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Printing In GGP – Changing Other Print Settings

Priyesh Mistry
Updated

Beyond printer and template selection, GGP allows you to control how your map data appears when printed, through script-based print settings.

⚙️ Script Settings That Affect Printing

There are several settings you can configure to control how your printouts appear. Some of these are script settings, which apply to both printing and rendering, while others are specific to the current print job, allowing you to temporarily override script defaults.

🖤 Force Black Printing & Enlarge Patterns

Force Black and White Printing

Ticking this option converts your printout into black and white, ensuring clarity and contrast—especially useful for monochrome printers or photocopying.

Enlarge Patterns

This option attempts to print filled polygons using the same line spacing as they appear on screen.

⚠️ Note: Some printer drivers—particularly PostScript—do not fully support this function. If you notice:

  • No visible difference

  • Incomplete or missing polygon fills

…try using an alternative fill method for improved results

🧩 Use GGP Method for Printing

Enabling this option switches to the GGP printing method, bypassing the default Windows print pipeline for specific print elements.

⚠️ Important: Printer support for this method is hardware- and driver-dependent. GGP cannot guarantee which options will be supported by your printer.

Behaviour and Preferences

  • GGP will remember your last selected options, so once you find a combination that works with your printer, you won’t need to configure it again.

  • These preferences are stored at a Departmental level, ensuring consistency across print jobs within your team or organisation.

🗂️ Include in Key Tick Boxes

These options determine which subfeatures appear in the Print Page Key.

ℹ️ Note: The Queries only option is available only if active queries exist during printing.

Display Options

You can choose to show:

  • Layer names only – Excludes query-related keys

  • Queries only – Excludes default layer keys

  • Both Layer names and Queries – Shows all relevant items

This ensures that your map legends are relevant and easy to interpret.

💾 Save Printout

If you'd like to reuse your current print settings:

How to Save

  1. Tick the Save this printout checkbox.

  2. Enter a name in the Print Description field.

How to Reprint

  1. Go to File > Reprint.

  2. A list of saved printouts will appear.

  3. Select one and click Reprint to use the same settings.

💡 This feature helps maintain consistency across repeated prints and saves setup time.

© Copyright Information

If the print template includes the ^Copyright keyword, this section will allow you to include relevant copyright labels.

How It Works

  • When detected, a Copyright Information section appears.

  • You can select a saved Copyright Label from your library.

📌 Only templates with the ^Copyright keyword will enable this option.

This ensures your printout contains the appropriate legal or attribution information.

🔁 Temporary Overrides vs. Script Settings

Some settings allow you to override script defaults for the current print job only. Others are tied to the script itself and persist across sessions.

Override Settings Apply To:

  • This print only

  • Saved reprints, if saved using the printout options

🔧 Accessing Script Print Settings

To adjust long-term script settings:

  1. Go to Options > New Script Settings > Printer,
    or choose the equivalent for Current Script or Display.

What You Can Configure:

  • Basemap colours and line styles

  • Scale thresholds for different geometry types

  • Rendering order (e.g., ensuring basemaps appear above overlays)

🖨️ Display vs. Print – Why It Matters

Print output often requires different configurations than on-screen views, especially when using large-format plotters.

Examples:

  • On screen, users can toggle overlays and basemaps.

  • On paper, rendering order (e.g., black basemaps over coloured polygons) must be predefined.

  • Scale thresholds may need adjusting for optimal clarity in prints.

🧪 Expect some experimentation to get the best results for your workflow.

⚙️ Changing Settings During the Print Process

If you're mid-print and realize something needs adjusting (e.g., adding a coloured grid):

  1. On the Print dialog form, click the Options tab.

  2. Select Printer Settings.

  3. Modify the settings for the Current Script as needed.

⚠️ These changes are saved with the script. If you require different behavior next time, you’ll need to update the script settings again.

✅ Summary

You now have full control over your printed map's:

  • Template and layout

  • Colour schemes and rendering order

  • Scale thresholds and layer visibility

  • Reprint consistency

  • Legal attributions

     

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