Print Widget Web App Builder - Show preview of print area

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2
11-29-2018 03:37 PM
Status: Open
Greg_Mattis
Occasional Contributor II

The print widget is very useful to my users however one issue that they are running into is that the print widget doesn't allow you to preview the area that will show up on the map. I tried to utilize the custom widget https://community.esri.com/docs/DOC-3841-print-plus-widget-version-116-july-12-2015  however when I published it and tested it out I noticed that it was showing an area that was being "Printed" but it didn't actually include that area. We are looking for this similar form of functionality to incorporated into the default print widget.

2 Comments
Joshua-Young

I really hope this starts getting more votes because this functionality is essential for users that still need to print/export maps. I have users that need to still print out maps for meetings or going into the field. They are frustrated that you have to make several guesses on where to pan and zoom the map in order to get the desired results in the exported file.

by Anonymous User

All of Larry's UI ideas should be added to the default Print. His Print is excellent but it has issues working with current WebApp Builder versions. In 2019, the Print widget should show what area will be printed. (I say area because Esri should not use terms like "extent"for public-facing interfaces... no one knows what that means, not even engineers. I advise using common language like 'map area' or 'area on screen' etc.  I swap that word out in all areas of my viewers, thankfully very easy to do with WebApp Builder)

Our users find have quite clearly conveyed they find it very frustrating when the print extent differs from the map (which it almost always will). Also I like how his shows 1" = 100 Feet and lets users set print scale with scales that engineers, planners, architects, and other professionals understand and are used to. It's the kind of real-world design idea that would be good to leverage by Esri. It's already written - just needs to be merged into the official Print widget.

Also, while it's possible with python and print templates, printing should out of the box support more than one page. It's very common to have a legend like Soils or Wetlands or Zoning where there are many symbols. Easy solution: if the legend has 30 symbols etc, it should just run onto a second page (or more but hopefully not!)  Simple. And of course, only show the symbols that are in the extent, like how Legend widget now has that option. That should be an option for Print and the default behavior as well.  Currently,  Print still truncates the symbology in WebApp Builder 2.12.  I just tested it with the soil survey. This would be an important issue to address in a future WAB update. Kory Kramer