[Request] Callout with more than 1 leader

Sinaptik · Post by **Sinaptik** » Mon Jun 17, 2019 8:28 am

Hi team,

Do you think it might be possible to upgrade the callout tool by adding the possibility to have more than one leader / arrow ?
For the moment, I just use the arrow tool to add them, but obviously additional ones aren't attached to the main callout's one.

Could be handy !

Thank you.

Post by **Will - Tracker Supp** » Mon Jun 17, 2019 9:09 am

Hi Sinaptik,

Thanks for the post - While this is certainly an interesting idea, the ISO Spec. does not allow for this, so I'm afraid that we can't add it.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news!

Sinaptik · Post by **Sinaptik** » Mon Jun 17, 2019 11:40 am

Hi Will,

Hope the ISO specification might change.

Otherwise, you have to create a TXPDF file format: Tracker eXtended Portable Document Format !

Nevertheless, thanks for the feedback.

Post by **Will - Tracker Supp** » Mon Jun 17, 2019 2:36 pm

Hi Sinaptik,

No worries! There are a few things in the Spec. I'd like to see change (I suspect some of my colleagues share similar opinions) there, but until it does our hands would be tied.

Otherwise, you have to create a TXPDF file format: Tracker eXtended Portable Document Format !

I like that idea

Might have to get on it

Cheers!

Heezea · Post by **Heezea** » Mon Nov 04, 2019 6:00 pm

Just as a follow up on this, I also would like this feature. This is a feature that Bluebeam offers so would like to be able to say PDFX offers it too!

Post by **Paul - Tracker Supp** » Mon Nov 04, 2019 6:32 pm

Hi Heezea,

thanks for the post. Like Will, I was under the impression also that the ISO specifications call for a single lead on a Callout object. Now I wonder, I may be wrong there.

I am keen to see how such a thing as a multiple lead callout from BlueBeam looks in Adobe or our Editor.

Do you have such a sample for us?

Heezea · Post by **Heezea** » Mon Nov 04, 2019 6:45 pm

I'd attached a PDF with some multi-line leaders. It looks great when I open it with PDFX or Adobe. The thing I noticed is that if I open in PDFX or Adobe Reader, and then move the text box, it reverts to a single arrow.

This is really a cool feature that I use very regularly and I think a lot of people who review drawings/plans probably do too.

MultiLeader.pdf: (8.44 KiB) Downloaded 71 times

Post by **TrackerSupp-Daniel** » Mon Nov 04, 2019 8:04 pm

Hello Heezea,

I have discussed this with our Development team, and they have confirmed that unfortunately, as my colleagues mentioned, the ISO specification for PDF does not allow these objects. These are created by a special Bluebeam extension and are only supported by them. If we were to offer a function like this, we would be breaking the PDF specification, and would forfeit much in terms of our ability to work with and create universally compatible documents.

The main purpose of PDF is to be easily shared (hence the P in Portable Document Format), and the specification exists to ensure that documents can be viewed by anyone in any environment, breaking the specification goes against the chief ideology of PDF.
If one day the Specification changes, then we may reconsider this, but until then, we will not be developing this feature.

Kind regards,

gruffly · Post by **gruffly** » Thu Dec 09, 2021 2:36 pm

Hi Daniel,

Would it be possible to do this by automatically adding two callouts that are overlapped so that it appears to be a single box with two leaders? I also would find this very handy as I use this constantly.

Nick

David.P · Post by **David.P** » Thu Dec 09, 2021 3:52 pm

I do this all the time by creating a callout and then duplicating it by copying and pasting (which dupicates it at exactly the same place). This then looks and behaves like a callout with two (or more) leaders, as long as you don't move the callout's textbox(es).

Post by **TrackerSupp-Daniel** » Thu Dec 09, 2021 4:39 pm

Hello, Gruffly

Yes, as David showcases, it could be done by placing multiple overlapping objects, that is certainly possible, it is just that we cannot create a single object which does this according to the spec. I hope this workaround helps!

Kind regards,

pdfpino · Post by **pdfpino** » Wed May 18, 2022 7:35 am

Hi there!

I just created an account to ask for multileaders, then found this thread!

Are the previous answers still relevant? I work in the construction industry, and we review plans everyday. Being able to use multileaders would be game changer

Thanks!

Post by **Tracker Supp-Stefan** » Wed May 18, 2022 8:45 am

Hello pdfpino,

Welcome to our forums. Indeed the above still applies - as the callout tool by PDF specification can only have 1 leader line.

Kind regards,
Stefan

pdfpino · Post by **pdfpino** » Wed May 18, 2022 10:16 am

Thanks for the answer

Wed May 18, 2022 10:45 am