Graphics Formats

The Graphics Formats options let you customize options for importing HPGL documents, and for exporting drawing representations to other formats.

This page discusses:

Import (Viewer)

Lets you choose the pen characteristics to be taken into account when opening an HPGL document.

Except in raster format, the viewer does not support documents with multiple sheets.

To define the pen characteristics, click Configuration... then select the appropriate pen options.

Export (Save As)

These options let you define advanced configuration options for drivers when saving a drawing representation to another format through Share > Export.

The purpose is to prepare your documents for printing by configuring the driver corresponding to the file format in which your document is saved.

Properties

Choose the save format for the drawing representation, and then click Properties... to define the corresponding configuration parameters.

The look and content of the dialog box varies according to the format you select:

  • CGM
  • HPGL2
  • PostScript
  • TIFF
  • JPEG
  • PDF
  • Raster
  • SVG.

Note: For TIFF images with a Packbits compression, a monochrome image is generated.
Parameters
Lets you define general parameters.

From the list, select a format then click Parameters....

Current sheet
Saves only the current sheet of your drawing representation when exporting the document to another format using Share > Export.

By default, this option is selected.

All sheets
Saves all the sheets of your drawing representation when exporting the document. You can choose to store them all in the same file by selecting the Save multisheet document in a single file option.

By default, this option is cleared.

Save multisheet document in a single file

This option is available only when the All sheets option has been selected. If the format you selected does not support this capability, the option remains unavailable (which is the case for the JPEG format).

It lets you save all the sheets of your drawing representation in a single file.

Note:
  • The only viewer supporting multisheet information is the TIFF viewer. Otherwise, only the current sheet is saved in the generated file.
  • Sheets are exported according to their order in the tree.

By default, this option is cleared.

Current image at beginning
This option is available only when Save multisheet document in a single file is selected.

Displays the current sheet of the drawing representation at the beginning of the generated output file. Other sheets are displayed according to their order in the tree.

Otherwise, the sheets are saved in the same order as in the drawing representation.

By default, this option is cleared.

Exclude Detail Sheets
Lets you exclude detail sheets from printing when exporting a CATDrawing document with multiple sheets, whatever the format.

If you select this check box, use the following two boxes that are case-insensitive as required:

  • Expression defining sheets to be Included: lets you enter the text string that should be contained in the name of the sheets to be printed.
  • Expression defining sheets to be Excluded: lets you enter the text string that should not be contained in the name of the sheets to be printed.
Important:
  • You can specify an expression either in one of the boxes, or in both. If both boxes are filled in, a sheet is printed only if its name contains the included expression AND does not contain the excluded expression.
  • Regular expressions (ECMAScript grammar) are supported. These expressions are sequences of characters that describe a search pattern. For example, ( ) means that only the string in brackets is considered.

Let's suppose the following sheets:

  • Sheet1
  • Sheet2_validated
  • Sheet3_validated_detailed
  • Sheet4_detailed
  • Sheet5_(Detail)

  • Entering validated in the Expression defining sheets to be Included box means that only Sheet2_validated and Sheet3_validated_detailed are printed.
  • Entering validated in the Expression defining sheets to be Included box and detailed in the Expression defining sheets to be Excluded box means that only Sheet2_validated is printed.
  • Entering (detail) in the Expression defining sheets to be Included box means that Sheet3_validated_detailed, Sheet4_detailed, and Sheet5_(Detail) are printed.

True Color, Greyscale, Monochrome
  • True Color keeps original colors.
  • Greyscale converts colors to greyscale. This creates a smaller print file.
  • Monochrome converts all non-white colors to black.

By default, True Color is selected.

Gamma factor (from 0.1 to 5.0)
Lets you define the gamma factor to be applied. A gamma factor of 0.1 produces a dark image, whereas a factor of 5.0 produces a lighter image.

By default, the Gamma factor is set to 1.

Print white vectors in black
Converts the color of white vectors to black so that they are visible when printed on a white paper.

By default, this option is selected.

Print text blanking
Prints the blanking of texts.
Warning: Text blanking does not work with HPGL drivers.

By default, this option is cleared.

Important: You can also:
  • Click the dump button to open another dialog box, then specify which options to dump, the output directory for the dump, then click Yes. For more information, see Native Apps Installation Guide: Configuring the Software: Configuring Settings: How to Set Settings.
  • Click the reset button to open the Reset dialog box, then use the default option which restores the default options for the current tab. For more information, see Native Apps Installation Guide: Configuring the Software: Configuring Settings: Resetting Default Settings: Resetting Default Settings Without Locks.
  • Use automation capabilities. However, note that properties and parameters are encoded in ASCII85 format in automation scripts. Therefore, it is not possible to modify the values in the script.