LBPro Printing Adventure II
Printing/Formatting Your LBPro Data:
I knew that I had a lot of pages to print, and I wasn't that familiar with the reports and exporting and printing and formatting, so I thought Kinko's would best know how to help me.
I followed the advice of some posters: Made a flight log report, exported it to Adobe (.pdf) format, put in on my USB back up portable drive (jump drive, memory stick, flash drive, etc.), and took it to Kinko's to get printed. Luckily, I thought it might not be this easy, so I brought my laptop. It was a nightmare.
To keep this post from getting REALLY long, I'll spare the details of what didn't work, and tell you what finally worked in the end.
Step 1:
My LBPro was up to date, it was as accurate as practical, and there were no errors (I ran the error check that comes with the program).
Step 2:
Click on the “Reports” tab on the left side of the logbook (or click on the “Reports” tab up top).
Click on “Flight Log”
Click on “Split Reports (Left / Right Segmented)”
Move the cursor right to “Jeppesen Style & 98-004 Leather Binders”
Move it further right to “Jeppesen Style Flight Log”
For starting and ending dates click “All Data”. Next time, to print follow-on pages, start at the next date after the date that this report ends on. Mine ended on 11 Jul 2007, so my next one will start on 12 Jul 2007.
Step 3:
Look at the report and make sure it looks right and makes sense. Note that the same number of columns is present in all pages, so that when printed everything will line up. Note that there are three tabs: “Left”, “Right” and “Combined”.
How many lines are present? Mine, had, I believe, 21. I had read posters who mentioned changing the margins to get more lines per page. LBPro, and other posters, say not to mess with the “Left” or “Right” margins.
How to change the “Top” and “Bottom” margins:
If you are on the “Combined” tab view, when you click on “File” (top left corner of the window) and then scroll down and click “Page Setup”, nothing will happen.
You need to click on the “Left Page” and then the “Right Page” tabs to change the margins for both of the page sets. Once you've clicked on either the “Left Page” or the “Right Page” then you'll need to click on “File” and “Page Setup”. You will now see a window where you can change the margins. You will also need to change both margins so that they are the same, or the rows won't match up on the two facing pages.
I changed both page's “Top” and the “Bottom” margins to 0.5 inches. This should give you about 25 lines per page.
Step 4:
When your report is to your liking, again click on “File”, scroll down to “Export” and you'll see your choices. I choose “Export To Acrobat Reader (.pdf)”. A window will
open asking you where you want to save the file. I saved a copy on my hard drive (in my LBPro folder) and on my USB memory stick.
Step 5:
DO NOT PRINT YOUR LOGBOOK NOW!!!
Print 4-10 test pages to make sure it is formatted correctly and it looks right. I used regular white paper to test print. I forgot to tell the guy to print a blank page first. This will be the interior cover of your logbook, and Page 1 will print on the backside of this sheet. The 3rd and 4th pages printed will actually be pages 2 and 3 of your logbook.
When it is correct, then have him print the whole thing on the good paper.
Step 6:
Check your pages. I had several with some printing error or defect in the paper itself. I had him reprint those specific pages over again. I also had him print a 2nd copy of my cover page, and of my last page. That way, when I go to print my cover page (you don't have to print a cover page, of course), if I mess it up I can try again. It would be wise to once again test print your cover page on plain, cheap paper. The extra last page is because that when I print an add-on page it home, the first one will go on the back of the last page printed at Kinko's.
Misc Notes:
You can do some customizing of the reports, but it is limited. You can change the heights of the columns, to help get more or less lines per page
From the LBPro website:
“Columns cannot be removed, hidden, resized, or reordered”.
“An alternate method of printing allowing complete capturing of user-defined customizations, including fonts, custom columns, colors, and column order and widths is to print directly from the spreadsheet system.”
Note: It does NOT say you can delete or hide columns with this “alternate method”.
When I tried to make the report the first time, I clicked on “Reports”, “Flight Log”, Jeppesen Style”, “Jeppesen Style Flight Log” I got a report that looked fantastic. But, when the Kinko's guy looked at the .pdf exported file, it listed the paper size as “21.46 x 8.5”. I think this is a special size they use when you send it to LBPro to be printed out. At any rate, it won't do for standard 11” x 8.5” paper.
With the 25 entries per page (top and bottom margins changed to 0.5” each) my log was 96 pages long. I use the one date (as many legs as you have on that date/airplane) per line entry in my logbook, vs. the one entry per LEG, which would've taken god knows how many pages.
Summary:
My log book pages look great, and the binder does, too. It's a million times better looking than my old paper logbook (but not as good looking as my CEO ;-).
It cost me about $20-25 at Kinko's for the 100 pages of logbook, the extra pages, and the 2+ hours of time it took the Kinko's guy and myself (mostly him) to coax a printable copy of my log out of my LBPro software. Now, if I have to add pages on, or I want to reprint my whole logbook, it'll be easy.
It's just like learning to hover. After about 8 hours or so, you suddenly get it, and you wondered why it seemed so hard on your last flight.
More Recently:
I have since printed more pages to add to my logbook twice. My printer at home would NOT print the heavy paper, so I went back to Kinko's both times. They seem pretty good about manipulating the data and getting it to format and print correctly.
When you add more printed pages, you need to make sure that the format of the new report is the same of the old, so that your pages will match up and add up and make sense. So, check the new report out CAREFULLY at home before you save it and take it to Kinko's.
I also bought two clear plastic sheets (paper protectors) to go in front of my Cover page and in back of my last page to protect the logbook pages.
LogBookPro reccomends that you digitally back up your logbook and ALSO print it out for backup, so I'm printing a copy of my logbook on regular printer paper once in a while just to keep a hard-copy backup, in addition to my “official” printed logbook.
I keep a digital backup on my laptop, my backup harddrive, one thumb (USB) drive at home, and one thumb drive that I take with me when I fly. It is also a good idea to email yourself a copy of your .BAK file and your printed report, so it will be on a server somewhere, just in case!
Note: I lost my first (paper) logbook, which was no fun. I am making sure I won't lose my LBPro data now.
Good luck to you!
Cliff
LFW
Digital Data:
If you need to EMAIL stuff like your passport, pilot's license, medical, logbook pages, etc., Kinko's is good at digitizing the data for you: Have them put it on your thumb drive and then you can put on your computer, and then send the documents out. They will scan it into PDF format, which is acceptable to most organizations that need the info above.
I'm overseas, so I took digital AND paper copies of the above with me, and leave digital and paper copies at home, also. If you have your passport lost or stolen, it is usually much easier to get a new one quickly if you have a copy of your old one to give them. I'm also taking 2”x2” passport sized photos, in case I need a new passport, or to send out as some airlines want a picture for the hiring process. You need LOTS of photos when you go overseas, trust me!