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Training Module: Generating a PDF (including page breaks)

Training Module: Generating a PDF (including page breaks)

This module will explain how to generate a PDF and how to insert page breaks to control the layout of your document in print format. You shouldn’t need to use page breaks very often as the PDF has been configured with appropriate ‘keep with next’ logic to make sure the document looks correct when printed.

Introduction

Generating and viewing a PDF

Exercises

Getting Started

Before you can draft a bill, you will need to create your own training project containing a half finished bill to continue drafting.
If you haven’t got one already, create a project containing a half finished bill:
The following steps will allow you to create the data required for this exercise.

  1. Download the XML document for the exercise by clicking on the link you’ve been provided with. By default, the downloaded file is usually placed in the “downloads” folder on your computer.

  2. Log in to Lawmaker.

  3. From the Dashboard, create a new project of the type you need for the exercise. Give it a title such as [Your Initials] Drafting a bill. (See Creating a new project.)

  4. From the Project tab for that project, select Document Actions > Upload document, and select the XML file for the exercise which you have downloaded. It can be uploaded into the default folder that has been created in the project. (See Create a new document by uploading an XML file.)

  5. On the newly uploaded document version, select Actions > Update Document Information and update the Title to match the title you originally gave the project.

  6. Duplicate this document version using Actions > Duplicate version and call the new version the name of this module. We will create a new document version per module.

  7. Open the duplicated version in the Editor

Exercise 1: Generate a PDF

This exercise takes you through the process of generating a PDF.

Generating a PDF.mp4

If you haven’t already done so, duplicate the imported bill version and name it the description of this module so you can easily track work related to these exercises and open it in the Editor.

  1. Find the document version you wish to duplicate

  2. Select Actions > Duplicate Version for the selected document

  3. Specify or select a folder name (for the purposes of this module, select Pre-Introduction) and unique version description (e.g. for this module, call it Table of contents), leaving ‘Strip out page/line numbers’ ticked

  4. Click on Create and a duplicate version of the document is created and visible on the Project tab

Open the document and generate a PDF

  1. From the Editor, select Document > Generate PDF

  2. Select the Generate button without changing any of the default settings and a PDF of your document will be generated

Exercise 2: Insert a page break

This exercise will show you how you can insert page breaks to control how it renders in print.

Using page breaks.mp4

Step 1: Insert a page break

After section 1, insert a page break

  1. Place your cursor at the end of section 1(2) and select Insert > Insert Page Break

Step 2: Generate a PDF

Generate a PDF containing your page break

  1. From the Editor, select Document > Generate PDF

  2. Select the Generate button without changing any of the default settings and a PDF of your document will be generated

Step 3: Remove a page break

  1. Place your cursor in the page break

  2. Select Page Break from the breadcrumb and delete it

Exercise 3: Generate a PDF of a subset of provisions

Sometimes you might only be interested in printing one or a subset of provisions in your document.

Generating a PDF containing a subset of provisions.mp4

Select a subset of provisions to print

  1. From the Editor, select Document > Generate PDF

  2. Click on the drop down menu under Pages/provisions to include and de-select All Provisions

  3. Select one or more provisions and select the Generate button

Exercise 4: Generate a PDF with tracked changes and comments

You can optionally view tracked changes and comments in your document

Generating a PDF containing tracked changes and comments.mp4

Step 1: Insert tracked changes and comments

Turn on tracked change mode and recreate the following changes and comment in your document—

image-20250225-212855.png

  1. Turn tracked change mode on by selecting Review >Tracked Changes or clicking on the binoculars button in the upper toolbar

  2. Select section 1(2) and delete the whole subsection

  3. Insert a new paragraph after section 2(1)(a)

  4. Delete Department for Communities in section 2(1) and type in Department for Areas

  5. Highlight the text frequency with which such meetings are to be held and add a comment by selecting Review > Add Comment

Step 2: Generate a PDF showing tracked changes

Generate a PDF showing your tracked changes

  1. From the Editor, select Document > Generate PDF

  2. Select the Generate button without changing any of the default settings and a PDF of your document will be generated. The default setting is to show tracked changes if there are any.

Step 3: Generate a PDF showing changes applied and review comments

Generate a PDF showing changes applied and review comments

  1. From the Editor, select Document > Generate PDF

  2. Select the option Show changes applied under the Tracked changes section

  3. Select the option to Show review comments under the Extras section

  4. Select the Generate button

Exercise 5: Generate a PDF showing J-refs

You can optionally view J-refs in the margin and in cross references if you’ve used them in your document as part of drafting.

Step 1: Insert J-refs

First, you need to insert some J-refs into your document

  1. Reject all tracked changes from the last exercise by selecting body from the breadcrumb and selecting Review > Reject Change(s) and turn off tracked change mode by clicking on the binoculars buton in the upper tool bar

  2. Place your cursor in section 1 and insert a J-ref (Insert > Insert/Update J-ref)

  3. Insert a Jref

Step 2: Insert cross reference containing the J-ref

Show J-refs in your cross references

  1. Show J-refs in your cross references by selecting Tools > Show/hide J-refs in references

  2. Insert a cross reference to section 1 into section 1(1) using the structure view (see References | How to create a reference using the Structure View or the right click context m... )

  3. If you don’t see the J-ref, you might have already had this enabled. Just select Tools > Show/hide J-refs in references and it will appear.

Step 3: Generate a PDF showing J-refs in the margin and in cross references

Generate a PDF showing J-refs in the margin and in cross references

  1. From the Editor, select Document > Generate PDF

  2. Select the option Show J-refs in margin and Show J-refs within references under the Extras section

  3. Select the Generate button

Exercise 6: Generate a PDF with a footer note

You can insert footer notes into the PDF of your document which can be useful if you want to mark it as draft or add a date/time. The footer note will appear on every page.

  1. From the Editor, select Document > Generate PDF

  2. Select the option Insert footer note under the Print and publishing artefacts section

  3. Select the Generate button

Exercise 7: View PDF snapshot

Every time you generate a PDF, a snapshot is created by default which can sometimes be useful if you want to revert back to an earlier version. This means you do not have to generate a PDF every time you want to see the document in PDF format. You can view the PDF from the snapshot.

  1. From the Project tab, find your working version

  2. Toggle the view so you can see all the snapshot versions under the working version

  3. Select any of the PDF snapshots you have created and view the PDF by selecting Actions > View PDF

You don’t have to generate a snapshot, simply de-select Record snapshot version under the Document version section in the Generate PDF dialog box