When Project > Print Project writes grid dots into every BMP, no grid setting will clean the file. Test one image to confirm, then capture each screen at 200% zoom with ALT+PrintScreen, crop, and verify every saved file. Clean printed pages from another editor answer printing only; the manual's image files still come from capture.
The grid option in an HMI editor cleans the editing view. In the software that behaves this way it never reaches the file: with Tools > Options > Display grid dots off, and every other grid setting off, Project > Print Project still wrote dots across every BMP. The working route is the one you already found, done deliberately: view each screen, capture the window, crop, save. This page gives you the one-image test that picks the right route, the capture settings that make manual-ready images, and the pixel count that keeps them sharp on paper. If part of the job documents a plant-wide status board rather than machine screens, settle that split first: factory status display or operator HMI.
Why the dots survive the grid setting
The option at Tools > Options > Display grid dots controls what you see while you edit. Turn it off and the editing view clears. The image generator behind Project > Print Project is a separate path, and in this software it ignores that option: in the workflow behind this article, every grid setting was off and every generated BMP still carried the dot pattern.
That observation settles the decision. No further grid toggle will clean those files, so repeating grid changes is lost time. Two routes remain: a second export command, which this editor does not have, or the screen view itself, captured as raw pixels.
Your editor may name its menus differently. The three jobs are the same in every editor: the grid toggle (here Tools > Options > Display grid dots), the whole-project image generator (here Project > Print Project), and the single-screen view (here Tools > View).
What each symptom points to
| What you see | What it points to | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Dots across the editing view | The display-grid option is on | Turn it off at Tools > Options > Display grid dots |
| Editing view clean, BMP from Project > Print Project still dotted | The generator ignores the grid option | Stop changing grid settings and capture the screen view |
| Capture clean but ringed by title bar, menus and desktop | The capture took more than the screen | Crop to the screen content in the image editor |
| Image sharp on screen, soft on paper | Too few pixels for the printed size | Recapture at 200% zoom; the numbers are in the example below |
| Clean printed pages and no image file anywhere | The print function writes pages, not files | Print for page copies and capture for the manual's files |
The one-image test that decides the path
Run the export once more, on purpose, before abandoning it.
- Confirm Tools > Options > Display grid dots is off.
- Generate one image through Project > Print Project.
- Open that file and view it at the size the manual will print it.
A clean file earns the export route: run the batch, then open every file, because one clean image is a sample of one. A dotted file closes the question: the grid settings are spent and the capture workflow below is the route. The test costs one image. Judge the saved file, since the file is what the manual prints; the editing view can be clean while the file carries dots.
The capture workflow
One screen at a time:
- Open the screen for viewing under Tools > View, so the screen alone fills the editor window.
- Set the display zoom to 200%.
- Press ALT+PrintScreen to put the active window on the clipboard. Shift+PrintScreen was reported as an equal in this workflow.
- Paste into Paint, or any image editor.
- Crop away the title bar, menus and background until only the screen content remains.
- Save in the format the manual takes.
- Open the saved file and check three things: no dots, the whole screen present, text readable at the printed size.
Repeat for the remaining screens at the same zoom and the same window size, so every capture needs the same crop. Keep the whole screen inside the window at 200%; on a narrow monitor use the largest zoom that fits and accept fewer pixels.
Example: a 1280 x 800 screen printed 5 inches wide
Inputs:
- Screen layout: 1280 x 800 px, a common panel layout used as the example input. Put your panel's resolution in its place.
- Printed figure width: 5.0 in. The printout described in this workflow placed the screen image about 5 by 6.5 in on the page, so 5 in of image width is a realistic target.
- Print target: 300 px per inch at final size, the resolution commercial printing holds detail from.
- Capture zoom: 200%, from the workflow above.
The rule in words: divide the captured width in pixels by the printed width in inches, and the result is the pixels per inch in the finished figure. Printed detail holds from about 300 px per inch.
At 100% zoom: 1280 px / 5.0 in = 256 px per inch. That is 44 px per inch short of the target, and small object labels print soft.
At 200% zoom: 1280 px x 2 = 2560 px captured. 2560 px / 5.0 in = 512 px per inch. That clears the target with more than 200 px per inch to spare, so the figure holds detail at 5 in wide and survives modest downsizing in the document.
The 200% view of this layout spans 2560 px, so the monitor needs at least that much width to keep the screen in one capture.
Decision: capture at 200% whenever the figure prints near this width. If you must capture at 100%, keep the printed width at or under 1280 / 300, about 4.3 in, to hold the print target.
The print question is a different question
The same workflow included a trial of a second panel editor's print function, run with no options changed. The pages came out with no gridlines: file path in the upper right corner, an underlined title top-center, the screen image about 5 by 6.5 in, then project name and screen description. That is a finished documentation page.
It answers printing and leaves the file question open, and the trial never touched files. If a candidate editor is supposed to solve the dots, make it write one actual image file and inspect that file before you change anything.
A batch that repeats cleanly
The capture route costs one paste and one crop per screen. Hold the variables still so every screen is the same job: the same 200% zoom, the same window size, the same crop rectangle, the same file format and naming. Then check each saved file against the three points in step 7, because a batch that drifts halfway through means rework on half the manual.
The captures outlive the manual. The same image folder runs as an offline notice screen on the floor: shop-floor signage. Served over FTP, the same images can feed a plant dashboard: how to display FTP images in an industrial dashboard.
The decision for your case
Recommendation: run the one-image test first. A clean BMP from Project > Print Project means you keep the export route and open every batch file as it lands. A dotted BMP with the grid option already off means you stop there: 200% zoom, ALT+PrintScreen, crop, save, check each file. Use print output for page copies and capture for image files, and when a figure lands below about 300 px per inch at its printed width, recapture at a higher zoom.
Questions
Why do the grid dots stay in the BMP after the grid option is turned off?
The dots are the object-placement grid, an editing aid drawn over the canvas. The option at Tools > Options > Display grid dots controls that editing view only in this software, and the image generator behind Project > Print Project ignores it. So no grid toggle will clean those files. One test BMP settles which editor behavior you have: a clean file keeps the export route, a dotted file sends you to capture.
How many pixels does a manual screenshot need for print?
Work from 300 pixels per inch at the printed width: a 5 in figure needs 5 x 300 = 1500 px across, and a 3 in figure needs 900 px. A 1280 px capture at 100% zoom misses the 5 in target at 256 px per inch; the same capture at 200% gives 2560 px and clears it at 512. If the manual is read on screen at capture size instead of printed, 100% is enough.
Should I use ALT+PrintScreen or Shift+PrintScreen for the capture?
Try ALT+PrintScreen first. It is the standard active-window capture on Windows, so it takes the editor window and leaves the rest of the desktop out, which saves cropping. Check one paste before the batch: the capture should show the screen, its window frame, and nothing else.
Is it worth changing panel editors over the grid dots?
Not for the dots alone. The capture route gives you manual-ready image files from the editor you already have, at a steady cost of one paste and one crop per screen. Change editors over features you use every day, and only after the candidate has written one clean image file in front of you. Printing clean pages is a separate ability and does not replace file output.
Planning information, not legal or engineering advice. Rules differ by place: check codes and permits with your local authority and your licensed trades.