name.

The newly created paper formats are displayed in the Paper size and orientation drop-down list in the Plot and Page Setup dialog boxes after selecting a specific plot device.

Editing the List of Paper Formats

The content of the drop-down list for selecting paper formats of the Paper size and orientation section in the Plot and Page Setup dialog boxes can be edited.

The  Filter paper button of the Paper size and orientation section opens the Edit paper list dialog box, in which it is possible to disable the unused formats, enable additional ones or delete paper formats that belong to the custom formats list.

The dialog box contains the list of all available paper formats that can be included in the list.

Options:

To edit the list of paper formats:

1.    Select the format in the dialog box.

2.    Select/clear the checkbox  in the State column or use the dialog buttons:

 Turn off paper
 Turn on paper
 Delete custom paper

To edit the status or delete several formats at once use the multiple selection:

·         While holding down SHIFT key, select all formats located between the first and the last left click.

·         While holding down CTRL key, it is possible to add any format from the list by left click.