Emmet Preferences Emmet is a framework that enables the lightning-fast creation of HTML code though the use of a simple and effective shortcut language resembling CSS Selectors (see "Emmet" on page 149). The Emmet functionality is available in the HTML and CSS source editors of Connect Designer. Emmet transforms abbreviations for HTML elements and CSS properties to the respective source code. This is, for example, the abbreviation for a
element with the class row: div.
l New: Add a new abbreviation. l Name: The name of the abbreviation is also its trigger. l Context: The context in which the abbreviation is enabled (HTML, CSS, etc.). l Description: A short description of the abbreviation . l l Pattern: This defines what an abbreviation expands to. Since Emmet is mostly used for writing HTML/XML tags, abbreviation definition uses XML format to describe elements; see Abbreviation types.
l New: Click to create a new snippet. l Name: The name of the abbreviation is also its trigger. l Context: The context in which the snippet is enabled (HTML, CSS, etc.). l Description: A short description of the snippet. l Pattern: The pattern defines what a snippet expands to. l Automatically insert: This option doesn't affect how Emmet works in Connect Designer. l Edit: Modify the currently selected snippet. l Remove: Remove the currently selected snippet from the list.
The Emmet Preferences also provides you with buttons to : l l l Reload Engine. This allows you to reload the Emmet engine based upon the current settings. Restore Defaults. This option restores the preferences to Defaults. This applies to the current Preferences page only, but not other Preferences. Apply: This option Applies the settings made within the current Preferences page, but does not close the Preferences dialog.
l Apply: This option Applies the settings made within the current Preferences page, but does not close the Preferences dialog. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Log Setting Preferences PrintShop Mail Connect logs the activities it undertakes whilst running. New Connect logs are created daily and are held for a period before they are automatically deleted.
(Size-based logs). The selection are as follows: l Daily Logs: Use this setting to determine how many days Connect Logs are to be kept, before they are deleted. l l Size-based logs: Use this setting to restrict log file size, and to keep only a specified number of them. By combining the maximize individual log file size with the amount of log files to retain, this effectively allows a hard disk space usage limitation to be placed upon the logging process.
Warning Higher logging settings will have an impact upon Connect production speeds, as well as leading to substantially larger log files. The Advanced Log Settings should only be set in conjunction with advice from OL support, to ensure that only the most relevant settings are set to the higher logging levels. This Preferences page allows you to add ( ) or remove ( ) individual Connect Packages, or change their logging settings ( ).
General Print Preferences The General Print Preferences are used to set communication settings with the PrintShop Mail Connect Server module that does the actual generation of print output. The Server module can be located on the same computer (hostname: localhost) or on a different machine. Multiple Designer modules can use a single Server module to generate Print output, as long as the appropriate hostname, username and password are provided. In essence, this can be used to create a single Print Server.
Saving Preferences The saving preferences are a way control if and how often PrintShop Mail Connect saves your work in the background, and if how many backup files it creates when you save the template or data mapping configuration. See also: "Saving a template" on page 96. Auto Save After a template or data mapping configuration has been saved for the first time, Connect Designer can auto save it with a regular interval. l l Enable: activate the Auto Save function.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Scheduling Preferences The Designer's scheduling preferences are a way to control precisely how the PrintShop Mail Connect Designer handles jobs when For more information about scheduling preferences in PrintShop Mail Connect also see "Performance Considerations" on page 29. Scheduling options This preference page defines what is considered a small or large job (anything in between is considered "medium" jobs).
Scripting Preferences The Scripting preferences define different options related to scripting within PrintShop Mail Connect. See also: "Testing scripts" on page 349. l General: l l Script timeout at design time (sec): In Preview mode or when running the Script Profiler (see the Profile Scripts dialog), a long running script is stopped after the amount of time set here. The default is 2 seconds, the minimum is 1 second.
The invisible parts process the Connect job to provide the actual output. This topic introduces you to those parts. Here's a simplified, graphical representation of the architecture of PrintShop Mail Connect. The Connect database The Connect database is the database back-end used by Connect itself when processing jobs. It can be either the MySQL instance provided by the Connect installer, or a pre-existing (external) instance (see "Database Considerations" on page 17).
The File Store Connect has its own File Store which it uses for transient files. The Clean-up service takes care of removing obsolete files when those files are not marked as permanent (see "Clean-up Service preferences" on page 317). The engines DataMapper engine. A DataMapper engine extracts data from a data file. This is an internal engine, for which there are no settings to make. Merge engine/s.
When there are more speed units than there are engines in use, the Connect server distributes the speed units and the maximum output speed to the engines proportionally. Known Issues This page lists important information about issues that apply to PrintShop Mail Connect 2018.2. Job Creation Presets: External Sorting Versions prior to 2018.2 did not correctly save the line end characters for external sort configurations in Job Creation Presets, which meant the job could not be externally sorted.
l Benton Sans CFF font Minor differences in PCL, AFPDS and IPDS output introduced in 2018.1 The browser component (Mozilla Gecko) used in the WYSIWYG editor of the Designer was updated for Connect 2018.1. This allows use of new CSS properties, such as flexbox. However this update could lead to increased output file sizes for some PCL, AFPDS and IPDS jobs.
Print Output: Booklet Impositioning changes introduced in 2018.1 When Booklet Impositioning is enabled, all pages within a document need to be changed to duplex prior to Impositioning . The method for duplexing jobs has been changed to now always combine existing pages into the front and backsides of sheets, rather than adding empty backsides to any simplex pages. The result is that now every document in the job becomes a booklet without any empty pages between the first page and the last page.
Only one of the above language tags should be selected. Once saved, Connect will appear in the selected language at next start-up. GoDaddy Certificates When installing Connect offline, dialogs allow installing the GoDaddy certificates. Most users should use the default settings and click Next. In some cases, however, this may not work correctly.
also sometimes be the case that text and images can be slightly displaced. These are known issues and will be addressed in a later release of Connect. Magic Number changes when installing Docker Installing Docker on a system where Connect has already been installed may impact Connect's licensing mechanism and require reactivation. Note Installing Connect after Docker has already been installed will not cause issues.
Impacts upon other Applications and Services l l The Uninstall will terminate the installed Server / MySQL service(s). The following applications / services should be stopped in a controlled fashion, before running the PrintShop Mail Connect Uninstall: 1. PrintShop Mail Connect 2. Connect products on remote systems which refer to this MySQL database. Uninstallation Wizard The uninstallation is done by running the PrintShop Mail Connect Setup Wizard in uninstall mode.
Connect: a peek under the hood Connect consists of visible and invisible parts. The visible part is of course the Designer, that you use to create templates and print presets. The invisible parts process the Connect job to provide the actual output. This topic introduces you to those parts. Here's a simplified, graphical representation of the architecture of PrintShop Mail Connect. The Connect database The Connect database is the database back-end used by Connect itself when processing jobs.
Note Email content items are not stored in the Connect database. A clean-up of the database is performed at regular intervals in accordance with the settings (see "Clean-up Service preferences" on page 317). The File Store Connect has its own File Store which it uses for transient files. The Clean-up service takes care of removing obsolete files when those files are not marked as permanent (see "Clean-up Service preferences" on page 317). The engines DataMapper engine.
by the number of speed units, only applies to the Weaver engine; when creating Email, the limit applies to the Merge engines only (the Weaver engine is not involved). So, when generating Print output, multiple Merge engines can be used. The number of Merge engines is only limited to one when creating Email output. Each Merge engine and each Weaver engine needs at least one speed unit.
The Designer The Designer is a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor that lets you create templates for various output channels: Print, Email and Web. A template may contain designs for multiple output channels: a letter intended for print and an e-mail variant of the same message, for example. Content, like the body of the message or letter, can be shared across these contexts. Templates are personalized using scripts and variable data.
Add text, images and other elements to the template and style them. See "Content elements" on page 170 and "Styling and formatting" on page 251. 3. Personalize the content Personalize the content using variable data. See "Personalizing Content" on page 292. 4. Generate output Adjust the settings, test the template and generate output: letters andemails. See "Generating output" on page 790. Note Steps 2 and 3 are not necessarily to be followed in this order.
"Personalizing Content" on page 292. Personalize your customer communications using variable data. "Writing your own scripts" on page 340. Scripting can take personalization much further. Learn how to script via this topic. "Generating output" on page 790. Learn the ins and outs of generating output from each of the contexts. Templates The Designer is a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) tool to create templates. This topic gets you started.
It is, however, not possible to use a Template Wizard when adding a context or section to an existing template. Tip If an Email context is going to be part of the template, it is recommended to start with an Email Template Wizard; see "Creating an Email template with a Wizard" on page 151. After creating a template, contexts can be added to it, but that can not be done with a wizard. Opening a template To open a template from the Welcome screen, select Open an Existing Template.
Saving a template A Designer template file has the extension .OL-template. It is a zip file that includes up to 3 contexts, all the related resources and scripts, and (optionally) a link to a data mapping configuration. To save a template, select File > Save or press Ctrl+S. The first time you'll have to give the template a name. File > Save as allows you to save the template with a different name. Tip To quickly copy the name of any other file, set Save as type to Any file (*.*) in the Save dialog.
Auto Backup Connect Designer can automatically create a backup file when you manually save a template. To configure Auto Backup: 1. Select the menu option Window > Preferences > Save. 2. Under Auto backup, check the option Enable to activate the Auto Backup function. 3. Type the number of revisions to keep. 4. Select the directory in which the backups should be stored.
Exporting a template report A template report can be used for archiving purposes or to provide information about the template to people who do not have access to Connect. Such a report can be exported in PDF or XML format. By default it contains a summary of the template with an overview of all the settings and resources that are used in the template: media, master pages, contexts, sections, images, scripts etc. The file properties are included as well (see File Properties).
documents and splitting the print jobs into smaller print jobs, as well as the more standard selection of printing options, such as binding, OMR markings and the like. See "Job Creation Presets" on page 583 and "Output Creation Settings" on page 594 for more details. Package files can be opened by other Connect users. To open the Package dialog, select File > Package.... For an explanation of the options in it, see "Package dialog" on page 425.
See also: "Loading a snippet via a script" on page 357 and "Writing your own scripts" on page 340. Note When referring to images or fonts from a CSS file, you need to remember that the current path is css/, meaning you can't just call images/image.jpg. Use a relative path, for example: #header { background-image: url('../images/image.jpg'); } External resources External resources are not stored in the template, but on the local hard drive or on a network drive. They are accessed using a path.
Contexts Contexts are parts of a template that are each used to generate a specific type of output: Email or Print. l l The Print context outputs documents to either a physical printer or a PDF file; see "Print context" on page 114. The Email context outputs HTML email, composed of HTML code with embedded CSS. See "Email context" on page 155. When a new template is made, the Context appropriate to that new template is automatically created, including one section.
Adding a context To add a context, right-click the Contexts folder on the Resources pane and click New print context, New email context or New web context. Or use Context > Add in the main menu. Only one context of each type can be present in a template. Each context, however, can hold more than one section; see "Sections" below. Deleting a context To delete a context, right-click the context on the Resources pane and click Delete.
Email Template Wizard; see "Creating an Email template with a Wizard" on page 151. After creating a template, contexts can be added to it, but that can not be done with a wizard. Editing a section To open a section, expand the Contexts folder on the Resources pane, expand the respective context (Print or Email) and double-click a section to open it.
Deleting a section To delete a section: l On the Resources pane, expand the Contexts folder, expand the folder of the respective context, right-click the name of the section, and then click Delete. Warning No backup files are maintained in the template. The only way to recover a deleted section, is to click Undo on the Edit menu, until the deleted section is restored. After closing and reopening the template it is no longer possible to restore the deleted context this way.
1. Click and hold the mouse button on the style sheet on the Resources pane. 2. Move the mouse cursor within the Resources pane to the section to which the style sheet should be applied. 3. Release the mouse button. Using the Includes dialog 1. On the Resources pane, right-click the section, then click Includes. 2. From the File types dropdown, select Stylesheets. 3. Choose which CSS files should be applied to this section. The available files are listed at the left.
l On the Resources pane, expand the Contexts folder, expand the folder of the respective context, and then drag and drop sections to change the order they are in. Alternatively, right-click a section and click Arrange. In the Arrange Sections dialog you can change the order of the sections in the same context by clicking the name of a section and moving it using the Up and Down buttons. Outputting sections Which sections are added to the output, depends on the type of context they are in.
With the Designer you can create one or more Print templates and merge the template with a data set to generate personal letters, invoices, policies, or any other type of letter you can think of. The Print context is the folder in the Designer that can contain one or more Print sections. Print templates (also called Print sections), are part of the Print context. They are meant to be printed directly to a printer or a printer stream/spool file, or to a PDF file (see "Generating Print output" on page 791).
Headers, footers, tear-offs and repeated elements (Master page) In Print sections, there are often elements that need to be repeated across pages, like headers, footers and logos. In addition, some elements should appear on each first page, or only on pages in between the first and the last page, or only on the last page. Examples are a different header on the first page, and a tear-off slip that should show up on the last page. This is what Master Pages are used for.
Creating a Print template with a Wizard A Print template may consist of various parts, such as a covering letter and a policy. Start with one of the Template Wizards for the first part; other parts (called 'sections') can be added later. Print template wizards can be found in the Welcome screen and on the File menu. In the Welcome screen that appears after startup: l l Choose Template Wizards and scroll down until you see the Basic Print templates or ERP templates and select one of them.
Basic Print template wizards There are two 'basic' Print Template wizards: one for a formal letter, and one for a postcard. Postcard The Postcard Wizard lets you choose a page size and two background images, one for the front and one for the back of the postcard. When you click Finish, the Wizard creates: l l l l l A Print context with one section in it, that has duplex printing (printing on both sides) enabled. See "Printing on both sides" on page 116.
l l l l Duplex means double-sided printing. The margins define where your text flow will go. The actual printable space on a page depends on your printer. The bleed is the printable space around a page. It can be used on some printers to ensure that no unprinted edges occur in the final trimmed document. Printers that can’t print a bleed, will misinterpret this setting. Set the bleed to zero to avoid this. The number of sections is the number of parts in the Print context.
initially invisible. The address lines will stick to the bottom of that cell, even when the address has fewer lines. See "Styling and formatting" on page 251 to learn how to style elements. Tip Click the Edges button on the toolbar to make borders of elements visible on the Design tab. The borders will not be visible on the Preview tab.
page is created in the Print section. l l One empty Master Page. Master Pages are used for headers, footers, images and other elements that have to appear on more than one page, and for special elements like tearoffs. See "Master Pages" on page 136. One empty Media. Media, also called Virtual Stationery, can be applied to all pages in the Print section. See "Media" on page 139. ERP templates The ERP template wizard creates a business document.
Tip Nice to know: your info and preferences are saved and will be reused the next time you create an ERP template. When you click Finish, the Wizard creates: l l l l A Print context with one section in it; see "Print context" below and "Print sections" on page 119. One Master Page. Master Pages are used for headers and footers, for images and other elements that have to appear on more than one page, and for special elements like tearoffs. See "Master Pages" on page 136. One Media.
Creating the Print context You can start creating a Print template with a Wizard (see "Creating a Print template with a Wizard" on page 109), or add the Print context to an existing template (see "Adding a context" on page 102). Tip Editing PDF files in the Designer is not possible, but when they're used as a section's background, you can add text and other elements, such as a barcode, to them.
Initially, the (empty) master page that has been created with the Print context will be applied to all pages in the Print section, but more Master Pages can be added and applied to different pages. l l One Media is added to the template, as is visible on the Resources pane, in the Media folder. This folder can hold the company's stationery in the form of PDF files.
Note Your printer must support duplex for this option to work. Setting the binding style for the Print context The Print context , as well as each of the Print sections, can have its own Finishing settings. In printing, Finishing is the way pages are bound together after they have been printed. Which binding styles can be applied depends on the type of printer that you are using. To set the binding style of the Print context: 1.
Overprint and black overprint Normally, when two colors overlap in Print output, the underlying color is not printed. It is "knocked out", for two reasons: firstly, the underlying color may affect the top color, especially if the top color is lighter than the underlying color. Secondly, not printing an underlying color, which is not visible anyway, will save ink or toner.
Print sections Print templates (also called Print sections), are part of the Print context. They are meant to be printed directly to a printer or a printer stream/spool file, or to a PDF file (see "Generating Print output" on page 791). The Print context can also be added to Email output as a PDF attachment; see "Generating Email output" on page 807. When generating output from the Print context, each of the Print sections is added to the output document, one after the other in sequence, for each record.
Using stationery (Media) When the output of a Print context is meant to be printed on paper that already has graphical and text elements on it (called stationery, or preprinted sheets), you can add a copy of this media, in the form of a PDF file, to the Media folder. Media can be applied to pages in a Print section, to make them appear as a background to those pages. This ensures that elements added to the Print context will correspond to their correct location on the preprinted media.
l On the Resources pane, expand the Contexts folder, right-click the Print context , and then click New section. Note that the new section automatically gets the same properties as the first section.
l On the Resources pane, expand the Contexts folder, expand the Print context, rightclick the name of the section, and then click Delete. Warning If you don't have a backup of the template, the only way to recover a deleted section, is to click Undo on the Edit menu, until the deleted section is restored. After closing and reopening the template it is no longer possible to restore the deleted context this way.
1. Click and hold the mouse button on the style sheet on the Resources pane. 2. Move the mouse cursor within the Resources pane to the section to which the style sheet should be applied. 3. Release the mouse button. Using the Includes dialog 1. On the Resources pane, right-click the section, then click Includes. 2. From the File types dropdown, select Stylesheets. 3. Choose which CSS files should be applied to this section. The available files are listed at the left.
With this feature it is possible to create a Print template from an arbitrary PDF file. Of course, the PDF file itself can't be edited in a Designer template, but when it is used as a section's background, text and other elements, such as a barcode, can be added to it. Note Encrypted PDF files are not supported in PDF pass-through mode. To use a PDF file as background image: 1. On the Resources pane, expand the Print context, right-click the print section and click Background. 2.
Note If a URL doesn't have a file extension, and the option Save with template is not selected, the Select Image dialog automatically adds the filetype parameter with the file extension as its value (for example: ?filetype=pdf (if it is the first parameter) or &filetype=pdf ). The filetype , page and nopreview parameters are not sent to the host; they are used internally. Therefore, URLs that rely on one of these parameters cannot be used.
and the Left field to specify the distance between the left side of the page and the left side of the PDF. The Top and Left offset can be specified in the usual units of measurement or as a percentage of the page (for example: a Left value of 25% means it will be placed at 25% of the page width). 5. Set the scale of the image as a percentage of the original image. 6. Click one of the options next to Rotation to rotate the image. 7.
1. On the Resources pane, expand the Contexts folder, expand the Print context and rightclick the Print section. 2. Click Finishing. 3. Choose a Binding style and, if applicable, the number of holes. Overriding binding styles in a job creation preset A Job Creation Preset can override the binding styles set for the Print sections and for the Print context as a whole. To bind output in another way than defined in the template’s settings: 1.
Omit Master Page Back in case of an empty back page. l l Check Tumble to duplex pages as in a calendar. Check Facing pages to have the side margins switched alternately, so that after printing and binding the pages, they look like in a magazine or book. See "Pages" below to find out how to set a left and right margin on a page. Note Master Pages, Media and Duplex printing options can also be set in a Control Script (see "Control Scripts" on page 369 and "Control Script API" on page 749).
Page specific content elements The specific characteristics of pages make it possible to use these special elements: l l l Page numbers can only be used in a Print context. See "Page numbers " on page 131 to learn how to add and change them. Conditional content and dynamic tables, when used in a Print section, may or may not leave an empty space at the bottom of the last page.
Tip By default, measurements settings are in inches (in). You could also type measures in centimeters (add 'cm' to the measurement, for example: 20cm) or in millimeters (for example: 150mm). To change the default unit for measurement settings to centimeters or millimeters: on the menu, select Window > Preferences > Print > Measurements.
the variable content. The extra paragraph would be considered content and could end up on a separate page, together with the whitespace element. Page numbers Inserting page numbers Page numbers can be added to a Print section, but they are usually added to a Master Page, because headers and footers are designed on Master Pages; see also: "Master Pages" on page 136.
Tip Instead of page numbers, you might want to display the current record index and/or the total number of records in the record set, in the document. There is a How-to that explains how to do that: How to get the record index and count. Creating a table of contents A table of contents can only be created in a script. If you are looking to create a short, simple table of contents in one section, you could add a Standard Script that uses the pageRef() function.
3. Use the Format drop-down to select uppercase or lowercase letters or Roman numerals instead of Arabic numerals. 4. In Leading Zeros, type zeros to indicate how many digits the page numbers should have. Any page number that has fewer digits will be preceded by leading zeros. 5. Type the Number prefix. Optionally, check Add Prefix to Page Counts, to add the prefix to the total number of pages, too. 6. Close the dialog.
1. Open the style sheet for the Print context: on the Resources pane, expand the Styles folder and double-click context_print_styles.css. 2. Add a CSS rule, like the following: p { widows: 4; orphans: 3 } Per paragraph To change the widow or orphan setting for one paragraph only: 1. Open the Formatting dialog. To do this, you can: l l Select the paragraph using the breadcrumbs or the Outline pane (next to the Resources pane) and then select Format > Paragraph in the menu.
Inserting a page break To insert a page break before or after a certain element, set the page-break-before property or the page-break-after property of that element (a paragraph for example; see also "Styling text and paragraphs" on page 263): 1. Select the element (see "Selecting an element" on page 174). 2. On the Format menu select the respective element to open the Formatting dialog. 3. In the Breaks group, set the before or after property.
Alternatively you could set this property on the Source tab in the HTML (for example:
), or add a rule to the style sheet; see "Styling your templates with CSS files" on page 257. Adding blank pages to a section How to add a blank page to a section is described in a how-to: Create blank page on field value. Master Pages In Print sections, there are often elements that need to be repeated across pages, like headers, footers and logos.
l On the Resources pane, right-click the Master pages folder and click New Master Page. l Type a name for the master page. l l Optionally, set the margin for the header and footer. See "Adding a header and footer" below. Click OK. Initially, the master page that has been created together with the Print context will be applied to all pages in the Print section.
1. First insert elements that form the header or footer, such as the company logo and address, on the Master Page; see "Editing a Master Page" on the previous page. 2. Next, define the margins for the header and footer. The margins for a header and footer are set in the Master Page properties. This does not change the content placement within the Master Page itself; in Master Pages, elements can go everywhere on the page.
4. Decide which Master Page should be linked to which sheet (position): click the downward pointing arrow after Master Page Front and select a Master Page. If Duplex is enabled, you can also select a Master Page for the back of the sheet and consequently, check Omit Master Page Back in case of an empty back page to omit the specified Master Page on the last backside of a section if that page is empty and to skip that page from the page count. 5. Optionally, decide which Media should be linked to each sheet.
Per Media, a front and back can be specified and you can specify on what kind of paper the output is meant to be printed on. This includes paper weight, quality, coating and finishing; see "Setting Media properties" below. Adding Media To add a Media, right-click the Media folder on the Resources pane and select New Media. The new Media is of course empty. You can specify two PDF files for the Media: one for the front, and, optionally, another for the back.
3. On the Virtual Stationery tab, you can click the Select Image button to select a PDF image file. Note Encrypted PDF files are not supported in PDF pass-through mode. l Click Resources, Disk or Url, depending on where the image is located. l l l Resources lists the images that are present in the Images folder on the Resources pane. Disk lists image files that reside in a folder on a hard drive that is accessible from your computer.
(if it is the first parameter) or &filetype=pdf ). The filetype , page and nopreview parameters are not sent to the host; they are used internally. Therefore, URLs that rely on one of these parameters cannot be used. l With an external image, you can check the option Save with template. If this option is checked, the file will be inserted in the Images folder on the Resources pane at the top left. If it isn't saved with the template, the image remains external.
6. For each of the PDF files, select a position: l Fit to page stretches the PDF to fit the page size. l Centered centers the PDF on the page, vertically and horizontally. l Absolute places the PDF at a specific location on the page. Use the Top field to specify the distance between the top side of the page and the top side of the PDF, and the Left field to specify the distance between the left side of the page and the left side of the PDF. 7. Finally, click OK.
l l On the Resources pane, expand the Contexts folder, expand the Media folder, rightclick the Media and click Rename. Type the new name and click OK. Alternatively, on the Resources pane, expand the Contexts folder, expand the Media folder, right-click the Media and click Properties. Type the new name in the Name field and click OK.
Note Master Pages, Media and Duplex printing options can also be set in a Control Script (see "Control Scripts" on page 369 and "Control Script API" on page 749). This is especially useful when you need identical sections with different settings. Dynamically switching the Media In addition to applying Media to sheets via the settings, it is possible to change Media dynamically, based on a value in a data field, in a script.
Rotating the Media in a Print section The actual orientation of the Media and that of a section to which the Media is applied may not match. The Media can therefore be rotated per Print section: l l On the Resources pane, expand the Print context; right-click the Print section, and click Sheet configuration. Click one of the options next to Media rotation. The Media (to be more accurate: the Virtual Stationery images specified for this Media) will be rotated accordingly in the entire section.
Email With the Designer you can create one or more Email templates and merge the template with a data set to generate personalized emails. The Email context is the folder in the Designer that can contain one or more Email templates, also called Email sections. The HTML generated by this context is meant to be compatible with as many clients and as many devices as possible.
l The contents of the Print context, in the form of a single PDF attachment. (Compression options for PDF attachments can be specified in the Email context's properties; see .) l Other files, an image or a PDF leaflet for example. l Attaching the Print context is one of the options in the Send (Test) Email dialog. See "Email attachments" on page 166 and "Generating Email output" on page 807. Designing an Email template With the Designer you can design Email templates.
Nesting tables (putting tables in table cells) and applying CSS styles to each table cell to make the email look good on all screen sizes is a precision work that can be a tedious and demanding. Connect's Designer offers the following tools to make designing HTML email easier. Email templates: Slate and others The most obvious solution offered in the Designer is to use one of the templates provided with the Designer; see "Creating an Email template with a Wizard" on page 151.
table#green>tr>td*2 On pressing the Tab key, this is transformed to:
All standard abbreviations can be found in Emmet's documentation: Abbreviations. To learn more about Emmet, please see their website: Emmet.io and the Emmet.io documentation: http://docs.emmet.io/. Preferences To change the way Emmet works in the Designer, select Window > Preferences, and in the Preferences dialog, select Emmet; see "Emmet Preferences" on page 329.accessible server (preferably your own server) or a reputable image hosting service, like photobucket.com. Don't forget to set the Alternate Text for your images on the Attributes pane. Do not capture your email in one big image Most e-mail clients do not automatically download images, so do not capture your email in one big image. The recipient initially sees a blank message and probably deletes it right away.
1. In the Welcome screen that appears after startup: l l Choose Browse Template Wizards. Scroll down until you see the Email Template Wizards. There are three types of Email Template Wizards: l Basic Email templates l Banded Email templates l Slate: Responsive Email templates by Litmus. Or choose Create a New Template and select the Email template. This starts the Basic Action Email wizard. Alternatively, on the File menu, click New, and: l l Select Email Template.
l A style sheet, named context_htmlemail_styles.css, and another style sheet depending on which Template Wizard was used. The style sheets can be found in the Stylesheets folder on the Resources pane. The Wizard opens the Email section, so that you can fill it with text and other elements; see "Content elements" on page 170, "Email context" on page 155, and "Email templates" on page 157. Tip Use the Outline pane at the left to see which elements are present in the template and to select an element.
More than 50% of emails are opened on mobile. These five responsive HTML email templates are optimized for small screens and they look great in any inbox. They’ve been tested in Litmus and are completely bulletproof. Tip After creating the email template, click the Responsive Design View icon workspace to see how the email looks on different screen sizes. at the top of the The only thing you can set in advance for a Slate template is the color of the call-to-action button.
color (see "Color Picker" on page 404). The color can be changed later; see "Colors" on page 283. l The web address where the recipient of the email will be taken after clicking the button in the email. Type the URL in the Link field. Email context In the Designer the Email context is the folder that contains Email templates. From the Email context, output can be generated in the form of email (see below).
l Attaching the Print context is one of the options in the Send (Test) Email dialog. Note To split the Print context into multiple attachments, and to rename this type of attachment, you need to create a Control Script that specifies parts; see "Parts: splitting and renaming email attachments" on page 374. See "Email attachments" on page 166. Email output settings The following settings in an Email context influence how the Email output is generated.
Setting a default section for output When generating output from the Email context, only one of the Email templates can be merged with each record. One of the Email sections is the 'default'; see "Setting a default Email template for output" on page 160. Email templates Email templates (also called Email sections) are part of the Email context in a template. The Email context outputs HTML email with embedded formatting to an email client through the use of an email server.
To provide alternative content for your email, you could use Conditional Content (see "Showing content conditionally" on page 311), or Snippets and a script (see "Snippets" on page 248 and "Loading a snippet via a script" on page 357). If you would like to start with a template that is identical to the one you already have, consider copying it (see "Copying a section" on page 103).
Tip Before you can style an element, you have to select it. In an Email context it can be difficult to select an element by clicking on it. Use the breadcrumbs at the top and the Outline pane at the left, to select an element. See "Selecting an element" on page 174. In order for a style sheet to be applied to a specific section, it needs to be included in that section. There are two ways to do this. Drag & drop a style sheet 1. Click and hold the mouse button on the style sheet on the Resources pane. 2.
Note Style sheets that are linked to (i.e. included in) a section show a chain icon in the Resources pane (see "Resources pane" on page 484). Setting a default Email template for output An Email context can contain multiple templates. When generating output from the Email context, however, only one of the Email templates can be merged with each record.
Note Using a variable email address requires you to load data first; see "Loading data" on page 295. The Email Script Wizard In addition to the drag and drop method, you can use the Email Script Wizard to add data to an email header field. It lets you choose one or more data fields and enter a prefix and/or suffix (per data field). There are two ways to open the Email Script Wizard: l l Via the Email Fields. Open the email section and expand the Email Fields at the top by clicking Email Fields.
Default SMTP settings can be specified in the Preferences dialog: select Window > Preferences, expand the Email preferences and click SMTP. You can add as many presets as needed, for example for different Email Service Providers (see "Using an ESP with PrintShop Mail Connect" on page 810). To do this, click the Add button at the right. Then fill out the following settings: l l l l l Name: The name of the preset. This will show up in the Send Email dialog.
To add variable data to the subject of an email section, drag and drop a data field into the Subject field at the top of the workspace. Two things will happen: l A placeholder for the data field appears in the subject line (for example: @email@). l A new script, named Subject, is added to the Scripts pane. You can add as many data fields to the subject as you like.
all email sections. Recipients: To, CC and BCC To specify recipients for Email output, you can simply drag and drop a data field that contains an email address into the To field at the top of the workspace. A new script, named To, will be added to the Scripts pane. Note that you can add only one data field to the email field this way. When you drag another data field into the email field the existing script will be replaced..
replies. Include the recipient's email address in a dynamic From address to enable automatic detection and removal of undeliverable e-mail addresses. (This technique is called VERP; see Wikipedia.) Reply To address The Reply To address is used by mail clients, when the recipient clicks the Reply To (or Reply All) button. You can type an email address directly in the Reply To field (as long as no script is present for this field).
Email PDF password The Email PDF Password Script Wizard defines a password with which to protect the PDF generated when using the Print context as PDF Attachment option in the Send Email or Send Test Email dialogs (see "Generating Email output" on page 807). The result of the script will be the password necessary to open the PDF when it is received by email. To define a password to protect the generated PDF attachment: 1.
l The contents of the Print context, in the form of a single PDF attachment. (Compression options for PDF attachments can be specified in the Email context's properties; see .) l Other files, an image or a PDF leaflet for example. l Attaching the Print context is one of the options in the Send (Test) Email dialog. By default, when adding the Print context to an email, all Print sections are output to a single PDF file, named after the email subject, which is then attached to the email.
Dynamic attachments: creating file names based on data fields The new Dynamic Attachment wizard lets you concatenate this value with the base location and/or file extension to construct the path. Dynamic Attachment scripts are created via the New option on the toolbar of the Scripts panel. The Dynamic Attachment Script Wizard lets you add a different attachment for each email recipient. It composes one file name (including the path) based on the value of one or more data fields. 1.
http://www.mysite.com/somefolder/attachments/INV2018.246.pdf or 'http://localhost:8080/pod/v1/deliverynotes/{8FCEC8BC-72E8-486B-A206516BF10E21F6}'). Note For attachment names, it is recommended to use only US-ASCII characters. Other characters may not be supported by all email servers and clients. 5. The attachment's name in the email will be the part of the path that comes after the last '/'. When there are no forward slashes in the path, the full path is used.
Of course, you can also use data field values here, for example: results.append(query("").attr("title", record.fields.invoice_number + ".pdf").attr("href", result)); Note that the Wizard can no longer be used once you have edited and saved the script. Note For attachment names, it is recommended to use only US-ASCII characters. Other characters may not be supported by all email servers and clients.
l "Boxes" on page 221: Positioned Box, Inline Box, Div and Span Tip Wrapping elements in a box (see "Boxes" on page 221) or in a semantic HTML element makes it easier to target them in a script or in a style sheet. Place the cursor in the element or select multiple elements. Then, on the menu, click Insert > Wrap in Box. You can now use the wrapper element as a script's or style's selector; see "Using the Text Script Wizard" on page 305 and "Styling and formatting" on page 251.
Editing HTML When you add elements, such as text, images or a table, to the content of a template, you are actually constructing an HTML file. To see this, toggle to the Design tab in the workspace. Click anywhere in the content. Take a look at the breadcrumbs at the top of the workspace. The breadcrumbs show the HTML tag of the clicked element, as well as the HTML tags of other elements to which the clicked element belongs. The clicked element is at the end of the line.
Other attributes Apart from the ID and class, elements can have a varying number of properties, or 'attributes' as they're called in HTML (see "Editing HTML" on the previous page). Which properties an element has, depends on the element itself. An image, for example, has at least four attributes: src (the image's URL), alt (alternate text), width and height. These attributes are visible on the Attributes pane when you click an image in the content.
Note Do not give an element the ID 'pages' or the class name 'dynamic'. These are reserved words. Using them as an ID or class name leads to undesirable effects. 4. Use the Location drop-down (if available) to select where to insert the element. l l l l l At cursor position inserts it where the cursor is located in the template. Before element inserts it before the HTML element in which the cursor is currently located.
tab. The borders will not be visible on the Preview tab. There are two more ways to select an element in the content: l Using the Breadcrumbs at the top of the workspace. Breadcrumbs show the HTML tag of the clicked element, as well as the HTML tags of 'parent elements': elements inside of which the clicked element is located. The clicked element is at the end of the line. Elements with classes or IDs show these details next to them, for instance div #contents > ol.salesitems > li ~contents.
left-align, right-align, or rotate graphical elements. The toolbar buttons only represent a selection of the formatting options for each element. There are no toolbar buttons to change an element's margins, or to add a border to it, for example. To access all formatting properties of an element, you have to open the Formatting dialog. There are two ways to do this: l l Right-click the element and select the type of element on the shortcut menu.
Print and check the option Add additional content (see "Page breakdown" on page 614) in the Print Wizard. To have this done automatically, save this and other output options in an Output Creation Preset: select File > Print presets > Output Creation Settings (see "Output Creation Settings" on page 594). Before adding a Barcode, load data or at least a Data Model; see "Loading data" on page 295. You will need the field names when adding the Barcode.
parameters as well. If it is necessary to concatenate fields to compose the barcode value, edit the script after adding the barcode; see "Barcode script" below. Note For barcodes that require a Checksum, the Designer can calculate a Checksum if that isn't provided by your data. In that case the field should contain the required value minus the Checksum. To include a calculated Checksum in the barcode value, edit the barcode properties after adding the barcode to the template; see below. 7.
Barcode type and properties A barcode is always added with the barcode type's default properties and dimensions. To change the barcode type or the barcode's properties such as the scale and color, open the Barcode properties dialog: right-click the barcode (on the Design tab in the Workspace) and select Barcode on the shortcut menu. The barcode properties set via the properties dialog are written to the data-params attribute on the barcode element in JSON format.
l "MaxiCode" on page 206 l "MSI" on page 207 l OneCode, see "OneCode, KIX Code, Australia Post" on page 209 l "PDF417" on page 210 l "Postnet" on page 212 l "QR Code" on page 214 l "Royal Mail 4 State (RM4SCC)" on page 216 l "Royal Mail Mailmark" on page 218 l UPC-A, UPC-E, see "UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN-8, EAN-13" on page 219 OneCode, KIX Code, Australia Post OneCode, KIX Code and Australia Post are some of the types of barcodes that can be added to a template; see "Barcode" on page 176.
Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width. Proportional: The barcode is stretched up to where it fits either the width or height of the parent box, whichever requires the less stretching. Color The Color group allows you to choose a different Barcode color (instead of black) and Background color (instead of white), by typing a hexadecimal color value (see for example w3school's color picker).
Barcode properties This topic lists the properties of the barcode type Aztec. For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 179. Module size Enter the size of the square modules in pixels. Configuration type Use the drop-down to select the format type used when creating the barcode: only full range format, only compact formats, or any format. Preferred configuration Use the drop-down to select the preferred format for the barcode.
l l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width. Proportional: The barcode is stretched up to where it fits either the width or height of the parent box, whichever requires the less stretching. Color The Color group allows you to choose a different Barcode color (instead of black) and Background color (instead of white), by typing a hexadecimal color value (see for example w3school's color picker).
Module width Specifies the width of the narrow bars in centimeters. Changing this value to a higher value will make the barcode bigger when Scale is set to None. Start Char and Stop Char Use the drop-down to select the start and stop character for the barcode, which defines the encoding mode. Available characters are A, B, C. Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width.
Output format l Defines how the barcode is output on the page. There are two possible formats: l SVG: Vector format. This is smaller in size, but not compatible with Email output. l PNG: Binary rasterized format. This is slightly larger than SVG but will display properly in Email output.
Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width. l Fit to box: The barcode is stretched to fit the parent box in both width and height. Add Checksum When checked, PrintShop Mail Connect will calculate a Checksum character and add that to the result of the Barcode script. If the value to be encoded is longer than 10 digits, a second check character will be calculated.
The barcode can be added either using the Barcode toolbar button or through selecting Insert > Barcode on the menu; see "Adding a Barcode" on page 176. Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties. To change those properties, such as the scale and color, open the Barcode properties dialog: right-click the barcode (on the Design tab in the Workspace) and select the barcode type on the shortcut menu.
Color The Color group allows you to choose a different Barcode color (instead of black) and Background color (instead of white), by typing a hexadecimal color value (see for example w3school's color picker). When black is a composite of CMYK or RGB values, it may incur a color click charge on some printers. Check the Output in Grayscale option to make sure that pure black is used. Output format l Defines how the barcode is output on the page. There are two possible formats: l SVG: Vector format.
l Interleaved 2 of 5 l Matrix 2 of 5 For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 179. Module width Specifies the width of the narrow bars in centimeters. Changing this value to a higher value will make the barcode bigger when Scale is set to None. Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width.
Output format l Defines how the barcode is output on the page. There are two possible formats: l SVG: Vector format. This is smaller in size, but not compatible with Email output. l PNG: Binary rasterized format. This is slightly larger than SVG but will display properly in Email output. Code 128 Code 128 is one of the types of barcodes that can be added to a template; see "Barcode" on page 176.
In Auto mode, the barcode generator will automatically select the correct encoding mode (set A, B or C) according to the input data. Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width. l Fit to box: The barcode is stretched to fit the parent box in both width and height.
The barcode can be added either using the Barcode toolbar button or through selecting Insert > Barcode on the menu; see "Adding a Barcode" on page 176. Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties. To change those properties, such as the scale and color, open the Barcode properties dialog: right-click the barcode (on the Design tab in the Workspace) and select the barcode type on the shortcut menu. Barcode properties This topic lists the properties of the Data Matrix barcode.
l Text is used to encode data that mainly contains numbers and lowercase l Base256 is used to encode 8 bit values l l Auto Detect automatically detects the data content and encodes using the most appropriate method. None does not use any encoding. Preferred format Use the drop-down to select the size of the Data Matrix. Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width.
UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN-8, EAN-13 UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN-8 and EAN-13 are a few of the barcode types that can be added to a template. The barcode can be added either using the Barcode toolbar button or through selecting Insert > Barcode on the menu; see "Adding a Barcode" on page 176. Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties.
l Type: The supplement type can be 2-digit (originally used to indicate the edition of a magazine or periodical) or 5-digit (used to indicate the suggested retail price for books). In case this option is set to None, and the data includes digits for the 2 or 5 supplement, the supplement data will be skipped and the additional barcode will not be rendered. Note When the chosen supplement type doesn't match the data, the supplement data will be skipped and the additional barcode will not be rendered.
GS1 DataMatrix GS1 DataMatrix is one of the types of barcodes that can be added to a template; see "Barcode" on page 176. The barcode can be added either using the Barcode toolbar button or through selecting Insert > Barcode on the menu; see "Adding a Barcode" on page 176. Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties.
l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width. l Fit to box: The barcode is stretched to fit the parent box in both width and height. Add Checksum When checked, PrintShop Mail Connect will calculate a Checksum character and add that to the result of the Barcode script. If the value to be encoded is longer than 10 digits, a second check character will be calculated.
Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties. To change those properties, such as the scale and color, open the Barcode properties dialog: right-click the barcode (on the Design tab in the Workspace) and select the barcode type on the shortcut menu. Barcode properties This topic lists the properties of the barcode type GS1-128. For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 179. Module width Specifies the width of the narrow bars in centimeters.
When black is a composite of CMYK or RGB values, it may incur a color click charge on some printers. Check the Output in Grayscale option to make sure that pure black is used. Output format l Defines how the barcode is output on the page. There are two possible formats: l SVG: Vector format. This is smaller in size, but not compatible with Email output. l PNG: Binary rasterized format. This is slightly larger than SVG but will display properly in Email output.
Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width. Proportional: The barcode is stretched up to where it fits either the width or height of the parent box, whichever requires the less stretching. Color The Color group allows you to choose a different Barcode color (instead of black) and Background color (instead of white), by typing a hexadecimal color value (see for example w3school's color picker).
Barcode properties This topic lists the properties of the barcode type IMPB. For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 179. Color The Color group allows you to choose a different Barcode color (instead of black) and Background color (instead of white), by typing a hexadecimal color value (see for example w3school's color picker). When black is a composite of CMYK or RGB values, it may incur a color click charge on some printers.
l Code 11 l Code 93 l Code 93 extended l Industrial 2 of 5 l Interleaved 2 of 5 l Matrix 2 of 5 For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 179. Module width Specifies the width of the narrow bars in centimeters. Changing this value to a higher value will make the barcode bigger when Scale is set to None. Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width.
When black is a composite of CMYK or RGB values, it may incur a color click charge on some printers. Check the Output in Grayscale option to make sure that pure black is used. Output format l Defines how the barcode is output on the page. There are two possible formats: l SVG: Vector format. This is smaller in size, but not compatible with Email output. l PNG: Binary rasterized format. This is slightly larger than SVG but will display properly in Email output.
Module width Specifies the width of the narrow bars in centimeters. Changing this value to a higher value will make the barcode bigger when Scale is set to None. Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width. l Fit to box: The barcode is stretched to fit the parent box in both width and height.
Email output. Code 11, Code 93, Code 93 extended, Industrial 2 of 5, Interleaved 2 of 5, Matrix 2 of 5 Code 11, Code 93, Code 93 extended, Industrial 2 of 5, Interleaved 2 of 5, and Matrix 2 of 5 are a few of the barcode types that can be added to a template. The barcode can be added either using the Barcode toolbar button or through selecting Insert > Barcode on the menu; see "Adding a Barcode" on page 176. Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties.
Add Checksum When checked, PrintShop Mail Connect will calculate a Checksum character and add that to the result of the Barcode script. If the value to be encoded is longer than 10 digits, a second check character will be calculated. Human Readable Message When this option is checked, PrintShop Mail Connect shows a human readable text below or above the barcode, as defined using the Text Position, using the specified font and font size. The font size is given in points (pt).
Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties. To change those properties, such as the scale and color, open the Barcode properties dialog: right-click the barcode (on the Design tab in the Workspace) and select the barcode type on the shortcut menu. Barcode properties This topic lists the properties of the MaxiCode barcode. For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 179.
Barcode properties This topic lists the properties of the barcode type MSI. For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 179. Module width Specifies the width of the narrow bars in centimeters. Changing this value to a higher value will make the barcode bigger when Scale is set to None. Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width.
When black is a composite of CMYK or RGB values, it may incur a color click charge on some printers. Check the Output in Grayscale option to make sure that pure black is used. Output format l Defines how the barcode is output on the page. There are two possible formats: l SVG: Vector format. This is smaller in size, but not compatible with Email output. l PNG: Binary rasterized format. This is slightly larger than SVG but will display properly in Email output.
Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width. Proportional: The barcode is stretched up to where it fits either the width or height of the parent box, whichever requires the less stretching. Color The Color group allows you to choose a different Barcode color (instead of black) and Background color (instead of white), by typing a hexadecimal color value (see for example w3school's color picker).
Barcode properties This topic lists the properties of the barcode type PDF417. For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 179.
Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width. l Fit to box: The barcode is stretched to fit the parent box in both width and height. l Proportionally: The barcode is stretched up to where it fits either the width or height of the parent box, whichever requires the less stretching.
Barcode properties This topic lists the properties of the barcode type Postnet. For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 179. Module width Specifies the width of the narrow bars in centimeters. Changing this value to a higher value will make the barcode bigger when Scale is set to None. Bar height You can set the height (in cm) of the short bars and the tall bars in the Postnet barcode.
Output format l Defines how the barcode is output on the page. There are two possible formats: l SVG: Vector format. This is smaller in size, but not compatible with Email output. l PNG: Binary rasterized format. This is slightly larger than SVG but will display properly in Email output. QR Code A QR Code is one of the types of barcodes that can be added to a template; see "Barcode" on page 176.
Encoding This option defines the encoding of the barcode. When Auto is selected, the barcode generator determines the encoding based on the supplied string. The other options are: l l Numeric: 10 bits per 3 digits, with a maximum of 7089 numerical characters. Alphanumeric: 11 bits per 2 characters, with a maximum of 4296 alphanumerical characters. l Byte: 8 bits per character, with a maximum of 2953 characters. l Kanji: 13 bits per character, with a maximum of 1817 characters.
l l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width. Proportional: The barcode is stretched up to where it fits either the width or height of the parent box, whichever requires the less stretching. Color The Color group allows you to choose a different Barcode color (instead of black) and Background color (instead of white), by typing a hexadecimal color value (see for example w3school's color picker).
Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties. To change those properties, such as the scale and color, open the Barcode properties dialog: right-click the barcode (on the Design tab in the Workspace) and select the barcode type on the shortcut menu. Barcode properties This topic lists the properties of the barcode types OneCode, KIX Code, Royal Mail 4 State and Australia Post. For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 179.
Color The Color group allows you to choose a different Barcode color (instead of black) and Background color (instead of white), by typing a hexadecimal color value (see for example w3school's color picker). When black is a composite of CMYK or RGB values, it may incur a color click charge on some printers. Check the Output in Grayscale option to make sure that pure black is used. Output format l Defines how the barcode is output on the page. There are two possible formats: l SVG: Vector format.
Preferred version Use the drop-down to select the size of the barcode, in a number of modules. The actual size of the barcode can be 12 mm x 12 mm up to 22.4 mm x 22.4 mm, depending on the preferred version and the module width. Scale Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element: l l None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width.
Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties. To change those properties, such as the scale and color, open the Barcode properties dialog: right-click the barcode (on the Design tab in the Workspace) and select the barcode type on the shortcut menu. Barcode properties This topic lists the properties of the barcode types UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN-8 and EAN-13. For the properties of other barcode types, see "Barcode type and properties" on page 179.
Note When the chosen supplement type doesn't match the data, the supplement data will be skipped and the additional barcode will not be rendered. l l Height Factor: This is the relative height of the supplement's bars compared to the normal bars. Space Before : Defines the space between the main symbol and the supplement, in cm.
Tip Wrapping elements in a box (or in a semantic HTML element) makes it easier to target them in a script or in a style sheet. Place the cursor in the element or select multiple elements. Then, on the menu, click Insert > Wrap in Box. You can now use the wrapper element as a script's or style's selector; see "Using the Text Script Wizard" on page 305 and "Styling and formatting" on page 251. Tip With the Copy fit feature, text can automatically be scaled to the available space in a Box or Div.
Dynamically changing the position A Positioned Box has the following attributes: l anchor defines the page number (starting by 0) the box is placed on l offset-x defines the horizontal position of the box relative to its container l offset-y defines the vertical position of the box relative to its container. These attributes can be set in a script. The following script dynamically changes the position of a Positioned Box in a Print context by setting the offset-x and offset-y values. results.
Adding an Inline Box To insert an inline box, use the icon on the toolbar. Inline Boxes can be resized using the handles on the sides and corner. They can be styled using the Format > Box menu item, through the CTRL+M keyboard shortcut or through the CSS files; see "Styling and formatting" on page 251 and "Styling templates with CSS files" on page 253. Positioning an Inline Box Initially an Inline Box will float to the left.
Div The Div is the element used to create both Positioned Boxes and Inline Boxes. By default, a Div element reacts pretty much like a paragraph (
) or an inline box set to 'no float' except that it can be resized directly. Just like Positioned Boxes and Inline Boxes, Div elements can be styled using the Format > Box menu item, through the CTRL+M keyboard shortcut or through the CSS files; see "Styling and formatting" on page 251 and "Styling templates with CSS files" on page 253.
underlying configuration: Programmatically configure a Chart object. For another example see this How-to: Put one slice per detail record in a Pie Chart. Note As of PrintShop Mail Connectversion 2018.1, the way charts can be compiled and presented has been greatly improved. As a consequence, charts made with a version of Connect prior to 2018.1 may not be converted correctly when opened in a later version.
l l Before end tag inserts it within the current HTML element, at the end, just before the end tag.* After element inserts it after the element in which the cursor is currently located. For example if the cursor is within a paragraph, the insertion point will be after the end tag of the paragraph (
).* * If the current element is located inside another element, use the Elements drop-down to select which element is used for the insertion location.Business Graphic" on the facing page. When a preview or output must be generated, the script adds the data for the chart to the data-amchart attribute (in a dataProvider property). Connect then passes the value of that attribute to the integrated amCharts library. Rasterizing a business graphic Business graphics are output as SVG images, but not all clients may support that format. Before generating output, you may want to 'rasterize' it. This converts the business graph into a JPG or PNG image.
Tip The Toggle non-numeric fields button filters non-numeric fields from the list. The list will then display only Integer, Float and Currency data fields. 2. Adjust the label of each of the selected data fields as needed: click on the label and type the new one. In Bar and Line Charts with Data Fields as input data, these labels appear under the xaxis of the chart. Note Labels are used in the legend. They will be visible when the legend is enabled. 3. Select a color for each of the selected fields.
Start by opening the Chart Properties dialog. Right-click the chart (in the template, or in the Outline pane) and select Chart. Every tab menu in the Chart Properties dialog, except the last one, gives direct access to a number of layout options.
"rotate": true, ... } Properties of the Legend (listed here: https://docs.amcharts.com/3/javascriptcharts/AmLegend) should go in the legend section in the JSON: ... "legend": { "position": "right" }, The Source tab also lets you change properties that are available in either the Script Wizard or other tabs of the Chart Properties dialog.
Using themes The amCharts library supports working with themes. The default themes are: light, dark, black, patterns, and chalk. All except the 'patterns' theme can be used in Connect templates. Here's how to do that. 1. Add the theme to the top of the JSON on the Source tab of the Chart Properties diaog. For example: { "theme": "light", ... This setting overrides any color settings made in the Chart Script wizard and on the other tabs of the Chart Properties dialog. 2.
template and a script is created to update it automatically, otherwise a static text with the date is inserted. l Available Formats: Select the date/time format in which to display the date. Click OK to insert the date or Cancel to close the dialog. Tip If you are looking to add a date that originates from a record set, to a template, see: "Variable Data" on page 303. To insert a date you could use either the drag and drop method or the Text Script Wizard; the latter lets you set the date/time format.
Note The Locale, set in the Edit > Locale dialog, has an influence on the formatting of a date. The Locale can be the system's locale, a specific locale, or it can depend on the value of a data field; see "Locale" on page 290. Hyperlink and mailto link Links can be added to any template but they only work in electronic output (web pages, email and PDF files). They can be a regular hyperlink pointing to a web page or a mailto link that will open the default email client when clicked.
3. Select URL to create a regular hyperlink pointing to a web page, or select Email to create a mailto-link that will open the default email client when clicked. 4. For a URL: l URL: enter a valid, well-formed URL to link to. It must start with the protocol, such as http:// or https://. Target: use the drop-down or type in the target for the link.When the target is _ blank the link will open in a new browser window or tab.
Images Images are a powerful ingredient in all of your templates. This topic explains how to add and use them. Currently the supported image formats are: BMP, PNG, GIF, JPG/JPEG, TIF/TIFF, PDF, EPS and SVG. Ways to use images In templates, both imported images and external images can be used (see "Adding images" on the next page and "Resources" on page 99).
"Creating a Print template with a Wizard" on page 109). To use a PDF file as background image for an existing section, see "Using a PDF file as background image" on page 123. Filling optional whitespace Conditional content and dynamic tables, when used in a Print section, may or may not leave an empty space at the bottom of the last page.
Imported images are images that are saved within the template file. To import images into a template and add them to the content, you can use the drag-and-drop method or the Select Image dialog (both are explained below). External images are either located on a specific website (URL), or in a folder on a hard drive that is accessible from your computer.
l Click Resources, Disk or Url, depending on where the image is located. l l l Resources lists the images that are present in the Images folder on the Resources pane. Disk lists image files that reside in a folder on a hard drive that is accessible from your computer. Click the Browse button to select a folder (or an image in a folder). As an alternative it is possible to enter the path manually. You can give a local path (e.g. C:\Images\Test.jpg) or use the "file" protocol.
and nopreview parameters are not sent to the host; they are used internally. Therefore, URLs that rely on one of these parameters cannot be used. l With an external image, you can check the option Save with template. If this option is checked, the file will be inserted in the Images folder on the Resources pane at the top left. If it isn't saved with the template, the image remains external.
Moving an image An image that is added to a section behaves like a character and is part of the text flow. To move it, simply click the image and drag and drop it somewhere else in the text flow. To learn how to wrap text around it, see "Wrapping text around an image" on page 277. How to make an image stay at a certain position (like any image added to a Master Page) is explained here: "Pulling an image out of the text flow" on page 277.
Using a CSS gradient to create an image CSS gradients are a new type of image added in the CSS3 Image Module. CSS gradients let you display smooth transitions between two or more specified colors, while repeating gradients let you display patterns. This way, using image files for these effects can be avoided, thereby reducing download time and bandwidth usage. In addition, objects with gradients look better when zoomed in a browser, and you can adjust your layout with much more flexibility.
For information about HTML tables and a list of attributes, see https://www.w3schools.com/html/html_tables.asp. Inserting a Table 1. On the toolbar, click the Insert Table button, or on the menu select Insert > Table > Standard. 2. Enter the Table's desired attributes: l l ID: a unique identifier for the Table. IDs are used to access the Table from scripts and as CSS selectors for style rules. Class: A class identifier for the Table.
Note l l Tables with an absolute position are only useful in Print sections. Tables on a Master Page have to have an absolute position, unless they are located inside another element with an absolute position. 4. Click Next and use the drop-down to select the desired table style. 5. Uncheck the box Allow resizing if the columns should not be resizable from the Design and Preview modes in the workspace. This is useful if the column size is determined in the Source mode or in a style sheet. 6.
Alternatively, right-click the Table and on the shortcut menu, select Row > Insert Above or Insert Below, or select Column > Insert Before or Insert After. Deleting a row or column To delete a row or column, simply right-click the row or column and select Row > Delete or Column > Delete on the shortcut menu. If the deleted row was targeted by a script, you will be asked if you want to delete the script as well. Styling a Table To learn how to style Tables, see "Styling a table" on page 271.
3. Drag and drop it somewhere else in the outline. To move a Table with an absolute position, you can also: l l l Click in the Table and then drag the border to move the Table. Select the Table (see "Selecting an element" on page 174) and type the desired values in the Top and Left fields on the Attributes pane. Select the Table and select Format > Table, on the menu. On the Table tab, change the Positioning values.
ConnectDesigner. Formatting options like bold, italic and formats like Heading 1, Heading 2 are maintained. Extra spaces When you add spaces in Design or Preview mode the editor automatically preserves any extra spaces by converting them to non-breaking spaces (" " in HTML). It does this because in HTML extra spaces are generally removed. Take this into account when you edit the template in Source mode (i.e. in HTML) or add text via a script.
Formatting text Text can be styled, colored, centered, indented etc. It can even be displayed so that it reads from right to left. See "Styling text and paragraphs" on page 263. In all templates you can use the fonts that are provided with the Designer, as well as imported fonts; see "Fonts" on page 287. Snippets A snippet is a small, ready-to-use piece of content in a file. Snippets can be re-used within the same template, in all contexts and sections.
Remote snippets A remote snippet is an HTML file that is not located within your template file but is hosted on a Content Management System or other location. To add a remote snippet: 1. Right-click the Snippets folder on the Resources pane, and click New Remote Snippet. 2. Enter a name for the file as it appears in the Snippets folder. This name is shown in the Snippets folder with the .rhtml file extension. 3. Enter the URL for the remote resource.
visible in remote snippets that are inserted as shared content. Via a script In addition to the drag-and-drop method, it is possible, and often useful, to insert a snippet or part of it, using a script; for remote snippets this is normal practice. See "Loading a snippet via a script" on page 357. Tip To export a snippet from your template, drag or copy/paste it out of the Snippets folder to a folder on the local hard drive.
JSON Snippets JSON Snippets are snippets that contain pieces of JSON data instead of HTML. Just like HTML snippets, JSON snippets are stored in the Snippets folder on the Resources pane, but their file name should end in '.json'. JSON Snippets cannot be inserted into the content directly, but they can be accessed via a script using the function loadjson(): var json_data = loadjson("snippets/snippet.json"); results.html(json_data.field1); See also: "Writing your own scripts" on page 340.
Note that where local formatting conflicts with a formatting rule for the same element in one of the style sheets, the local formatting rule gets priority; the rule in the style sheet will be ignored. It is highly recommended to use style sheets in templates right from the start. Even more so if the communications are going to be output to different output channels, or if they consist of different sections (for example, a covering letter followed by a policy).
Styling templates with CSS files The Layout toolbar and the Format menu offer many possibilities to style every piece of a template. However, styling every single element, one after another, is a lot of work and, more importantly, can result in a template with a messy mix of styles that isn’t easy to maintain and lacks consistent design. Therefore the preferred way to style templates is with CSS files: Cascading Style Sheets. This topic explains how to do that.
On this tab you can view and edit the content of the template in the form of plain text with HTML tags (note the angle brackets: <>). You may add and edit the text and the HTML tags, classes, ID’s and other attributes. To learn more about HTML, see for example https://developer.mozilla.org/enUS/docs/Web/Guide/HTML/Introduction and https://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp. Many video courses and hands-on courses about HTML (and CSS) are offered on the Internet as well, some for free.
Adding CSS files To add a CSS file of your own, open an Explorer window, drag the file to the Resources pane and drop it on the Stylesheets folder. In case the CSS file has references to specific images, you can drag/drop or copy/paste those images into the Stylesheets folder as well. To create a new CSS file, right-click the Stylesheet folder on the Resources pane and select New Stylesheet. Note The order in which style sheets are executed, can affect the actual output.
file name manually. The complete syntax with the "file" protocol is: file:///. If the host is "localhost", it can be omitted, resulting in file:///, for example: file:///c:/resources/images/image.jpg. If the file is located on another server in your network, the path must contain five slashes after "file:". Tip After adding the remote file, you may right-click it and select Download Resource.
Styling your templates with CSS files Note Email clients do not read CSS files and some even remove a
