MapWindow:Desktop:Printing
From MapWindow GIS
Printing and Exporting Maps
Printing
Presently, the printing functionality in MapWindow has a basic range of print options to show or exclude key information.
To print the current map view, select the [File] menu then select [Print], or click on the 
[Print] icon. The user will be presented with a dialog which allows selection of map elements to be displayed.
The print options box (for V4.5) has three main elements, general preferences or page layout, legend contents and scalebar options.
To check results of any options selected, click on [Preview] button bottom of dialog box at any time prior to printing.
General Preferences
- [Total Horizontal sections] (up to 100) sets the number of horizontal sections the page is broken into
- Map Sections Occupied sets the number of these sections the map view takes up (remainder for legend & sidebar)
- If the [Include Sidebar Text] is selected, this will display the text entered into the field below. Default is to display the project name. Font format can be selected.
- If the [Include North Arrow] is selected this will show above the sidebar text. If no other image is selected, the default arrow will show, or click on folder icon to browse to user source arrow files.
- It is an option to include standard text such as disclaimer or data source as a component of Arrow image files, then select this file as the alternative North Arrow file.
Click on [Page Setup] button bottom of dialog to set page options such as size, margins or portrait or landscape
Legend
If the [Include Legend] option is selected, there are other options enabled
- [Visible Layers Only] if selected will only list visible layers in legend
- Sections Wide and Total Columns allows modification of the width of legend on map page
- If [Include Rasters] or [Include Images] are selected will list these layers in the legend, if layers are visible on map. If not selected, they will not be listed in legend, but still be visible on map.
Scale Bar
If the [Include Scale Bar] option is selected, user can also select
- Select [Transparent] to make scalebar background transparent
- Set Sections Wide (page sections) and Height (pixels) options
- Click on Foreground or Background colour box to select other colour options
- Select [Properties] and set up the users windows printer options such as portrait or landscape. Press [OK]
- Select [Print Preview] to check for changes.
- Select [Print].
If users prefer to print a different map, then it is possible to export particular elements to insert into a word processor or publishing program to make it more effective or use specific templates.
Exporting Map Components
The user may export a map image as a range of formats to include in a range of other word processing or publishing documents.
- To do this, select the [Edit] menu
- Select [Export]
- Select [Map]. The user will be presented with a dialog asking where the user would like to save the file.
- Specify where to save the image and also the file extension ( .jpg, .bmp or .gif), then click [OK]
The user may also export a scale bar by selecting the [Edit] menu, then [Export], then [Scale Bar]. This will prompt for a location to save the resulting image file. This file could then be added to the image file.
The user may export a north arrow by choosing the [Edit] menu, then [Export], then [North Arrow]. This also will prompt for a location to save the image.
