Exporting to PDF - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Exporting to PDF

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
ryaca
Feb 24, 2009 14:31:54 I just started using the full version of the character generator recently. I love it and the other tools; it really cuts down on my prep time for games. There's only one really major thing I feel that it lacks: the ability to export a completed sheet to pdf format. Perhaps it's there and I just don't know where to look. But I think it would be a great addition.

I don't own a printer. Usually when I write papers for school I burn them to a disc and take them to Office Depot or Kinkos and print them there. They can print just about any type of file format, but if I wanted to be able to print my sheet they would have to have their own copy of the character generator installed on their print stations, which...yeah, not good odds.

If the character generator could export the finished product with power cards to pdf, then I'd actually be able to get my sheet printed whenever I level up, and this would be the perfect piece of software for me.
#2
tarril_wolfeye
Feb 24, 2009 14:59:15 Use a program like CutePDF to print to pdf, it creates pdf-files which you can take to Kinkos.
#3
Mock
Feb 24, 2009 16:19:08 One caveat: two PDF printers I've used (doPDF and PDF Creator) and the CB interact oddly. When printing from these, there are no margins on the PDF at all (that is, the character sheet info goes clean to the edge of the page). If you print this, you may have to mess with scaling and such to avoid having your printer clip things.
#4
ryaca
Feb 25, 2009 15:19:47 Thanks, I'll give that a try.
#5
southernmagnus
Feb 26, 2009 20:14:12 Hey Mock,

Have you been able to get PDF printing to match the margins from the preview inside CB itself??

The margin thing is *bugging* me. Can you give insights?

Note to Wizards. I DO NOT want to buy the World's Most Expensive Liquid anymore. I print at Kinkos, and you could be durn sure that they don't pay those prices for toner.

I don't want to support HP and the inkjet racket. I've been trying to find a local printshop to do my PDF stuff.

I take mucho pride in giving my characters the best printed stuff available, so, please, is there any way to implement native PDF printing??
#6
Mock
Feb 26, 2009 20:20:48 No, I haven't been able to get the margins to work no matter what I've tried. I have heard tales about users who have printed to PDF, and then printed from that PDF to a new PDF and had the margins work out, but I think they're just urban legends.

No combination of stuff I have tried has ever resulted in a properly margin-ed character sheet.
#7
jhanzur
Feb 27, 2009 4:27:48 Try Cute PDF. I've used that to send player's(who don' have the CB) their character sheet, and they've printed it without an issue.
#8
Marsikano
Feb 27, 2009 8:25:34 I've tried two PDF writer but when I 'print' CB emits an unrecoverable error and shut down: I see the sheet on the screen, but I can't print it.
Strangely, before I buyed the 1-30 level version, the CB demo converted the sheet on PDF correctly using the same procedure.
There's something missing?
#9
Ogiwan
Feb 27, 2009 10:25:55 I have to add my voice to people who would like to be able to export as a PDF, or some manner of standard printable file. I'm just wondering if WotC can't do that due to stupid high licensing fees from Adobe or whatever.
#10
Drax_Hoak
Feb 27, 2009 10:57:10 I have a workaround that gets a usable .pdf. (It's no urban legend, Mock :P)

From the Character Builder, print to .pdf like normal. This will create a character sheet with no margins.

From the .pdf you just made, print to .pdf again, this time changing scaling to 95%. This will create a character sheet with margins.

As near as I can tell, you can't skip a step by reducing the scaling to 95% from the Character Builder, as it justifies the document to the top and left, meaning you will have plenty of room at the bottom and right but no margins at the top and left. The .pdf program will center it, however.

WotC needs to fix this, as it's annoying to have to do the print to .pdf process twice and mess around with the scaling every time.
#11
barinax
Feb 27, 2009 11:13:31 I have used CutePDF - http://www.cutepdf.com/

It works great....no margin problems at all. I am using it on both a Windows XP and Vista machine to print the character sheets to a file.
#12
Mock
Feb 27, 2009 14:04:40
I have a workaround that gets a usable .pdf. (It's no urban legend, Mock :P)

From the Character Builder, print to .pdf like normal. This will create a character sheet with no margins.

From the .pdf you just made, print to .pdf again, this time changing scaling to 95%. This will create a character sheet with margins.

As near as I can tell, you can't skip a step by reducing the scaling to 95% from the Character Builder, as it justifies the document to the top and left, meaning you will have plenty of room at the bottom and right but no margins at the top and left. The .pdf program will center it, however.

WotC needs to fix this, as it's annoying to have to do the print to .pdf process twice and mess around with the scaling every time.

See, that workaround doesn't work for me. Scaling has no effect on the secondary print run, with either PDF Creator or doPDF. I'll try CutePDF tonight when I get home.
#13
Drax_Hoak
Feb 27, 2009 14:31:09
See, that workaround doesn't work for me. Scaling has no effect on the secondary print run, with either PDF Creator or doPDF. I'll try CutePDF tonight when I get home.

It works in Adobe. Hopefully you'll have more luck with CutePDF. I might have to try that one myself, its better than printing twice.
#14
Mock
Feb 27, 2009 15:26:40
It works in Adobe. Hopefully you'll have more luck with CutePDF. I might have to try that one myself, its better than printing twice.

Do you mean printing from Adobe Reader? Basically, my process was:

1. Print from CB to PDF, using doPDF / PDF Creator.
2. Open in Adobe Reader, select print, and scale down.
3. Print from Adobe Reader to either of those PDF printers.
4. Fail miserably, and shed a single tear.

I'll see what CutePDF does, though.

Edit: Ahh, finally. Okay, so with CutePDF (but not doPDF or PDFCreator), if I print from the CB, and then print again from within Adobe Reader, scaling it to 90%, it will come out with actual margins and be actually printable. MUCH BETTER.

I gotta say, I love the Character Builder, but they need to get a handle on this printing nonsense. Printing is not exactly cutting edge.
#15
arthurliu
Mar 03, 2009 21:27:30 This thread saved me! Printing from withing the CB using cutePDF, and then opening and rescaling the resulting pdf file using Adobe Reader, worked like a charm.
#16
Xaielao2
Mar 05, 2009 15:18:44 Don't want to waste a tun of money (over time,) on printer ink?

Don't buy a $25 walmart special (a HP usually.) Spend the money on a nice Kodak or a laser printer. The ink is significantly cheaper on high quality printers. I've got a $100 Kodak ESP 5 and it came with a years supply of ink (4 extra b&w and color cartridges,) and ordering new is $15 for color and $10 for b/w. I can print out about 100 bw character sheets (I use my own format for power/ritual cards) with a $10 cartridge.
#17
Mock
Mar 05, 2009 15:20:12
Don't want to waste a tun of money (over time,) on printer ink?

Don't buy a $25 walmart special (an HP usually.) Spend the money on a nice Kodak or a laser printer. The ink is significantly cheaper on high quality printers. I've got a $100 Kodak ESP 5 and it came with a years supply of ink (4 extra b&w and color cartridges,) and ordering new is $15 for color and $10 for b/w.

Yeah, but at the walmart special prices, you can just throw the printer away when it runs out of ink. Could do that 4 times for the cost of the Kodak. :P
#18
Xaielao2
Mar 05, 2009 17:11:00 Lol that true but many of those walmart specials don't even come with ink, or with just a single black one with 1/4 ounce of ink in it.

Don't be argumentative. ;)
#19
denaes
Mar 07, 2009 11:37:35 I use Bullzip to export to PDF. Free and no special settings. You choose Bullzip as a printer and then name the application.

The PDF has no margins, though prints perfectly on it's own (no special options chosen) far better than just printing the sheet itself.
#20
leprejuan
Mar 07, 2009 21:50:52 I print to PDF factory and it works great. No margin troubles at all.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 ryaca Feb 24, 2009 14:31:54	I just started using the full version of the character generator recently. I love it and the other tools; it really cuts down on my prep time for games. There's only one really major thing I feel that it lacks: the ability to export a completed sheet to pdf format. Perhaps it's there and I just don't know where to look. But I think it would be a great addition. I don't own a printer. Usually when I write papers for school I burn them to a disc and take them to Office Depot or Kinkos and print them there. They can print just about any type of file format, but if I wanted to be able to print my sheet they would have to have their own copy of the character generator installed on their print stations, which...yeah, not good odds. If the character generator could export the finished product with power cards to pdf, then I'd actually be able to get my sheet printed whenever I level up, and this would be the perfect piece of software for me.
#2 tarril_wolfeye Feb 24, 2009 14:59:15	Use a program like CutePDF to print to pdf, it creates pdf-files which you can take to Kinkos.
#3 Mock Feb 24, 2009 16:19:08	One caveat: two PDF printers I've used (doPDF and PDF Creator) and the CB interact oddly. When printing from these, there are no margins on the PDF at all (that is, the character sheet info goes clean to the edge of the page). If you print this, you may have to mess with scaling and such to avoid having your printer clip things.
#4 ryaca Feb 25, 2009 15:19:47	Thanks, I'll give that a try.
#5 southernmagnus Feb 26, 2009 20:14:12	Hey Mock, Have you been able to get PDF printing to match the margins from the preview inside CB itself?? The margin thing is bugging me. Can you give insights? Note to Wizards. I DO NOT want to buy the World's Most Expensive Liquid anymore. I print at Kinkos, and you could be durn sure that they don't pay those prices for toner. I don't want to support HP and the inkjet racket. I've been trying to find a local printshop to do my PDF stuff. I take mucho pride in giving my characters the best printed stuff available, so, please, is there any way to implement native PDF printing??
#6 Mock Feb 26, 2009 20:20:48	No, I haven't been able to get the margins to work no matter what I've tried. I have heard tales about users who have printed to PDF, and then printed from that PDF to a new PDF and had the margins work out, but I think they're just urban legends. No combination of stuff I have tried has ever resulted in a properly margin-ed character sheet.
#7 jhanzur Feb 27, 2009 4:27:48	Try Cute PDF. I've used that to send player's(who don' have the CB) their character sheet, and they've printed it without an issue.
#8 Marsikano Feb 27, 2009 8:25:34	I've tried two PDF writer but when I 'print' CB emits an unrecoverable error and shut down: I see the sheet on the screen, but I can't print it. Strangely, before I buyed the 1-30 level version, the CB demo converted the sheet on PDF correctly using the same procedure. There's something missing?
#9 Ogiwan Feb 27, 2009 10:25:55	I have to add my voice to people who would like to be able to export as a PDF, or some manner of standard printable file. I'm just wondering if WotC can't do that due to stupid high licensing fees from Adobe or whatever.
#10 Drax_Hoak Feb 27, 2009 10:57:10	I have a workaround that gets a usable .pdf. (It's no urban legend, Mock :P) From the Character Builder, print to .pdf like normal. This will create a character sheet with no margins. From the .pdf you just made, print to .pdf again, this time changing scaling to 95%. This will create a character sheet with margins. As near as I can tell, you can't skip a step by reducing the scaling to 95% from the Character Builder, as it justifies the document to the top and left, meaning you will have plenty of room at the bottom and right but no margins at the top and left. The .pdf program will center it, however. WotC needs to fix this, as it's annoying to have to do the print to .pdf process twice and mess around with the scaling every time.
#11 barinax Feb 27, 2009 11:13:31	I have used CutePDF - http://www.cutepdf.com/ It works great....no margin problems at all. I am using it on both a Windows XP and Vista machine to print the character sheets to a file.
#12 Mock Feb 27, 2009 14:04:40	I have a workaround that gets a usable .pdf. (It's no urban legend, Mock :P) From the Character Builder, print to .pdf like normal. This will create a character sheet with no margins. From the .pdf you just made, print to .pdf again, this time changing scaling to 95%. This will create a character sheet with margins. As near as I can tell, you can't skip a step by reducing the scaling to 95% from the Character Builder, as it justifies the document to the top and left, meaning you will have plenty of room at the bottom and right but no margins at the top and left. The .pdf program will center it, however. WotC needs to fix this, as it's annoying to have to do the print to .pdf process twice and mess around with the scaling every time. See, that workaround doesn't work for me. Scaling has no effect on the secondary print run, with either PDF Creator or doPDF. I'll try CutePDF tonight when I get home.
#13 Drax_Hoak Feb 27, 2009 14:31:09	See, that workaround doesn't work for me. Scaling has no effect on the secondary print run, with either PDF Creator or doPDF. I'll try CutePDF tonight when I get home. It works in Adobe. Hopefully you'll have more luck with CutePDF. I might have to try that one myself, its better than printing twice.
#14 Mock Feb 27, 2009 15:26:40	It works in Adobe. Hopefully you'll have more luck with CutePDF. I might have to try that one myself, its better than printing twice. Do you mean printing from Adobe Reader? Basically, my process was: 1. Print from CB to PDF, using doPDF / PDF Creator. 2. Open in Adobe Reader, select print, and scale down. 3. Print from Adobe Reader to either of those PDF printers. 4. Fail miserably, and shed a single tear. I'll see what CutePDF does, though. Edit: Ahh, finally. Okay, so with CutePDF (but not doPDF or PDFCreator), if I print from the CB, and then print again from within Adobe Reader, scaling it to 90%, it will come out with actual margins and be actually printable. MUCH BETTER. I gotta say, I love the Character Builder, but they need to get a handle on this printing nonsense. Printing is not exactly cutting edge.
#15 arthurliu Mar 03, 2009 21:27:30	This thread saved me! Printing from withing the CB using cutePDF, and then opening and rescaling the resulting pdf file using Adobe Reader, worked like a charm.
#16 Xaielao2 Mar 05, 2009 15:18:44	Don't want to waste a tun of money (over time,) on printer ink? Don't buy a $25 walmart special (a HP usually.) Spend the money on a nice Kodak or a laser printer. The ink is significantly cheaper on high quality printers. I've got a $100 Kodak ESP 5 and it came with a years supply of ink (4 extra b&w and color cartridges,) and ordering new is $15 for color and $10 for b/w. I can print out about 100 bw character sheets (I use my own format for power/ritual cards) with a $10 cartridge.
#17 Mock Mar 05, 2009 15:20:12	Don't want to waste a tun of money (over time,) on printer ink? Don't buy a $25 walmart special (an HP usually.) Spend the money on a nice Kodak or a laser printer. The ink is significantly cheaper on high quality printers. I've got a $100 Kodak ESP 5 and it came with a years supply of ink (4 extra b&w and color cartridges,) and ordering new is $15 for color and $10 for b/w. Yeah, but at the walmart special prices, you can just throw the printer away when it runs out of ink. Could do that 4 times for the cost of the Kodak. :P
#18 Xaielao2 Mar 05, 2009 17:11:00	Lol that true but many of those walmart specials don't even come with ink, or with just a single black one with 1/4 ounce of ink in it. Don't be argumentative. ;)
#19 denaes Mar 07, 2009 11:37:35	I use Bullzip to export to PDF. Free and no special settings. You choose Bullzip as a printer and then name the application. The PDF has no margins, though prints perfectly on it's own (no special options chosen) far better than just printing the sheet itself.
#20 leprejuan Mar 07, 2009 21:50:52	I print to PDF factory and it works great. No margin troubles at all.