Template Designer

The Template Designer is a sophisticated tool for creating and modifying templates within your portfolio file.

There are four types of template objects, described in more detail under the heading "Structure of a Template" under the Templates help topic.

The three components of the template designer are the Canvas, the Object List, and the Toolbar.

The Canvas
The Canvas represents a piece of paper with the same dimensions as your template. (You can set the size of the template in the Edit Template Information dialog.) Everything that appears on the canvas appears as it would when printed on paper. Click on a template object on the canvas to select it. A selected object is highlighted by a dashed green line around it's border, and the corresponding entry in the Object List is also highlighted. Right-click an object to open it's corresponding Edit Template Object dialog. Click and Drag an object to reposition it on the canvas. Click and Drag the Grey Box in the bottom, right corner of a highlighted object to adjust its size.

The Object List
The Object list shows all template objects associated with the current template. If an object is underneath another object and cannot be selected using the canvas, you can select it by clicking its name in the Object List. Click an object in the list to select it. Double-click an object to open it in the Edit Template Object dialog. Each object type has its own icon in the Object List:

for Images,

for Long Text Boxes,

for Shapes, and

for Text Boxes.

The Toolbar
The Toolbar allows you to create new template objects, and manage the existing ones.

The first four buttons on the toolbar can be toggled on and off one at a time. When depressed, clicking on the canvas, or clicking and dragging on the canvas will create a new Template Object. Depressing the

icon creates a new Text Box, the

icon creates a new Long Text Box, the

icon creates a new Shape, and

icon creates a new Image. Click the canvas to create the object at the position you clicked. Click and Drag to create the object with the position and size that match the box created during the drag motion.

The

icon will display the Object List when depressed, or hide the object list when normal.

The

and

icons indicate the current zoom level. Use the drop-down menu to change the current zoom level.

The

icon opens the Edit Template Object dialog with the currently selected template object. The

icon deletes the currently selected template object.

To place a new template object on your template,