Force diagrams displayed incorrectly or Calculation diagrams too small when printed to PDF
Not version-specific
Tekla Tedds
Tekla Tedds for Word
Issues
- Calculation Diagrams - I have saved a Tedds for Word document to pdf using Word's Save As... PDF feature and some calculation diagrams are now very small and illegible.
- Force Diagrams from 2D Analysis - I have run one of calculations from the Tedds Engineering Library which outputs 2D analysis force diagrams, and created my output document including some of these. However, when I print my Tedds document to PDF, the force diagrams are displayed incorrectly with solid blocks of colour as shown below. What is the cause of this and how do I fix it?
Image
In PDF:
Image
Cause
The issue is caused by the PDF Printer/Creator being used, rather than Tedds itself. You can see this is the case because the diagrams are displayed correctly within Tedds – the issue only appears when printing the Tedds document to PDF.For the 2D Analysis force diagrams, Tedds uses transparent fills. Calculation diagrams may also feature shading and enhanced graphics. However, some PDF Printers/Creators cannot or do not handle these correctly, and may display the diagrams without the transparency applied - leaving solid blocks of colour - or may incorrectly replicate other calculation diagrams.
Solutions
There are 4 possible solutions or workarounds available:- Recommended: Use the native print to PDF feature included in Tedds - Since Tedds 2019, a print directly to PDF feature has been included which is designed to avoid the problems that some 3rd party PDF software introduces.
- For the Tedds application: go to the File menu, then Save As... and then use the Save As PDF command.
- For Tedds for Word: select the TEDDS tab of the Ribbon then, in the Tools group, select More > Export > Portable Document Format (.pdf)
Image
- Update your PDF Printer Drivers – It may be an issue that has already been corrected in a different version
- Use a different PDF Printer – We can’t recommend any particular PDF Printers, and you may even find that different versions of the same PDF Printer works, but there are lots of free and paid for PDF Printers available online
- Change your Tedds Options – In Tedds 2018, we introduced a new Tedds Option that allows you to turn off transparent fills in the force diagrams, and display the diagrams with either a hatch pattern or just the shape outline instead. This option can be found under Tedds Options > Calculating > Sketches as shown below.
Image
