Graphic created by Addin doesn't export to pdf correctly

[TereseRowekamp]

I create a graphic on the map (not layout) using ArcObjects. It is a polygon with a gray cross-hatch fill. When I export the layout to pdf manually or through code, the graphic exports as a solid gray polygon. (I'm using the AddGraphicToMap snippet to create the graphic and the ExportActiveView sample to export to pdf).

If I manually select the graphic on the map, go to its properties and set the symbol to the 10% Crosshatch symbol in the symbol selector and then export to pdf, the graphic exports correctly.

I've found a few suggestions to do things like set the default printer page size to a larger size before exporting, but nothing I've found in my searches has had any effect on the ability to export this graphic correctly. Can anyone help me with this?

Thanks.

[TereseRowekamp · Accepted solution]

I figured it out today.

I finally noticed that when I manually set the graphic to the 10% crosshatch and then examined the symbol properties deeper, the symbol type was a Line Fill Symbol. On the other hand, the Add Graphic To Map snippet uses a Simple Fill Symbol. I had modified the snippet code to set the SimpleFillStyle to crosshatch (again, this displayed in ArcMap fine - the problem was that when exporting the map to a pdf or printing the map, the crosshatch pattern didn't come through and instead the polygon had a solid fill).

I then found Create Line Fill Symbol snippet and changed the Add Graphic To Map snippet to use a LineFillSymbol instead a SimpleFillSymbol for my graphic.

My original code created a graphic polygon with a crosshatch - the modified code creates a graphic polygon with a single diagonal line, but that's good enough to test if this fixes the problem, and IT DOES!

Code is shown below .

Public Sub AddGraphicToMap(ByVal map As ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto.IMap, ByVal geometry As ESRI.ArcGIS.Geometry.IGeometry, ByVal rgbColor As ESRI.ArcGIS.Display.IRgbColor, ByVal outlineRgbColor As ESRI.ArcGIS.Display.IRgbColor)

  Dim graphicsContainer As ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto.IGraphicsContainer = CType(Map, ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto.IGraphicsContainer)

  Dim element As ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto.IElement = Nothing

  If (geometry.GeometryType) = ESRI.ArcGIS.Geometry.esriGeometryType.esriGeometryPoint Then

    ' Marker symbols

    Dim simpleMarkerSymbol As ESRI.ArcGIS.Display.ISimpleMarkerSymbol = New ESRI.ArcGIS.Display.SimpleMarkerSymbolClass()

         simpleMarkerSymbol.Color = rgbColor

         simpleMarkerSymbol.Outline = True

         simpleMarkerSymbol.OutlineColor = outlineRgbColor

         simpleMarkerSymbol.Size = 15

         simpleMarkerSymbol.Style = ESRI.ArcGIS.Display.esriSimpleMarkerStyle.esriSMSCircle

    Dim markerElement As ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto.IMarkerElement = New ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto.MarkerElementClass()

         markerElement.Symbol = simpleMarkerSymbol

         element = CType(markerElement, ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto.IElement)

  ElseIf (geometry.GeometryType) = ESRI.ArcGIS.Geometry.esriGeometryType.esriGeometryPolyline Then

    ' Line elements

         Dim simpleLineSymbol As ESRI.ArcGIS.Display.ISimpleLineSymbol = New ESRI.ArcGIS.Display.SimpleLineSymbolClass()

         simpleLineSymbol.Color = rgbColor

         simpleLineSymbol.Style = ESRI.ArcGIS.Display.esriSimpleLineStyle.esriSLSSolid

         simpleLineSymbol.Width = 5

    Dim lineElement As ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto.ILineElement = New ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto.LineElementClass()

         lineElement.Symbol = simpleLineSymbol

         element = CType(lineElement, ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto.IElement)

  ElseIf (geometry.GeometryType) = ESRI.ArcGIS.Geometry.esriGeometryType.esriGeometryPolygon Then

    ''ORIGINAL AddGrahpicToMap code

    '' Polygon elements

    'Dim simpleFillSymbol As ESRI.ArcGIS.Display.ISimpleFillSymbol = New ESRI.ArcGIS.Display.SimpleFillSymbolClass()

    'simpleFillSymbol.Color = rgbColor

    'simpleFillSymbol.Style = ESRI.ArcGIS.Display.esriSimpleFillStyle.esriSFSDiagonalCross

    'Dim fillShapeElement As ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto.IFillShapeElement = New ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto.PolygonElementClass()

    'fillShapeElement.Symbol = simpleFillSymbol

    'element = CType(fillShapeElement, ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto.IElement)

    ''MODIFIED to use LineFillSymbol instead of SimpleFillSymbol

    ' Create the Line Symbol to be used

    Dim cartographicLineSymbol As ESRI.ArcGIS.Display.ICartographicLineSymbol = New ESRI.ArcGIS.Display.CartographicLineSymbolClass

    With cartographicLineSymbol

               .Cap = ESRI.ArcGIS.Display.esriLineCapStyle.esriLCSButt

               .Join = ESRI.ArcGIS.Display.esriLineJoinStyle.esriLJSMitre

               .Color = rgbColor

               .Width = 0.5

    End With

    ' Create the LineFillSymbol

    Dim lineFillSymbol As ESRI.ArcGIS.Display.ILineFillSymbol = New ESRI.ArcGIS.Display.LineFillSymbolClass

    With lineFillSymbol

              .Angle = 45

              .Separation = 10

              .Offset = 5

    End With

          lineFillSymbol.LineSymbol = cartographicLineSymbol

    Dim fillShapeElement As ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto.IFillShapeElement = New ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto.PolygonElementClass()

         fillShapeElement.Symbol = lineFillSymbol

         element = CType(fillShapeElement, ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto.IElement)

  End If

  If Not (element Is Nothing) Then

           element.Geometry = geometry

           graphicsContainer.AddElement(element, 0)

  End If

End Sub

[DanielSmith]

just wanted to drop a line that this helped me solve an issue with printing from the javascript templates after adding in a draw toolbar. thanks for the insight, Terese Rowekamp‌