BASIC Getting Started

March 2009The technical content in this guide has not changed since version 5.6 of the product. All references to "5.6" in this guide also apply to 5.7. bc Adobe® Output Designer Version 5.7 Getting Started 1. As of that date. stored in a retrieval system. Technical information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The use and copying of this product are subject to a license agreement. Any reference to company names. © Copyright 1983. and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.Getting Started Edition 2. Accelio Corporation (formerly JetForm Corporation) was purchased by Adobe Systems Incorporated. The Spelling portion of this product is based on Proximity Linguistic Technology THE PROXIMITY/Merriam-Webster Inc. LINGUIBASE® © Copyright 1983. or data in this documentation is for demonstration purposes only and is not intended to refer to any actual organization. 1990 Merriam-Webster Inc. persons. Portions © 1995–1999 Access Softek. or data. transcribed. All other product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark holders. Any other use is prohibited. transmitted. As of April 12. Inc. or translated into any language in any form by any means without the prior written consent of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Adobe Systems Incorporated does not warrant that Adobe Output Designer will function properly in every hardware/software environment. Windows. March 2009 © 2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced. Information in this publication is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of the vendor. Microsoft. 1990 All Rights Reserved Proximity Technology Inc. 2002. 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All rights reserved. person. . ............................................................................................. 10 Installation Considerations ..........................................4 Integrating Output Designer into Your Solution.................... 4 What’s in This Guide? .................................................Contents 1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................4 About Output Designer ....................................................................................................................................................................................5 Central ..................................................... 12 Upgrading an Evaluation Copy........5 Web Output Pak ............................................................................. 13 Running PAC Set Utility ............................................................................................. 13 Index .6 Key Features of Output Designer ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 14 ................................6 Related Documentation ........................... 11 Modifying Your Installation ..................................................................................... 10 Installing Output Designer ...........................................9 2 Installing the Software ............................................................................................................. 13 Uninstalling Output Designer................................... via e-mail or fax. WHAT’S IN THIS GUIDE? This guide is designed to introduce you to Output Designer.1 Introduction Welcome to Adobe and thank you for selecting Adobe® Output Designer. . in a variety of formats for delivery via multiple channels including mail. ● Present the information in a layout that flexes to the amount of data and that is consistent with the organization’s standards. ● Information about additional reference materials that can assist you with using Output Designer. and at the same time. an organization can also offer its customers flexible alternatives for receiving information. and the Web. its customers can actively seek out up-to-the-minute information. or viewable online through a standard browser. ABOUT OUTPUT DESIGNER Organizations require solutions that enable them to deliver document output. ● A description of the key features of the software. Output Designer is a graphical design and development tool for creating template designs that play an integral role in the automation of your business processes. from a single system. ● An introduction to how Output Designer integrates with other Adobe products. It provides: ● An overview of Output Designer. the template enables you to: ● Specify exactly what data each customer receives. fax. e-mail. Output Designer is very powerful. At Adobe. With an effective document output solution. company logos. including data presentment fields. ● Complete instructions for installing and configuring your system. When merged with data. as PDF. Each template contains the basic structure for presenting the requested information. we incorporate the latest advances in technology into our products to provide you with the best possible solutions to your business needs. Output Designer gives you the ability to create the templates that form the basis of your document output solutions. ● Present the output in a variety of ways be it on paper. and help you get your software installed. An organization can automatically send information to its customers. and other layout elements. yet flexible and easy to use. PDF. or multiple. fax. Using Output Designer. or HTML for viewing with a Web browser. you can create output templates for use with any of these supported presentment targets.Adobe Output Designer Getting Started Introduction 5 Output Designer enables you to create professional looking templates for the most simple business function or the most complex. The templates you create in Output Designer do not function in isolation. fields. you see exactly how template elements such as text. lines. and logos will appear on the selected presentment target. while at the same time meeting the document output challenges of a hybrid paper-electronic world. without complex programming. Integrating Output Designer into Your Solution Output Designer is one of the development tools that Adobe provides to enable you to develop an effective solution for automating your business processes. As you construct a template design. e-mail. You create the electronic templates using Output Designer. but rather are part of broader end-to-end solution. Integrating Output Designer with Central . Central can accept input from different sources and deliver output simultaneously to a variety of presentment targets including print. boxes. You can build your template design for one presentment target. Central Central is a server-based application that takes application data and merges it with an electronic template. This enables you to create and generate sophisticated output templates from your line-of-business applications. These templates form the presentation mechanism that you will use with Adobe Central Output Server (Central) or Adobe Web Output Pak. It offers a familiar working environment and a customizable workspace. enabling you to meet each new and challenging requirement. Output Designer gives you the means to create the templates that enable PDF output on the Web. Integrating Output Designer with Web Output Pak KEY FEATURES OF OUTPUT DESIGNER Output Designer is a powerful design and development tool that is very easy to use and completely flexible. You complete these HTML templates in an HTML authoring tool of your choice. processes that request. You can also use Output Designer to create templates that form the starting point for an HTML output template. As you develop electronic templates with Output Designer.Adobe Output Designer Getting Started Introduction 6 Web Output Pak Web Output Pak is a tool that enables you to develop document output applications in a Web environment. it is ready to integrate into a Web Output Pak application. A Web Output Pak application accepts a request for information. you will continually uncover many of its other features. Here are some of the key features in Output Designer that help you design sophisticated templates for multiple presentment targets. Once you have designed and compiled your template in Output Designer. and then merges the requested data with an output template. . The application presents the merged data and output template in HTML or PDF format in a standard Web browser. Set default font attributes for text for your entire template design. Dynamic Templates Output Designer includes a powerful dynamic template feature that enables the look and feel of each template to intelligently accommodate different amounts of data. remove. and check boxes. Once you have added text to your template design. and color. line shape and width. In addition. you can add. You can also rotate and shade text if your printer supports these options. To ensure accuracy.Adobe Output Designer Getting Started Introduction 7 Graphics Tools Output Designer provides a standard easy-to-use set of graphics tools for adding a variety of graphical objects to your template design. These field types include text. Field Tools Output templates contain field objects that display data. including lines. Text Tools Output Designer enables you to include different types of text in your template. You can customize each field type to properly accommodate the type of data you need to present. Tooltips for each field enable you to see exactly what type of field you have selected and its attributes. Output Designer supports a range of data field types. style effects. and modify objects in the group without having to ungroup it first. What’s better. With dynamic templates. You can also add barcodes. A customer message section can appear or disappear. such as those that you would find in a purchase order or invoice. you can use the table tool to accommodate multiple repeating fields. Object Grouping With Output Designer. You can use the text formatting features to change such attributes as the justification. based on whether there is a message to print. indenting. personalized messages. Output Designer supports the most popular graphic formats for logos. You can control all aspects of these objects including the shading. you can group any number of objects on your template. you can also create personalized customer documents. and images. boxes. graphic. numeric. the program includes a spell-checking feature. circles. This greatly facilitates the development of template designs. you can reposition it and edit it. radio button. allowing each customer to receive individual. . available in a number of industry-standard formats. and font type. you can take advantage of the multipart template feature in Output Designer. fax. and presentment targets. Multipart templates enable you to present information in a multiple part document. You also have the ability to first transform data if required. and a credit/debit memo simultaneously. you can create a template and associate it with a job ticket. Multiple Presentment Targets Output Designer allows you to design one template for multiple presentment targets. . or HTML. template designers within an organization can easily incorporate commonly used objects into their template designs. PDF. you can see if data is properly merging with your template. associated users. By merging a single template with data. such as printing of an invoice. Using Output Designer. The Template Object Library also gives you the ability to create reports containing information about such things as the templates and objects in the library. Each part of the output document can be printed on a different printer. You can categorize your templates and control different versions. and then see its presentment. Test Presentment The Test Presentment feature allows you to test the output of your template design while still in development. shipping documents. You can design templates that support the printing requirements of individual offices. you can direct the output to print. Using this tool. One data stream can output several different documents.Adobe Output Designer Getting Started Introduction 8 Multipart Templates If you’re designing templates for Central. without having to change the business application. You can use existing data. or create sample data on the fly. The Template Object Library You can store template objects or entire templates in the Template Object Library. A batch compile process makes modifying template designs and objects simple. Using the Template Object Library. Job Ticketing Output Designer has built-in support for job tickets. a feature of Xerox DocuPrint and DocuTech printers that lets users take advantage of a wide range of printing and finishing options. e-mail. a reference guide that accompanies Output Designer. You can access all the documentation from the Help menu. To Find Information About. For detailed information about this application.. ● Requirements of the different Central and Web Output Pak output Agents for processing the templates.. We Recommend You Read. Designing.. you will find the documentation that accompanies both Central and Web Output Pak extremely useful. Here you will find information about: ● How these applications use the templates created in Output Designer. In addition to the Output Designer documentation. You can access this guide from inside Output Designer by clicking Help > View Documentation.. . which you can use to modify templates for use with Web Output Pak. compiling. You can access this from inside Output Designer by clicking Help > Help Topics. You can access this from inside the Template Object Library by clicking Help > Template Object Library Help. ● What you need to do to integrate the template into the overall solution or custom application. The Template Object Library Template Object Library Help. The documentation for Central and Web Output Pak is installed with each of those products. and deploying templates Developing Templates.Adobe Output Designer Getting Started Introduction 9 RELATED DOCUMENTATION Output Designer provides you with a complete documentation set to assist you with the creation of templates for use with Central or Web Output Pak. which are in PDF format: ● Developing Applications ● HTML Agent Reference ● PDF Agent Reference Web Output Pak also includes a program called the Field Editor. refer to: ● Creating templates for integration with Central Field Editor Help The documentation suite that accompanies Central. Creating PDF and HTML templates for integration with Web Output Pak The documentation that accompanies Web Output Pak. The specific features of Output Designer and how to use them Output Designer Help. as well as guides in PDF format. especially these guides. The documentation includes Help. The documentation for Output Designer is installed with the Output Designer software. The first time a user runs Output Designer on that machine. Only the user who installed Output Designer has access to it. Another user on that same machine cannot run the installed copy of Output Designer. When installing Output Designer. how you are logged onto the computer determines the location of the registry settings: ● When logged on with administrator rights. For a summary of differences between these versions. ● The Typical installation option installs an extensive set of drivers associated with the different presentment targets. Each will have their own HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry entries and the ability to modify their own entries. ● Instructions for installing. In addition. and uninstalling Output Designer. see “North American versus International English Locale” on page 11. . Any number of users can run the installed copy of Output Designer on the machine. ● When logged on as a user. updating. you will also want to consider these installation options before you start the installation process: ● Output Designer offers you the option of installing a North American or International English version of the software. If you do not want the entire set of drivers and wish to choose specific ones only. the installation places all registry entries in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. ● Information you must have before you install. the installation places all registry entries in HKEY_CURRENT_USER. all registry entries are copied from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE to HKEY_CURRENT_USER.2 Installing the Software This section provides you with the information you need to install and configure Output Designer on your system. INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS Before installing Output Designer you should: ● Review the Readme for last minute changes to the software and its requirements. It includes: ● Hardware and software requirements. they must install their own copy. select the Custom option. and type of dictionary. fax machines.. use the same installation procedure to install the evaluation version as you use to install the fully licensed version. However. . Your choice of locale determines the default units of measure. default page size. 2. you must specify a North American or International English locale.Adobe Output Designer Getting Started Installing the Software 11 After installation. Output Designer notifies you of the number of days remaining in the evaluation license. From the Autorun panel. when altering or adding registry settings: ● If the change/addition is made to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. where c is the letter of your drive. Unit of Measure Dictionary Page Size North American (N. you need to uninstall Output Designer. and then reinstall it. if you want to use a different dictionary. ➤ To install Output Designer 1. as follows: If you select.. For more information. Template Object Library. North American versus International English Locale When you install Output Designer. You can use evaluation software for a period of 30 days.A) Imperial English Letter International (Int. click Before You Install to review important information prior to installing the software. From the Autorun panel. Evaluation Software If you have an evaluation copy of Output Designer. The default installation location is c:\Program Files\Adobe\Output Designer 5. as well as drivers for a variety of presentment targets including laser.6.the first time that user runs Output Designer. Follow the instructions in the Setup program to install your Adobe software. INSTALLING OUTPUT DESIGNER The Setup program installs the Output Designer application. and HTML and PDF generation. see “Uninstalling Output Designer” on page 13. This is because the settings from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE are copied to HKEY_CURRENT_USER only once .) Metric British English A4 You can always change the default unit of measure and page size settings from inside Output Designer. barcode and label printers. it will impact only users who do not already have HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry settings. ● Changes/additions made to HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry settings impact only that user. click Install Output Designer. Adobe Output Designer Getting Started Installing the Software 12 MODIFYING YOUR INSTALLATION At any time.mdf) files. 4. 3. . select Modify. Then click Next. use the Modify option. 5. select Repair. ➤ To add or remove components 1. Follow any additional instructions to complete the installation. Note: The Repair option installs the same program components that you installed initially. Click Install Output Designer. On the Welcome screen. you can modify your existing installation of Output Designer without affecting existing template design (*. Run the Output Designer Setup program. Click Install Output Designer. ● Clear the component(s) you wish to remove. ➤ To reinstall the current software 1. On the Select Components screen: ● Check the component(s) you wish to add. The Setup program enables you to: ● Install additional components without completely reinstalling Output Designer. 2. Then click Next. ● Remove selected components without completely uninstalling Output Designer. 2.ifd) files or compiled template (*. ● Reinstall the currently installed application components. Run the Output Designer Setup program. To add or remove specific components. 3. On the Welcome screen. ● Click Next. On the Start menu. It does not remove any template design (*. Click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs. browse to the PAC Set Utility executable file in the directory where you installed Output Designer. This procedure removes Output Designer and all its associated registry settings. . 5. In the list of currently installed programs. We recommend that you always uninstall the software before installing a newer version. 2. 2.mdf) files that you have created. Then click Next. click Remove. you can update the Product Authorization Code (PAC) using the PAC Set utility. click Run.ifd) files or compiled template (*. Click Change/Remove. For example: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Output Designer 5. 4. When the Welcome screen appears.exe Once you enter the PAC and accept the licence agreement.6\pacset. 3. Running PAC Set Utility ➤ To run the PAC Set Utility 1.Adobe Output Designer Getting Started Installing the Software 13 UPGRADING AN EVALUATION COPY If you have an evaluation copy and you are upgrading to a full production version. ➤ To uninstall Output Designer 1. the utility provides a message listing all the Output Designer configuration files that it has updated with the new PAC. Note: You receive the PAC for the product when you purchase the appropriate software licence. Stop Output Designer if it is running.6. select Adobe Output Designer 5. you can easily uninstall it using Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel. This enables the full functionality of the software without reinstalling. In the Open box. UNINSTALLING OUTPUT DESIGNER Once you install the software. related 9 dynamic templates 7 P PAC Set utility 13 E R evaluation version of Output Designer 11 reference materials 9 registry settings 10 reinstalling Output Designer 12 F features of Output Designer 6 field types 7 further reading 9 G graphics tools 7 grouping objects 7 I installing Output Designer 11 adding a new component 12 before you install 10 modifying the installation 12 registry settings 10 removing a component 12 integrating with Central 5 integrating with Web Output Pak 6 introduction 4 T Template Object Library 8 Test Presentment 8 testing the template design 8 text tools 7 U uninstalling Output Designer 13 W Web Output Pak 6 .Index A J about Output Designer 4 job ticketing to support Xerox 8 B M before you install 10 modifying the installation 12 multipart templates 8 C Central 5 O object grouping 7 D documentation.