Xerox Elixir Design Pro Tools User guide

Follow the Crop Marks

C

DesignPro Tools Form Editor

for AFP

U s e r G u i d e

2 DesignPro Tools Form Editor

®

for AFP User Guide

Elixir Technologies Corporation

721 East Main Street

Ventura, CA 93001

DP200801V300

All product names and trade names used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

To report any errors you might find, please send a note to errata@elixir.com. Please note: e-mails

are used to correct future versions of this guide and may not receive an individual reply. For

technical support, please see “Customer Support” on page 23.

Contents 3

Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction 15

DesignPro Form Editor Overview.......................................................15

What’s New in DesignPro Form Editor?.............................................16

Associated DesignPro Applications.....................................................17

About This Guide.................................................................................18

Who Should Use this Guide?..................................................................... 19

Related Guides........................................................................................... 20

Conventions.........................................................................................20

Typographic Conventions.......................................................................... 21

Symbolic Conventions............................................................................... 21

Getting the Answers You Need...........................................................22

Customer Support...................................................................................... 23

Elixir Web Site Support............................................................................. 24

Elixir Training ........................................................................................... 24

Product Help.............................................................................................. 24

Release Notes ............................................................................................ 24

Chapter 2: The Form Editor Environment 25

Opening Form Editor...........................................................................25

What’s in the Workspace?...................................................................25

Design Area............................................................................................... 26

Manage window ........................................................................................ 27

Messages window...................................................................................... 31

Clearing Messages............................................................................................31

Copying Messages............................................................................................32

Logging Messages............................................................................................32

Displaying Message Time and Date.................................................................34

Color Coding Messages....................................................................................34

Toolbox...................................................................................................... 36

Workspace Tools .................................................................................36

Menus ........................................................................................................ 36

Toolbars..................................................................................................... 37

Customizing Toolbar Display...........................................................................39

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Creating a New Toolbar...................................................................................40

Adding Buttons to Toolbars.............................................................................41

Status Bar................................................................................................... 41

Ruler.......................................................................................................... 42

Displaying and Hiding the Ruler .....................................................................42

Changing the Ruler Position............................................................................42

Changing the Unit of Measurement.................................................................43

Using Grid Settings for Ruler ..........................................................................44

Changing the Zero Position of Rulers..............................................................44

Changing the Position of Measurement Values ...............................................45

Grid............................................................................................................ 46

Displaying and Hiding the Grid.......................................................................46

Automatically Aligning Objects to the Grid....................................................47

Specifying Grid Spacing..................................................................................48

Guides........................................................................................................ 49

Turning the Guides On and Off........................................................................50

Moving Guides to the Design Area..................................................................50

Removing Guides from the Design Area.........................................................52

Aligning Objects to the Guides........................................................................53

Crosshair.................................................................................................... 54

Displaying and Hiding the Crosshair...............................................................54

Basic Workspace Functions.................................................................55

Moving Objects Using the Keyboard...............................................................55

Zooming within the Design Area.....................................................................55

Using the Full Screen View....................................................................... 56

Using the Right-Click Menu ..................................................................... 56

Choosing Commands................................................................................. 57

Working with Property Dialogs................................................................. 57

Opening Other DesignPro Applications from Form Editor.................59

Chapter 3: Form Basics 61

Supported File Formats .......................................................................61

Basic Form Operations........................................................................62

Creating a Form......................................................................................... 62

Opening a Form......................................................................................... 63

Opening an Elixir Form ...................................................................................64

Opening Forms of an External Format ............................................................64

Opening a Recently Used Form.......................................................................65

Saving a Form............................................................................................ 66

Saving a Form to Elixir Format .......................................................................66

Contents 5

Saving Forms to External Format.....................................................................67

Customizing the Form............................................................................... 68

Setting Form Dimensions.................................................................................68

Setting Form Orientation..................................................................................69

Applying Form Identification Settings.............................................................69

Adding Comments............................................................................................70

Setting Form Offsets.........................................................................................71

Adding Page Border .........................................................................................71

Form Groups........................................................................................72

Merging a Form Group.....................................................................................72

Saving a Form Group .......................................................................................73

Form Templates...................................................................................73

Loading a Form Template.................................................................................74

Removing a Form Template.............................................................................74

Changing the Color of Template Objects.........................................................74

Chapter 4: Resources and Formats 75

Resources.............................................................................................75

Gathering Resources............................................................................75

Understanding the Elixir Directory Structure............................................ 77

Copying Resources to the Appropriate Directory ..................................... 78

Setting up the Resource Searching Order.................................................. 78

Setting Page Caching Options................................................................... 80

Creating Backups....................................................................................... 80

Setting File Filtering Options.................................................................... 81

Converting Form, Font and Image files to AFP Format......................81

Using the Resource Library.................................................................82

Resource Library Structure...............................................................................83

Importing Resources to a Resource Library.....................................................84

Exporting Resources from a Resource Library ................................................85

Managing Resource Objects...................................................................... 86

Verifying Resources..........................................................................................87

Exporting Resources.........................................................................................88

Embedding Resources ......................................................................................90

About User Profiles .............................................................................91

Selecting a User Profile............................................................................. 91

Creating a Custom User Profile................................................................. 92

Setting Symbol Properties......................................................................... 93

File Formats.........................................................................................94

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Application Format Settings...................................................................... 94

Application Format Commands.......................................................................95

Document Format Settings........................................................................ 95

Document Format Commands.........................................................................95

File Format Properties............................................................................... 96

Changing Input Format Properties...................................................................97

Changing Output Format Properties................................................................97

Viewing Parser and Converter Properties........................................................98

Registering New File Extensions...................................................................100

Elixir Parameter Files (EPM).................................................................. 101

Saving an EPM File .......................................................................................101

Clearing an EPM File.....................................................................................102

Opening an EPM File.....................................................................................102

Chapter 5: Drawing Tools 103

Form Design Tools............................................................................103

Using the Line Tool................................................................................. 103

Drawing a Line...............................................................................................104

Setting Line Thickness...................................................................................105

Setting Line Start/End Style...........................................................................106

Using the Box Tool ................................................................................. 106

Drawing a Box...............................................................................................107

Drawing a Box with a Diagonal.....................................................................107

Drawing a Square...........................................................................................108

Setting Box Line Width .................................................................................109

Setting Box Border Properties ....................................................................... 110

Creating a Rounded Box................................................................................ 110

Setting a Corner Radius ................................................................................. 112

Splitting a Box ............................................................................................... 112

Using the Ellipse Tool............................................................................. 114

Drawing an Ellipse......................................................................................... 114

Drawing an Arc.............................................................................................. 115

Drawing a Pie................................................................................................. 116

Drawing a Chord............................................................................................ 116

Inserting a Diagonal in the Ellipse................................................................. 117

Setting Ellipse Line Width............................................................................. 117

Using the Path Tool................................................................................. 118

Drawing an Open Path................................................................................... 118

Drawing a Closed Path................................................................................... 119

Adding Color to a Closed Path ......................................................................120

Drawing a Path using Vertical and Horizontal Lines.....................................121

Contents 7

Drawing a Path using the Bezier Curve Formula...........................................121

Drawing a Path using the Tangential Curve Formula.....................................122

Setting Path Line Width..................................................................................122

Adding an Image ..................................................................................... 122

Inserting an Image..........................................................................................123

Replacing an Image........................................................................................123

Using the Barcode Tool........................................................................... 124

Inserting a Barcode.........................................................................................124

Adding Barcode Text......................................................................................125

Selecting the Barcode Type............................................................................126

Setting Barcode Dimensions ..........................................................................135

Setting Human Readable Information............................................................137

Specifying Error Correction and Tolerance Settings......................................140

Setting Barcode Encoding Properties.............................................................142

Chapter 6: Colors and Patterns 143

Introduction to Color .........................................................................143

Using Colors......................................................................................144

Applying Color to Form Objects....................................................................144

Working with the Color Palette.........................................................145

Opening a Color Palette..................................................................................145

Adding a New Color to the Color Palette.......................................................146

Editing a Color ...............................................................................................148

Deleting a Color .............................................................................................149

Saving a Color Palette ....................................................................................149

Working with the Palette List.................................................................. 150

Importing a Palette List..................................................................................150

Exporting a Palette List..................................................................................150

Filling Objects with Patterns..............................................................151

Adding a Pattern to an Object ........................................................................151

Substituting Shades with Solid Colors .................................................... 152

Working with Shade Lists ....................................................................... 153

Importing a Shade List ...................................................................................153

Exporting a Shade List ...................................................................................153

Chapter 7: Using Text 155

Enhancing Forms using Text.............................................................155

Text Basics .............................................................................................. 155

Inserting Text..................................................................................................156

Editing Text ....................................................................................................157

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Positioning Text .............................................................................................157

Text-Specific Properties.......................................................................... 158

Setting Font Properties...................................................................................158

Underlining Text............................................................................................159

Striking Out Text............................................................................................160

Setting Text Object Foreground and Background Color ...............................161

Setting Text Direction....................................................................................162

Rotating a Character.......................................................................................163

Scaling a Text Object.....................................................................................164

Text Operations....................................................................................... 164

Setting Text Import Options...........................................................................165

Importing Text................................................................................................165

Joining Text....................................................................................................167

Splitting Text..................................................................................................169

Reformatting Text..........................................................................................170

Finding Text...................................................................................................171

Replacing Text ...............................................................................................171

Text Layout ............................................................................................. 172

Setting Text Tabs Option................................................................................173

Setting Text Indents Option ...........................................................................175

Using Word Wrap...........................................................................................176

Setting Text Justifications Options ................................................................176

Setting Text Spacing ......................................................................................178

Setting Line Spacing......................................................................................179

Removing Redundant Spaces.........................................................................180

Special Characters .............................................................................180

Adding Special Characters Using the Soft Keyboard ............................. 180

Adding Special Characters Using the Character Map............................. 182

Setting Character Mapping Options...............................................................182

CJK Support ......................................................................................185

Inserting Text........................................................................................... 185

Inserting Text .................................................................................................185

Importing Files...............................................................................................185

Pasting Text from Other Applications ...........................................................187

Entering CJK Text..........................................................................................188

Setting Text Properties............................................................................ 195

Word Wrapping....................................................................................... 195

Saving Forms........................................................................................... 198

Saving as an AFP Overlay Object..................................................................198

Saving in PDF and PS Formats......................................................................199

Contents 9

Chapter 8: Fonts and Font Lists 201

Fonts...................................................................................................201

Font Types Supported in Form Editor..................................................... 202

Working with a Font List...................................................................202

Specifying a Default Font List................................................................. 202

Viewing Font Properties.......................................................................... 203

Adding Fonts to a Font List..................................................................... 206

Adding a Windows Font.................................................................................206

Adding an External Font ................................................................................208

Adding a Coded Font......................................................................................211

Adding a Font Pair..........................................................................................212

Making Changes to a Font List................................................................ 214

Deleting a Font ...............................................................................................214

Replacing a Font.............................................................................................214

Changing the Properties of a Windows Font..................................................215

Importing a Font List............................................................................... 216

Exporting a Font List............................................................................... 217

Chapter 9: Using Elixir PrintDriver Pro 219

Elixir PrintDriver Pro Overview........................................................219

Supported Applications ........................................................................... 219

Print File Types ....................................................................................... 220

Forms..............................................................................................................220

Documents......................................................................................................220

Using the PrintDriver Wizard............................................................221

Changing PrintDriver Pro Default Options............................................. 222

Setting up and Converting the Print Job.................................................. 224

Using PrintDriver with Elixir Scout Manager...................................228

Setting up a Watched Directory............................................................... 228

Creating an Event .................................................................................... 233

Chapter 10: Active Objects 235

About Active Objects.........................................................................235

Working with Active Objects.................................................................. 236

Adding Active Objects...................................................................................237

Viewing Active Objects..................................................................................237

Common Active Object Properties.......................................................... 238

Setting the Active Object Name ....................................................................239

Adding an Active Object Border ...................................................................239

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Setting the Active Object Border Color.........................................................240

Setting the Active Object Foreground and Background Color......................241

Adding Text to the Active Object..................................................................242

Selecting Active Object Fonts........................................................................242

Active Button Properties ......................................................................... 243

Adding an Image to the Active Button ..........................................................243

Adding a URL to the Active Button .............................................................244

Active Checkbox Properties.................................................................... 245

Setting the State of Active Checkbox ............................................................245

Active Combobox Properties .................................................................. 246

Setting the Value List for Combobox.............................................................247

Active Editbox Properties........................................................................ 248

Setting the Editbox Format............................................................................248

Customizing the Active Editbox....................................................................250

Signature Properties................................................................................. 252

Locking the Signature Object ........................................................................252

Creating a PDF File................................................................................. 253

Setting PDF Output Properties.......................................................................254

Saving a Form to PDF Format with Active Objects......................................254

Chapter 11: Data Tagging 257

Understanding Data Tags ..................................................................257

Tagging in DesignPro Tools..............................................................258

Tagging Limitations ................................................................................ 258

About Tag References.......................................................................259

Creating a Tag Definition in the Manage Window........................................260

Setting Tag Definitions Properties.................................................................260

Changing Tag Definitions..............................................................................262

Adding Tag References.....................................................................263

Adding Tag References using the Tools Toolbar...........................................264

Adding Tag References using Tag Syntax.....................................................265

Setting Tag Reference Default Properties (Options dialog)..............266

Setting Tag Reference Display Options.........................................................266

Working with Tag Definition Lists ...................................................268

Importing a Tag Definition List .....................................................................268

Exporting a Tag Definition List ....................................................................269

Using Elixir PrintDriver Pro for Data Tagging.................................269

Adding Tags to a MS Word Document..........................................................269

DAT Files..........................................................................................271

Basic Operations...................................................................................... 271

Contents 11

Creating a DAT File........................................................................................271

Adding Form References to a DAT File.........................................................272

Adding Script Commands to a DAT File .......................................................273

Working with DAT Files......................................................................... 274

Opening a Form from a DAT File ..................................................................274

Reordering Form References or Script Commands in a DAT File.................274

Deleting Form References or Script Commands in a DAT File.....................275

Exporting a DAT File .....................................................................................275

Importing a DAT File .....................................................................................275

DAT Parser Properties............................................................................. 276

Setting DAT Parser Properties........................................................................276

Converting DAT Files to Normalized AFPDS........................................ 277

Saving Forms to ELX Format ........................................................................277

Running the Conversion.................................................................................278

Converting DAT Files to Normalized AFPDS using the Command Prompt.278

Converting DAT Files to Normalized AFPDS using Manager ......................280

Chapter 12: Editing Forms 283

Modifying Forms...............................................................................283

Common Object Properties ..................................................................... 283

Selecting Design Area Objects.......................................................................284

Selecting Multiple Design Area Objects........................................................285

Assigning Properties to Multiple Selected Objects........................................286

Copying Objects.............................................................................................286

Creating Multiple Copies of Objects..............................................................287

Pasting Objects...............................................................................................289

Cutting Objects...............................................................................................290

Deleting Objects.............................................................................................290

Repositioning Objects ....................................................................................291

Changing the Object Border and Interior Color.............................................292

Resizing Objects.............................................................................................292

Setting Object Rotation ..................................................................................293

Changing an Object’s Line Style....................................................................294

Skewing Objects.............................................................................................295

Setting the Object Interior ..............................................................................296

Setting the Object Direction...........................................................................297

Blending Objects into the Design Area..........................................................298

Filtering Objects.............................................................................................300

Arranging Objects ..........................................................................................301

Undoing and Repeating Commands...............................................................301

Setting Editing Options ........................................................................... 302

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Using Spell Checker ......................................................................................302

Setting Spell Checking Options.....................................................................303

Specifying Dictionary Files for Spell Checking............................................305

Previewing and Printing Forms.........................................................309

Previewing a Form.........................................................................................309

Printing a Form ..............................................................................................310

Appendix A: Workspace Quick Reference 313

Menu .................................................................................................313

File Menu.......................................................................................................314

Edit Menu.......................................................................................................315

View Menu.....................................................................................................316

Insert Menu....................................................................................................317

Tools Menu ....................................................................................................318

Window Menu................................................................................................320

Help Menu......................................................................................................321

Toolbars.............................................................................................321

Standard Toolbar............................................................................................322

Zoom Toolbar.................................................................................................323

Position and Dimension Toolbar....................................................................324

Common Attributes Toolbar ..........................................................................324

Filter Toolbar..................................................................................................325

Form Template Toolbar..................................................................................326

Form Design Tools............................................................................327

Select Toolbox................................................................................................329

Line Toolbox..................................................................................................330

Box Toolbox...................................................................................................331

Ellipse Toolbox ..............................................................................................332

Path Toolbox ..................................................................................................332

Text Attributes Toolbox .................................................................................333

Image Toolbox ...............................................................................................335

Barcode Toolbox............................................................................................335

Active Button Toolbox...................................................................................336

Insert Tag Reference ......................................................................................336

Keyboard Shortcuts ...........................................................................337

Text Editing Keyboard Shortcuts............................................................ 337

Numeric Display Box Keyboard Shortcuts............................................. 338

Zoom/Pan Control Keyboard Shortcuts .................................................. 339

Contents 13

Appendix B: Sample Forms 341

Sample 1: Water Bill.......................................................................................342

Sample 2: Promotional Letter.........................................................................345

Appendix C: Glossary 349

Index 355

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Chapter 1:

Introduction

This guide provides both background and procedural information for using DesignPro

Form Editor. Because business requirements and user preferences can vary for each

company, the material contained herein should be viewed as a general guide only.

As you step through the material, please remember that your specific business needs will

govern selection of the options and preferences described. Similarly, certain selections

will require that some tasks be repeated, while other selections will allow you to omit

tasks entirely.

DesignPro Form Editor Overview

Form Editor creates static forms containing objects such as lines, boxes, ellipses, paths,

text, images, and barcodes. These static forms are then merged with variable data for

printing on high-speed AFP laser printers.

Using Form Editor, you can see each static form object as it is created, and generate proofs

using an optional desktop printer. You can then compile the forms on your PC, thus

freeing your printer from these tasks.

In this chapter...

 DesignPro Form Editor Overview

 What’s New in DesignPro Form Editor?

 Associated DesignPro Applications

 About This Guide

 Conventions

 Getting the Answers You Need

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Variable data from a credit card application becomes far more meaningful when merged

with a static form created by using Form Editor:

The image above shows variable data merged with a static form. The Account # and

Account Balance are the variable data in this example.

What’s New in DesignPro Form Editor?

Form Editor 3.00 introduces new and advanced features that help you create your

resources and provides different options for creating forms. The sections below briefly

explain the features:

Unicode Support

Form Editor 3.00 provides support for adding Chinese, Japanese, and Korean CJK texts.

User Interface

Improved object handling and movement in the Design Area. You can move objects using

the arrow keys on the keyboard, and view multiple forms opened in the workspace using

tabs in the Design Area.

Forms and overlays are two terms for the same resource object. This user guide

uses these terms interchangeably.

Chapter 1: Introduction 17

Fonts and Font Lists

Multiple fonts can now be added to the font list in one step. The font list is also easier to

read with font names indicating their orientation.

Auto Refresh Manage Window

Manage window automatically refreshes so that only active resources display in the

Manage window.

Associated DesignPro Applications

DesignPro Tools for AFP employs the following five integrated applications to provide

advanced functionality for designing forms. Each application helps you create or modify

one or more of these necessary resources in a simple environment.

Following are the DesignPro Tools for AFP applications:

 DesignPro Manager: a Windows-based desktop program for managing and

converting resources to multiple supported formats. You can also open other

DesignPro Tools applications using the Manager.

 DesignPro Form Editor: an advanced form design tool used to create and edit

forms for AFP printers.

 DesignPro Visual PPFA: an application for developing overlay, FormDef and

PageDef resources for IBM PPFA printing. Also allows advanced options such as

selecting a sample data file for PageDef creation and proofing with that sample data

file onscreen.

 DesignPro Font Editor: a complete font design application used for creating and

editing AFP raster fonts, as well as Elixir and PCL fonts. You can also open True

Type fonts in this editor.

 DesignPro Graphics Editor: a full service bitmap editor providing various

transformations and commands for tiling graphics into raster fonts.

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About This Guide

The DesignPro Tools Form Editor for AFP User Guide provides definitions and step-by-

step instructions to help you create forms and use the various tools and commands for

creating various objects.

The guide is organized to mimic the form creation process. From the basic form creation

to editing forms, each chapter describes tasks in the same order you can use when

planning your forms:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Introduces Form Editor. Also introduces this manual and identifies resources for finding

answers and contacting Customer Support.

Chapter 2: The Form Editor Environment

Describes the Form Editor workspace. Included are instructions for customizing Form

Editor menus and toolbars.

Chapter 3: Form Basics

Explains basic operations of Form Editor, including creating, opening, and merging form

groups. Instructions on how to use the Form Template feature are also provided in this

chapter.

Chapter 4: Resources and Formats

Provides information about assembling, managing, and converting resources required by

forms, and specifying file format settings. Included are instructions for selecting profiles,

specifying application-level and document-level settings for Form Editor resources.

Chapter 5: Drawing Tools

Explains how to use drawing tools in Form Editor and perform associated operations.

Chapter 6: Colors and Patterns

Describes how to apply colors and patterns to enhance the appearance of objects.

Chapter 7: Using Text

Explains how to enter text and modify text properties. Also describes the associated

operations for editing, importing, joining, splitting, finding, replacing text, and changing

the text color.

Chapter 8: Fonts and Font Lists

Provides information on how to select, add, and replace fonts and font lists. Included are

instructions on adding special characters.

Chapter 1: Introduction 19

Chapter 9: Using Elixir PrintDriver Pro

Explains how to use Elixir PrintDriver Pro to generate print files. Information on how to

transfer files to an AFP printer is also provided.

Chapter 10: Active Objects

Provides information on active objects, their properties and how to create a PDF file in the

Form Editor.

Chapter 11: Data Tagging

Introduces the data tagging feature. Included are instructions for adding tags to form and

merging tags with data. Information on DAT files and associated functions and features is

also provided.

Chapter 12: Editing Forms

Describes the basic operations for editing/modifying forms and objects.

Appendix A: Workspace Quick Reference

Provides information on Form Editor workspace environment menus, toolbars and

keyboard shortcuts.

Appendix B: Sample Forms

Gives a sample set of steps you can follow to create a form. Links to user guide tasks are

provided for more detailed information.

Appendix C: Glossary

Alphabetical listing of product-specific or unique terms and abbreviations used in this

guide.

Who Should Use this Guide?

This guide assumes you are already familiar with Microsoft Windows operations, printer

and font management operations and PC peripherals. You should also have access to

reference manuals for PC software and hardware, including any printers you are using for

the design and print process.

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Related Guides

If you require further information about a specific topic or wish to obtain product

background information, reference the following resources. All of these resources are part

of the DesignPro Tools for AFP documentation package.

 DesignPro Tools for AFP Getting Started Guide

 DesignPro Tools Manager for AFP User Guide

 DesignPro Tools Visual PPFA User Guide

 DesignPro Tools Font Editor for AFP User Guide

 DesignPro Tools Graphics Editor for AFP User Guide

 DesignPro Tools for AFP Migration User Guide

Conventions

Elixir products adhere to Microsoft Windows conventions for using menus, menu

commands, dialogs, command buttons, icons and mouse. See your Windows manual for

more information.

This guide uses the following typographic and symbolic conventions to identify special

information.

 Typographic Conventions

 Symbolic Conventions

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