AseptSoft Core Documentation
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Export Processes to PDF

Export processes as PDF to generate visual P&ID documentation for IQ/OQ annexes. Each PDF renders the actual P&ID drawings with valve states, Fluid Simulations, and Algorithm Trackers applied for each step. Composite steps that host their own sub-process carry their sub-steps right into the PDF, and the same window can fire off the GRAFCET and Equipment Module SFC decks in one go.

Access the PDF export from the Export panel in the Module Ribbon.

🏭 Pharma Example — CIP Qualification Binder (IQ/OQ Annex)

When preparing a CIP qualification binder for an IQ/OQ submission, you can export all CIP process steps as a single merged PDF. Each page shows the P&ID with valve positions for that step — pre-rinse, caustic wash, intermediate rinse, acid wash, final rinse, and drain. Inspectors can flip through the binder page by page, verifying that each valve opens and closes at the correct step. Use the Merge mode to interleave multiple P&IDs by step, so the reviewer sees all drawings for "Pre-rinse" together before moving to "Caustic wash."

🗂️ Layout-aware export from Model space

Exporting a P&ID that's currently on the Model tab does not produce an unusable model-space plot. AseptSoft automatically targets a paper-space layout instead, picking the right one in this order:

Order

Choice

1

If the drawing has only one layout, that layout is used.

2

If a per-PID override is configured, the override is used (see Layout Preferences below).

3

If any of the drawing's layouts matches the global preferred layouts list, the highest-priority match is used. The list is seeded with AseptSoft (the canonical AseptSoft-prepared layout produced by the Ready PID / Create Layout commands), so a project that follows the convention "just works" out of the box.

4

If none of the above resolves and the Ask during export option is enabled, AseptSoft prompts you to pick a layout for the current PID once. The choice is cached for the rest of the export so multi-step exports never ask twice.

The exported PDF is rendered from the resolved paper-space layout — no surprises, no manual layout switching.

Layout Preferences settings

Open AseptSoft Settings → PDF Layout Preferences to configure the global behaviour:

Section

What it does

✅ Enable layout-aware export

Master toggle for the auto-switching behaviour.

💬 Ask during export

If enabled, prompts you when AseptSoft can't auto-resolve a layout. The prompt has a Add to preferred checkbox so a one-time pick can become a permanent rule.

📋 Preferred Layouts

Reorderable list of layout name fragments. Higher entries take priority. The list is shared across all projects on this machine.

🎯 Per-PID Overrides

Force a specific PID to a specific layout, regardless of the preferred list. Filter by the current module's siamese cluster, or use the + button to set an override for any sibling PID.

💡 Power-user workflow: Pick once during an export with Add to preferred ticked, and the choice is global from then on. For one-off PIDs that need a different layout, use the per-PID override instead.

⚙️ Export Configuration

https://downloads.aseptsoft.ch/documentation/images/Export-Import/Export-PDF/export-pdf-config.png

The PDF export window provides the following settings:

📋 Process Selection

A checkable list of all Processes in the current Module. Select which processes to include in the export. Use the All Processes checkbox to quickly select or deselect all.

🗺️ P&ID Selection

A list of all P&IDs included in the Module. Only PIDs that are currently open and that activate the current Module are checkable.

📄 Pages for a Step

Controls how Steps and Conditions translate into PDF pages. Two independent checkboxes control which pages are generated:

Checkbox

Behavior

One page without conditions

Produces one page per step. Conditions are not rendered; Algorithm Trackers show static idle text.

One page for each condition

Produces one page per condition. Steps without any conditions still produce one page. Steps with conditions generate one page per condition.

💡 Tip: You can tick both checkboxes to get a complete export — the steps without conditions plus an extra page for each condition. This gives the most complete documentation for qualification binders.

Sub-options (instrument highlighting):

Each checkbox has an associated highlighting option:

Option

Description

Highlight instruments (for step pages)

Instruments referenced by the step are visually highlighted on the P&ID.

Highlight instruments (for condition pages)

Condition-specific instruments are highlighted, making it easy to spot which instruments are active in each condition.

💡 Example

A process with 3 steps: Step 1 (no conditions), Step 2 (1 condition), Step 3 (2 conditions):

Options Selected

Pages Produced

Sequence

One page without conditions only

3 pages

S1, S2, S3

One page for each condition only

4 pages

S1, S2-C1, S3-C1, S3-C2

Both checkboxes ticked

6 pages

S1, S2, S2-C1, S3, S3-C1, S3-C2

🪜 Sub-steps — Exporting Composite Steps

Some steps are composite: they host their own sub-process, so they contain a sequence of sub-steps. A "Caustic Wash" step in a CIP cycle, for example, might break down into its own Fill → Recirculate → Heat → Hold → Drain sub-steps. The Sub-steps option group tells the export what to do with these composite steps. A single choice applies to the whole export, so the result is always consistent.

Option

What gets exported for a composite step

Only the step

The composite step produces a single summary page. Its sub-steps are not exported. This is the standard, most compact result.

Only the sub-steps

The composite step is replaced by one page per sub-step. The summary page is skipped, and the reader sees each sub-step on its own page.

The step and its sub-steps

The composite step produces a summary page followed by one page per sub-step — the fullest view, ideal for a detailed qualification binder.

💡 Tip: Choose The step and its sub-steps when reviewers want both the high-level "Caustic Wash" overview and the per-action detail (Fill, Recirculate, Heat, Hold, Drain). Choose Only the step for a tidy management summary.

How sub-steps appear in the export

  • 📑 Bookmarks are path-qualified, so a sub-step bookmark reads like Caustic Wash ▸ Recirculate — you always know which parent step a page belongs to.

  • 🔢 Page numbering runs continuously straight through composite steps. The header "page N of T" counts every page across the whole export — it does not restart inside a composite step.

  • 💧 The Skip No-Fluid Pages rule is evaluated for each sub-step on its own, so a dry sub-step is dropped just like any other page when that option is on.

The export preview tree

The preview tree on the right of the window mirrors exactly what will be exported. When a composite step is expanded into its sub-steps, the preview shows those sub-step pages (and, in Layers mode, the matching sub-step layers) nested under their parent step — so what you see in the tree is precisely what you get in the PDF.

📋 The Sub-steps choice is remembered per module, so the next export starts with the same selection you used last time.

Page correspondence across multiple P&IDs

When you export several P&IDs together in Merge or Group mode, AseptSoft keeps each P&ID's pages aligned step-for-step. This alignment holds even when sub-steps make pages appear or disappear: each page is matched by its exact position in the process tree, never by its display name. Two different parent steps can each have a sub-step called "Rinse" without their pages ever colliding, and a P&ID that simply doesn't have a particular sub-step just leaves that slot empty for itself — no page is ever silently dropped onto the wrong drawing.

📈 SFC — Exporting GRAFCET and Equipment Module Decks Together

The SFC option group lets the main PDF export double as the launch point for your sequential-function-chart deliverables. Tick either box and, once the regular P&ID PDFs finish, AseptSoft automatically runs the matching dedicated SFC export — no need to remember which other ribbon or window owns each kind of PDF.

Checkbox

What it also produces

Where it lands

📊 Phases SFC

Every process's GRAFCET chart as a per-process PDF, plus one merged "all processes" GRAFCET PDF, plus image and Visio side-files.

Processes/GRAFCET/

⚙️ Equipment Modules SFC

For each Equipment Module: an Overview chart, every phase SFC, and a combined PDF — each EM in its own sub-folder.

Equipment Modules/PDF/

While the export runs, the progress window keeps you informed ("Exporting GRAFCET PDFs…", "Exporting Equipment Module SFC PDFs…") before revealing the finished export folder.

📋 Both SFC checkboxes are remembered per module. If your team always delivers all three kinds of PDF — process P&IDs, GRAFCET, and EM SFC — tick the boxes once and every future export covers everything automatically. The dedicated GRAFCET-window and Equipment-Modules-ribbon export buttons remain available for when you only want one kind.

💡 The two SFC exports are independent: if one fails, the other and the main P&ID PDFs still complete and the export folder still opens.

💧 Fluid Simulations

Option

Description

Enable

Renders Fluid Simulations on each step page, showing the fluid stream lines on the P&ID.

Disable

No fluid flow visualization.

Skip No-Fluid Pages

When enabled, pages where no fluid flows are omitted from the PDF — evaluated independently for every step and sub-step.

📎 Merge Mode

Controls how multiple P&IDs are organized in the output. Three modes are available:

Mode

Description

Output

Merge (Group by Phase)

Interleaves PIDs by step — all P&IDs for Step 1, then all for Step 2, etc.

One file per process.

Group (Group by PID)

Groups all steps of one PID together, then the next PID.

One file per process.

Separate

Each P&ID gets its own PDF file per process.

Multiple files.

📊 Visual Comparison — Merge vs Group

For a project with 2 P&IDs and 3 steps in Process 3:

Merge Mode

Group Mode

PID 1, Step 1

PID 1, Step 1

PID 2, Step 1

PID 1, Step 2

PID 1, Step 2

PID 1, Step 3

PID 2, Step 2

PID 1, Step 3

PID 1, Step 3

PID 2, Step 1

PID 2, Step 2

PID 2, Step 2

PID 2, Step 3

PID 2, Step 3

💡 When to use which: Use Merge when the reviewer wants to compare all P&IDs side by side for each step (e.g., verifying valve positions across drawings). Use Group when the reviewer prefers to follow one P&ID through all steps before moving to the next.

ℹ️ Note: When using Merge or Group modes, AseptSoft always creates the individual separated files first and then merges them. This means you always have access to both the merged file and the individual per-PID files in the export folder.

📑 Cover Pages (Prefix / Suffix)

You can attach custom PDF pages before and after the exported content:

Option

Description

Prefix PDF

Select a PDF file to prepend (e.g., a title page, table of contents, or regulatory cover sheet).

Suffix PDF

Select a PDF file to append (e.g., appendices, signature pages, or compliance declarations).

Include prefix in page numbering

When enabled, the page numbering continues from the prefix pages (e.g., if the prefix has 2 pages, the first export page is numbered as page 3).

This is especially useful for preparing complete qualification binders with standardized cover sheets and sign-off pages.

✂️ PID Name Trimming

When enabled, common prefixes and suffixes are automatically removed from PID names for cleaner page labels. For example, if all PIDs start with "Project-" and end with "-Rev1", those parts are stripped.

📁 Export Scope

An optional subfolder name. When specified, a subfolder with this name is created inside the export destination to avoid overwriting previous exports.

📋 How To: Export a CIP Process to PDF

  1. Open the Module Ribbon and click Export to PDF in the Export panel.

  2. Check the CIP processes you want to include (e.g., "CIP Caustic", "CIP Acid").

  3. Check the relevant P&IDs that are currently open.

  4. Choose the page options — for a qualification binder, tick both "One page without conditions" and "One page for each condition" for the most complete view.

  5. Under Sub-steps, choose how composite steps export — pick The step and its sub-steps for the most detailed binder, or Only the step for a compact summary. Check the preview tree to confirm the sub-step pages look right.

  6. If you also need the GRAFCET and Equipment Module deliverables, tick Phases SFC and/or Equipment Modules SFC in the SFC group.

  7. Enable instrument highlighting on condition pages to visually identify active instruments.

  8. Enable Fluid Simulations if you want flow paths visible on each page.

  9. Set the merge mode to Merge (Group by Phase) so the reviewer sees all P&IDs for each step together.

  10. Optionally attach a prefix PDF with your cover sheet and a suffix PDF with signature pages.

  11. Click Export — the PDF is saved to the configured export location. If a drawing happens to be on Model when you export, AseptSoft auto-switches to the right paper-space layout.

📍 Output Location

PDF exports are saved to the Exports/PDF subdirectory within the project folder structure (see File System). You can configure the export destination in the export dialog. If no custom location is set, AseptSoft uses the default project export path. When the SFC options are enabled, the GRAFCET and Equipment Module decks are written into their own Processes/GRAFCET/ and Equipment Modules/PDF/ sub-folders.

🔖 Bookmarks

The generated PDFs include bookmarks (PDF outline) for easy navigation between steps, sub-steps, and conditions within the document. Each entry gets its own bookmark, with sub-steps shown path-qualified (for example Caustic Wash ▸ Recirculate), matching the structure shown in the export preview tree.