Selecting which part of the image to print

When you print an image directly to a printer or to a file, you can use the Print dialog box to select which viewports on the canvas to include in the printed image. You can select the following:

All or current viewports

Select All Viewports to print all viewports on the canvas. Viewports that are on the canvas but are not visible because they are outside the drawing area will still be printed. If viewports are overlaid, the printed image will reproduce the layering on the canvas; that is, if one viewport obscures another, the obscured portion will not appear in the printed image. By default, Abaqus/CAE prints all the viewports on the canvas.

Select Current Viewport to print the most recently used viewport only. See Selecting viewports, for more information on selecting viewports.

Note:

Minimized viewports are not printed, regardless of your selections in the Print dialog box.

Viewport decorations

Toggle on Print viewport decorations (if visible) to select whether your image will include viewport decorations. Decorations are defined as the viewport border and the viewport title.

Viewport backgrounds

Toggle on Print viewport backgrounds to control the appearance of a viewport's background in your printed image. When this option is selected and viewport background images or movies are active, Abaqus/CAE includes the viewport background image or the current frame of the movie in the background of the printed image. If Print viewport backgrounds is active but viewport background images or movies are inactive, Abaqus/CAE displays the viewport background colors in the background.

The Print viewport backgrounds option is available only when you choose either a greyscale or a color image; when you choose black and white, Abaqus/CAE always prints a black image on a white background.

Note:

Printing without the viewport background (so that the background appears transparent or white) usually produces the most attractive hard-copy image.

Viewport compass

Toggle on Print viewport compass (if visible) to include the 3D compass in your printed image. If the compass is not currently visible in a viewport (see Customizing the 3D compass), the compass will not appear in the printed image regardless of the setting for this option.

Related Topics
Understanding printing
Controlling the destination and appearance of printed images

  1. From the main menu bar, select FilePrint.

    Tip: You can also click in the File toolbar.

    The Print dialog box appears.

  2. From the Print field at the top of the dialog box, select either:

    • All Viewports to print all viewports, even if they lie outside the drawing area.

    • Current Viewport to print the viewport that you manipulated most recently.

  3. Toggle Print viewport decorations (if visible).

    When Print viewport decorations (if visible) is on, all viewport titles and borders that are visible on the canvas will be printed.

    When Print viewport decorations (if visible) is off, none of the viewport titles or borders will be printed. To print the current viewport without the border, you must toggle this option off.

  4. Toggle Print viewport backgrounds.

    When Print viewport backgrounds is on, your image will inherit the background color or background images of viewports on your monitor.

    When Print viewport backgrounds is off, the appearance of viewport backgrounds depends on the format you choose for your image:

    • When you choose PS (PostScript) or EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) format or print directly to a Windows printer, viewports in your image will have a white background.

    • When you choose TIFF, PNG, or SVG format, viewports in your image will have a transparent background.

  5. Toggle Print viewport compass (if visible).

    When Print viewport compass (if visible) is on, any 3D compass that is currently visible in a viewport will appear in your printed image.

    When Print viewport compass (if visible) is off, the 3D compass will not appear anywhere in your printed image.

  6. When you have finished with the Print dialog box, click OK to generate the desired output.

    Abaqus/CAE generates the output and closes the Print dialog box. Your settings in the Print dialog box are saved for the duration of the session.