Smart PDF Generation

Summary Smart PDF generates a single PDF, documenting either selected documents or the
entire project - including schematics, PCB and Bill Of Materials. PDF bookmarks are
Output Generator
created for each net and component in the design. Save Smart PDF settings to an
OG0100 (v1.2) May 19, 2008
OutJob file so your PDF can be regenerated with a single click.

Configuring Smart PDF

The Wizard is launched by selecting File » Smart PDF from the menu.

Follow the pages of the Smart PDF Wizard to output the design in PDF format.
Click Next to navigate to the next screen in the wizard.
Click Finish anywhere in the wizard to create a PDF with your previously entered settings. All settings are remembered except
for the Output File Name.

OG0100 (v1.2) May 19, 2008 1

Smart PDF Generation

Choosing the Export Target

The second page of the Wizard allows you to specify what is to be exported and where it will be saved. Choose to export either
the Current Project or Current Document. If you choose to export the current project, you will be presented with further
options to export selected or all documents in the project on the next page of the Wizard.
In addition, specify your Output File Name including the path to specify the name of your PDF and where it will be saved.

Click Back to navigate to the previous screen in the wizard.

Click Next to navigate to the next screen in the wizard.

2 OG0100 (v1.2) May 19, 2008

 Smart PDF Generation

Choosing Project Files

If you choose to export the Current Project, the next page of the Wizard allows you to further refine which schematic and/or
PCB documents are to be included in your PDF. Select the files required using standard multi-select features (Ctrl+click,
Shift+click). Alternatively, use the selection options available from the right click menu.
If you choose to export only the Current Document, this page of the Wizard is not displayed and you will be presented with the
Bill of Materials page.

Click Back to navigate to the previous screen in the wizard.

Click Next to navigate to the next screen in the wizard.

OG0100 (v1.2) May 19, 2008 3

Smart PDF Generation

Exporting the Bill of Materials

You can choose to include the Bill of Materials (BOM) in your PDF. Select the Assembly Variant and a template if required.

Click Back to navigate to the previous screen in the wizard.

Click Next to navigate to the next screen in the wizard.

4 OG0100 (v1.2) May 19, 2008

 Smart PDF Generation

PCB Printout Settings

If you choose to export PCB documents, you will be presented with the PCB Printout Settings page in the Wizard. Right click
on a layer to further configure Preferences and Properties for that layer. Specify the area to print; either the entire sheet or a
specific area. For more detail about PCB printouts, refer to the document, Printout Output Options.

Click Back to navigate to the previous screen in the wizard.

Click Next to navigate to the next screen in the wizard.

OG0100 (v1.2) May 19, 2008 5

Smart PDF Generation

Additional PDF Settings

The Smart PDF Wizard provides several additional export options:
• Zoom – a slider bar to control the zoom level used in the PDF when browsing components and nets
• Additional Bookmark options – allows you to control whether or not net information is generated in the PDF. If this option
is enabled, you can select whether or not to generate additional bookmarks for Pins, Net Labels and Ports.
• No ERC Markers – controls whether No ERC directive markers get included when exporting schematic sheets
• Parameter Sets – controls whether parameter set objects are included when exporting schematic sheets
• Probes - control whether probe objects are included when exporting schematic sheets
• Schematic Color Mode –allows you to specify the coloring used when exporting schematic sheets. Choose from either
Color, Grayscale, or Monochrome
• PCB Color Mode –allows you to specify the coloring used when exporting PCB printouts. Choose from Color, Grayscale, or
Monochrome

Click Back to navigate to the previous screen in the wizard.

Click Next to navigate to the next screen in the wizard.

6 OG0100 (v1.2) May 19, 2008

 Smart PDF Generation

Structure Settings
Check the Use Physical Structure flag to include physical designators in your PCB prints and expanded physical sheets
(Compiled Documents) for your schematics. For example, if you check this flag for a multi-channel design, there will be one
schematic sheet for each channel included in your PDF.
Once you check the Use Physical Structure flag, additional options become available. You may specify an Assembly Variant
and whether to display the expanded physical names of Designators, Net Labels, Ports and Sheet Entries, Sheet Number and
Document Number parameters.

Click Back to navigate to the previous screen in the wizard.

Click Next to navigate to the next screen in the wizard.

For more information about compiled documents and the expansion of physical names (compiled names expansion), refer to
the Schematic Editor and Object Reference.

OG0100 (v1.2) May 19, 2008 7

Smart PDF Generation

Final Steps
There are some final options you can set before generating your PDF:
• Open PDF file after export – enable this flag to open your generated PDF after export
• Save Settings to Output Job document – enable this flag to save your settings to an output job document. In this way, you
can publish the same job, with the same settings over and over without having to step through the Smart PDF Wizard.
• File Name of Output Job Document – specify the file name of your Output Job document including the file path. You can
choose to overwrite an existing Output Job document or create a new one.
• Open Output Job file after export – enable this flag to open your Output Job file after you have exported your PDF.

Click Back to navigate to the previous screen in the wizard.

Click Finish to proceed with the export and generation of the PDF file

8 OG0100 (v1.2) May 19, 2008

 Smart PDF Generation

The OutputJob Editor – An Introduction

Your Smart PDF settings can be saved to an Output Job document. Modify this document in the OutputJob Editor which
becomes active when the active document is an *.OutJob file. In addition to Schematic and PCB Prints, you can also publish
Reports, Netlists, Fabrication Outputs, OpenBus and other Documentation outputs.
The OutputJob Editor is flexible and powerful, allowing you to configure output media such as print, PDF or file generation for a
combination of different outputs. Once saved, you can update your project files and recreate your publications with a single click.

For more information, refer to the OutputJob Editor Reference.

OG0100 (v1.2) May 19, 2008 9

Smart PDF Generation

Browsing the Generated PDF

The generated PDF groups documents according to their type: Schematic, PCB or BOM. For each Schematic, bookmarks are
provided based on your settings which enable you to browse documents as well as individual components and nets residing on
that document.
If the source schematics are hierarchical, the hierarchy will be reflected in the PDF bookmarks with the top-level sheet
appearing at one level and all sub-sheets appearing as sub-bookmarks. If you have enabled the option to Use Physical
Structure as part of the export process, the resulting PDF document will contain separate sheets for each channel in a multi-
channel design.
For the Bill of Materials, bookmarks are provided so you can browse to each component. For a PCB document, bookmarks are
provided for each of the exported printouts.

If you have enabled Additional Bookmark settings to generate net information for
Pins, Net Labels and Ports, you will see these when browsing a Schematic or a
PCB (pins only).

Clicking on a bookmark will zoom to the area of the document where that object
resides. The level of zoom applied is determined by the zoom control slider bar
setting in the Smart PDF Wizard. Where possible, the object will be centered
within the main display window of the PDF Viewer. Highlighting will be applied
when browsing by Components, Pins, Ports or Net Labels for ease of reference.

Note, if you did not enable the option to generate net information, only
component information will be available in the generated PDF.

10 OG0100 (v1.2) May 19, 2008

 Smart PDF Generation

Notes
• Only Schematic, PCB and BOM documents may be exported in PDF format using the Smart PDF command
• The settings for the outputs can be re-configured from the generated OutJob document. For example, the BOM can be re-
configured to use a different template and re-published with the Publish to PDF facility.
• Export options defined within the Wizard are stored with the design project.

OG0100 (v1.2) May 19, 2008 11

Smart PDF Generation

Revision History
Date Version No. Revision

3-Nov-2005 1.0 New release

4-Mar-2008 1.1 Updated page size to A4.

19-May-2008 1.2 Updated information for the new BOM export feature and ability to save
settings to the Output Job Editor.

Software, hardware, documentation and related materials:

Copyright © 2008 Altium Limited. All Rights Reserved.
The material provided with this notice is subject to various forms of national and international intellectual property protection, including but not
limited to copyright protection. You have been granted a non-exclusive license to use such material for the purposes stated in the end-user
license agreement governing its use. In no event shall you reverse engineer, decompile, duplicate, distribute, create derivative works from or in
any way exploit the material licensed to you except as expressly permitted by the governing agreement. Failure to abide by such restrictions
may result in severe civil and criminal penalties, including but not limited to fines and imprisonment. Provided, however, that you are permitted
to make one archival copy of said materials for back up purposes only, which archival copy may be accessed and used only in the event that the
original copy of the materials is inoperable. Altium, Altium Designer, Board Insight, DXP, Innovation Station, LiveDesign, NanoBoard, NanoTalk,
OpenBus, P-CAD, SimCode, Situs, TASKING, and Topological Autorouting and their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks
of Altium Limited or its subsidiaries. All other registered or unregistered trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners
and no trademark rights to the same are claimed. v8.0 31/3/08

12 OG0100 (v1.2) May 19, 2008