Sales: 1-800-850-0122 
Privacy Policy   |   Contact

How to Expand Your Timeline for Large Paper Printing

Large paper printing can be complicated, but Timeline Maker allows you to easily create large printable timelines.

Posted by:    Category: Tips and Techniques
Jan
28

Timeline Maker is often used to create large printed timelines for presentations. There are a few simple techniques to use to expand your timeline to the desired size and get it ready for printing.

1. Save the Timeline File as a PDF with a Custom Paper Size

Click File > Publish > PDF Document. Enter a name and choose a location to save your new PDF file.
Timeline Maker - Publish Timeline as a PDF Document

Then a new window will pop up allowing you to specify your page size, page alignment, and more. You can choose any of the default page sizes, but for our purposes today we are going to select a custom paper size. This allows us to specify the exact page size we want to use. Enter the width and height of the page you wish to use, make sure to check ‘Fit chart to single page’ and ‘Center chart’, and Timeline Maker will scale your timeline to fit perfectly in the custom page size.
Timeline Maker - Specify a Custom Page Size When Publishing Timeline as PDF

2. Insert Breaks and Expand Your Timeline.

If you have large gaps in your timeline, ie. you show a birth date and then there isn’t any other events until later in the person’s life, you can insert a break into the timeline. Simply click on the timescale and run the cursor over it. Where the timescale flashes another color, you can insert a break by right clicking and choosing Insert Break from the menu. This will narrow the timeline and show a zigzag symbol on the timeline where you placed the break. The timescale will carry on, as normal, after this breakpoint.
Timeline Maker - Insert a Break in Your Timescale

After you have inserted the break, expand your timeline using the timescale adjustment tool until the timeline meets your desired width.
Timeline Maker - Expand Your Timeline with the Timescale Adjustment Tool
Note: With this technique, you may want to try on a new chart first, as the places the timeline allows breaks may be different on a new chart. Select File > New Flag Chart and Timeline Maker will create a new timeline based on your existing data.

For information on creating timelines for print, or using large custom page sizes, try checking out the Timeline Maker User Guide.

Timeline Maker Logo

The Timeline Maker blog is your source for tips, tutorials, downloads and news. It is here to help you get the most out of our Timeline Maker software. The program is available as a free trial below.