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klevy6-Contributor
6-Contributor
Aug 26, 2026 5:48 PM UTC
Question

PDF Drawings: Representations vs Documents

I’m wondering others' opinions on whether using OOTB representations has pros/cons vs generating a document (with the PDF as primary content). A few advantages of documents: They can be included as PDF in packages. They are directly clickable on search. Drawings can come from other systems (harness prints from Zuken). Easier for users and external systems to find. I don’t love that there are 2 copies of drawings (maybe the rep PDF should be turned off). What are other companies doing?

    2 replies

    BryanK17-Peridot
    17-Peridot
    Aug 26, 2026 9:05 PM UTC

    It all depends on your business rules and the WGMs that you have. If it's something like Zuken and you dont have the WGM then you could zip the design file and use the PDF as the representation. For documents, it seems like having the primary document as a pdf is counter productive. Lifecycle states and access permissions could resolve this issue. eg  In work users can make changes to the wtdoc then when released only the visualization (PDF) can be downloaded. We have implemented different senarios all of them different. when it comes to packages you elect to only include representations (pdf’s) 

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      joe_morton
      joe_morton19-Tanzanite
      19-Tanzanite
      Aug 28, 2026 5:52 PM UTC

      For the “directly clickable in search” point: check out the free Windchill extension called “PDF Quick Access”: https://windchill-extensions.ptc.com/#(grid|tab)=overview;(grid|popup)=#com-wincomplm-wex-quickaccess-release-wex-modal-content;

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