Print Your Timeline Across Multiple Pages
One of the most frequently requested features for Preceden has been the ability to print your timelines across multiple sheets of paper.
While we added this capability, it's not as simple as it might seem. Most printers try to automatically squeeze extra-wide content onto a single sheet of paper so we have to use some workarounds to print a timeline across multiple pages.
The first tutorial is for Mac users. The second is for Windows users.
We've also had some users find success in printing large timelines on a plotter:
Print on a Plotter.
For Mac Users:
1. Click the Export & Share button above your timeline and choose "Print PDF":
2. Choose the "Stretch across multiple sheets of paper" option.
3. Use Preview to convert the PDF to an image:
Click on the File > Export menu:
For the Format, choose PNG:
4. Open the PNG in Safari:
5. Click on the File > Print menu:
6. Adjust the print options:
Now you will need to adjust the page range and scale, which will determine how many pages wide your printed timeline will be.
To print across
four pages, set the page range from 1 to
4 and set the scale to
400%:
To print across
eight pages, set the page range from 1 to
8 and set the scale to
800%.
This will ensure that your timeline is printed at the correct magnification and that your printer does not print unnecessary blank pages.
If your timeline is multiple pages tall, you might need to double or triple the number of pages to print, but keep the scale the same.
7. Print your timeline.
If you printed across four pages, it would look like this:
If you printed across eight pages, it would look like this:
8. Finally, cut and tape the timeline together.
After you've printed the timeline across multiple pages, you can cut and tape the timeline together and display it however you'd like.
For Windows Users:
The procedure for printing PDFs across multiple pages in Windows is pretty straightforward:
1. Click the Export & Share button above your timeline and choose "Print PDF":
2. Choose the "Stretch across multiple sheets of paper" option and click the Download Printable PDF button:
3. Open your PDF in Acrobat then open up the print dialog. There is an option under Page Sizing & Handling called Poster - you can choose what scale to print the image at, and how much overlap there will be on the pages:
4. Hit Print. Then you can cut and tape the timeline together and display it however you'd like.