Improve control in PDF export

[ambrose]

PDF export of shaded views have low resolution and jpeg artifacts. While the resolution is ok for printing, it is not good for on-screen viewing when zooming in to see more clearly. The artifacts are sometimes visible on printed documents. In addition I notice that the vector resolution doesn't appear to be any where near the 4600 dpi I set it to during export, though it is good enough for most purposes.

The export settings seem needlessly conservative given the power of modern computers. It would be great if there were some control over this so the user could trade quality and file size themselves. Failing that, I think a higher quality default would get very few complaints.

[Anonymous]

Export to PDF - Inventor & AutoCAD

Here at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, we are held to specific PDF standards, that must be met for our long term record retention for regulatory reasons (life of plant plus 10 years = ~60 years!). In particular, we have standards that require PDF/A format with the inclusion of Embedded Fonts, 300DPI images, Fast Web View, etc... The current Export to PDF is very generic, does not create a PDF/A and has very limited "advanced" options.

What are the future plans for Autodesk to enhance the "Export to PDF" function with in the Applications, to include the Advanced PDF properties? Or the ability to Plug-in the PDF Generator of Choice such as ADOBE Acrobat, Nitro-PDF, etc.... in place of the existing Pdf generator?

Thanks in Advance,

Tom Gertz / 富夢　我亜津

IM Program Manager, Global Engineering

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy

PO Box 780 M/C A75

Wilmington, NC 28402-0780

(910) 819-5845 (Office)

(910) 547-2664 (Cell)

(910) 362-5845 (fax)

E-mail: Tom.Gertz@ge.com

[dgorsman]

Future development plans are rarely discussed publicly, and only slightly less so with various NDA's (which aren't offered to most).  A more specific list of requirements that aren't currently met might be a better idea, including more in-depth/specific discussion about where the program is falling short for you, what work-arounds you are currently using, whether this lack is preventing you from using the program at all, and so on.

[Anonymous]

I have an i-logic button set to preint to pdf

code from Curtis Waguespack site and blog pages (well worth reading)

I set the vector resolution to default to 4800

cut and paste into a rule (again see Curtis blogs on how to do this if needed)

Dim PDFAddIn As TranslatorAddIn
PDFAddIn = ThisApplication.ApplicationAddIns.ItemById("{0AC6FD96-2F4D-42CE-8BE0-8AEA580399E4}")
'Set a reference to the active document (the document to be published).
Dim oDocument As Document
oDocument = ThisApplication.ActiveDocument
Dim oContext As TranslationContext
oContext = ThisApplication.TransientObjects.CreateTranslationContext
oContext.Type = IOMechanismEnum.kFileBrowseIOMechanism
' Create a NameValueMap object
Dim oOptions As NameValueMap
oOptions = ThisApplication.TransientObjects.CreateNameValueMap
' Create a DataMedium object
Dim oDataMedium As DataMedium
oDataMedium = ThisApplication.TransientObjects.CreateDataMedium

' Check whether the translator has 'SaveCopyAs' options
If PDFAddIn.HasSaveCopyAsOptions(oDataMedium, oContext, oOptions) Then
oOptions.Value("All_Color_AS_Black") = 1
oOptions.Value("Remove_Line_Weights") = 0
oOptions.Value("Vector_Resolution") = 4800
oOptions.Value("Sheet_Range") = Inventor.PrintRangeEnum.kPrintAllSheets
'oOptions.Value("Custom_Begin_Sheet") = 2
'oOptions.Value("Custom_End_Sheet") = 4
End If

PDFDirectory = ThisDoc.Path
oFileName = ThisDoc.FileName(False) 'without extension

If ThisDoc.Path =  "" Then
MessageBox.Show("PDF file not created, click Save button again for PDF creation.", "iLogic")
Return 'exit rule
Else
oDataMedium.FileName = PDFDirectory & "\" & oFileName & ".PDF"
End If

'Publish document.
PDFAddIn.SaveCopyAs(oDocument, oContext, oOptions, oDataMedium)
'Launch the PDF file in whatever application Windows is set to open this document type with
'i = MessageBox.Show("Preview the PDF file?", "PDF Preview",MessageBoxButtons.YesNo,MessageBoxIcon.Question)
'If i = vbYes Then ThisDoc.Launch(oDataMedium.FileName)

[ambrose]

Thanks mark, seems like a very complicated way to get a PDF though. What is the advantage?

[Anonymous]

One push button - job done

[ambrose]

Fair enough, that is neat. But I'm perfectly happy with the three clicks to go File->Export->PDF. So I thank you for your contribution, but it doesn't help me in any way!

It's control of the quality that I'd like to see improved. Inventor only gives you control over the vector resolution (which it doesn't really obey). It gives you no control over the resolution and compression of raster content in drawings. When I have searched for solutions for this, I see a lot of people on forums saying "just set it to 4600 dpi" but they fail to understand that the question isn't about vector resolution. I get the impression that they don't understand the difference.

I can sometimes get slightly better results using a PDF printer, but this still doesn't give me any real control. For many people's workflows, a PDF is basically the key deliverable from the design process. Given this, and the fact that it would not be a major challenge to implement improvements, it seems like a reasonable request.

[Anonymous]

Ah, now I see your point,

Drawings are historically black and white "lines and circles"

Iv'e been a draftsman for 25 years and its only recently (all relative - ahem!)

that were putting nice clear colour ISO views in drawings.

Inventor limits Bitmap resolution to 300 dpi (Tools => Drawing => Bitmap Resolution)

I totally agree now the Majority of our drawings are read on Screen

(70% on screen 30% printed - just my workflow opinion)

You can save as jpeg (10000 X 7500 dpi) but its not a real solution.

So thumbs up for better Raster Image Quality

[ambrose]

Thanks, yes I've played around with that other dpi setting too but I can't tell the difference in the final PDF. Lets hope they like this idea.

I use quite a lot of shaded views, since I'm not a properly trained draftsman I didn't know any better! I use them in ISO views but also quite often in the other views as well, when it's a simple part I think it makes it clearer, definitely not on complicated drawings though!

My other use case is when I'm generating images of designs to include in other documents, reports, instructions etc. It's a bit long winded, but I normally export to pdf, and then rasterize that using photoshop or gimp. This results in a more technical looking image than is provided by screen shots or renders and has the advantage of a transparent background. Thinking about it, this use case may be my main motivation for this idea.

[ambrose]

Another fine example, disgusting quality. Anyone form Autodesk have a comment?

[SER4]

@Anonymous 

PDF/A discussion thread: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-forum/can-inventor-save-files-in-the-iso-approved-pdf-a-format/td-p/3001442

PDF/A Idea: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-ideas/inventor-must-save-files-in-the-iso-approved-pdf-a-1-format/idc-p/10523060#M42831