* White Margins on PDF saved charts

[LornaCraig]

Yes, I hadn't noticed that. I normally stick to Options> Print. And of course the orientation can even be changed in a third place - in File > Print setup.

I've just seen your PS. Does this mean we are now getting the same consistent success with the File>Print and Use Current Page Layout methods? I agree it would be nice to know what changed!

[philmcleod]

I have received a final email from FH Support in which Martin says
........we have confirmed the 'Save as PDF' command (Save Diagram As > PDF File) is affected by the Print Margins that are set on the Print tab of Diagram Options, but that is an error and we have logged it as such. We only discovered this as a result of the issue you raised, so thank you for raising it. As originally intended, the 'Save as PDF' command is not supposed to be affected by Print Margins set on the Print tab of Diagram Options. So if you want to use 'Save As PDF' as it was intended to work, you need as a workaround for now, to set those particular print margins to zero before clicking on the 'Save as PDF' command.
Phil

[tatewise]

I had reported to Calico Pie more extensively on features related to this thread.
Martin has provided a long reply similar to the reply to Phil.

I disagree with the idea that Print Margins should not apply to Save Diagram As > PDF File for several reasons.

1. All other File > Page Setup and Print tab options apply to ALL output modes (PDF, JPG, PNG, etc).
2. The Help and nowhere else suggests that Print Margins only apply to File > Print, and why should they?
3. Pedantically, Save Diagram As > PDF File with Use Current Page Layout should use Print Margins.
4. Martin suggests that if Print Margins are needed then the Printer Properties should be used instead, which concedes that the feature is needed in all output modes (PDF, JPG, PNG, etc), especially as some printers (like mine) don't offer margins.

Martin has reproduced the Diagram Statistics being affected by Print Margins and logged the issue to look at.

Martin has reproduced small trees being split in Save Diagram As > PDF File > One Page mode as originally reported by Phil and logged it for further investigation.

I have reported the following issues:

• The lack of a Save as default tick box in File > Page Setup
• The tiny square Page Boundaries when a real printer is chosen in File > Print Setup
• That File > Print Setup is NOT saved for Core Diagrams or Diagram Types although is saved for Charts
• The process of aligning trees with Page Boundaries to successfully apply Print Margins is too fiddly compared with the One Page PDF method, especially with many Diagrams/Charts as Phil has.

I have suggested this whole set of features is due for a major overhaul and the deficiencies have have crept into recent FH versions, perhaps due to Windows 10.

[LornaCraig]

Well, it's good to know they have acknowledged the problems.

But I wish they would distinguish between Save Diagram As > PDF File > ...One Page... which is the only option they seem to be talking about and Save Diagram As > PDF File > Use Current Page Layout which as Mike says should (and does) use Print margins. Their reply doesn't mention that option and I really hope it doesn't get adversely affected when they amend the One Page option. Although the Current Page Layout method produces the same results a File>Print when the printer is set to PDF printer I prefer the Current Page method because it avoids repeatedly having to re-set the printer. My default HP printer has small fixed page margins so it produces a slightly smaller frame than the PDF printer but I can arrange diagrams within its page boundaries on the screen and repeatedly use Current Page Layout route to produce a PDF without going near the Print setup.

I have suggested ..... the deficiencies have have crept into recent FH versions, perhaps due to Windows 10.

I am using Windows 7 so this might be a rare case where we can't blame Windows upgrades!

[philmcleod]

I too am using Win 7 so I agree it is not the fault of Window
Although this discussion has been somewhat lengthy it has eventually highlighted several issues as Mike has reported.
Thanks to all for input
Phil

[tatewise]

Unfortunately, far too often, Calico Pie acknowledge such symptoms and log them for investigation, and nothing happens.
I have dozens of logged reports like that, and even if they get fixed, we can't rely on the fix being documented in the FH release notes, nor the Report Ticket being closed with a status of Resolved.

[philmcleod]

Further comments from Martin at FH Support that may be helpful in the future

[/Following up on your previous enquiry. You wanted to use 'Save as PDF' rather than the File > Print method of generating a PDF file, while still setting a white margin around the diagram. As I said in earlier emails, the 'Save as PDF' method has the big disadvantage for your purposes, that the page size is determined by the diagram size (unless you change it, or unless you use the 'Current Page Layout' option); whereas the File > Print method is better if you want to specify the page size and fit the diagram to that. However, I have found that with a little experimentation you can specify whatever print margins (i.e. white margins) you want around a diagram, even using the 'Save as PDF' method; although it does require a little more effort by you. Here are 2 ways you can do it (there may be more):

Method 1

First make sure that all the print margins on the Print tab of diagram options are zero. As I said in an earlier email, they mess things up if used with 'Save as PDF' and, until we fix this, need to be set to zero (although they work as intended with File > Print).

Having done that, click 'File > Save Diagram As > PDF File' and click OK. Leave 'Adjust PDF File Page Size' selected. Adjust the margins if you want to (these are 'internal' margins that determine how much space is left around the boxes within the finished diagram). Click OK.

Now let us suppose you want to leave a white 50mm print margin on the left side of the diagram, and 20mms on the top, right and bottom sides (just as an example). Click the 'Properties' button to the right of "Family Historian PDF". The diagram will show a custom page size on the first tab (the 'Page' tab). Ensure that the units are millimetres. As you are adding 50mm to the right and 20mm to the left, you need to increase the page width by 70mm. And as you are adding 20 mm to the top and 20mm to the bottom you need to increase the page height by 40mm. So, for example, if the width and height were (say) 250.2 and 73.3 millimetres, you would need to change them to 320.2 and 113.3 millimetres. Now click the 'Margins and Zoom' button on the same page. Ensure that the units are still millimetres here too. Set the left margin to 50mm and the other margins to 20mm. Click 'Customize Zoom and Origin' and set the zoom back to 100%. You also need to adjust the origin to allow for the margins. So set 'Left origin' to 50 and 'Top origin' to 20. Save changes and press OK a few times until you can save your diagram as a file.

Method 2

Click on Print Setup and make sure that the printer is "Family Historian PDF" and pick your preferred paper size. This should not really be necessary, although arguably for best results you should always do it, for reasons I won't trouble you with. Anyway, we have logged this for further investigation. For now, in any case, when using Method 2, we recommend you always start by setting the printer to "Family Historian PDF".

Now set whatever margins you want in the Print tab of Diagram Options. I recommend that you take the option to 'Show Page Boundaries' so you can see where everything will appear on the printed page. To re-position, open the Movement Control Box, select 'Everything (position on page)' and click-and-drag to move the diagram to where you want it (lots of help with this kind of stuff in "Getting the Most from Family Historian 6" incidentally). Finally, when you have everything exactly as you want it, click on 'File > Save as PDF'. This time choose 'Current Page Layout'. You should find that each page of the final output matches the page layout you saw previously and has the margins you specified.

Please feel free to post the above (or any of my other posts on this thread) to the FHUG forum on this topici]

Sorry re-reading the last post I note that I said that the Print Margins mess things up if used with 'Save as PDF'. Just to be clear: I meant that they mess things up if used with the 'Adjust' option. They will work if used with the 'Current Layout' option - as described in Method 2.

Phil