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Saving to PDF

You can save your certificate to a PDF file which can then be printed or emailed to the client.

PDF files can be shared and read easily

A PDF file is a format that can be read on many types of devices, such as PCs, Apple Macs, tablets and phones. They can be opened for reading and printing or can be attached to an email and sent to the client when you issue.

Send your certificates to customers electronically

It is easy to attach a PDF from Pirform to an email and send it to your customer. This lets you save paper, save printer ink and also keeps a copy of the certificate in your emails.

You can create PDFs from your certificates from the Home Screen or from the the Print Preview section when the certificate is open.

Create a PDF from the Home Screen

Note

This option is available only with a Premium Editon licence.

When you close a certificate after making changes, Pirform automatically exports a PDF copy of a certificate as well as the export file (.PEX). By default, these are exported to your Documents folder, but you can change that location as shown in the article here.

To access the PDF, first select the certificate in the Home Screen, then click on Show PDF Report in the ribbon.

If the Show PDF Report is disabled, just click on Refresh Exports immediately above it and the program will create a new PDF and save it to your export location.

Note

The circuit chart is also generated at the same time as the main PDF.

Create a PDF from print preview

When you're working in the certificate you can save the certificate to PDF from the Print Preview section by clicking on Export To as the right of the ribbon and choosing the PDF File option:

You can also tell the program to show you advanced options each time you save to PDF from Print Preview if you want more control over the PDF output

By default, the PDF file is named with the certificate number, but you can change that if you want:

Excluding boards from the PDF

Both the EIC and EICR certificates alloy you to prevent a board from appearing in the PDF.

Info

You would use this feature when you have a board whose supply is outside of the scope of the current certificate, but you want capture and report on the supply details.

Prevent a board from appearing on the PDF, open the Board Manager and mark the board not for printing in the PDF by ticking the excluded column.

Any boards marked as excluded boards does not appear in the PDF.

Also, when a board is excluded, any intelligence associated with the board or its circuits will be suppressed automatically.

If you have already suppressed some intelligence at a board, Pirform will remember this and leave it suppressed once you include the board again.

Creating circuit charts

Automatically create circuit charts

Pirform's automatic export feature will create the circuit chart for you every time you update your certificate. Read more here

Pirform generates the circuit chart at the same time as the main PDF durng automatic export or when you refresh exports, as above. You can also generate a circuit chart by opening the certificate, selecting File > Print and selecting Circuit Chart.

This will show a preview of the circuit chart which can be either printed or saved to a PDF file by clicking Export To in the ribbon as shown above.

Other report types

You can generate other reports by opening the certificate, selecting File > Print and then selecting from the menu. The following additional reports are available:

  • Boards and Circuits Report - a report showing the boards and circuits in a certificate (available in EICs and EICRs).
  • Observations Report - a report showing the observations in a certificate along with associated photos (available in EICRs and pre-release EICs).

Preventing tampering

It is possible to change a PDF file using PDF editing software. Pirform prevents any PDF it creates from being edited by digitally signing the certificate with a secure randomly generated password. This is a good idea as it prevents the PDF being tampered with my anyone with malicious intent.

You can turn off off the tamper protection in the Print section of Pirform Options.

There is an setting that controls whether the certificate type is included in the filenames of PDF (and export) files. You can access that from the Saving and Backup section of [Pirform Options](options.mde:

Including the certificate type in the filename

There is an setting that controls whether the certificate type is included in the filenames of PDF (and export) files. You can access that from the Saving and Backup section of Pirform Options here: