SHEARWATER Cloud Custom Software Instructions

SHEARWATER Cloud Custom Software

Product Information

The Shearwater Cloud Custom PDF feature allows users to export their dive logs to custom PDF templates. This feature requires a PDF Form editor and a PDF Editor, such as Adobe Acrobat, to create or edit form fields and make visual adjustments to the PDF.

The latest version of Shearwater Cloud (2.9.6) introduces new options in the Print to PDF dialog. Users can now choose the exported data font for form fields. The Save Export Report feature saves print information about the PDF process for troubleshooting purposes.

Custom PDF options can be accessed by selecting “Custom Template” from the Template dropdown selection. Additional options will appear in the Print to PDF dialog.

Product Usage Instructions

1. To work with custom PDF templates, ensure you have a PDF Form editor and a PDF Editor available, such as Adobe Acrobat.
2. Open Shearwater Cloud and navigate to the Print to PDF dialog.
3. Select the desired exported data font for form fields.
4. If needed, enable the Save Export Report option for troubleshooting purposes.
5. If selecting multiple dives, choose the desired number of dives per file.
6. To access custom PDF options, select “Custom Template” from the Template dropdown selection.
7. Click on “Select Custom Template” to browse and select the desired PDF template file.
8. Use the “Custom Template Help” option to find additional support options.
9. Click on “Custom Template Instructions” to access the instructions on the Shearwater website.
10. If you wish to modify existing PDFs, click on “Export Default Templates” to save them to a folder location of your choice.
11. Open the saved PDF template files in a PDF Form Editor, such as Adobe Acrobat, to make necessary edits.

Introduction

As part of our growing support of divers, this feature is a way for users to export their dive logs to custom PDF templates using Shearwater Cloud.
To work with custom PDF templates, you will need a PDF Form editor and a PDF Editor. The Form editor is to create or edit existing form fields, which are used as the output targets for data. The PDF Editor is needed to do any visual aspects such as labels, images, borders, etc. For these instructions we will be using Adobe Acrobat as our reference.
These instructions are not meant to teach users to use PDF Software tools, but instead focus on the elements of software use to be able to edit/modify or provide guidance to be able to work with Shearwater Cloud’s PDF export process.

New PDF Export Navigation

With the release of Shearwater Cloud 2.9.6 we added more options to the “Print to PDF” dialog.
The first addition is the ability to choose the exported data font. This will only affect the form fields to the specified font. This will not affect any of the labels in the PDF.
Another feature is the Save Export Report. This will save any print information about the PDF process in order to help identify any issues printing to custom PDFs. If selecting multiple dives, the “Print to PDF” dialog will also show the option to save a number of dives per file. Options provided are 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100.

Custom PDF Options

Custom PDF options can be accessed by selecting Custom Template from the Template dropdown selection.

Once selected, additional options will appear in the Print to PDF dialog.

Select Custom Template
This option will open a file browser to select the PDF template to be used.
The path “/” underneath will refer to the file name and one directory level above to assist in indicating what is the current file to use along with a folder name for reference.

Custom Template Help
Clicking on this option will expand to show additional support options.

Custom Template Instructions is a link to our website where these instructions are posted.
Export Default Templates will export the default PDFs that the application uses for templates other than Custom Templates. These can be modified for your own personal use or used as an example for making your own.

Modifying existing PDFs

Click on the “Export Default Templates” and save it to an easy to access folder location. Once a folder is selected, the PDF template files will be saved to the folder.

Form Editing
Using a PDF Form Editor, select the Form editor for the software. For the rest of our example, we will be using Adobe Acrobat for reference.

Once the Form is open it will look like this when in Form Editing mode. While in the Form edit mode, we are unable to modify any of the visual aspects of the PDF.

The Form fields are what are editable. These are identified with the black block with the field name. This is a close-up for “location”.

A form can be selected and modified with the Form Select tool, which is the cursor arrow icon.

The Form editor allows for changing the form name as well as dimensions. In our example we will demonstrating a simple layout change.
In the image below, we reduced the size of the graph and moved the “dive_notes” form field next to it.

If we printed at this point, we would see the notes next to the graph without any border.

Form Property box

Forms fields have properties. To access these properties in Adobe Acrobat double click the form field. The properties information can be used to adjust various values or change names. Options are to rename the name for the export data reference, multi/single line, alignment, font size, etc. Shearwater Cloud export does not use all the options available but does work with the basics.

PDF Edit
With PDF Editing mode features we can change, add, or remove any existing visual parts of the PDF such as any labels or images. This can be helpful in situations to translate the labels from the default English to another language.
Switch to the Edit PDF mode to adjust any of the visual parts of the template.

Below, we moved the Graph beside the Dive Notes: label and border. We provided a picture of the size anchors as well as the Form example of the moved items.

Here is the Template PDF saved and opened by a PDF viewer.

We can now use this template in the Shearwater Cloud PDF print “Select Custom Template” option.

We can now use this template in the Shearwater Cloud PDF print “Select Custom Template” option.

Here is the modified output once printed.

• This is a computer-generated factory test dive and does not reflect any diving suggestions.

Creating a Custom Template from scratch

What if you want to make your own PDF template from scratch? These instructions will guide you in making your own PDF template.

PDF Form Editing
To start you will need to create a new PDF.

Create New for a new file and start the process. This process may be different based on the software used. We will again demonstrate with Adobe Acrobat.
Use the Add Text Field Button to create a new Form field.
Click on the canvas to generate the new Form field anywhere you want for your use and design aesthetics.
Once the field is created, use the properties box to edit the name. Double click the text box to edit the name.

To be filled out by Shearwater Cloud, a Form field must have a name that Shearwater Cloud will recognize. The list of specific field names can be found at the bottom of this instruction document. For our sample here we will use “dive_number”.

Below is a sample of the available form field information that is filled out by Shearwater Cloud and a sample of what the printout will look like.

This is what our custom form will print out using the above template:.

PDF Edit visual parts

It is useful to add labels and images to help with information presentation.
The Edit PDF will have the ability to Add Text or Images.

For our demo pdf we will add a few labels and a simple border to the main blocks. Feel free to be as detailed or minimalistic as possible to your design.

In this sample we added some labels and some big pink borders for the areas we used.

*This design is perhaps a bit garish, isn’t it?

Once we use this version to print out a dive, here are the results.

This information is enough to be able to create any PDF export template you would like to make. The NDL is the limit now.

Technical Information for Form Fields

This section covers the technical information for the Form Fields.

Shearwater Cloud Output Fields
Here are the form names for form fields Shearwater Cloud uses to assign the correct information to the field. These names must be exact for the export reference to work.

Computer
tank1_average_sac| text| Tank average calculated sac

tank1_end_pressure

|

text

| Tank end pressure either from the Dive Computer or entered field

tank1_start_pressure

|

text

| Tank start pressure either from the Dive Computer or entered field
tank1_name| text| Name of the tank entered on the Dive Computer
tank2_average_sac| text| Tank average calculated sac

tank2_end_pressure

|

text

| Tank end pressure either from the Dive Computer or entered field

tank2_start_pressure

|

text

| Tank start pressure either from the Dive Computer or entered field
tank2_name| text| Name of the tank entered on the Dive Computer
tank3_average_sac| text| Tank average calculated sac

tank3_end_pressure

|

text

| Tank end pressure either from the Dive Computer or entered field

tank3_start_pressure

|

text

| Tank start pressure either from the Dive Computer or entered field
tank3_name| text| Name of the tank entered on the Dive Computer
tank4_average_sac| text| Tank average calculated sac

tank4_end_pressure

|

text

| Tank end pressure either from the Dive Computer or entered field

tank4_start_pressure

|

text

| Tank start pressure either from the Dive Computer or entered field
tank4_name| text| Name of the tank entered on the Dive Computer

dive_notes

|

text

| Collection of all the dives notes to a single field output. This will be lowered to a minimal font size of 6 to try and fit as much as possible. If the text does not fit, it will leak outside of the render clipping range.

Ensure Multiline is enabled in the form field properties.

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