Export schematic in EEShema as a PNG File

[Ferdinand T.]

It would be very helpful if there is a feature to export as a PNG image file.
That would help to show it other people (like in forums).

(This here is the wish-list, or isn't?)

[jean-pierre charras (jp-charras)]

Bad idea.
Use a build-in svg export or a pdf print ( via pdf printer utility) which gives far from better result.
And if you want a png export, use the Print Screen key.

[Ferdinand T. (f-thiessen)]

The problem is that if I export it as a svg, I can't share it so easy.
The most forums do not support SVG (because the most browsers can't show it).
And to convert needs an extra program (you must spend some time).
PDF will be also good...
But PNG is the standard file type for circuit schematic, and I think most of all forums support it.
Also it should be not too difficult to add this function, because an export function (PNG) is already in the library editor.
B.R.

[Lorenzo Marcantonio (l-marcantonio)]

On Thu, 28 Oct 2010, Ferdinand T. wrote:

> The problem is that if I export it as a svg, I can't share it so easy.
> The most forums do not support SVG (because the most browsers can't show it).
> And to convert needs an extra program (you must spend some time).
> PDF will be also good...

Windows users which want to do everything with one program:P

I would suggest to use a pdf distiller of some kind and then print, or
use it on the plot file, which is better (because I wrote the plot
routines XD); if you spent 10 minutes drawing the schematic you can
spend 30 second converting the output, IMHO; i.e. such a feature would
be bloat-only...

--
Lorenzo Marcantonio
Logos Srl

[Ferdinand T. (f-thiessen)]

Am 29.10.2010 09:52, schrieb Lorenzo Marcantonio:
> Windows users which want to do everything with one program:P
>
> I would suggest to use a pdf distiller of some kind and then print, or
> use it on the plot file, which is better (because I wrote the plot
> routines XD); if you spent 10 minutes drawing the schematic you can
> spend 30 second converting the output, IMHO; i.e. such a feature would
> be bloat-only...
>

First: I am a Linux user, I did not use windows for 2 years ;-)
It is not the problem to convert the svg-plot file, but it needs some
time, because if you only convert the output svg you have a 10*10 pixles
image.
So I must import it in inkscape, scale it and save as PNG.
PS: For the schematic I need 14 hours...
BR
Ferdinand Thiessen

[Lorenzo Marcantonio (l-marcantonio)]

On Sat, 30 Oct 2010, Ferdinand T. wrote:

> It is not the problem to convert the svg-plot file, but it needs some
> time, because if you only convert the output svg you have a 10*10 pixles
> image.
> So I must import it in inkscape, scale it and save as PNG.

Tried with imagemagick? It should support *some* svg features...

--
Lorenzo Marcantonio
Logos Srl

[jean-pierre charras (jp-charras)]

Le 30/10/2010 12:56, Ferdinand T. a écrit :
>
> Am 29.10.2010 09:52, schrieb Lorenzo Marcantonio:
>> Windows users which want to do everything with one program:P
>>
>> I would suggest to use a pdf distiller of some kind and then print, or
>> use it on the plot file, which is better (because I wrote the plot
>> routines XD); if you spent 10 minutes drawing the schematic you can
>> spend 30 second converting the output, IMHO; i.e. such a feature would
>> be bloat-only...
>>
>
> First: I am a Linux user, I did not use windows for 2 years ;-)
> It is not the problem to convert the svg-plot file, but it needs some
> time, because if you only convert the output svg you have a 10*10 pixles
> image.
> So I must import it in inkscape, scale it and save as PNG.
> PS: For the schematic I need 14 hours...
> BR
> Ferdinand Thiessen
>

Most of time convert a schematic to a bitmap gives unreadable texts.
But if you want to do that, screen hard-copy exists in Linux and Windows (an I think, in MacOSX).
This is a system feature (like copy, delete a file...),
so no need to have a system command that does not give good results (in fact, most of time, unusable) in Eeschema.
Convert it in PDF (or Postscript)is far from better.
*All* applications can have a PDF output when they have a print function.
Under Linux a virtual PDF printer is available(At least under Ubuntu 10)
Under Windows install PDFCreator (a free software).
One time again, ask for a feature that usually exists in all systems (Windows, Linux, Mac) is useless.

--
Jean-Pierre CHARRAS

[Kalle Hyvönen (scorper)]

In my opinion kicad should be able to export atleast png and pdf, it would make workflow faster. Very slow and inconvenient to export as ps/svg and then use some other software to convert that etc.

[Hildo Guillardi Júnior (hildogjr)]

I see some advantage if KiCad could export a selected area as PNG / SVG also, to use in reports / manuals.

[Jeff Young (jeyjey)]

Kicad now supports both printing and plotting to PDF.

[Seth Hillbrand (sethh)]

@Jeff-

I think the wishlist item for PNG export is still open, no?

[Jeff Young (jeyjey)]

I would say PNG export is a Won't Fix. It's a bitmap format; if you really really want that, then do a screen capture.

If we were going to do *any* bitmap format then JPEG would make more sense. But I don't think even that is worth the time.