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Printing the Charts

Updated  12/30/04

FastTrack for the Web provides two types of printing support:

  • List printing does a black and white list in report format. Use list printing to print a list of all families, the members of a particular family, or a large spreadsheet. List printing does not produce an image of the video display screen. List printing is NOT described on this page.
  • Image printing does a screen shot (whatever is currently displayed) with other graphical elements inserted.When image printing, lists are printed only to the extent that they are visible on the screen.

printpre0.jpg
Many objects have a Print option when you right-click. For example on the Chart Tab, right-click on the chart, select "Print" from the Chart Pop-Up Menu. This shows the "FT4WIN Print Preview" dialog box.

On any Tab, without right-clicking,  hitting F4, a function key on the top row of your keyboard will work print the Tab without using any "Print" menu item.

When the Print Preview Window is Visible . . .

You MUST hit the Print Preview Button to see the image before you can print it.

Buttons

  • Print Now - Sends the chart to the printer with current selections in force.
  • Preview - Shows a print preview of the chart with the current selections. After changing aspects of the printed chart, click the print preview button to see the new printout.
  • Printer Setup - Opens the standard Windows Print dialog box to select a printer and to adjust your printer's settings.
  • Page Setup - Use to adjust paper size, margins, and orientation (portrait/landscape).
  • Hide/Close/Minimize - Hide makes the printing dialog (not visible and not on task bar), but changes nothing else. If you click the close box in the upper right corner, the printing dialog will disappear (not visible, not on the task bar), and restore the charts to their original condition (full color). If you click the minimize box (-) in the upper right, the printing dialog will be hidden but appear in the task bar but changes nothing else.. In all cases, the contents and text are retained until you shut down FT for Windows.
  • Zoom In/Out/Actual - Allows you to view detail by zooming in and page layout by zooming out. Zooming DOES NOT affect the printed image. "Actual" most closely matches the size of the final printout. All printers print at higher resolutions that video displays can reproduce. The printed image will be less "blocky" than the screen.

Look Tab

This tab contains controls for changing the the "look" of the printed pages including background, position, size, and color of the printed chart.

Chart Appearance
  • Color Lines / Black Lines on White - Switches between printing a color or black and white chart
  • Max Size / Normal Size - Max Size adjust the chart to fill as much of the page as possible. Normal Size prints the chart using the user defined chart size.
    • The margins set (Click the  Page Setup button) are used until you manually change them.
    • To print the maximum size graphic. Set all margins to 0. If "0" isn't a valid setting for your printer, the "0"  the minimum margin required by your printer's physical capabilities will be used.
    • Be sure to click the Printer Setup button and set the right printer before clicking Preview. Many aspects of the previewed image and the printed page are affected by the printer chosen.
Chart Position and Size
  • Border Width - Adjusts the size of the frame printed around a chart. The measurements are in inches.
  • Border Color - Controls the color of the chart frame. Clicking this square will bring up a dialog box which will allow you to select a different color.
  • Height / Width - Defines the chart size in inches. To control other aspects of the page margins, etc. click the "Page Setup" button.
  • Paper Color - Changes the color of the page on which the chart is printed. Clicking this square will bring up a dialog box which will allow you to select a different color.
  • Chart Color - Temporarily changes the background of the chart for printing purposes. When you are finished and exit by clicking the close button (X) in the upper right corner of the printing dialog, the chart will redraw with its original colors.
Text Font and Size
  • Shadow Issue Names/Title - If checked, the printed characters will have a shadow that makes them standout from the background. The shadow color is picked automatically. Shadows are NOT used for Black and White.
  • Change the fonts and colors of the fonts by clicking on the "Title", Issue Names", and "Comments" boxes which show a sample of the selected font. The actual word in the Title, Issue Names, and Comments are set on the "Content Tab".












Quality Tab

This tab determines the print quality of the image. In general, poorer print quality uses less printing ink/toner and takes less time. Not all printers support multiple levels of quality. If this is the case for your printer, the options will be grayed out.

Content Tab

This section contains controls which determine which options are shown along with the image of the current FastTrack tab. You can print any tab, not just the chart tab.printing4.gif (4818 bytes)

  • Show Title - If checked, the title will be printed.
  • Show Comments - If checked, the "Comments to be printed" is printed.
  • Show Issue Names Below Chart - If checked, prints the Issue Names. You probably would  check this only if you are printing the Chart Tab.
  • Show Line Names Inside Chart - Prints the security names in a list in the upper left corner of the chart.
  • Use Background Graphic - If Checked, the image contained in Background.WMF is placed on the paper underneath the chart and other elements. Use a graphics package like CorelDraw, Freelance, etc., to make a WMF file of your own design if you wish. Just replace Background.WMF with your graphic.
  • Issue Names - FastTrack will automatically insert the names of the chart lines. You may edit these names as you wish. Right-clicking changes the font and size, but not the color.
  • Title to be printed - This box holds text which can be used to title the current chart when printing. The selected title prints directly above the chart. Right-clicking the text box will bring up options for changing the text font and color. You can edit the contents of this box if you wish.
  • Chart Comments Text Box -  This box holds text that can be used to comment the current chart when printing. You edit the text and say what you want to say.
  • Use Graphic - Determines whether or not a background image is displayed behind the chart. This image is a *.WMF (Windows metafile) saved as "background.WMF" in the FT4WIN folder  You may replace BACKGROUND.WMF with a different WMF file of your own design.

Tips for making the printed output look good. See Troubleshooting.