Printing Page (Options Dialog Box)

Requires: Base Development System

Select Tools»Options to display the Options dialog box and select Printing from the Category list to display this page.

Use this page to set printing options for all VIs. Use the Print dialog box and the VI Properties dialog box to set printing options for the current VI.

This page includes the following components:

• Print Modes—Windows and Linux Use this section to set the print modes.
  • Standard printing—(Windows) Translates the VI print data (front panel, block diagram, icon, and so on) and sends it to the printer using the standard operating system drawing commands. This option is selected by default. You must use this option if the printer does not have PostScript support or if you want the printer driver to handle the PostScript translation instead of LabVIEW.
  • PostScript printing—(Windows and Linux) Translates the VI print data in PostScript (.ps) format and sends it to the printer as PostScript commands. Do not select this option if the printer or printer driver does not support PostScript printing. PostScript printouts reproduce the image of the screen, including patterns, line styles, and fonts, more accurately.
    • PostScript level 2—(Windows and Linux) Sends PostScript level 2 code to the printer. This checkbox does not contain a checkmark by default. Select this option only if the printer works with PostScript level 2.
  • Bitmap printing—(Windows) Creates a bitmap, draws all data for that page into the bitmap, and sends the bitmap to the printer. This method might take much longer to print than standard or PostScript printing because LabVIEW sends the image file to the printer instead of sending drawing commands. Bitmap printing can yield a printout of the text and fonts that is more similar to what appears on the screen than standard printing, even though the resolution is lower. The bitmap image is in color for color printers and black and white otherwise.
  • Color/Grayscale printing—(Windows and Linux) Sends color/grayscale output to the printer, overriding the printer driver depth settings. If the printer is a color printer, LabVIEW sends color/grayscale output to the printer. Otherwise, LabVIEW sends monochrome output to the printer. This checkbox contains a checkmark by default. Remove the checkmark from this checkbox to send black and white output to the printer. You also can use the Printing:Color/Grayscale? property of an application to specify programmatically whether to send color/grayscale output to the printer.
• Margins—Use this section to set the margins for printouts.
  • Use default margins—Sets absolute margins for printouts in centimeters or inches. You can set all four margins (Left, Right, Top, Bottom) separately. The physical parameters of the printer limit the margins. If you set margins smaller than the printer accepts, the printer uses its minimum settings. This checkbox contains a checkmark by default. Remove the checkmark from this checkbox to set custom margins. This option affects any VI in which you have not set custom margins. If the Use custom page margins checkbox in the Print Options page of the VI Properties dialog box does not contain a checkmark, the VI uses the margins you set in the Options dialog box. If the Use custom page margins checkbox does contain a checkmark, the VI uses the margins you set on the Print Options page of the VI Properties dialog box.
    • Margin units—Allows you to specify whether to use inches or centimeters for the margin values.
      • Inches—Uses inches for the margin values.
      • Centimeters—Uses centimeters for the margin values.
    • Margin settings—Allows you to customize margins for printouts.
      • Left—Sets the width of the left margin.
      • Right—Sets the width of the right margin.
      • Top—Sets the height of the top margin.
      • Bottom—Sets the height of the bottom margin.

You also can use the Application properties to set printing options for all VIs.