Symptom

When you 'print' Images and Takeoff to a PDF creator, sometimes the output does not look exactly like the screen.

Cause

On-Screen Takeoff is designed to send output to physical printers and plotters but works great with a variety of PDF "printers". These PDF Generators are installed like printers on your machine so it is just a matter of 'printing' to a piece of software that creates a PDF.

Printing to a PDF creator can, however, produce undesired results. PDF creators render layers, colors, and artifacts (what makes up your image/takeoff) a little differently than printing to paper. Because of the differences in programs, how they are installed/how they interact with other installed application, and how each utility renders layers, there is no way for On Center Software to control exactly how a PDF will be created.

Some examples of inconsistent output are shown in the following images. The first image is a screen capture of the Image Tab, showing exactly how the takeoff was displayed in our software compared to screenshots of the PDFs generated.

Image 1 - This image is a screen capture of On-Screen Takeoff's Image Tab:

Image 2 - Some PDF creators will create blocks of images from the takeoff, making it appear as if there are lines missing:

Image 3 - Some PDF creators will make translucent takeoff solid or appear with heavy hash marks:

Image 4 - Some PDF creators will change or distort the color of the takeoff:

Resolution

You may need to experiment with different PDF creators to find an acceptable solution. Trial and error may be necessary to come up with an accurate PDF for each project. One PDF creator may work well on one project, but not another. On-Screen Takeoff does not include any settings that alter how the PDF is created, however you can customize the output in the Printer Properties. There are a number of third party PDF creators available that allow for 'printing' to PDF.

Below is a list of several PDF creation utilities used by estimating professionals, in alphabetical order.