From drawing to print: sheets and page setup

An overview of the entire project, an enlarged detail or a plan spread across several pages: in Pythagoras, you can prepare multiple print layouts within the same drawing.

First, decide what belongs to the drawing and what should stay fixed on the paper. Then choose a sheet, adjust the page setup and add the layout elements.

The drawing and the page are independent

Your survey points and drawn objects have positions within the drawing. A title block or company logo, however, usually needs a fixed position on the paper.

For drawing and page layout, you use different coordinate systems:

The origin of the page coordinate system is at the bottom-left corner of the sheet. Objects created in page coordinates keep their position on the paper when you reposition the drawing.

For example, your title block stays in the bottom-right corner while you move, rotate or change the scale of the survey plan.

Read more about Coordinate Systems in Pythagoras.

Sheets store the settings for your print layouts

Think of a sheet as a prepared page for printing. It contains the printer, paper size, orientation and layout settings.

You can use several sheets within the same drawing. For example, an overview on A3 and a detail on A4, each with its own scale and title block.

Go to File > Sheets > Manage Sheets… to open the Sheet Manager. Here, you manage your sheets and their settings.

For help selecting a printer, paper size and orientation, see How to choose a printer and paper size?.

Use Default View in the Sheet Manager to assign a view to a sheet. A view determines what is displayed, including visible layers, subdocuments, terrain models and thematic maps. This lets you prepare, for example, a survey plan and a drainage plan from the same drawing.

Page setup determines how the drawing fits on the paper

Go to File > Page Setup… to determine which part of the drawing appears on the sheet, at what scale and at what angle.

The coordinates of your survey points and drawing objects remain unchanged. You only change how the drawing is presented on the paper.

For instructions, see Positioning a drawing on a sheet.

Add information and details to the sheet

To create a border, title block, logo or explanatory text, select Page in the Control Panel before creating the objects. These objects belong to the active sheet.

Is a border, title block or logo already in local coordinates? Use Local → Page to convert the selected objects to page coordinates. They then belong to the active sheet and keep their position on the paper. Use Page → Local to convert them back.

Some functions automatically place their output in page coordinates:

• Reports placed in the drawing, such as a coordinate list, object list or volume report.

• Legends, such as a DTM legend or a legend generated with Bonus Tools.

• Viewports and web service viewports, which display a separate area on the sheet.

Read more:

• How to create a viewport.

• Adding a web service as a layout element.

• Add a legend with Bonus tools.

Print or create a PDF

Check the layout using Preview in the Page Setup panel. Then use File > Print… to print, or File > Print to PDF… to create a PDF file.

You can save one or more sheets as PDF files.