Altium Designer 18 PDF Problem - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: aeromorph
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 25, 2018, 08:08:15 am
content: Hello,I upgraded from Altium 17 to 18 and not I can't generate PDFs normally. The lines are all out of dimension and also the symbols. Atttached two images, from the schematic and the resulting PDF. I looked to all the properties with no success. I'm thinking it could be anything I isntalled, because after a clean windows installation, this roblem was gone and now it's bac again!Does anyone experienced this?Thanks!

author: voltsandjolts
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 25, 2018, 08:54:44 am
content: If this happens again, you could try this:DXP->Preferences->Schematic->General->Render Text with GDI+

author: aeromorph
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 25, 2018, 09:00:21 am
content: Helo,Its not related.... The problem ins on the PDF I generate, not the schematics. On the screenshots I sent, the schematics is the "normal looking" one and the other is the PDF generated from this schematic. I tried anyway disabling it but didn't changed anythig.

author: voltsandjolts
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 25, 2018, 02:47:17 pm
content: Too bad that didn't work for you but be aware that [Render Text with GDI+ ] setting can affect PDF generation. For example:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/altium/missing-lables-when-exporing-schematic-to-pdf/

author: winfieldhill
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 10, 2021, 03:37:54 pm
content: (Although I've downloaded 18 and 19, I'm still using Altium 17.) I recently upgraded my computer, graphics card and moved to Windows 10. Everything has been fine, until I encountered some defective pdf rendering. Missing text, etc. Nothing would fix it, until I disabled "Render Text with GDI+" Dunno if the issue was new COPU, new Win 10, or maybe it as my new low-cost passive heatsink graphics card, an ASUS GeForce GT 1030. BTW, this card seems more than fast enough.

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 10, 2021, 04:07:01 pm
content: Something about variants being printed. Check variants settings.Tim

author: Mark
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 11, 2021, 04:23:15 pm
content: As above, this looks like it is because of a variant, check the Variant Management dialog for each document.Not FittedWhen a component is set to Not Fitted it still exists on the schematic and will be transferred to the PCB (so the footprint can be placed), but it is removed from the appropriate output documentation, such as the BOM. The way in which Not Fitted components are presented in the documentation can be configured, for example, set as marked with a cross on the schematic and in PCB drawing outputs – see the Variant Options dialog, accessed from the Drawing Style button in the Variant Management dialog.

author: harrybyy
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 16, 2021, 11:13:28 am
content: Soon after a recent Windows 10 update I noticed my Altium 16 started hesitating on every action in Schematic editor, but only after I had zoomed in or panned across certain schematic sheets.Eventually narrowed it down to sheets containing text blocks or text notes. Everything was fine until one of those text blocks was moved off the edge of the screen. After that selecting items, moving wires and components was extrememly slow and only came good again if zoomed back out with a View/'fit all objects'.Many months ago a previous Windows 10 update messed up PDF prints. pin numbers and net labels, etc were mis-aligned.The solution then was to turn off the Preferences/Schematic/General/'Render text with GDI+' option.Now it appears I can fix my text box speed problem by turning Render text with GDI+' back ON, but since it still messes up PDFs, I'll need to turn it off whenever printing......Experimenting with different fonts didn't help (maybe they need to be a font common to both Windows display hardware and the printer?). I'm currently using Times New Roman, Regular, size 10 for everything.Selecting a different printer didn't help either.

author: harrybyy
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 18, 2021, 02:55:22 pm
content: Further experiments indicate that my slow response problem when zooming in and panning on some schematics turns out to only occur if there is a text box (or Note) that contains text that auto-wraps to the next line.Making sure that all lines are shorter than the width of the text box seems to solve the problem!Maybe it's related to recent Microsoft security patch in the Win 10 update that blocks certain types of access to graphics memory?

author: atochimani
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2021, 08:42:05 pm
content: Hi,In Altium ver. 22 where is this Render Text with GDI+ ?.DXP->Preferences->Schematic->General->Render Text with GDI+ [ uncheck ]I have some pdf files from altium draftsman tool that some lines and text comes out very lighted weight.Thanks,