Printed image formats

You can print images directly to a printer or save images in several file formats.

Related Topics
Controlling the destination and appearance of printed images

Abaqus/CAE allows you to print images directly to a Windows printer. The printer driver creates and sends the necessary information to the printer in whatever format is required.

If Windows printer drivers are not available or if you are using another platform, you can use a print command to create and send a PostScript file directly to a PostScript printer. You can also save images in a Portable Network Graphics (PNG), Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), Tag Image File Format (TIFF), PostScript (PS), or Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) file. The following list describes these file formats:

PNG

Portable Network Graphics (PNG) is an industry standard for storing raster images. The use of PNG files has been popularized by the World Wide Web, and PNG images are displayed by most popular web browsers running on a variety of operating systems. A PNG file consists of color information and a compressed raster representation of the image. By default, Abaqus/CAE limits PNG images of viewports to 8-bit color (256 colors). However, you can also use 24-bit color (on Windows) or the system color setting (on Linux).

SVG

Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is an industry-standard vector graphics language written in XML.

TIFF

Tag Image File Format (TIFF) is a well-established raster image format that is recognized by many software applications. The TIFF format supports both color and greyscale. By default, Abaqus/CAE limits TIFF images of viewports to 8-bit color (256 colors). However, you can also use 24-bit color (on Windows) or the system color setting (on Linux).

PostScript

PostScript is the recognized standard for desktop publishing. PostScript is actually a programming language whose instructions and data are usually stored in an ASCII format that can be transferred easily between operating systems. The PostScript format is used when you use a print command to print to a PostScript printer or when you save the image in a PostScript file. When you select the PostScript format, Abaqus/CAE generates either a compressed raster representation or a vector representation of your image. For efficiency when producing raster images, you should minimize the size of your image and limit the resolution of the image to, at most, the resolution of the device on which the image is to be printed or displayed.

Encapsulated PostScript

Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) is a variation of PostScript that describes a single graphic designed to be included in a larger document without modification. EPS files are identical to PostScript files except for some information that describes the size and positioning of the image. As a result, the above discussion about vector and raster representations of your image applies equally to the EPS format. Most word processing and graphics applications support the inclusion of EPS files.