Printing Overview
Print or export any tournament report — standings, pairings, wall charts, and more — from within SwissSys.
Basic Printing
Most reports have a Print button directly in the dialog or toolbar. Click it to send the report to your default printer.
For reports displayed in the main view, use Chart → Print or Ctrl+P.
How Printing Works
By default, SwissSys does not draw your report directly onto the printer. Instead, every print job is first rendered to a PDF (using the SynPDF library), and that PDF is then sent silently to your printer through a bundled copy of SumatraPDF.
This two-step path exists for fidelity. When a report is drawn straight to the printer, the printer driver re-lays out the text using its own glyph metrics, which is why paper output has historically drifted from what you saw in Print Preview. Because the PDF is fully laid out before the driver ever sees it, the printed page matches the preview much more reliably.
The bundled SumatraPDF helper is extracted once to your Windows temp folder and reused on later launches. You do not need to install anything. Each print job’s temp PDF is left in the temp folder and cleaned up automatically the next time SwissSys starts (old temp PDFs are swept on launch).
If the PDF path cannot start on a particular machine (for example, antivirus software blocks the SumatraPDF helper), SwissSys detects this before rendering and automatically uses the older direct-to-printer (GDI) path for that job instead, continuing without interrupting you. Separately, if a PDF is built successfully but cannot be spooled to the printer, SwissSys leaves the generated PDF in your temp folder and tells you where it is so you can open and print it manually.
Direct Printing (Legacy)
If PDF printing causes problems on a specific machine — the SumatraPDF helper is blocked, or printed output looks wrong — you can turn off the PDF path and revert to the older direct-to-printer behavior.
Open Format Options, go to the Print and Other Options tab, and check Direct printing (legacy). This option is off by default and is stored with your personal SwissSys settings, so leaving the PDF path on (the default) gives the most reliable match to preview.
Enable Direct printing (legacy) only if PDF printing is not working on your machine. With it on, the printer driver lays out the text again, so printed output may not exactly match Print Preview.
Smart Printing
Smart printing is enabled by default and automatically:
- Selects portrait or landscape orientation based on how wide the content is
- Reduces print magnification if the chart is too wide for the page
- Restores your original settings after printing
If you need more control, turn smart printing off in Print and Other Options and set orientation manually via File → Print Setup.
PDF Export
To save a report as a PDF instead of printing:
Display the report
Open the desired report (standings, pairings, wall chart, etc.).
Export to PDF
Select Chart → Write to PDF or the equivalent menu item for that report.
Choose a filename
Pick a save location and filename. SwissSys generates the PDF immediately.
SwissSys uses the SynPDF library for PDF generation. Fonts are referenced by name (not embedded), so recipients need standard Windows fonts installed for correct rendering.
PDF export does not require a working printer. On a machine with no usable or installed printer, SwissSys still writes the PDF, falling back to a default portrait page size (regular printing on that machine still requires you to select a valid printer first).
Print Preview
Use Print Preview before printing to check layout, page breaks, and font sizing. See Preview for controls.
Print Magnification
Two magnification settings control print size:
| Setting | Scope |
|---|---|
| Normal print magnification | Applies to most reports (standings, wall chart) |
| Pair chart print magnification | Applies specifically to pair charts |
Set these in Print and Other Options. A value of 1 gives WYSIWYG output matching the screen font. Higher values (e.g., 1.4) produce larger printouts useful for public posting.
Two Types of Reports
| Type | Font Control | Typical Use |
|---|---|---|
| Standard reports | Fully customizable fonts, layout, and columns | Standings, pair charts, wall charts |
| Basic reports | Default printer font only | Administrative dialogs not normally published |
Related Topics
- Print and Other Options — Smart printing, direct-printing toggle, magnification, name format
- Fonts — Customize fonts for screen and print
- Preview — Inspect layout before printing