Designer offers different possibilities to use files from external sources. This post shows you how you can work with images, text and data. Files can be used in a static way without being changed after upload. But Designer also allows dynamics, either for a user during document design or in automatted processing during document creation.
Static images
Images being used in documents are available after their upload to the repository. Even though it is possible to insert an image directly into a template we strongly recommend not to do this. It is much better to insert the image into a segment first and to place this segment into the template. This requires some additional clicks during the creation, but it offers greater flexibility later on. A segment with an image can repeatedly be used in different positions of a template
- in the main area of a document
- in the border areas of a master document
- as background image or
- on selected pages of the final document (first, last, odd or even pages).
Dynamics also for static images
Designer can dynamically select images for different output media types. You can for example use image A with a low resolution for a digital document and image B with a high resolution for a pdf-file. The setup for this selection is defined in a so-called resource container, all other things happen automatically.
It is also possible to adapt the size of an image dynamically to the space being available for the segment in the template. You only need one segment with a bigger image in order to fill a larger or smaller space in different templates with one image and its adapted size.
Dynamic images
There are different use cases where images are not uploaded as static files to designer. They are stored outside and will dynamically be inserted using the path to the image which comes from the data source. This allows you to insert for example
- the logo of the appropriate shipment provider in a certificate of dispatch sent by an online shop
- a marketing block in a delivery note depending on the gender of the recipient
- a suitable image in a message concerning the amount of loyalty points in accordance with this amount.
Dynamics are also possible concerning the external storage place. The path from the data source may always remain the same, but the image being stored on the server can vary. The file “marketing-image.jpg” may be a christmas image first, then one for easter, another one for summer vacations and so on.
It is also possible to use the same images from the same source on a web page and in a letter or a mail – provided the image size is always the same.
The perfect end for a document
If the content of a document may have a variable length and if you want to use the available space on the last page including the very last line, you can use the so-called white space management.
If there is a lot of space left, the segment with the largest image will be used. If the space is very limited, the segment with only one line of text will be used.
You have to select the appropriate segments for the document once, but then everything will happen automatically.
Two roads to barcodes and charts
If you need a barcode or a chart in your document, you can also choose between the static and the dynamic way. You can either create the images in an external tool and upload it to the repository. Or you pick the basic data dynamically from your data source and let Designer do the transformation to a barcode. You have to set the basics such as type, size, color and other details and, of course, the field in the data source. The transformation will be done automatically based on real data.
The same is valid for charts. Currently Designer can produce bar, pie or line charts.
Static documents
There are different types of documents which can be added as appendix to customer documents. Very common are terms and conditions or other legal documents. They are the same for every recipient, need a special form, change rarely and must not require much time for handling.
These requirements are met by using pdf-files which are uploaded in Designer and integrated into a publication. The documents will be availble to the customer without producing operation expense as they can neither be changed in Designer nor in Workspace.
xml-files
The xml-files you upload in Designer for template design define the basic data structure. Most of the time they only contain one sample record.
To test rules and conditions you may need different records. Open the “Preview”-menu, click on “preview” in there and select the appropriate xml file. Then click the “edit”-button. A preview window containing the xml-file will open. You can change the content of some records and save it. You will then see the pdf-preview using the records you just changed.
