Templot Club Archive 2007-2020
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posted: 2 Mar 2009 09:50 from: Ian Everett
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I want to add a Templot plan in my blog http://clecklewyke.wordpress.com but I cannot work out how to produce a file in a usable format, such as jpeg, from the .box file. Is there a facility in Templot to do this? Ian Everett |
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posted: 2 Mar 2009 10:19 from: Chris Mitton click the date to link to this post click member name to view archived images |
Download and install a "virtual printer" - I use Win2PDF, obtainable from http://www.win2pdf.com. Define a page format big enough to show your entire plan (in Windows XP, you do this in Printers and Faxes -> File -> Server Properties and use the Forms tab. I found by experiment that it won't do any form bigger than 5 metres ......). "Print" your Templot plan to this "printer" and lo! you will have a PDF file of your plan. This has the dual advantage that (a) you can post it and hyperlink it on the web and (b) it can't be ripped off or reverse engineered. Doubtless Martin would expect acknowledgment on your blog of his copyright. Regards Chris |
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posted: 2 Mar 2009 10:25 from: Martin Wynne
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Ian Everett wrote: I want to add a Templot plan in my blog http://clecklewyke.wordpress.com but I cannot work out how to produce a file in a usable format, such as jpeg, from the .box file. Is there a facility in Templot to do this?Hi Ian, { rant mode = on } First of all, JPG is not a suitable format -- in fact it's the worst possible. It's intended only for real-world photographic images and makes a complete mess of solid-colour screen graphics. Sorry to keep harping on about this, but time and again I see Templot screenshots posted on web forums and blogs in JPG format and they always look a mess -- it does them no justice at all. Please use a lossless 8-bit format such as GIF or 8-bit PNG when saving screenshot files. Not only do these look ten times better, but the file size is usually a lot smaller. { rant mode = off } The neatest way to create a plan image is to use a virtual printer such as Snagit and print your track plan to it from Templot. This gives you better control of colours, line thicknesses etc., and a more attractive result. But to do it as a screenshot from the pad, simply arrange your screen as you want it, and then press the Print Screen key on the keyboard -- it's usually next to the F12 key. It doesn't actually print the screen, it simply puts a copy of it on the Windows clipboard. Then open any photo/graphics editor, such as PaintShopPro or Irfanview (free). Click Edit > Paste, resize* it as necessary, reduce the colour depth to 8 bits (256 colours), and then Save As... -- in GIF or PNG format. *Alternatively, first resize the Templot pad window to the required size, and press Alt+PrintScreen -- which copies only the active window. regards, Martin. |
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posted: 2 Mar 2009 11:33 from: Martin Wynne
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Chris Mitton wrote: "Print" your Templot plan to this "printer" and lo! you will have a PDF file of your plan. This has the dual advantage that (a) you can post it and hyperlink it on the webHi Chris, Publication or distribution of Templot-derived material in PDF format is an infringement of the standard licence terms. Please always post Templot material in a raster format instead. See: http://www.templot.com/martweb/licence_concessions.htm Doubtless Martin would expect acknowledgment on your blog of his copyright.I don't claim copyright on your design work, provided you comply with the licence terms and credit Templot as the source of the image -- see above link. (I do claim copyright on the design elements which make up the Templot output, but provided you comply with the licence terms, registered Templot users are free to use them.) regards, Martin. |
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posted: 2 Mar 2009 12:03 from: davelong click the date to link to this post click member name to view archived images |
Chris Mitton wrote: Download and install a "virtual printer" - I use Win2PDF, obtainable from http://www.win2pdf.com. Define a page format big enough to show your entire plan (in Windows XP, you do this in Printers and Faxes -> File -> Server Properties and use the Forms tab. I found by experiment that it won't do any form bigger than 5 metres ......). I've been trying this, this morning but my pdf file still splits the templot plan into A4 segments. I've changed the settings in most things and they read the filename that I gave to the paper format setting. Using pdf995 software if that helps. |
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posted: 2 Mar 2009 12:33 from: Martin Wynne
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davelong wrote:I've been trying this, this morning but my pdf file still splits the templot plan into A4 segments. I've changed the settings in most things and they read the filename that I gave to the paper format setting. Using pdf995 software if that helps.Hi Dave, For details of how to create a large paper size which you can select in your PDF generator, see: topic 224 - message 1096 For more information about creating large PDF files from Templot, see: topic 604 - message 3448 regards, Martin. |
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posted: 2 Mar 2009 14:11 from: Chris Mitton click the date to link to this post click member name to view archived images |
davelong wroteI've been trying this, this morning but my pdf file still splits the templot plan into A4 segments. I've changed the settings in most things and they read the filename that I gave to the paper format setting. Using pdf995 software if that helps.Hi Dave Using Win2PDF ( I don't know pdf995 but can't believe it's much different), I found I had to run the Templot Print -> Banner / Roll Printer option first - which brings up the standard Windows printer setup dialogue. If you select the virtual printer, the paper format you set up should appear in the Paper Size dropdown list. Templot will then remember that when you Print -> Entire Pad provided you don't subsequently select a different printer. If it doesn't, try setting the large format as the default for the virtual printer and then print the pad. I found it best to leave the virtual printer on A4 while you generate the calibration pages, print them out on the chosen target printer and measure them carefully, only selecting large format for the final print. This took me several email exchanges with the owner of the roll-printer I had access to, but left me with an extremely accurate template for the entire layout with only one paper join (it is about 24 feet long!). My soldering iron is just warming up as I write.....  Hope this is helpful Chris |
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posted: 2 Mar 2009 14:19 from: Chris Mitton click the date to link to this post click member name to view archived images |
Martin Wynne wrote: Hi Martin Thanks for the clarification - it was just a thought. My personal PDF plan is not intended for publishing anywhere beyond the baseboard surface but it is extremely useful - and accurate - for that purpose! Regards Chris |
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posted: 2 Mar 2009 15:08 from: Ian Everett
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Martin Wynne wrote:Click Edit > Paste, resize* it as necessary, reduce the colour depth to 8 bits (256 colours), and then Save As... -- in GIF or PNG format. Many thanks for your advice, Martin. It is amazing how one forgets such basics as "Prnt Scrn"! I did what you suggested and it didn't work! My blog server will not accept bmp files so jpeg it had to be. The results can be seen on my blog - http://clecklewyke.wordpress.com Ian Everett
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posted: 3 Mar 2009 12:40 from: davelong click the date to link to this post click member name to view archived images |
Chris Mitton wrote: davelong wroteI've been trying this, this morning but my pdf file still splits the templot plan into A4 segments. I've changed the settings in most things and they read the filename that I gave to the paper format setting. Using pdf995 software if that helps.Hi Dave Thanks Chris All sorted. Anyone manage to work out if Pdf995 will print in colour, as it was noted on the thread above that Martin linked to. Dave |
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posted: 3 Mar 2009 13:16 from: Martin Wynne
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davelong wroteAnyone manage to work out if Pdf995 will print in colour, as it was noted on the thread above that Martin linked to.Hi Dave, It's a bug in pdf995. When asked if it can do colour, it says no. Templot takes it at its word and changes to black and white printing. It is of course a lie. It can do colour fine, and if you just send colour data without asking first, it creates a normal colour pdf. There is no workaround for this at present, but I will add an override to ignore the reported printer capabilities and just send it regardless. As an alternative to pdf995, the free trial of pdfFactory is fully functional with no time limit, if you don't mind a logo overprint on each page: http://www.fineprint.com/products/pdffactory/ Likewise Win2PDF, which prints additional pages in the free trial mode: http://www.win2pdf.com/products/win2pdf.htm I tested several of these PDF generators a few years ago and came to the conclusion that Win2PDF produced the best match to Templot's native print output. But that was then -- no doubt they have all upgraded since then, and also we now have the excellent Foxit Reader as an alternative to Adobe for printing PDF files. The most important point is to remember to set page scaling to "None" when printing templates from PDF. regards, Martin. |
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