View the User Manual - Professional Product Catalog Software
Contents
1. The controls for the Page Footer are identical to those for the Header Use the drop down boxes to select the Header or Footer Option The sample page will display a rough preview of the selected option Use the Print Preview button at the bottom of the form to get an accurate preview If you need to increase the space between your catalog data and the Header or Footer use the Header or Footer spacer You can also change the color of this space by clicking the colored boxes next to the Spacer settings and choosing a color from the selection dialog Select a Working Category from the drop down box at the bottom of the form When you look at a Print Preview on any of the Template Design forms this will be the category that will be printed and it is the Column Headers from this category that will be displayed in the next step Double click any of the Display Units on the sample page or click the Display Unit button to continue Designing a Display Unit The product photo its description and associated Detail Table are collectively referred to as a Display Unit The number of Display Units that can fit on a page can vary depending on the options you choose If you change the number of Data Columns the sample page will change to display that number of columns While some of the templates are given a name describing their layout for example 2 x 2 refers to a grid of two Display Units tall by two Display Units wide you may be able to chan2. shoulder tape maksai shoulder tape makes it shoulder tape makes it longtasting Full longtasting Full cut for longtasting Full cut for a momy fit 100 cotton a roomy fit 100 cotton a roomy fit 100 cotton In the first group of three examples we referred only to the separation between the Cost and Notes Fields However the separation rule actually applies between every field and every other field The design has a minimum separation between the Product Field and the Cost Field but because the Notes Field always grew between them that minimum separation was not noticeable In the first example in this group we ve allowed the Cost Field to overlap the Notes Field When two fields overlap vertically the separation rule between them is cancelled The Notes Field still grows but does not affect the Cost Field and now the separation between the Product and Cost Fields can be seen The Cost Field appears to move up slightly but is in exactly the same place it would be if there were no data in the Notes field 12 In the second example in this group we ve allowed the Notes and Cost Fields to touch The separation rule still applies except that the separation distance is zero In the last example in this group we ve allowed fields to overlap horizontally This has no effect on separation The separation and cancellation rules apply only to vertically overlapping fields The vertical separation rule applies even Beefy 1 T Ultra sot if
3. Menu to open the formatting wizard On the first two steps of the wizard just click the Next button On step three select Text as the Column Data Format and click Finish Repeat this process for all columns containing numbers Memory Errors When Catalog Creator creates a Print Preview it must load all the photos on a page into memory at the same time It must also load some information about all the other pages in a category at the same time If your category has hundreds of items this can be a significant drain on your computer s resources Print Previews from the Design Forms are limited to just the first page of items but repeated Previews could use up your system s memory and cause slowdowns or crashes Try to limit the number of Print Previews you look at while designing templates The biggest cause of memory errors relates to the size of the photo itself Photos directly out a digital camera can be anywhere from 800Kb to 5 000Kb or even larger on newer high resolution cameras In contrast the photos you see on many websites are only 10Kb or 20Kb For printing photos need to be a higher resolution than the 72dpi used on webpages Photos in the range of 20Kb to 100Kb usually provide very good print quality without placing a drain on system resources There are many different utilities available online for reformatting photos and we recommend Omniformat from www omniformat com as a utility which can quickly resize an entire folder of im
4. Detail Table will be include a Header Row with the Column 9 T Shirts Beefy T T Shirt 516972 Medium Headers you entered on the Category Editor or Inventory Form 3 T Shirts Beefy T T Shirt 516373 Large If your data is structured as shown to the left where the Order Category Product SKU Chest required Column Headers are different for each group of related 1 T Shirts Tagless T Shirt 514221 32 items you would not select either the Column Header or the 9 T Shirts Tagless T Shirt 514222 34 First Line Repeats options In this case you could create 3 T Shirts Tagless T Shit 514223 36 Column Headers by selecting the Header fields and placing them on the Display Unit instead By making them the same width and lining them up with the fields in the Detail Table you could achieve the same results as the automatic Column Headers on the Detail but allow the text to vary between items The Notes Field Each line in the Detail Table can have an additional Notes line This line prints below the Data Fields and will be the full width of the Detail Table To enable this feature simply select a Data Source from the drop down box The Data Source selection does not have to be the special Notes field the one that can hold an unlimited amount of text However if you choose that field as your Data Source then this Notes field on the Detail Table will expand to print an unlimited amount of text the same way the Notes field on the Display Unit d
5. column has two purposes The first purpose is to record the name of the photo which will be printed in your catalog Normally you would only record the name of the photo here and later on the Category Editor form you will record the name of the folder where the photo is stored However you could also record part or all of the folder path in the spreadsheet For example if your photo is stored as C MyCatalog MyPhotos Photo1 jpg you can record this several ways You could record just Photo1 jpg in the spreadsheet and C MyCatalog MyPhotos in the Image Folder field on the Category Editor You could also record MyPhotos Photo1 jpg in the spreadsheet and C MyCatalog on the Category Editor form Either way the two will be combined at print time to display the photo Product Grouping The second purpose for the Photo column is to group related products Tagless T Shirt Short Sleeves Referring to the spreadsheet sample on the previous page and the rT print sample to the left you can see that the products are arranged pases into groups of three related products Preshrunk f great fit ivi Jese siepi p iag rer By giving the products the same photo name Catalog Creator knows look Tag free reinforced that these products are related and can create the Detail Table rewneck 100 cotton ae i shown below the photo Of course your own data may be flat and not require duplicate photo names or you may have
6. example we have created custom templates where the data in a field is the result of a formula which varies depending on the contents of two or three other fields This type of custom work is well beyond what can be done with the Template Designer so we ll provide you with samples and a quote for the design costs before you commit to making a purchase 13 The Detail Table Form Depending on your data you may not need to use this form If your data requires a Detail Table be sure to drag the Detail Table field onto your Display Unit Double click the Detail Table field or click the Detail Table button to continue Width Height Grid 1 to 10 Detail Table has Column Headers First Line in Detail Table repeats from Data Unit hla Data Source for Notes Line Return to Stack The Detail Table form is very similar to the Display Unit form There is the same stack of fields and labels to choose from You drag and drop fields onto the Detail Table and you can re size them by dragging the borders or entering percentage values directly The differences are that you can only drag fields onto the Detail Table The Field Labels are automatically added above the fields as Column Headers Also you can only change the widths of fields The field heights are automatically set to the height of the row Order Category Product SKU Size If you select the option Detail Table has Column Headers d T Shirts Beefy T T Shirt 516971 Small your
7. jpg Beefy T T Shit 516971 Small White 64 15 99 Column FF Color Fg 2 T Shirts Beety jpg Beefy T T Shit 516972 Medium White 0 4 15 99 Column F8 Cost E T Shirts Beefy jpq Beefy T T Shirt 516973 Large White 64 15 99 Column F9 Price 4 T Shirts Tagless jpg Tagless T Shirt 514221 Small White 7 9 14 99 hs 5 T Shirts Tagless jpg Tagless T Shirt 514222 Medium White 7 9 14 99 Column F10 Column F11 H 6 T Shirts Tagless_jpq Tagless T Shirt 514225 Large White 79 14 99 Column F12 i TShins __ Mimatet on_ Ukimate Cotton 507501 Small White 8 3 1699 g Column F13 Record T4 P E of 14 lt i gt Co From T Shirts To This Category O All Categories After you have imported the category names you should visit the Category Editor form On the Main Menu click the name of a category in the selection list to open the Editor for that category or click the Category Editor button and then click the Find button to select a category Category Label Every category must have a unique name and this applies across spreadsheets as well For example if you regularly switch between two spreadsheets and if these spreadsheets have the same categories Catalog Creator will only recognize one unique category between these spreadsheets For most users this feature is useful as it will allow them to create separate spreadsheets with different pricing for separate markets but use the same Printing Template and category
8. look at a Print Preview to find the best option for your data On the Page Setup form click the Display Unit button or double click any of the Display Units on the page sample to open the Display Unit design form This form is where you select and place the fields you want to print In the lower left corner of the form is the Stack of available fields organized into two columns of labels and fields You can place labels as well as fields on the Design Pad Each label field pair is identified by the Column Header name you gave them on the Category Editor form Display Unit Format Preset Number of Data Units Width in Height in Vertical Honzontal Grd Photod SKL Margin 0 05 0 05 1 i SKU Active Cell Photol Left 0 00 0 00 Width Be Return to Stack Photo Dimensions in width Photo Detail Table Simply drag and drop fields or labels from the stack and place them on the Design Pad Change the width or height of a field by moving your mouse cursor to the edge of the field and dragging the border to the desired size Optionally you can enter the field dimensions manually This is useful if you are trying to align fields exactly When you click a field on the Design Pad its name appears in the Active Cell box You can now enter its relative dimensions and position in the value boxes If you decide that you do not want one of the fields that you have placed click it again to ma
9. shouldertap Field If the Cost Field has a value it grows to E qar tra 2 a ae makes it long e ot a makes it long Soll cal ea ae lasting i fit If it is blank it disappears and leaves only roomy t 100 lasting i roomy ft 100 White the small reserved space between Product and estton White cotton Description The separation rule is still in place for the Color Field and the fields above it so if the Notes field were blank it would still start a little below the Cost Field Empty fields can affect the minimum ete T T 3 20 height of the Display Unit itself In this Bea sulle cotton feels example the Size Field is blank but a Sleeves 97a Shoulder space was reserved for it so the Display Fyre oe cer tape Unit has a blank space when printed roomy ft 100 llasting poia White The best approach to Dynamic Template Design is to set the size of the field to be roughly equal to the size it needs to be for the smallest amount of text in your data When designing a Static Template or when the Fields Grow and Shrink option is disabled the best approach is to set the size of the field equal to the largest amount of text If you have any difficulty with Template Design send us a sample of your data along with a picture or link to the type of template you are trying to design and we ll create one for you at no charge We can even do custom designs that go beyond what is possible using the Template Editor For
10. the starting page of a category but it should be unique If you are printing multiple categories and they have the same T O C number the data could be mixed together There is an option beside the Print Button labelled Compact This option combines all categories into a single category using the Template and other settings of the first category Individual categories normally start printing on a new page but because the Compact option considers all data to be part of single category there will be no page break between them This can save a number of pages if you have many categories that would normally end on a partial page However because all data is printed as a single category it only prints using the Template of the first category It is not possible to switch Templates mid page Printing Options Page Numbering Page Numbering Option Date or Optional Footer Text AutoNumber Starting from Page 1 Today s Date Most users will want to print a catalog with Number Categories Using TOC Number sequential numbering across all categories Rebuild T 0 C Index After Printing Currency Symbol Check the AutoNumber option to do this If you toes 9 Om TESS Ee are including other pages before your catalog First Page Prints On Global Individual Blank data such as a Table of Contents or an Left Right Category Option CleyerCat will use the global Introduction page you may want your page markup discount sh
11. Active Category Option You may create categories of products that you do not use frequently Instead of deleting those categories you can uncheck the Active Category box and the category will not show up on the Selection Lists To re activate an inactive category click the Find button on this form to select and re activate it Option Text Page Prefix and Category Footer Each category can have its own Category Footer text and this is printed centered in the footer The Option Text prints on the side opposite the page number This text is aligned against the page margin but if you enter too many characters it could run into the Category Footer text Each category can have its own Optional Text but on the Printing Menu there is another Optional Text box If the field on the Printing Menu is filled in it will over ride the individual category text and print on every category The Page Prefix is added onto the Page Number If your catalog uses data that is frequently updated it may not be practical to try to use a continuous page number across all categories In this case you may need to number each category starting at page 1 and a Prefix will help identify pages For example you might use a Prefix of Supplies for a page numbering of Supplies 1 Supplies 2 and so on Selecting a Printing Template If you have not copied any templates from the Sample Templates list to the My Templates list then the Template Selection list will s
12. Catalog Creator by On site Custom Software Thank you for purchasing or evaluating this software If you are only evaluating Catalog Creator the Free Trial you downloaded is fully functional and all the data you enter during the evaluation period will still be there should you later decide to purchase and activate the software This manual uses some screenshots from the Professional version of Catalog Creator which is sold under the name CleverCat and can be downloaded from www CleverCatalogs com CleverCat is very similar to Catalog Creator but imports the spreadsheet into a database where it can be manipulated to create other types of output such as a Table of Contents Index Page and even HTML pages With Catalog Creator your data remains in the spreadsheet This means that Catalog Creator is much simple to use but has fewer features Table of Contents Introduction 2 Getting Started 4 Preparing your Spreadsheet 4 Category Editor Form 6 Template Editor 8 Display Units 10 Detail Table 14 Formatting Text 15 Printing 16 Troubleshooting and Support 18 Introduction Before getting started a brief description of databases and catalog software is useful Catalog software products can be grouped into two categories Page Layout and Database driven Page Layout software gives the user full control over every element on the page Individual graphics text borders fonts and colors can all be placed and adjusted independently Page Layout so
13. a Global value here that will adjust prices for all categories If you need to print a catalog without pricing select the Blank option 17 Troubleshooting and Support Technical support for Catalog Creator is available by e mail Our office hours are 8 30am to 4 30pm Pacific Standard Time If you see an error message screen in Catalog Creator you can take a screenshot of this by pressing and holding down the Alt key and then pressing the Print Screen Prt Sc on some keyboards keys This will copy an image of the current window into memory In your e mail program you can paste this image into the body of your message by pressing the Ctrl V keys or Paste from the Menu Bar Sending a screenshot of the error message is not necessary but will help us identify the problem very quickly Please include a description of what you were doing when the error occurred Problems with Importing In the Spreadsheet Window on the Import Selection form you may notice that some of the data in your spreadsheet is replaced with the characters Num Before a spreadsheet can be imported all numbers dates and cells derived from formulas must be formatted as text Even if you do not see these characters your spreadsheet data may still need to be reformatted This is especially true if one of the spreadsheet columns contains a mix of text and numbers In Excel select the column by clicking the Column Header Next select Text to Columns from the Data
14. able you will need to change the background for Alternating Rows and also click the Detail button and change the Shading color for the other rows as well The Sample Table below the buttons will show you the color changes you have made so the best way to use this form is to experiment with settings until you get the look you like 15 Printing Most forms in Catalog Creator have a Print Preview button You can send a print job to your printer from any Print Preview but for greater control of printing options start your print jobs from the Printing Menu Categories Check the Box to Select for Printing Category ltems Pages T 0 C Print T shirts 12 2 Fhones 16 Preview a single category Print Compact Print Print Press the Escape Esc key Print all selected categories to close the preview using the options set below Cordless Phones g hay Mew Category a Table of Contents Index Page Preview Print OEIOO BI J Portable DYD 10 2 2 Select individual or multiple categories to Print or Preview using the Category Selection list When you click the Preview button only the first selected category in the list will be shown When you click the Print button all selected categories will be printed Categories are printed in the order indicated by the T O C Table of Contents number and each category is sent to your printer as a separate print job The T O C number does not have to be an accurate indicator of
15. ages Send your questions or comments to support cataloguecreator com 18
16. ategory In this case you may find it easier to name each template for the category it will print Click the Page Setup button to open the designer for the currently selected template Grate Custom Software ee Paper Size Letter w Top el Chania alebina Sle Bottom Right 0 35 Outside Header 0 60 Option Company Banner and Category Text Footer Option Footer Optional Text and Page No Header Spacer 0 04 Color Footer Spacer 0 02 Color Display Columns 3 w Fields Grow and Shrink Layout 1 Data Breaks Across Columns Color 7 Shading BE Display Unit Borders Vertical Lines Color 7 Shading Optional Taxt Footer 1 Experimentation or Trial and Error is the best method for using this form Explore different options to get the look you want Remember to make copies of Templates so that you can go back to previous settings Page Header and Page Footer The Page Header is the area at the top of the page where the company logo and Category Label can be displayed Use the checkbox next to the Header label to enable or disable the Header Change the height of the Header to better fit your logo or banner You can select an image file for your banner on the Configuration form Your logo or banner will be automatically zoomed to fit the available space For example if you are using a banner of 8 x 2 and set the Header height 1 then the banner will be shrunken to 4 x 1 so that it will not be distorted
17. d similar descriptions Depending on the products this can be a very inefficient way to display your data Flat Database CD ROM 24x 16 00 CD ROM 32X 18 00 o fre CD ROM 48x 22 00 CD ROM 14 00 J i 3 d Relational databases comprise one image plus an unlimited number of associated sub items for every item Relational Database In this example the two structures present the same data but the relational database presents it in a more efficient manner This is true when many items can be represented by a single image For some items such as vehicles a relational database does not work at all and items can only be represented properly with a flat structure Your catalog may even be a mix of flat and relational data Catalog Creators Dynamic Print Templates are ideally suited for this type of variable data and this tutorial will demonstrate how a flat source document such as an Excel spreadsheet can be imported to create a relational database Getting Started Many of our users have created their first catalog in as little as fifteen minutes When you start Catalog Creator the first form you see is the Main Menu and there is a button there labelled Quick Start Guide Click this button to open an online PDF document with a short tutorial designed to walk you through the basics of preparing your spreadsheet and creating a simple printing template This manual will cover all of the featur
18. data that does not require a photo at all If your data does not require photos you should copy the number from the Index Column into this column so that it is not grouped Product SKU Size Price together with other duplicate blanks Tagless T Shit Shot Sleeves 514221 Small p 7 90 Tagless T Shit Shot Sleeves 514222 Medium 7 90 Tagless T Shirt Shot Sleeves 514223 Large p 7 90 Importing the Spreadsheet On the Main Menu click the Import File Selection button to begin Important This form provides a Window into the actual spreadsheet You cannot open the same file with two different programs so be sure to close the file in Excel before selecting a file On the Import form double click the File to be imported box to open a browsing window and select your spreadsheet When you select a file to be imported only the Category names are actually recorded in the database File to be imported Double click to browse C Program Files CleverCat Data Inventory xls The Category Editor Form Unique Name T Shirts Image Folder C Program Files CatCreator Photos Mark up 7 Discount 0 3 Category Banner Po Start Page Numbering at 1 Option Text o l Page Prefix Category Footer Any Street My Town AZ Template imyTemplate Column F4 Product Printed Name _ Catton T Shirts Column F5 Code gG Index Category Photo Product SKU Size Color Cost Num Spare Column F6 Size i T Shirts Beefy
19. easier to create additional templates by clicking the Copy button to create a new template matching an existing one This is also a good strategy if you want to make significant changes to a template Make a copy of the current template so that you can return to the original template if you are not satisfied with the changes You can export your Printing Templates to a file that you can share with other Catalog Creator users Click the Export button to display checkboxes on the Template List Select all the templates that you want to export and click the Export button again to create the file lf you need technical support or advice regarding Printing Templates we may ask you to use the Export function to send us your template The Import function will allow you to install templates created by other users Click the Import button to search for a downloaded file containing templates For each template in the download file you will be asked to provide a new name If you require technical assistance with templates this is the method we will use to send you a custom template or updates to a template you sent to us Also on this form is the option for Inches or Millimetres You can change this option as required and your page margins and other values will be converted as required If you are exporting a template you do not have to be concerned about the units used by the recipient of the file Exported templates are converted to millimetres and then conv
20. erted back to the units used by the recipient when the file is downloaded The Index Page and Table of Contents are Printing Templates like any other with the exception that they draw data from all categories There are Index and Table of Contents buttons on this form used to select those templates You can make all the same Page and Display Unit customizations for these templates as you would for any other NOTE If you are sending a template file to support cataloguecreator com you do not have to zip it or rename it mdb and mat files are frequently blocked by mail servers because they might contain viruses As we frequently receive these files our mail server does not block them However when we return a file to you unless you let us indicate otherwise we will normally zip it to get past your mail server Creating a Printing Template You can experiment with creating templates now if you want but most of the options will be explained in detail later For the purposes of this brief tutorial click the Template Designer button on the Main Menu and then select an existing template from the Sample Templates menu If you create a new template you will be prompted to provide a name You can create as many templates as you need Most users will find that they will need to create only one or two templates In this case the name really doesn t matter Depending on your data you may find that you need to create a separate template for each c
21. es of Catalog Creator in greater detail but the Quick Start Guide is the best place to start if this is your first time using the software Saving your Data As you work with Catalog Creator your changes are automatically saved as you make them There is no Save button in Catalog Creator Company Banner The Company Banner is an image file that can be printed in the header of your catalog pages Click the Configuration button to select the image file The company banner you select will be displayed at the top of every form in Catalog Creator The banner space is optimized for the dimensions 728 by 90 pixels This is a common banner size so you may be able to use the same banner file you currently use for internet advertising Keep in mind that most graphics intended for displaying on your monitor are formatted at a resolution of 72 dpi This means that they may be too coarse for printing While most printers are capable of printing at resolutions of 600 1 200 or even higher dpi you will probably want a file formatted for a minimum of 300 dpi if you intend to publish your catalog on paper If you are only creating a PDF catalog 72 dpi may be sufficient You can use a banner image of any dimensions you choose but the ratio 728 by 90 is the optimum to fill the banner space Images are automatically zoomed to fill the space without distortion This means that a higher resolution image of the same ratio but with dimensions of 1 456 by 180
22. fields are not aligned vertically In this Shirt Short Cotten feels example the separation between Notes Sleeves _ 97a Shoulder to ehoulder tape Description i and Description stays the same as makes it long Notes grows lasting Fullcut for a There is a minimum separation between Product and Color in this design a ea e 8 i roomy fit 100 but it is forced to be greater than that minimum by the growth of Notes Cost otton and Color overlap vertically so there is no separation rule between them If some of your fields will contain no data then you need to consider how this will affect the separations For example using the same design if the Product Cost and Notes Fields are empty as shown below there would be a number of blanks spaces as all the various separation rules are applied Creating a better design may take some experimenting You can start by decreasing the heights of the field that you know will occasionally be empty Consider this design Although it cannot be seen the Cost Field is still placed between the Product and Description Fields The height has been olor reduced in the design to just 0 3 Beefy T T Ultra sot The Notes Field overlaps the Product Cost Beefy T T Ultra sot Shirt Short cotton feels and Description Fields cancelling the Shirt Short tton feels Sleeves Sat Shoulder separation rule between them and the Notes Sleeves _ Sal Shoulder to
23. ftware is the better choice when the emphasis is on creating artistic or stylistic pages Database driven products are the better choice when the emphasis is on ease of use or when there are a large number of products to be displayed or frequent changes are required to the product line At the simplest end of this range a database driven software should be able to import a spreadsheet and print a catalog in only a few minutes Catalog Creator is similar to Database drive software except that the content is stored in a spreadsheet and not imported into a database Each software has its own advantages and disadvantages The most obvious advantage of a Database driven software is its ability to quickly insert a new product into the middle of a category The user should be able to simply enter the data and re print the category To do the same using the Page Layout approach might require re sizing other elements on the page to accommodate the new product or even moving products from one page to the next In extreme cases this could require cascading changes through the entire catalog The biggest advantage of Page Layout software is its flexibility At the upper end of this range you should be able to create on paper almost anything you can imagine This is also its biggest disadvantage Creating a large catalog can take many hours days or even months In contrast Database driven softwares are typically very rigid The printed output is very uniform
24. fy T T Shirt Short Sleeves field has grown and pushed down the Photo and all the other i ea fields as well The SKU Label and the SKU Field have grown 546971 and pushed down the Notes Field On the Design Pad the Ultra soft cotton feels great Notes field starts about 25 of the way down the Photo but Shoulder to shoulder tape on the Print Preview it is closer to about 40 makes tt long lasting Ful see e a labial Another way of looking at Dynamic Template design is that you are setting the Minimum height of the Display Unit ERP a r i Although fields will shrink to nothing if there is no data in roc SF aE noe r Beofy T T Shit ShotSleeves 516971 Small 840 them they do not move up if the fields above them shrink A Beefy T T Shirt Shot Sleeves 516972 Medium 8 40 minimum height enough to fit all the placed fields is Beefy T T Shirt Short Sleeves 516973 Large 840 reserved for the Display Unit In this example the bottom of Tagless T Shirt Short Sleeves the Detail Table sets the minimum reserved height aie If there were no data in the Detail Table and the Product _ Field was empty the Photo would not move up to fill the iWached fora ent faded empty Product space The Display Unit will not shrink look TagHree reinforced beyond the reserved space so when printed there would be ae N a blank white space above and below the Photo The Display Unit will grow to fit the fields as they grow to Product SKU Size Price fit t
25. ge the number of Units that fit on a page by changing the number of Data Columns or the Fields Grow and Shrink option When the Fields Grow option is selected the number of items that fit on a page becomes variable The entire Display Unit as well as the fields it contains will grow to accommodate the data The sample page above shows how Display Units might be arranged when the amount of data Is variable When Fields Grow is not selected the Display Units will all be the same size In this case the Display Units will be arranged as a simple grid This option is best suited to catalogs where the amount of data does not change much between products Also because the fields do not grow to accommodate larger amounts of text some fields may be truncated The Layout selection is either Across then Down or Down then Across When Across the Down is selected the Display Units are printed in rows not columns This means that the top edge of the Display Unit will line up with the top edge of other Units in the same row regardless of the height of Units in the row above When Down then Across is selected the Display Units will print in columns This is the better option when the goal is to reduce the number of pages as it compacts more Display Units onto a page With this option the top edge of one Display Unit may not line up with the top edge of another unit in the next column You can change these options at any time and
26. he text In the second Display Unit there are only two eo oe ee E rows in the Detail Table As a result the Display Unit itself is Tagless T Shint Short Sleeves 514222 Medium 7 90 shorter by one row than the one above it Ultimate Cotton Pocket T Shirt TIP When starting from a blank template begin by turning on the Display Unit Borders using the button on the Page Setup form Next drag a single field onto the design pad and click the Print Preview button to see the size of the Display Unit Move the single field up or down on the Design Pad to adjust the minimum height of the Display Unit A Dynamic Template can grow to accommodate more text and its minimum height is set by the position of the lowest element on the Design Pad 1 Field Growing and Shrinking Rules Back on the Page Setup form there is a checkbox labelled Fields Grow and Shrink The Detail Table and the Notes Field always grow to fit the number of rows or lines of text but you must check this box to make the other fields behave the same way If you leave this box unchecked then you could design the Display Unit much the same way you would a Static Display Unit by placing and sizing fields exactly as you want them to print In fact you can use the Grow and Shrink option on Static Templates as well but because the Display Unit will not grow you have to carefully consider how much your data will cause other fields to move around or you could cut off s
27. how the samples Once you copy a template to the My Template list the selection list will change to show only those templates Column Header Labels These labels will be used later on the Template Editor to identify fields and they are also the Column Headers that will be printed at the top of a Detail Table If all your categories use the same Labels use the Copy Headers button to quickly update them to match an already defined category The Template Editor Catalog Creator can create and store an unlimited number of Printing Templates Click the Template Designer button on the Main Menu to begin There are two grouping of Templates Click either Sample Templates or My Templates to view these groups Template that you create or copy are placed in the My Templates group Additionally when you make a template selection on the Category Editor form the selection lists contains only sample templates if the My Templates group is blank Once you have added a template to the My Templates group only this group will be available in the Template Selection drop down boxes Most users will find that they will need to create only one or two templates In this case the name really doesnt matter Depending on your data you may find that you need to create a separate template for each category In this case you may find it easier to name each template for the category it will print If you have already created one template you may find it
28. in appearance and at the lower end of this range there are very few presentation options to choose from Every users catalog looks just like every other user s catalog However using a Database driven software a user might be able to create a catalog in only a few minutes Catalog Creator is a hybrid of Page Layout and Database driven softwares With Catalog Creator you create just once a printing template for your products Using this template a full catalog can be quickly created using the products recorded in the database Catalog Creator has the ability to create an artistic layout within a modest range of options as well as the ability to quickly produce a large catalog of hundreds or thousands of items We hope that this short manual will help you decide if Catalog Creator is the best software for your individual needs If you need assistance or require more information please contact support CatalogueCreator com Flat vs Relational Databases You may have only ever viewed the products that you sell in a flat format The most common example of this is a spreadsheet pricelist with a long list of SKUs or Part Numbers and their prices one item per row While Catalog Creator is useful for this type of data its true strength is in its ability to represent products in a relational format As shown in the illustrations below flat databases comprise one image for every item Similar items may be represented by the same picture an
29. ke it the Active Cell and click the Return to Stack button 10 SS a Positions and dimensions are recorded in percentages Photo su __ relative to the dimensions of the Display Unit In the screenshot above Photo1 is the Active Cell and its Left value is 0 the left edge of the Display Unit its top edge starts at a point 8 down the height of the Display Unit and its Width and Height are 54 and 56 of the width and height of the Display Unit Detail Table The Design Pad does not represent the proportions of the printed Display Unit Instead the height of the Display Unit on the form represents half the printed page height and its width on the form represents the width of the printed Display Column As shown in the screenshot on the left the fields do not have to fill the entire Design Pad but are normally compressed near the top As well some of the fields are much shorter than the expected height of the text This is because we expect the fields will grow to fit the text On the Page Setup form there is an option to turn off the Fields Grow and Shrink option In this case your template design might resemble the one in the screenshot at the top of this page o i When a field grows the fields below it are pushed down n site Custom Software Lt h i erpe stom Software i aco ra You can see how this works in this Print Preview which uses the template design from the previous page The Product Bee
30. l print their company logo or banner at the top of the page but you can also give each category its own logo or banner This image file can be in a different folder than the categories photos Double click the box to search for a file If you enter a filename without a folder prefix Catalog Creator assumes the file is in the Image Folder for the category WaterMark Each category can have also have a Watermark Image This image prints the full width and height of the page behind the text and product images The watermark will be visible behind the text but not behind the product images even if their background is white Price Markup Discount Prices in your catalog can be easily marked up or discounted without changing the recorded data On the Printing Menu there is a Global Markup Discount box that applies to all categories but each category can have its own Markup Discount This is entered as a percentage For example if you enter a value of 20 prices will be discounted by 20 This feature is useful if you print catalogs for different customers or currencies Starting Page Number T O C Order If you need to reprint an individual category in the middle of your catalog you can change the page numbers so that they continue from the previous category instead of restarting at page one This value is also the T O C Table of Contents order and determines the printing order of categories It can also be changed on the Printing Menu
31. odd pages flip and sort them and then print the other side of the page The easiest way to do this may be to use a PDF writer and print the catalog as a PDF first When you later print from the PDF to your printer there will be an option in the Print Setup for printing odd or even Using a PDF writer is often the only way to prepare your catalog for printing if you are sending it out to be printed in larger volumes We recommend www PDF995 com for an easy to use PDF writer that also has an option to combine the separate printing jobs of multiple categories into a single PDF document Optional Text On the Category Editor form there is also a box for Optional Text This prints in the Page Footer on the opposite side from the Page Number If the field on the Printing Menu is left blank then the Optional Text on the Category Editor form will be used If the field on the Printing Menu is filled in then it will be used as the Optional Text for all categories Currency Symbol If this field is left blank then your computer s Regional Settings will be used be used to determine the currency symbol If you need to print a catalog for a different market you can change this symbol as required Markup Discount On the Category Editor form each category can have an individual Markup Discount Value This adjusts the printed prices without affecting the recorded data This is useful if you are printing catalogs for different markets You can also enter
32. oes 14 Formatting Text Both the Display Unit and Detail Table forms have a Formatting button Click this to go the last form where you can change the formatting of text and borders Cell Borders ree Color 7 Shading Product SKU Size Price Product SKU Size Price Notes Click any field placed on the Display Unit or Detail Table to make it the Active Cell and then click any button for the attribute that you want to adjust The best way to use this form is trial and error Change an attribute and then click the Print Preview button to see how it looks Text Numbers and Currency The default field type is Text If you select a field and change its attribute to Number or Currency when printed Catalog Creator will examine the field and format it as follows If the field is empty then nothing will be printed If the value is zero then nothing will be printed If the value is a number then it will be formatted as a number or computer as defined by your computer s Regional Settings If the value is not a number at all but text then the text will be printed Alignment and Justification By default all text will be Left Aligned but you can change this to Centered Right Aligned or Justified You can also change the alignment of your photo Unless your photos are exactly the same shape as the space reserved for them there will be some empty space on either side or below the photo Use the Alignment buttons to Left Cen
33. ome of your data Let s consider the following three examples We ve placed borders around all the cells as well as the Display Unit to make it clear how fields are adjusted Photot Photo Notes Photot Beefy T T Shirt Short Beefy T T Shirt Short Beefy T T Shirt Short Sleeves Sleeves Sleeves Ultra soit cotton feels Ultra soft cotton feels Ultra sot cotton eels great Shoulder to great Shoulder to great Shoulder to shoulder tape makes it longiasting Full cut for a roomy fit 100 cotton shoulder tape makes it shoulder tape makes it longtasting Full cut for longtasting Full cut for a momy fit 100 cotton a roomy ft 100 cotton In the first two designs the only difference is the heights of the Notes and Cost Fields However the bottom of the Cost Field has not changed so the minimum height reserved for the Display Unit has not changed either The Notes Field grows the same amount in either design so there is no difference in the printed output In the third example the Cost Field is in the same position but there is a space between the Cost and Notes Fields In the printed output this space is retained and the Cost is printed lower increasing the height of the Display Unit Beefy T T Shirt Short Beefy T T Shirt Short Beefy T T Shirt Short Sleeves Sleeves Sleeves Ultra sof cotton feels Ultra sof cotton feels Ultra sof cotton feels great Shoulder to great Shoulderto great Shoulderto
34. own here numbering to begin on a page other than 1 Enter the starting Page number as required The Starting Page number option is also useful if you are re printing an individual category If the category is from the middle of your catalog you would not want it to start with page 1 You can also print categories with page numbers starting at the value recorded in the T O C column 16 Duplex Printing The Duplex option is provided for those users who will be printing on both sides of the page and want to format their catalog so that the Page Numbers and Category Label are always on the outside unbound edge of the page The Duplex option does not instruct your printer to print on both sides of the page This is a function of your printer and must be done using your printers own controls For some printers you may have to start your print job from a Print Preview and then click the Print command on the Menu Bar to access these controls Every printer capable of duplexing will be different so these instructions are only a guideline Some printers will have an option for increasing the page margin on one side of the page to allow more room for binding If your printer does not have this option you can increase the Page Margin on the Page Setup If printing double sided your first page can be on either the left or right Change this option as required If your printer is not capable of double side printing you can print just the even or
35. pixels will also completely fill the banner space but that one of 728 by 180 will be displayed at half width in order to accommodate the greater height Preparing the Spreadsheet A sample spreadsheet of home and office electronics is included with the software but for this example we ll use the following much simpler data set Index Category Photo Product SKU Size Color Cost Frice Spare Spare Spare Spare 1 T Shirts Beety _jpq Beety T T Shirt Short Sleeves 576971 Small White 5 40 15 99 2 T Shirts Beefy jpg Beefy T T Shirt Short Sleeves 516972 Medium White 0 40 15 99 3 T Shirts Beety jpg Beefy T T Shirt Short Sleeves 576973 Large White 5 40 15 99 4 T Shirts Tagless jpg Tagless T Shirt Short Sleeves 514221 Small White r90 14 99 EA 5 T Shirts Taglessjpg Tagless T Shit Short Sleeves 514222 Medium White 7 90 14 99 6 T Shirts Tagless jpg Tagless T Shirt Short Sleeves 514223 Large White T 90 14 99 T T Shirts Ultimate1 jpg Ultimate Cotton Pocket T Shirt 507501 Small White 5 90 16 99 EJ 6 T shirts Ultimate jpg Ultimate Cotton Pocket T Shit 507502 Medium White 3 90 16 99 9 T Shirts Ultimate1jpq Ultimate Cotton Pocket T Shirt 50 7502 Large White 5 90 16 99 10 T Shirts Ultimate2_ jog Ultimate Cotton Long Sleey 540111 Small White 9 20 17 99 12 11 T Shirts Ultimate jpq Ultimate Cotton Long Sleev 540112 Medium White 9 20 17 99 13 12 T Shirts Ultimate jpg Ultimate Cotton Long Sleev 540113 Large White 9 20 17 59 Your spreadshee
36. settings If you need to use multiple spreadsheets with the same category names but you want to use different Printing Templates you ll need to switch templates at printing time or rename the categories in one of the spreadsheets The Category Label Printed Name is the text that prints in the header of your catalog You can use this to have the same name appear in the header of multiple categories even if your actual category name is different Default Image Folder You can use this form to select the Image Folder for the current category Each category can have its own folder to make it easier to organize large numbers of photos and the folder name is combined with the photo filename to define the full path and name of the image file For example if your photo is C MyCatalog MyPhotos Photo1 jog you can record this several ways Normally you would record C MyCatalog MyPhotos in the Image Folder field and Photo1 jog as the filename but you could also record C MyCatalog in the Image Folder field and MyPhotos Photo1 jpg as the filename URLs cannot be used as the image folder but network locations can For example network folder is a valid entry for the Image Folder on the screen without wasting paper For complete control of all printing options start your printing Most forms in Catalog Creator have a Print Preview button This allows you to view the printed page Print jobs from the Printing Menu Category Banner Most users wil
37. t must contain at least 13 columns The first three columns as shown in the example above must be Index Category and Photo Your spreadsheet must also contain 10 data columns If your soreadsheet does not have 10 columns of data be sure to enter some text into the first row to create blank columns In the spreadsheet example you can see that the text Spare has been entered for this purpose AutoFill The Index column is used for sorting and can be quickly created using Excel s AutoFill function Insert an empty column and type Index in the first row Next type 1 2 and 3 in the three rows below Use your mouse to select these three numbered cells When selected a thick black border should be around all three cells Move your mouse to the bottom right corner of the selected group where it will change into a cursor Click and hold the left mouse button while dragging the cursor down the column As you drag the cursor you will see it automatically create sequential numbers Continue dragging the cursor to the last row of data and release the button to fill in the column with the Index numbers Every row in the spreadsheet must contain an entry in the Category column You can use the same AutoFill feature described above to quickly create this column With text you only need to select one row containing the category name and then drag it down through the rest of the category The Photo
38. ter or Right align the photo For the photo the Justification button has a special function Normally your photos are fitted to the reserved Space in such a way as to show them as large as possible without distortion The Justification function fits your photos exactly to the size of the reserved space This could distort the photos so you would normally only use this if your photos are very close to the required dimensions Colors and Backgrounds You can change the color of any text and the background shading of any field You can also add borders to any field Click the field you want to change to make it the Active Cell and then click the Cell Borders or Color Shading boxes You can change the color of the Borders as well but not for individual fields All Field Cell Borders will be the same color On the Detail Table Formatting form there are some additional buttons for formatting Table Rows Click the Header or Detail buttons to see what Color Attributes can be changed For example if you click the Detail Button beside Boxes Rows the Color text will be grayed out to indicate that you can only set a Background Shade If you click the Detail Button beside Dividing Lines the Shading text will be grayed out to indicate that you can only select a Color not a Background Shading To make long Detail Tables easier to read click the Alternating Rows Button and then select a Shading color To change the background color of the entire Detail T
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