Printing and publishing

Most people who rely on a schedule never open Oracle Primavera P6. They read a printed sheet or a PDF at the schedule meeting, in the board pack or attached to a claim. If that sheet has no data date, no legend and no revision record, nobody can tell which version of the plan they are looking at. This lesson covers how P6 prints and publishes a layout, and the print standard an owner should set so every issued sheet can stand on its own.

Learning outcomes

• Use File, Page Setup and File, Print Preview in P6 Professional to control orientation, scaling, margins, headers, footers and what each print includes.
• Produce PDF and HTML output and know what each one keeps or changes.
• Publish activity layouts and a project web site with Tools, Publish, and explain their limits.
• Print from P6 EPPM and set an owner standard for issued schedule sheets on Northgate.

The lesson

What prints is the layout

P6 Professional prints what is on screen. You can print activity layouts, tracking layouts and the data in main windows such as Projects, Expenses and Work Breakdown Structure [1]. Display the layout, then choose File, Print; to check it first, choose File, Print Preview [2]. Grouping, filters, columns and bars all come from the layout, which is why Lesson 16 to Lesson 19 come before this one.

For tabular output, the Report Wizard can also print the data in the current window and save it as a report, with fields added or removed and a filter applied [1].

Page Setup: five tabs

Choose File, Page Setup [3]. The tabs work like this:

• Page: portrait or landscape; scaling by percentage, by a number of pages wide by tall, or Fit timescale to page(s) wide, which compresses the timescale to a set number of pages across; and paper size, which depends on the printer selected [4].
• Margins: top, bottom, header and footer distances. The header margin cannot exceed the top margin, and the footer margin cannot exceed the bottom [3].
• Header and Footer: divide into sections, choose whether to print on the first page, last page, all pages or none, and choose what each section holds [3].
• Options: the timescale start and finish for the print; whether to print the activity table, all columns, grid lines, the Gantt chart, a profile, a spreadsheet or trace logic; and Break Page Every Group [5].

Each header or footer section can hold one of several things: nothing; the Gantt chart legend; text with variables such as Project Name, Project Start and Data Date, plus your own typed text and a logo; a revision box with Date, Revision, Checked and Approved columns; a picture; or a stored image [3]. Figure 1 shows how these combine on an issued sheet.

Scaling: the decision that makes or breaks a print

Scaling decides whether a print is readable. Printing at 100 per cent keeps the text size but spreads a long timescale over many sheets. Fit to pages wide by tall forces everything onto a set number of sheets, and the text shrinks to suit. Fit timescale to page(s) wide compresses only the timescale, so the table keeps its size [4]. For most schedule prints the third option is the right one: fix the width at one page and let the length run. Figure 2 compares the three on the same layout.

View the data

Scaling option	Sheets (wide × tall)	Effect
Adjust to 100% normal size	3 × 2 = 6	Normal text; timescale split across sheets
Fit timescale to 1 page wide	1 × 2 = 2	Table at full size; timescale compressed
Fit to 1 page wide by 1 tall	1 × 1 = 1	Everything shrinks

Page breaks by group

There are two ways to start a new sheet at each group. On the Options tab, Break Page Every Group breaks at every band. In the Group and Sort dialog from Lesson 18, the Page Break checkbox breaks only at the levels you choose, and once it is set, the Options tab checkbox is disabled for that layout [5][6]. Group page breaks appear only in Print Preview and in published layouts [6].

PDF and HTML from Print Preview

Print Preview has buttons for Page Setup, Print Setup, Print and Export to HTML, which writes the output to an HTML file and opens it in your browser [7]. A PDF comes from Print Setup: choose a PDF printer, such as Windows' Microsoft Print to PDF, and print to it. Check the preview first: it is the only place group page breaks show before printing [6].

Publishing: Tools, Publish

P6 Professional can also publish HTML for an intranet or the web. The Publish toolbar is hidden by default; its three commands are also on the menu [8]:

• Tools, Publish, Activity Layouts: pick the layouts, click Select, then choose a folder and a file name with no extension [9].
• Tools, Publish, Tracking Layouts: the same for tracking layouts [8].
• Tools, Publish, Project Web Site: a General tab for the site name, description and publish directory; a Topics tab for what project information to include; and Graphics and Reports tabs for layouts and reports [10]. Visitors can browse by WBS, resources, roles, activity codes and more [11].

Published layouts behave differently from prints. They are snapshots, not interactive. Columns come from the layout and the layout's header and footer are included. But every element is published expanded, whatever your view, and a timescaled layout runs from the earliest start to the latest finish, whatever timescale you set [12]. If you collapsed the layout to WBS level 2, the published version will not be. When publishing a project web site, P6 warns that older files in the chosen folder will be deleted [10], so give each site its own empty folder.

Printing from P6 EPPM

In the web application, click the Print icon on the page to open the Print Options dialog, which has a preview and its own settings [13]. Those settings include paper size, orientation, margins, a watermark, a page range, scaling (Auto or fit to a number of pages wide), page order, page break on group, repeated column headers and row numbers. The settings are saved with the view [14]. Two details matter for owners: a watermark such as DRAFT is built in, and page break on group is ignored when the view is grouped to all levels of a hierarchy [14].

Screenshot to come

Northgate worked example

On Northgate Distribution Centre (fictional), a 12,000 m² tilt-up warehouse in Vaughan, Ontario, Halvorsen Builders Ltd. (fictional) submits its baseline as an XER, imported by the owner as NDC-BL00 (see the Northgate fact sheet). Northgate Logistics Inc. (fictional) reviews it in owner layouts and issues its own review prints to the owner's project manager and to Ridgeline Architects Inc. (fictional). Every owner print follows one standard.

The owner's print pack

Figure 3 sets out the outputs the owner uses and when.

The pack itself has three prints, each from a saved owner layout:

1. Contract milestones. The milestone layout, landscape, tabloid (11 × 17 in.), fit to one page wide by one tall. It shows M3 to M9 and M11 against the fact sheet dates, with M9, Ready-for-Takeover / Substantial Performance on Fri Jan 14, 2028, labelled.
2. WBS summary. Grouped by WBS to level 2 with Show Summaries Only, fit timescale to one page wide. Ten bands, one sheet.
3. Full detail. Grouped by WBS with a Page Break on the level 2 band, so WBS 3 foundations and slab starts on its own sheet; fit timescale to one page wide; activity table, Gantt chart and grid lines on.

Every sheet has the same header and footer: the owner's logo on the left, Project Name and layout title in the centre, and the Data Date on the right; the Gantt chart legend, a revision box and the note "Owner review copy. Not a contractor submission." in the footer. The first entry in the revision box is Rev 0, the owner's review of NDC-BL00, with the Checked and Approved columns left blank for initials.

For the consultant team the owner also publishes the milestone and WBS summary layouts with Tools, Publish, Activity Layouts to a dated folder on the project intranet. It does not publish a full project web site from the contractor's file: the Topics tab can expose resource and activity detail that Halvorsen did not submit for wider circulation.

Screenshot to come

Screenshot to come

Owner's move

• Specify the print, not just the file. In the schedule specification, require the data date, project name, layout title, legend and a revision box on every submitted sheet.
• Ask for the native file and the PDF. The PDF is the record of what was shown; the XER is what you analyse. One without the other invites disputes about which is right.
• Fix the scaling rule. Fit timescale to one page wide, tabloid landscape, unless agreed otherwise. It stops eight-sheet prints and unreadable one-sheet prints.
• Control what you publish. Published layouts and web sites are copies outside P6. Publish only what the audience needs, to a folder you control.
• Use a watermark or a footer note for drafts. EPPM has a watermark setting; in P6 Professional, a typed footer note does the same job.

Common mistakes

1. No data date on the sheet. Without it, nobody can tell which update a print shows.
2. Publishing a collapsed layout and expecting it to stay collapsed. Published layouts are always fully expanded [12].
3. Publishing into a folder that holds other files. P6 deletes older files in the publish folder after a warning [10].
4. Fit to one page on a detailed layout. The text shrinks until the sheet is decoration.
5. Setting both kinds of page break. Once group band page breaks are set, Break Page Every Group is disabled for that layout [5][6].

Quick quiz

1. Which Page tab option compresses only the timescale to a set number of pages across?

   1. Adjust to % normal size
   2. Fit to pages wide by tall
   3. Fit timescale to page(s) wide
   4. Paper size

2. Which header or footer content records date, revision, checked and approved?

   1. Text/Logo
   2. Revision Box
   3. Stored Image
   4. Gantt Chart Legend

3. A layout collapsed to WBS level 2 is published with Tools, Publish, Activity Layouts. What does the published version show?

   1. Level 2 only
   2. All elements expanded
   3. Only critical activities
   4. Only the Gantt chart

4. Where are group band page breaks visible?

   1. In the Activities window
   2. In Print Preview and published layouts
   3. Only on paper
   4. Only in P6 EPPM

5. In P6 EPPM, the Print Options settings are saved with:

   1. The project
   2. The view
   3. The user's printer
   4. Nothing; they reset each time

Show answers and explanations

1. C. Fit timescale to page(s) wide compresses spacing and sets the number of pages across [4].
2. B. The Revision Box section holds dates, revisions, and checked and approved columns [3].
3. B. Layouts are published with all project elements expanded, regardless of view settings [12].
4. B. Page breaks are only visible in Print Preview and in published layouts [6].
5. B. Print Options settings are saved with the view [14].

Key terms

Page Setup

The dialog for page, margins, header, footer and print options for the current layout.

Fit timescale to page(s) wide

A scaling option that compresses the timescale to a set number of sheets across.

Revision box

A header or footer section with date, revision, checked and approved columns.

Text variable

A field such as Project Name or Data Date that P6 fills in when printing.

Published layout

A static HTML copy of an activity or tracking layout, published fully expanded.

Project web site

A set of HTML pages published from a project, browsable by WBS, resources, roles, codes and reports.

References

1. Oracle. Print features. Primavera P6 Professional Reporting Guide, Version 26.
2. Oracle. Print a layout or window data. Primavera P6 Professional Reporting Guide, Version 26.
3. Oracle. Change page setup options. Primavera P6 Professional Reporting Guide, Version 26.
4. Oracle. Page tab - Page Setup dialog box. Primavera P6 Professional Help, Version 26.
5. Oracle. Options tab - Page Setup dialog box. Primavera P6 Professional Help, Version 26.
6. Oracle. Set Page Breaks by Group Band. Primavera P6 Professional Help, Version 26.
7. Oracle. Print Preview dialog box. Primavera P6 Professional Help, Version 26.
8. Oracle. Publish Toolbar. Primavera P6 Professional Help, Version 26.
9. Oracle. Publish Activity layouts. Primavera P6 Professional Help, Version 26.
10. Oracle. Publish projects as Web sites. Primavera P6 Professional Help, Version 26.
11. Oracle. Project Web sites. Primavera P6 Professional Help, Version 26.
12. Oracle. Publishing activity and tracking layouts. Primavera P6 Professional Help, Version 26.
13. Oracle. Printing Pages Using P6 Printing Tools. Primavera P6 EPPM Help, Version 26.
14. Oracle. Print Options Dialog Box. Primavera P6 EPPM Help, Version 26.

Verified on November 6, 2026.

Next lesson in this trackResources and roles