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1. 4 From the Field Expression list select any available data field or create an expression that you want to encode See Defining Expressions on page 1 47 for more information 5 Click Add Field Your selection appears in the Selected Text Fields list 6 Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each data field or expression that you want to encode 7 For magnetic stripes repeat steps 1 to 4 to encode additional tracks 8 When you are finished click OK The track layout information is saved to your card design when you choose Save or Save As from the File menu The physical encoding of the magnetic stripe occurs when you print or externally encode the card from your application Remove Individual Fields Expressions from the Layout To remove individual fields expressions from the layout perform these steps 1 From the Tracks list select the track or technology from which the database field or expression is to be removed 2 Select the data field or expression from the Selected Text Fields list 3 Click Remove Field Remove all Fields and Expressions from the Track Layout To remove all fields and expressions from the layout perform these steps 1 From the Tracks list select the track from which all of the database fields and expressions are to be removed 2 Click Clear Fields Using EPIDesigner Creating Your Own Colors 60 Tips and Tricks Creating Your Own Card Backgrounds There are plenty of software packages availab
2. First Name lt gt AND Last Name lt gt Department Sales OR Department Marketing Credential Designer User Manual Functions String functions 67 These built in functions can be used in expressions The function names are not case sensitive DATEQ Date and date are all valid Some functions have more than one name for the convenience of people who are used to the different names LEFT s n Return the first n characters of the string s Example LEFI First Name 1 LEFT Last Name 1 RIGHTV s n Return the last n characters of the string s Example RIGHT Employee Number 3 LTRIM s Remove blank spaces from the beginning of a string Example LTRIM First Name RTRIM s Remove blank spaces from the end of a string Example RTRIM First Name LCASE s LOWER s Change all the letters in a string to lower case LCASE and LOWER are synonyms Example LCASE First Name UCASE s UPPER s Change all the letters in a string to upper case UCASE and UPPER are synonyms Example UCASE Card Code EPIExpression Syntax Functions 68 LEN s LENGTH s DATALENGTH s Return the number of characters in a string LEN LENGTH and DATALENGTH are synonyms MIDs n I SUBSTR s n 1 SUBSTRING S n I Extract the portion of the string s starting at character position n and characters long The third argument is optional If it is omitted return the string fr
3. The EPIDesigner Workspace Setting Up EPIDesigner 14 Specifying Undo Levels Undo levels refer to the number of times that actions or commands can be reversed when you click Undo on the Edit menu For example if you draw a circle on a card design and then set the line color from black to red these actions represent two levels that can be undone Therefore if you click Undo twice the first use would revert the line color of the circle from red to black and the second use would delete the circle If you undo too many levels of actions or commands you can reverse the Undo by clicking Redo on the Edit menu To set up the Undo Levels perform these steps 1 On the View menu click Options The Options dialog box appears see Figure 2 2 Enter the number of undo levels in the Undo remembers the last XXX commands field The maximum you can enter is 100 and the minimum is 1 Note The higher the setting the more memory EPIDesigner requires to operate 3 Click OK or proceed to the next section for more configuration Setting Background Image Compression Select the Compress Background Images option to have EPIDesigner compress background images to save space when your DNG files are saved see Figure 2 When you import a background image into a card design EPIDesigner will perform two separate compressions of the file using JPEG and TIFF LZW formats and then select the smaller of the two files Clear this option
4. maintain a consistent color scheme in each card layout 5 Create any other colors you want and add them to the palette 6 Click OK Placing Objects on the K and O Planes CMYK EPIDesigner supports 24 bit color with output process colors in the following models CMY cyan magenta and yellow CMYO CMY plus a protective overlay CMYK CMY plus pure black and CMYKO CMYK plus a protective overlay Each color is considered a plane For CMYK ribbon based ID card printers will use individual ribbons or ribbon segments for each process color Some color document printers like the HP DeskJet 560C have a CMY ink cartridge and a pure black K ink cartridge As the card is passed through the printer each plane is applied to the card in such a way that it is combined with the other planes to achieve a desired color For Credential Designer User Manual 57 example if you were to print process black on a card the printer would combine 100 of the cyan magenta and yellow planes to achieve black By contrast pure or resin black which is much richer is achieved by printing 100 of the K plane Place Objects on the K Plane To place objects on the K Plane perform these steps 1 Double click the object you want place on the K plane The lt object gt Properties box opens 2 Click the General tab 3 Click Print on K Plane Note This option is only valid if your card printer supports K plane printing The O
5. 3L New Open Save Cut Copy and Paste buttons Perform commonly used Windows commands Undo and Redo buttons Allow you to reverse the previous actions or redo them if you so choose Flip Layout button Allows you to toggle between the front and back view of the card Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons Allow you to change the view of the layout Drawing Object buttons Allow you to select design objects draw shapes lines rectangles round rectangles ellipses or place text objects static images dynamic images and bar codes on your card template Object Properties button Allows you to enable or disable special design features such as image cameos or conditional display settings for the highlighted object Layout Properties button Allows you to set global parameters for the currently open layout such as page size and background image Print button Allows you to print the card template Print Preview button Displays the active card template design as it would appear when printed About button Displays support and licensing information for your copy of EPIDesigner The EPIDesigner Workspace What s New in EPIDesigner 12 The Text Style Bar Times New Roman v 12 B U The text style bar provides access to the visual properties of text objects Font Face Point Size Italic Align Horizontally AAA The Attributes Bar Bold Underline Align Vertically Font Face list Allows
6. Cerca H When you choose the Print command you will have the following options Front Side Only Prints only the front layout of the card Back Side Only Prints only the back layout of the card Front and Back Prints both the front and back layouts of the card This selection should be used if you have a specialized printer that prints on both the front and the back of cards or if you want to manually flip the cards over to print on their backs Note If you want to manually flip cards over to print on their backs especially ifyou are printing both sides of the cards in batches you should know that this method will require a moderate amount of trial and error before you achieve satisfactory results Credential Designer User Manual Duplex Settings 21 Use these settings to print layouts on both sides of the printer media or to print both sides of the layout on one side of the media These options are saved to the layout file DGN and used to create reports or for sheet printing on a larger format printer Note This does not affect the way your card layouts will print to a card printer 1 On the File menu click Page Setup The Page Setup dialog box appears with the Page Setup tab showing see Figure 4 2 Select the Duplex tab The Duplex printing properties appear Page Setup Page Setup Duplex Duplex Mode Print fronts and backs on same page 10 2H Print fronts and backs on separate pages
7. Plane or Protective Overlay The O Plane or protective overlay is a transparent film on a separate ribbon the O plane which is applied after the other colors have been printed onto the card It is used to protect the card from wear and tear It is not technically a color but it is treated as such by printers that offer protective overlay printing as an option Note This option will only work with certain printers Please consult your printer documentation for information on setting up options and exclusion areas to apply a protective overlay to your card design Setting Up Magnetic Stripe Information Use Magnetic Stripes to Retrieve Cardholder Data Allowable Track Information EPIDesigner allows you to encode virtually any data you want on the Magnetic Stripe which is particularly helpful if you are creating items such as credit cards ATM cards long distance telephone cards or public transportation access cards The following table illustrates the type of information that may be encoded to each track of the Magnetic Stripe Track Bits per Inch mon ue No of Numerics 1 210 76 2 75 37 3 210 104 Using EPIDesigner Creating Your Own Colors 58 Track 1 allows alphanumeric both alphabetic and numeric characters and Tracks 2 and 3 only permit numeric characters Certain character sets are accepted for encoding on each track For more information on allowable character sets refer to the d
8. example you can have a directory named CARDS to store your card designs To press and release the left mouse button twice in quick succession To move the mouse while holding down the left mouse button A device in a computer that spins disks used to store information Personal computers normally have a fixed or hard disk labeled C and one or two floppy disk drives labeled A and B A drop down list allows you to choose commonly used entries for a specific category of information such as Blue Green Brown or Gray if you create a pick list for the card holder s eye color This is often referred to simply as a list A text object in a EPIDesigner card design that has been linked to a database field e g the cardholder s first name last name etc Unlike static text a dynamic text object outputs the variable information that was entered into 1ts associated field Credential Designer User Manual E Expression Extension E Field Label G Ghost Image Grid Lines H Handles Hue Justification 75 In EPIDesigner a combination of operators constants and names of fields that produce a single value You can use expressions to combine database fields for magnetic stripe or smart chip encoding or for database field links to dynamic text objects e g the First_Name and Last_Name fields can be combined into one dynamic text object that prints the cardholder s full name on a single line Character
9. for double sided printing 12 34 Cancel Help 3 Choose from one of the following options Print fronts and back on same page Used for printing double sided layouts together on the front of the print media Print fronts and backs on separate pages Used for printing double sided layouts on opposite sides of the print media Default sequence Prints fronts and backs in the same sequence on both sides Note The fronts and back of the cards will not back to back on both sides of the print out Use Align backs with fronts to achieve this effect Align backs with fronts page flips left to right Prints fronts to backs flipping the media left to right Align backs with fronts page flips top to bottom Prints fronts to backs flipping the media top to bottom 4 Click OK The EPIDesigner Workspace Printers 22 NOTES Credential Designer User Manual 23 Using EPIDesigner Selecting Page Sizes Different types of ID cards come in different sizes dependent on the types of cards a printer will output It is important to select the card page size before beginning to design a card since resizing the page can have a serious impact on the overall design The page size information is stored in the card layout file DGN or GDR and is used by your application during the printing process Set Up the Page Size 1 On the File menu click Layout Properties The Layout Properties dialog box appea
10. from which ID cards are produced It is composed of an EPIDesigner card design including the card background image design objects smart chip or magnetic stripe track layout and the printer setup information A card reader is an access control hardware device used to read bar codes magnetic stripes smart chips or microwave emissions from the different types of advanced security cards Glossary 74 Constrain Crop Cropping Rectangle D Directory Double click Drag Drive Drop down List Dynamic Text Object Holding down the SHIFT key while drawing or resizing an object to force the object into a specific shape For example holding the SHIFT key down while you draw or resize a rectangle forces that object to become a perfect square Images photographs fingerprints and signatures when drawn are automatically constrained to their proper aspect ratios as determined in your application Reducing or increasing the visible area of an image by using the Crop button in the Crop Image dialog box The area of the image that resides within the rectangle will be cropped and saved to the database The area of the image that resides outside the rectangle will be discarded The rectangle with eight handles that signifies the cropping area over a captured image A directory is a structure used to organize files on a disk like a drawer in a filing cabinet Directories have names and can be divided into subdirectories For
11. in the Sample Text field The bar code on your card design will automatically resize itself to accommodate the new character length If the bar code is too long to fit onto your card design select the bar code open the Properties dialog box and change the Ratio option to 2 5 1 or 2 1 This resizes the widest bars in the bar code by a ratio of 2 5 to 1 or 2 to 1 respectively relative to the narrowest bars The bar code on your card design is automatically reduced in the length Note This option does not apply to all bar code types If you reset your bar width ratio and you still cannot fit your bar code onto your card design adjust the narrow bar width itself To do this open the Properties dialog box and enter a smaller number in the Narrow bar width field than the default Select Show readable text to add human readable text Add a quiet zone that is a clear space with no machine readable marks in it before and after the bar code Credential Designer User Manual 63 If your bar code reader is not infrared place the bar code on a white background Protecting Your Bar Codes Against Counterfeiting Using Fonts K resin plane bar codes can be printed against a process black background and still be used by infrared card readers Since infrared readers do not identify process black this combination of pure and process blacks makes bar codes impossible to photocopy or scan For other types of bar code
12. object only when field expression The fields below become active 4 From the Data field list select your valid SQL database expression Figure 22 Dynamic Image Properties Dialog Dynamic Image Properties General Image Sample Image Conditional Display Options Always show object Show object only when field expression RTRIM First_Name Last Name y x John Smith Cancel Help Use Expressions as Dynamic Text Objects You can use any expression when creating a dynamic text object just as you would any regular database field For example if you want to show both the cardholder s first and last names together you would enter the appropriate expression in the Field Name combo box The Dynamic Text Properties Text Tab on page 1 49 shows the SQL expression used to concatenate the First_Name and Last_Name fields together to create the Full Name expression RTRIM First_Name Last_Name The RTRIM command at the beginning of the string is used in SQL to remove any blank spaces to the right that may exist in the database field The pair of double quotes in the middle of the expression is a marker for a space in between the two names Credential Designer User Manual 49 If you do not have a database connection the code entered would look something like this First Name Last Name where First Name and Last Name are data fields that have been defined in the View m
13. page 1 56 Figure 12 Object Properties Conditional Display Tab Dynamic Image Properties General Image Sample Image Conditional Display Options C Always show object Show object only when field expression Department xl Accounting Cancel Help Conditional Display options are used to set the conditions under which the object will appear For example if you want to print the object only when the Department field maintained in the database contains the word Accounting follow these steps 1 Select Department from the list 2 Select from the Compare list 3 Type Accounting in the data entry field The selected object will only be printed on cards that are issued to members of the Accounting department A smart feature allows you to type date and time values into the Data Entry field and EPIDesigner will recognize them as such For example if you typed 01 01 01 EPIDesigner will recognize that as the date January 01 2001 Always Show Object Default Select this option if you want to print the object on all ID cards Using EPIDesigner Design Objects 32 Show Object Only When Field Expression Select this option if you want to print the object on specific cards The fields beneath this option will be enabled Compare list Drawing Objects lt less than indicates the contents of the field you selected should be less than the value entered in the corre
14. subset of Code 128 that is used primarily on shipping containers It is numeric and has a fixed length of 19 digits To add a checksum to the bar code select an option from the Checksum list POSTNET Zip 4 PostalCode this bar code type is used on envelopes and postcards that are shipped through the US Postal Service It is placed on the lower right hand corner of the envelope Checksum is not used Symbol PDF417 a two dimensional symbology that allows you to encode a Portable Data File with ASCII binary or numeric data The Symbol PDF417 is particularly useful if you need to encode large amounts of data onto a limited space for example an ID card that requires customer or employee profiles biometric data and personal descriptions See Setting Up Symbol PDF417 Bar Codes in the EPIDesigner Help system for complete details on the proper use of this technology Note Symbol PDF417 bar codes are only available through an optional plug in Using EPIDesigner Design Objects 54 Bar Code Properties Code 49 a multiple row bar code that can encode the full ASCII character set below ASCII 128 Up to 49 alphanumeric characters or 81 numeric characters can be encoded These characters are encoded into 2 to 8 rows each divided by a separator bar The top and bottom of the symbol also have separator bars that extend to the ends of the minimum quiet zones Code 16K Auto a multiple row bar code that can encode the full ASCII cha
15. the Object Properties button on the Toolbar Click the Bar code tab 2 Select the appropriate bar code type from the Type list See Bar Code Types on page 1 51 for details 3 Continue selecting properties and their corresponding values until you have properly configured your bar code See Bar Code Properties on page 1 54 for details Credential Designer User Manual 51 Print Bar Codes on the K Plane Bar codes should always be printed in black There are two types of black available process black and pure black the black that is exclusively printed on the K plane While both colors are an acceptable selection it is important to note that infrared bar code readers cannot recognize bar codes printed in process black Unless you are sure that your bar code reader can read process black it is recom mended that you set your bar code to print in pure black To print bar codes on the K plane double click the bar code on your card design to open the Bar Code Properties dialog Click the General tab and then select Print on K Plane Note This option is only valid if your card printer supports K plane pure black printing Set the Bar Code Background Color While the default bar code background color is white and should generally remain white EPIDesigner allows you to specify any other color including no color or transparent to prevent the illicit duplication of ID cards by photocopying Note Only a small numbe
16. the file type and specify the directory to which it will be saved Credential Designer User Manual 29 Change the Background Color This feature allows you to add a solid color to your card s background This color will be printed on your finished card Note If you use both a background color and a background image file the background color will be covered over by the image file and will not be visible To change the card s background color perform these steps 1 On the File menu click Layout Properties or click the Layout Properties button on the toolbar 2 Click the Front or Back tab Click the Color list to choose one of the sixteen preset colors or click the ellipses button next to it to define a custom color using the Windows color dialog box Click OK To remove the background color select the X from the top of the preset color list This removes any background color previously applied to your card design Inhibit Printing the Background Image Design Objects If your card media comes with the background image preprinted on it you can still include the image file in the layout to make layout design easier without printing it on the card To do this perform these steps 1 Import the background image file that appears on your preprinted cards 2 On the File menu click Layout Properties or click the Layout Properties tool Click the Front or Back tab Clear the Print background option selection below th
17. to 24 bit color output Sixteen million colors will give your card background a near photo graphic quality If disk space is an issue save the file as a JPEG image This file format offers exceptional compression while maintaining the high quality of the image Test print your background design on the printer you will be using to produce your ID cards ID card printers do not always output the colors you see on your screen Test printing allows you to adjust the color output to your satisfaction before you go into full ID card production Color Variation and Intensity Threshold Settings The effects of these settings depend entirely on the tonal quality of the image that is being close cropped Images with darker background pixels or backdrops that have distinct variations in shading pose more of a problem than images with brighter solid colored backgrounds Credential Designer User Manual 61 For best results on close cropping photographs follow these image capturing tips Make sure your subject is well lit Using backlighting behind the subject separates the subject s hair from the backdrop creating a slight halo effect around the hair This works well to define dark hair from a dark backdrop Photograph your subjects against a solid colored backdrop If you are using the ambient lighting in an office rather than specialized photo graphic lighting place your subjects against a colorful backdrop sky blue red or green work
18. useful if you are having trouble removing background pixels with the RGB Color Match option Enter your custom Color Variation and Intensity Threshold percentages RGB Color Match Select this option if you want to remove all background pixels that are exactly the same color This option is particularly useful for solid color backgrounds which are commonly found in bitmap files for example logos and it may not be suitable for cropping photographs In the Color variation field enter an amount of variation from the selected color or enter 0 for an exact color match Color Variation This is the percentage of the hue that EPIDesigner will use to scan for variations of the background pixels along the color spectrum EPIDe signer removes pixels by sampling the first one located in the upper left hand corner of the image It then uses this setting to scan for pixels of a similar hue along the specified percentage of the color spectrum A higher value means that EPIDesigner will scan and remove pixels across a wider percentage of the color spectrum A lower setting means that EPIDesigner will confine the removal to pixels that more closely match the first one that was sampled For example If you enter a setting of 30 here and if the image s first pixel is a shade of green EPIDesigner will scan and remove all shades of green across 30 percent of the spectrum and possibly into portions of the yellow and blue color ranges Intensity Thr
19. using the Justification options Credential Designer User Manual 39 Note You can change any of these options later by highlighting the text object and making your choices on the Text Style and Attribute bars See The Text Style Bar on page 1 12 10 Optional To add a border or background color to the text object click the General tab and then select the text box line and fill colors 11 Optional Adjust the text box Line Thickness Create Dynamic Text Objects To create dynamic text objects perform these steps 1 Using the Dynamic Text tool draw the object as described in Draw an Object on page 1 32 Figure 16 Dynamic Text Object P Field T a BE 2 Double click the object to open the Dynamic Text Properties dialog Figure 17 Dynamic Text Properties dialog Dynamic Text Properties General Text Conditional Display Text Text First Name Wrap text Field Name First_Name Format for date time fields Sample 1 20 2003 2 08 26 PM Times New Roman 12 Change Font Automatically reduce font to fit Text Color MB Justification Left C Horz Center C Right Top Mert Center C Bottom Cancel Help 3 Click the Text tab From the Data field name or expression list select the data field that will supply the data at print time Click Edit if you want to customize the data field Using EPIDesigner Design Objects 40 4 Optional In th
20. well This enhances your subject s flesh tones and makes it easier for EPIDesigner to differentiate the background pixels from those that compose the image of the cardholder When you are not using cameo or ghosting effects darker backgrounds reduce the intensity threshold of the image Nudging Objects You can nudge EPIDesigner objects one pixel at a time to place them on your card design with precision To do this select the object and use your arrow keys to move it in the direction of your choice Constraining Objects To draw perfect squares and circles or perfectly horizontal or vertical lines hold down the SHIFT key to constrain the object while you draw or resize it Note Images photographs fingerprints and signatures are automatically constrained to their proper aspect ratios when you draw or resize them on your card design Quick Copying Objects You can quick copy an object by holding down the CTRL key and selecting and moving the original object with your mouse pointer This action leaves behind a copy of the original image at the original location This allows you to bypass the Copy Paste commands and Toolbar buttons Selecting Deselecting Multiple Objects You can select multiple objects by holding down the SHIFT key and clicking on the objects of your choice Clearing objects from a previously selected group can be performed in the same manner Tips and Tricks Creating Your Own Colors 62 Anoth
21. Figure 4 Page Setup dialog box Page Setup Page Setup Duplex Printer Name DI 10x350 gt Type DIIIDX350 Where GACPI Print Color and K planes on separate pages Page Margins Left Din Top Din Right Din Bottom Din Page Layout Cards Across 1 Horizontal Spacing 10 250 in Cards Down 1 Vertical Spacing 0 250 in DK Cancel Help The EPIDesigner Workspace Printers 18 2 Select a printer The default printer as specified in the Windows Printers control panel appears in the list To select a different printer scroll through the list and choose from the printers displayed 3 Optional Select the Print Color and K planes on separate pages option if your card printer outputs four process colors cyan magenta yellow and black when they are specified on separate document pages The first page should be in CMY and the second page should be monochrome This option merges the two pages into one in order to output four color process Consult your printer manufacturer s documentation on setting up your printer for K plane printing Note Do not modify the Page Margins and Page Layout settings if you are printing to a card printer See Special Printing Options on page 1 18 for more details 4 Click OK The dimensions of the card layout will adjust to those of your printer s default card media Special Printing Options Printing Reports If you want to print cards to a sheet printer from your appl
22. Reset All Cancel Brightness To modify any of the color or image quality settings drag the slider one way or another until the Preview Image appears as desired or select Automatic contrast to automatically adjust the contrast of the image Click OK when you are finished To undo your changes click the Reset All button to return the Preview Image to its original settings or click Cancel to return to the Layout Properties dialog without saving the changes To crop the background image drag one of the eight sizing handles that appear on the Original Image until the image has the desired shape You can also move the cropping area if it is smaller than the original image by dragging it to the desired area on the Original Image Removing a Card Background To remove a background from a card design follow these steps 1 On the File menu click Layout Properties and then click the Front or Back tab depending on which background you want to remove 2 Click the Delete button then click OK to return to the EPIDesigner workspace or repeat the instructions for importing an image see Importing the Card Background on page 1 26 Export a Card Background To export a card background on the File menu click Layout Properties or click the Layout Properties button on the toolbar Click the Front tab When there is currently a background image on the layout the Save As button is enabled Save the image file with a new name define
23. Saved Card Designs After making changes to an existing card design save your changes by clicking the Save button on the toolbar or on the File menu click Save Your changes are automatically saved to the file To save the design with a new filename on the File menu click Save As and follow steps 2 and 3 above IMPORTANT If you open a GuardDraw file GDR and then save it without changing the filename you will overwrite that file and will no longer be able to open that file using GuardDraw even though it will still have the GDR extension If you need to keep your old GDR or DGN files always save with a new filename Importing or Removing the Card Background Card backgrounds consist of graphics such as bitmap images which are created in draw or paint programs The background is the graphical landscape against which the various card design objects such as images or text objects are placed Note You can also apply these features to Back Header and Footer layouts On the View menu click Show Importing the Card Background To import card backgrounds follow these steps Credential Designer User Manual 27 1 On the File menu click Layout Properties You can also click the Layout Properties button on the toolbar or double click the layout 2 Select the Front or Back tab 3 In the Background area click Load The Open dialog box appears 4 In the File name field type the name path and extension of the backgr
24. Security Credential Designer User Manual EL m H Comprehensive Effective Efficient Credential Designer User Manual Copyright Disclaimer Trademarks and patents Intended use Copyright O 2007 GE Security Inc All rights reserved This document may not be copied or otherwise reproduced in whole or in part except as specifically permitted under US and international copyright law without the prior written consent from GE Document number 4605570064 February 2007 THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE GE ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR INACCURACIES OR OMISSIONS AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY LIABILITIES LOSSES OR RISKS PERSONAL OR OTHERWISE INCURRED AS A CONSEQUENCE DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY OF THE USE OR APPLICATION OF ANY OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS DOCUMENT FOR THE LATEST DOCUMENTATION CONTACT YOUR LOCAL SUPPLIER OR VISIT US ONLINE AT WWW GESECURITY COM This publication may contain examples of screen captures and reports used in daily operations Examples may include fictitious names of individuals and companies Any similarity to names and addresses of actual businesses or persons is entirely coincidental GE and the GE monogram are registered trademarks of General Electric Other trade names used in this document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the manufacturers or vendors of the respective products Use this product only for the purpose it was designed for r
25. Up Magnetic Stripe Information rin 57 Tips and Trikes een VERS PUE xd rv eR ER REA dU PUR RU CARP Teer 60 Creating Your Own Card Backgrounds 60 Color Variation and Intensity Threshold Settings 60 Nudging ODJECiS 2222288 TEE 61 Cotistratmirig Objects ii A a eb 61 Quick Copying ODJ6cts et ete ahd eed E en E E RR 61 Selecting Deselecting Multiple Objects 22 61 Selecting lndividual ObjJects L iesus na 62 PlaecingiBdrlCodes t A dU DUE DUEB d e e 62 Protecting Your Bar Codes Against Counterfeiting 63 UA EOS idas 63 EPIEXpressiGhi SVDEUN A A A 65 N merie c nstants ii nme 65 SUI COMAS ee ee 65 Variable Names ss ses tee ee les roe nee 65 SININACONCAL AATION 55458 A ns dure 65 ArIthMelle dia 66 COMPONSON OPA ici A A A LEEK tune RO RR 66 Epa A 66 F NCtIONS 24 4 0 iao ea ana ne O 67 ae ee rennen 67 NUMERIC THmellonts cari a id 69 nc er aa pH ete o nn sneer EPEED RR REPE R M A 69 Other TUNCHONS 54 sein ETT 70 iC occi EA I MU 73 Introduction Welcome to EPIDesigner 6 3 the professional quality design software that makes creating superb full color photo credential templates quick and easy As well create report templates that include photos and text drawn from your database or a
26. acing between the cards printed on the page 5 Enter the new page margins in the fields as required Note The default is 0 which allows the card printer to print edge to edge on the card media If printing to a document printer you may need to adjust these margins manually if this doesn t occur automatically You can add headers or footers to your card layout that will appear at the top and bottom of the printed card or sheet The objects you add to these areas will be saved in the card layout file DGN IMPORTANT The heights of the Header and Footer are added to the height of the card layout they do not overlap the card layout When setting up the Size Height of the header and or footer you must subtract those amounts from the height of the Front of the layout otherwise your header will push the card layout front back down the full height of the header and the layout will in turn push down the footer As well if your printer requires margins that is does not print edge to edge you will need to take those into account when you calculate your heights 1 With a card layout open on the File menu click Layout Properties and then select the Page Header or Page Footer tab The options appear 2 Select a page size preferably the size of your layout Front Back 3 Modify the Header Footer Size Height and Front Back height as described in the note above 4 Optional Add a background image or color If you want this ba
27. ample linking a dynamic text object to the First Name field in the database results in First Name appearing on the card design in whatever font and size you select This is replaced by the cardholder s first name in your specified font and size when the ID card is printed Credential Designer User Manual The EPIDesigner Design Window 13 The Design Window area of the EPIDesigner workspace is where you design card templates When a new file is created EPIDesigner opens a Design Window for the front of the card layout The back of the card can be viewed at any time by selecting the View menu and clicking Show Back of Layout or by clicking Flip Layout on the toolbar Figure 1 EPIDesigner Design Windows A Rulers Available both horizontally and vertically for object alignment B B Grid Used for object alignment Can be hidden from the screen AZE C Extended cursor crosshairs C Setting Up EPIDesigner You can tailor the EPIDesigner workspace to better suit your needs To change the default options on the View menu click Options The Options dialog box appears Figure 2 Options dialog box Options General Rulers and Grid Data Fields Undo remembers the last commands V Show scrollbars IV Compress background images automatically Workspace background Color L More colos Card border IV Show card border Round comers Color mmm More colos
28. an Image Ghost Using the Effects Settings The Fade and Transparency levels can be used to create a ghost image An image ghost is an image that is transparent that is the background elements show through it generally used in addition to a regular image and can be placed anywhere on the card design even behind text or other objects This is considered to be an additional ID security feature as ghosted images are extremely difficult to reproduce You may want to experiment with the settings to get the effect you want 1 Add an image object as described in Draw an Object on page 1 32 If you want to create a ghost of an image that already exists on your card Ctrl click the image and drag the newly created image to its location Then you can apply the effects you want to the new image You will need to move the ghost behind the original on the Object menu click Move then click Back 2 Double click the image to open the Dynamic Image Properties dialog box Select the Image tab 3 Modify the Effects settings to get the look you want Fade level Use this feature to create a washed out appearance The number entered in the field represents the percentage of whiteness that you want for the image Transparency level Use this feature to reduce the opacity of the image The number entered in the field represents the percentage of the image that will be transparent Using EPIDesigner Design Objects 46 Use
29. atisfied with the object s new size and shape release the left mouse button You cannot resize static text objects in the sense that the point size of the font will be increased or decreased as you stretch the text box Rather when you resize the text box you expand or contract the amount of available space in which the text will fit This is particularly important if you increase the font s point size or if you type too much text to fit within the text box To reveal text that has been hidden due to constraints in the size of the text box follow the instructions above Changing Object Attributes You can change object attributes such as line weight or fill color at any time while you are creating or editing the card design Credential Designer User Manual 37 Change Line Attributes To change line attributes perform these steps 1 Double click the line you want to change The Line Properties dialog box appears 2 On the General tab change the line color by choosing from the sixteen quick access colors in the Line Color list For a more extensive selection of colors click the ellipsis button next to the Line Color list 3 Click Line Thickness and select from the list Change Object Attributes To change object attributes perform these steps 1 Double click the object you want to change The lt object gt Properties dialog box appears 2 On the General tab change the object color by choosing from the sixteen
30. become enabled 3 In the Display name field enter the label that will appear in the data fields list In the Internal name field enter the name that will be used by your application to associate data with the dynamic object linked to the field If these will be the Credential Designer User Manual 17 same name simply enter the name in the Display name field and click Add The name will appear in both fields Printers You will need to set up a printer before creating and designing cards All necessary printer and page information is stored in the card design file DGN which in turn is used by your application as a card format a packet of information that includes the EPIDesigner card design file the card code generation method and the printer and page setup IMPORTANT To ensure accurate reproduction of your card design be careful to match the card size in your Layout Properties described below to the card media in your printer If necessary consult your printer s documentation Install a Printer Driver Install the printer drivers according to the instructions provided by your printer manufacturer The printer appears automatically in the Print dialog box the next time you sign into the system Set Up a Card Printer To set up a card printer other than your default printer follow these steps 1 On the File menu click Page Setup The Page Setup dialog box appears with the Page Setup tab showing see Figure 4
31. ckground to print at print time select the Print background option 5 Click OK 6 To add objects to the header or footer on the View menu click Show and then select Layout Header or Layout Footer A blank layout appears on the workspace 7 Add objects such as text in the manner described in Drawing Objects on page 1 32 The EPIDesigner Workspace Printers 20 Double sided Printing There are two settings available for double sided printing Printing on both sides of a single card from the Print command in either EPIDe signer or your application or Printing both sides of the card layout to a larger printer media from your appli cation to a document printer to print on a sheet or create a report for example The first requires you to choose the appropriate Print Side setting on the Print dialog at print time and the second requires you to choose a Page Setup option that will be saved in the DGN file and used when printing from your application Print Side Note This option is used for single card printing from either EPIDesigner or your application or batch printing from your application Figure 5 Print dialog Batch Print Printer Name CET xl Properties Print Range Copies All Number of copies 1 E C Cardis r Enter card ranges separated by commas For example 1 3512 First card position Print side Front and Back v Print all cards in the same document DK Cancel Help
32. conventions for menus and shortcuts Example Describes Choosing the Page Setup command Choose File Page Setup nthe File nan Holding down Control and pressing Ctrl n ne the lowercase letter n Holding down Control and Shift and EN pressing the letter n Right click Clicking the right mouse button Introduction First Time Computer Users Example Describes Ctrl click Holding down Control and clicking the left mouse button Credential Designer User Manual NOTES Introduction Conventions Credential Designer User Manual EPIDesigner Setup What s New in EPIDesigner The following list outlines new features in version 6 3 of EPIDesigner Select from new magnetic stripe character set options You can choose ISO Standard AAMVA Standard or Custom Open more than one EPIDesigner session at a time so you can easily cut and paste objects between designs e Select hidden objects placed under other objects in a layout Customize the drop down lists of colors in the toolbar and various Properties dialogs and use these custom colors to maintain a consistent color scheme in each card layout see Creating Your Own Colors on page 1 55 Align objects on a card layout by text baseline even if the objects have different text fonts or sizes see Align and Distribute Objects on page 1 34 Use the Print image exactly as is option to ensure objec
33. e Background commands The image will appear on your design in EPIDesigner but will not print on the card EPIDesigner comes complete with an extensive selection of tools to allow you to design cards with ease In addition to text image and bar code objects you can also use lines circles squares rectangles and ellipses to spice up your illus tration or to create security clearance symbols for the easy identification of unauthorized cards Note You can apply these features to Back Header and Footer layouts On the View menu click Show and then choose the appropriate layout Using EPIDesigner Design Objects 30 Object Properties General Tab All of the drawing tools available for your card layouts have properties see The Toolbar on page 11 for example position line color and conditional display options All of the common object properties are described in the following section Special properties that apply only to specific tools are described separately Figure 11 Object Properties General Tab Dynamic Image Properties General Image Sample Image Conditional Display Position Left Right 2 771 in Top 0 132 in Bottom 0 453 in Style Line Color Line Thickness Fill Color M Shadow zei Horizontal Vertical Shadow Offset 0 040 in 0 040 in I Print on K Plane I Print on O Plane DK Cancel Help calf me Size and Position fields Use these fields to pr
34. e Sample Text field enter a label that will identify the contents that will appear in the object at print time for example First Name 5 Make any further modifications to the object as described in see Create Static Text Objects on page 37 Adding Border Text to Objects This security feature allows you to add a border of very small user definable print around rectangle text and image objects both static and dynamic Figure 18 Sample Border Text M A Security Level 2 Security ecurity Level 2 Security Lewe noas Z aag Awnoag araq Awnoag z araq Awnoag Border text set to 3 points Border text set to 7 points Note The settings for the Border Text will be global for your card layout so you only need to set the properties once in the Layout Properties dialog Set the Border Text Properties To set the border text properties perform these steps 1 On the File menu click Layout Properties or click the Layout Properties button on the Toolbar The Layout Properties dialog box appears Credential Designer User Manual 41 Figure 19 Layout Properties dialog Layout Properties General Front Back Page Header Page Footer Border Text Text E Color EB el Font Arial 3 Modify Advanced ptions Enable exclusion areas IV Evaluate expressions in data fields Encoding 2 In the Text field enter the text that will appear around the design object This word o
35. e to it using the Look In list You will only be able to access network drives that are mapped to your PC or available from your Network Neighborhood 3 Click Open Opening a Recently Saved Card Design The last four card designs that were saved to disk will be listed at the bottom of the File menu Select the name or number of the card design that you want to open and it will be displayed Saving Card Designs The Save command displays a dialog box where you can give a new card design a filename and specify a location in which to store it Saving a Card Design For the First Time To save a card design for the first time follow these steps 1 On the File menu click Save The Save As dialog box appears see Figure 9 Using EPIDesigner Saving Card Designs 26 Figure 9 Save As dialog box Save As Save in 3 Layouts la y EE school dan IBS am transol dgn BEisk_pass don Elbostclub dgn BEisk_passold dgn Elchemcor dgn ftest dgn E creditun dgn EL ayout don File name Layout dan Save as type EPlDesigner Files Cancel 2 In the File name field type a name From the Save as type field select DGN or GDR See IMPORTANT note below Note To save the card design in a different drive or directory select the drive from the Save In drop down list You will only be able to access network drives that are mapped to your PC or available from your Network Neighborhood 3 Click OK Saving Previously
36. ecisely place an object on the layout Enter numbers in these fields to modify the object s location and or size The number entered in each field indicates the location of that side of the object therefore changing a single position field will modify the size and possibly the shape of the object To place an object on the design without calculating the border coordinates enter only the width and height of the object and the distance to the edge of the card Note To change the units of measurement in the View menu click Options then click Rulers and Grids Style settings Use these settings to define the color and thickness of the line framing the object and the fill color Shadow Use this option to add a drop shadow to any type of Text or Image object static or dynamic A drop shadow gives a sense of depth and dimension to a 2D object The shadow is simply a duplicate of the object offset from the original and filled with solid color See Create a Shadow on page 1 46 for a sample image and more information Credential Designer User Manual Conditional Display Tab 31 Roundness Use this option to set the curvature of the rounded corners of a Round Rectangle See See Edit Rounded Corner Curvatures for a Rounded Rectangle on page 1 34 K and O plane settings Use these settings to print the selected object on either the K or O plane of the printer s ribbon See Placing Objects on the K and O Planes on
37. efer to the data sheet and user documentation For the latest product information contact your local supplier or visit us online at www gesecurity com Contents liget me LOS 5 First Time Computer Users a IR eR Lb a EP DEP Wer big Y SENE ein ERR 5 CONVENTIONS un nun ke 5 EPIDEMIA 9 What s New in EPIDesigner sinere ir is eWe E E ites 9 The EPIDesigner Workspace ciiin d DEDE RF TU VIRO iia 11 ane c tae Ohba 11 The Text Style Bars ese oce ER da 12 The Attributes Boris eee e UTR ana 12 The EPIDesigner Design Window 13 Setting UpiEPIDesigner 32 152 222 2 ee A meer 13 Specifying Undo Levels erica dida da dd prb ee di 14 Setting Background Image Compression 14 Setting the Workspace Options ici id AAA dd 14 Connecting to OtherDatabases s m ae re 15 POS ceo UR 17 Special Printing Options rss REND bbb ek bue IR Rd 18 Headers And Footer f ESSE 19 Do ble sided Printlrigis sieste soon er 20 Using EPIDesigner e 23 Selecting Page SizBs ee peche A LUE ROUES ee 23 Creating New Card Designs 1 usa een E BER II eren e 24 Opening Existing Card Design FileS ooooooooocooorcnrcrrccrcrr he hh 24 Opening dn Existing Card Design File uite b RR ERE Mee aa ODER REN 24 Opening a Recen
38. ending on nLangl 1 English 2 French 3 Spanish Example MRTDDATE June 2 1998 0 0 Result 02 JUN JUIN 98 Credential Designer User Manual Glossary A Aspect Ratio Attributes Bitmap C Cameo effect Card Card Background Card Format Card Reader 73 The ratio of the width of an image to its height Characteristics assigned to objects with respect to the line and fill Line attributes include weight thickness and color An object s fill attribute is a color Text objects also have attributes such as the font typeface style and color An image composed of a series of dots pixels Scanners and paint programs such as Paintbrush generate this type of image By contrast EPIDesigner creates images using vector objects shapes stored internally as mathematical equations An artistic effect that is accomplished by removing the bitmapped image s background pixels In the case of photographs the image backdrop will be removed and a close cropped image of the card holder will be placed against the card background The printed card that has been issued to the cardholder A card can exist as a record in the database even if the card itself has never been printed A card background is a high resolution bitmapped image that is imported into the card design It serves as a scenic backdrop to the graphic objects and static or dynamic data that is printed on the card A card format is a template
39. ent date in a string TIME Return the current time in a string YEAR s Return the year from a date time string Example YEAR NOWO MONTH s Return the month 1 12 from a date time string Example MONTH NOW EPIExpression Syntax Functions 70 Other functions DAY s Return the day of the month 1 31 from a date time string Example DAY NOWO WEEKDAY s Return the day of the week 1 7 from a date time string 1 means Sunday Example WEEKDAY NOW HOUR s Return the hour 0 23 from a date time string Example HOUR NOW MINUTE s Return the minute 0 59 from a date time string Example MINUTE NOWO SECOND s Return the seconds 0 59 from a date time string Example SECOND NOWO IF a b c Choose one value or another based on a logical expression If the logical expression a is true non zero or non empty then return the value of expression b else return c Example IF LEN Last_Name 0 INVALID Last_Name MRTD nFormat nLine sDocType sDocNum sCountry sNationality sGivenName sSurname sSex sExtra dBirth dExpiry Format the given data fields into a machine readable text string according to the ICAO standard for machine readable passports and travel documents Note You will require additional licensing to use this command Credential Designer User Manual 71 Arguments nFormat An integer specifying which document format to use Possible valu
40. ential Designer User Manual Index B Bar Code See also Bar codes Bar Code properties Bar Code Type Codabar 53 Code 128 A 53 Code 128 Auto 52 Code 128 B 53 Code 128 C 53 Code 16K A 54 Code 16K Auto 54 Code 16K B 54 Code 16K C 54 Code 3 of 9 51 Code 49 54 Code 93 52 EAN 13 52 EAN 8 52 Extended Code 3 of 9 52 Extended Code 93 52 Interleaved 2 of 5 52 MSI Plessey 53 POSTNET Zip 4 PostalCode 53 Symbol PDF417 53 UCC 128 53 UPCA 52 UPCE 10 digit 52 UPCEO 6 digit 52 UPCEI 6 digit 52 Checksum 54 Text 54 Bar codes Adding 50 Drawing 50 Linking 50 Printing on K Plane 51 Properties and values 50 Setting background color 51 C Card background Changing color 29 Compressing images 14 Exporting 28 Importing 26 Card orientation 23 Commands Bar Code 50 Dynamic Image 42 Text 38 D Defining expressions 47 49 E Enhance dialog 27 Existing card design files 24 Expressions 47 I Images Adding 42 Ghosting 45 L Layout Properties command 23 M Magnetic stripes Setting up 57 Magnetic Stripes amp Smart Chips 57 59 N New command 24 O Objects Aligning 34 Attributes 36 47 CMYK 56 Distributing 34 Flipping 36 K and O Planes 56 57 Moving copying 34 Rotating 35 Shadow 46 Static text 36 Open command 24 Options command 14 15 79 P Page Setup command 17 18 21 R Rulers 14 S Save As command 26 Save command 25 Saving card designs 25 Selecting colors 55 Selecting page sizes 23 Se
41. enu by clicking Options then the Data Fields tab Note To use expressions without a database connection on the Layout Properties box click the General tab and select the option Evaluate expres sions in data fields See Define Expressions with No Database Connection on page 1 47 Figure 23 Dynamic Text Properties Text Tab Dynamic Text Properties General Text Conditional Display Text Text Full Name Wrap text Field Name RTRIM First Name Last Name v Format for date time fields Sample 1 27 2003 2 32 18 PM Times New Roman 12 Change Font Automatically reduce font to fit Text Color F1 Justification Left C Horz Center C Right Top Mert Center C Bottom Cancel Help 1 Double click the Dynamic Text object to open the Properties dialog box 2 Click the Text tab 3 In the Data field name or expression box enter the expression you want to use To create a custom field name or expression click Edit Select the field name from the list then click Insert Repeat to add more names or expressions Click OK when you are done 4 Because an expression can be lengthy you can edit the label so it more closely resembles the expression s intended purpose for example Full Name Otherwise EPIDesigner automatically uses the Field Name entry as the Text label 5 Optional If the expression is a date or time field select a format from the F
42. er way to select multiple objects is to click and hold down your left mouse button and draw a marquee box around the group of objects that you want to select Be careful to not click and hold down your left mouse button while the pointer is located over an object as this will select and move the object Selecting Individual Objects Placing Bar Codes It can be difficult to highlight an individual object when there are several objects overlapping one another particularly if the object you want to select is in between or underneath others An easy way to select a layered object is to press the Tab key on the keyboard to select each object in succession When adding a bar code to your card design place it so the bottom of the code is at least 1 4 inch from the bottom margin of the card Most card readers are incapable of reading bar codes that are printed below this location To be sure your bar code is in the right spot test print a single ID card and try it on your card reader When sizing a bar code to fit onto your card design remember the following useful points To see how long the bar code will be using the default narrow bar width ratio select the bar code open the Properties dialog box and enter a sample text string with the same number of alphanumeric characters as you plan to use in the bar code For example if your planned bar coding sequence is 9 alphanumeric characters in length enter nine sample alphanumeric characters
43. es 1 TDI 2 TD2 or type B visa 3 passport or type A visa nLine An integer specifying which data line to return Possible values 1 2 3 sDocType A string specifying the type of travel document Possible values P y A C I or a two letter code starting with one of these letters sDocNum A string specifying the document number Maximum length 9 characters sCountry A three letter code specifying the country issuing the document sNationality A three letter code specifying the nationality of the person sGivenName The person s given first name sSurname The person s surname last name sSex The person s sex Possible values M F sExtra A string specifying any additional data dBirth The person s date of birth dExpiry The expiry date of the document Example MRTD 3 2 Document Type Passport Number Issuing State Nationality Given Name Surname Sex Birth Date Expiry Date Result 3141592656CAN3407127M0809306 00 MRTDDATE d nLangl nLang2 Format the given date in the standard ICAO format Note You will require additional licensing to use this command Arguments d The date to be formatted EPIExpression Syntax Functions 72 nLangl The first language to use Possible values O default English 1 English 2 French 3 Spanish nLang2 The second language to use Possible values 0 default English or French dep
44. eshold This is the percentage that EPIDesigner will use to scan for variations in color intensity EPIDesigner removes pixels by sampling the first one located in the upper left hand corner of the image It then uses this setting as a Credential Designer User Manual 45 threshold by which all pixels of a certain intensity and higher will be scanned A higher value means that EPIDesigner will confine its removal to the brighter pixels that fall within the specified Color Variation range A lower setting means that EPIDesigner will widen its scan and remove a broader range of bright and dark pixels within the specified Color Variation For example if you enter a setting of 60 here and a setting of 30 in the Color Variation box and if the image s first pixel is a shade of green then EPIDesigner will scan and remove all of the brighter shades of green across 30 percent of the color spectrum In other words fewer green pixels will be removed from the image If on the other hand you lowered this setting to 20 the removal will include a broader range of both light and dark green pixels Background Color If Automatic is selected EPIDesigner removes pixels by sampling the top left and top right pixels of the image and estimating the background color To select a different color click on the color in the displayed image or check the Specific color box and then click Choose color Select the color and then click OK Create
45. ew in EPIDesigner 10 page 1 37 Use Show object outlines on the Rulers and Grid page to display an outline around every object on the layout see Setting the Workspace Options on page 1 14 Use the Image Setup command to define the types of dynamic images that are available from the database see Setting the Workspace Options on page 1 14 Use Zoom In and Zoom Out to customize the view of the card layout see Setting the Workspace Options on page 1 14 Set up EPIDesigner to automatically adjust the contrast of images see Enhancing the Card Background on page 1 27 Print ICAO standard machine readable passports and travel documents using two new expression functions see Other functions on page 1 70 Credential Designer User Manual 11 The EPIDesigner Workspace The Toolbar With EPIDesigner running you will notice one or more bars located across the top of the workspace window below the EPIDesigner menu bar The various toolbars available at the top of the EPIDesigner workspace are movable and resizable To do so click on the vertical bar at the left end of the toolbar and drag it to the desired location Note The toolbars that appear on the EPIDesigner workspace may vary according to the product you have purchased The EPIDesigner toolbar is located directly below the menu bar It provides quick mouse access to many of the commands found in the various EPIDesigner menus DGB X30 Kk NDDOOAA auti
46. full 128 ASCII character set to be encoded by printing two bar code characters for each text character To add a checksum to the bar code select an option from the Checksum list Interleaved 2 of 5 numeric bar code Each encoded character is composed of five elements two wide and three narrow The number of characters to be printed must be even If the number of characters is odd a zero is appended to the beginning of the code To add a checksum to the bar code select an option from the Checksum list Code 93 an alphanumeric bar code allowing uppercase letters and numbers To add a checksum to the bar code select an option from the Checksum list Extended Code 93 this bar code type is similar to Code 93 except it allows the full 128 ASCII character set to be encoded To add a checksum to the bar code select an option from the Checksum list UPCA Universal Product Code version A This bar code type is used to encode an 11 digit number The first digit is the system number and the rest are data characters Both two and five digit supplements are supported Checksum is not used UPCE 10 digit zero compressed version of the UPCA bar code This version allows 10 digits to be encoded The first digit must be a zero Both two and five digit supplements are supported Checksum is not used UPCEO 6 digit a zero compressed version of the UPCA bar code This version allows 6 digits to be encoded The first digit must be a zero B
47. he Toolbar 2 Draw the object as described in Draw an Object on page 1 32 The Text object will appear on the workspace see Figure 14 Figure 14 Static Text Object 3 Double click the object The Static Text Properties dialog box appears Figure 15 Static Text Properties Dialog Static Text Properties General Text Conditional Display Text Text um T Wrap text Style Font Times New Roman 12 Change Font Automatically reduce font to fit Text Color MN y amp Justification Left C Horz Center C Right Top Vert Center Bottom Cancel Help 4 Select the Text tab In the Text field enter the text you want to appear 5 If the text is long select the Wrap text option so that the text wraps to the next line within the boundaries of the object or select the Automatically reduce font to fit option to have EPIDesigner shrink the text to fit into the object without wrapping If you want a long text string to appear with specific line breaks you can force a break by pressing Ctrl Enter where you want the line to wrap 6 Optional Select Vertical Text to display the text vertically top to bottom 7 Optional Click Change Font to select the font style and point size 8 Optional Click Text Color to select one of the preset colors or click the ellipsis button to access the Windows Color palette to create a custom color 9 Optional Adjust the text justification
48. he Attribute Bar To change the text color select any of the sixteen quick access colors from the Text Color list in the Attribute Bar Creating Your Own Colors To create your own colors and apply them to screen elements perform these steps 1 Double click the object to open the Properties dialog box On the General tab click the ellipsis buttons next to either Line Color Fill Color or Shadow The Color dialog box appears Using EPIDesigner Selecting Colors 56 Figure 25 Expanded Color dialog box Basic colors E EN num BI ee f f E SN UN E A A E SONNO NN ON NNI EE m m m o g EEE ES mM Custom colors BEEBE SEES Hue 160 Red 255 CANA Ma Sat 0 Green 255 ColorlSolid Lum 240 Blue 255 Cancel Add to Custom Colors 2 Drag the cursor in the color refiner box and the arrow beside the luminosity bar to define your color You can also create a color by typing numbers in the Red Green and Blue boxes or in the Hue Sat saturation and Lum luminosity boxes Note The color you create is shown in the left side of the Color Solid box You can double click the right side of the box or press ALT O to use the solid color that most closely resembles the one you have created 3 In the Custom Colors palette select an empty box for the new color or select a color that you want to change 4 Click Add to Custom Colors Note The custom color list is saved in the layout DGN file so that you can
49. ication you will need to set parameters such as page margins number of cards per page and duplex printing using the options described in the following section You can also use the following options to create a report that can be printed from your application to a document printer To modify the printer settings from the default printer driver settings such as paper size or orientation follow these steps 1 On the File menu click Page Setup The Page Setup dialog box appears with the Page Setup tab showing see Figure 4 2 Click Properties The Properties dialog from your printer s driver appears If available set the options that you want to modify 3 Click OK to save the settings To create a multi card output for example a report or for sheet printing follow these steps 1 On the File menu click Page Setup The Page Setup dialog appears 2 Indicate the number of cards to be printed across the page in the Cards Across field Note A landscape page allows for more cards to be printed across than a portrait page although you will not be able to print as many cards down Credential Designer User Manual Headers and Footers 19 3 Indicate the number of cards to be printed down the page in the Cards Down field Note A portrait page allows for more cards to be printed down than a landscape page although you will not be able to print as many cards across 4 Optional Adjust the horizontal and or vertical sp
50. int is oriented on the page Printing across the width of the page is known as portrait orientation derived from portraits of people which are usually vertical in format Printing across the length of the page 1s known as landscape orientation derived from landscape paintings or photo graphs which are usually horizontal in format Short for picture element Pixels are dots on a computer screen or television that combine to form an image A unit of measurement used primarily in typesetting for designating type sizes There are approximately 72 points to an inch A page oriented so that it prints from left to right across its shortest dimension The purity of a color s hue moving from gray to the pure color A text object in a EPIDesigner card design that has not been linked to a database field Unlike dynamic text a static text object such as a headline or a field label remains constant from card to card during the print process A two dimensional symbology that allows you to encode a Portable Data File with ASCII binary or numeric data The Symbol PDF417 is particularly useful if you need to encode large amounts of data onto a limited space e g an ID card that requires customer or employee profiles biometric data and personal descrip tions Credential Designer User Manual T Text Box 77 A simple text field which allows you to manually enter alphanumeric or numeric data Glossary 78 NOTES Cred
51. it to change the shadow color The Microsoft Color palette appears 2 Type a new setting for the horizontal and vertical offsets Positive integers create a shadow below horizontal and to the right vertical while negative Credential Designer User Manual 47 integers create them above and to the left Experiment to see the settings that are most appropriate for your design Tip Create eye catching portraits on your cards by adding a Cameo Effect to your image and then adding a shadow Remove the object outline change the shadow color and increase the offset to enhance the effect See Figure 21 on page 46 Change Signature Fill and Text Attributes Defining Expressions Changing the fill color and or text color of a signature can make it stand out more on your card design Changing the text color results in your printed signature appearing in the chosen color 1 With the signature selected change the text and fill color by choosing from the sixteen quick access colors in the Text Color list on the toolbar For a more extensive selection of colors double click the object to open Dynamic Image Properties Click the General tab and then click the ellipsis button next to the color list To print the signature against the card background click X for no fill Note These two attributes will not change the appearance of your sample image if you have chosen one they will only affect the final printed card Define Expre
52. launch EPIDesigner it automatically opens a blank layout You can create a new layout at anytime by following these steps 1 Specify the appropriate card size information see Using EPIDesigner on page 23 2 Onthe File menu click New or click New on the Toolbar EPIDesigner opens a design window for the front of the card To view the back of the card layout click Flip Layout on the toolbar or on the View menu click Show then click Back of Layout 3 Design your card using the various drawing tools Import a card background from the Front tab on the Layout Properties menu See Importing the Card Background on page 1 26 Opening Existing Card Design Files Opening an Existing Card Design File 1 On the File menu click Open or click the Open button on the Toolbar The Open dialog box appears Credential Designer User Manual 25 Figure 8 Open dialog box ni BEloriginal gdr gn E school dgn Elbostclub dgn E Ski_pass don Eichemcor dgn Eiski_passold dan Ef creditun dgn E test don Layout dan Eitest gdr File name Files of type EPIDesigner Files y Cancel 2 In the File name field type the name of the card design you want to open or select it from the list If the card design you want to open was originally created using GuardDraw version 4 x or later EPIDesigner will display existing layouts with both the DGN and GDR extensions Note If the card design is in another drive or directory brows
53. le that offer high resolution bitmap images that can be used as card backgrounds If you would like to develop your own company specific backgrounds there are a few points to remember Use a sophisticated paint program to design your card backgrounds and save them in a bitmap or JPEG file format that is recognized by EPIDesigner While Microsoft Paint is an adequate tool for some kinds of graphic design it does not offer the creative effects such as gradient fills or artistic text that can give your artwork a professional quality To assure your custom card background graphic will not be cropped during import always set the size of your card background to the page size of the medium onto which you will be printing for example 80mm long by 54mm high Also set the output resolution to at least 300 dots per inch with a 24 bit 16 million color setting line art should have a higher dpi for the best quality and photographs can be a bit lower than 300 dpi without significant degradation in quality If you prefer to use a draw program export your card background graphic with a one to one pixel setting Set the output resolution to at least 300 dots per inch with a 24 bit color setting If the draw program offers anti aliasing with the export utility it will smooth out the jaggies in your artwork You can save or export your background graphic to 256 different colors to conserve disk space The end result will be noticeably inferior
54. mesh pattern This is a quick way to create a ghost effect and can be used instead of changing the Transparency level It automatically sets the appropriate level of opacity This option uses the same algorithm as the ghost option in GuardDraw 5 5 Gray scale Select this option to remove the color information from the image the color will be replaced with levels of gray Create a Shadow Create a shadow behind any text or image object static or dynamic giving a sense of depth and dimension to a 2D object Note In the case of an image object the shadow created will reflect the shape of the images keyline outside border and not that of the image itself even if you select a close cropping effect Figure 21 Shadow Samples Company Inc u Static Text object with shadow Static Image object with cameo effect and shadow 1 Double click the image or text object to open the Properties dialog 2 In the Style settings click Shadow 3 Optional Modify the color and offset of the shadow keeping in mind what the object over the shadow will be 4 Click OK The default settings for the amount of offset are horizontally and vertically 0 04 of the units of measurement you are currently using and the color is black These settings create a shadow appearing below and to the right of the object To change these settings perform these steps 1 Select a new color from the Color list or click the ellipses button next to
55. n the database option 3 Click Other Database The Open Database dialog box appears see Figure 3 Figure 3 Open Database dialog box Open Database Select a database Open Use an Access JET database Database file Cancel Browse Help C Use an DDEC database ODBC connection string Database name if needed Database owner if needed 4 Select the type of database to be used either JET or ODBC e For a JET database select the Use an Access JET database option and type in the path and filename of the new database or click Browse to navigate to it Foran ODBC database select the Use an ODBC database option and select a database source from the Database ODBC connection string list if required input the database name and owner information or click Data Source to access the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator EPIDesigner automatically reconfigures itself to use the information stored in the selected database 5 Click OK Set Up Custom Data Fields If you are not connecting to a database for data retrieval but there are entry fields where data will be entered you can add custom data fields to your card layouts that will be populated at print time To do this follow these steps 1 Onthe View menu click Options and then select the Data Fields tab The data field options appear 2 Select the Use a custom list of data fields option The Display name and Internal name fields below
56. n the parameters of the bar code Field Name Select the data field from which the data will be taken at print time Justification Select Left Center or Right as the justification of the bar code within the bounding box Show readable text Choose Below or Above if you want the data that encodes the bar code to appear as readable text along with the bar code Checksum list This property controls how the checksum is created Checksums can be optionally added to some bar codes See each bar code type description for more information Credential Designer User Manual 55 Ratio list Select the ratio of the width of the bar code s bars This setting is dependent on the bar code type Narrow bar Enter the width to use for the narrowest bars in the bar code Bar code height Set the height of the bar code bars This setting is only required by Code 49 and Code 16K type bar codes which use fixed height bars PDF417 options These settings are specific to PDF417 type bar codes See the EPIDesigner Help system for more information Selecting Colors Selecting Colors Using the Attribute Bar Lists To select colors using the Attribute bar lists perform these steps 1 Highlight the object using the Select tool 2 To change the line color select any of the sixteen quick access colors from the Line Color list in the Attribute Bar To change the fill color select any of the sixteen quick access colors from the Fill Color list in t
57. ner User Manual 65 EPIExpression Syntax Numeric constants String constants Variable names String concatenation Integer or floating point decimal numbers Examples 0 12 34 Text strings enclosed in single or double quotes Examples abc abc Variable names consist of letters numbers and the characters and The first character of the name must be a letter When the EvaluateExpression method is called EPIExpression evaluates the expression using the given values for the variables Examples X Field 1 amp Text strings can be combined using either or amp operators Examples n First Name Last Name Date amp DATEO EPIExpression Syntax 66 Arithmetic These operators are used to add subtract multiply or divide numbers Multiple operations in one expression are performed according to the usual order of operations multiplication and division before addition and subtraction unless parentheses are used to specify a different order Examples X4 D 2 PRICE 0 15 Comparison operators Logical operators The usual comparison operators can be used to compare strings or numbers Examples First Name M IF X 0 INVALID X AND OR A logical expression with AND is true if both parts of the expression are true A logical expression with OR is true if either part of the expression is true Examples
58. ng tool to add digital images to a card such as photographs fingerprints signatures and clip art The Dynamic Image tool is used to create a keyline for any dynamic image type available in EPIDesigner The Static Image tool allows you to import static image files from any external source Dynamic Image keylines are automatically linked to your data source When you print cards using your application the keylines are replaced by the cardholder s images Hard to counterfeit transparent images and cameo effects can also be defined for the image keylines therefore providing an extra level of security to the cards issued Add Static Images To add a static image perform these steps 1 On the Draw menu click Static Image or click the Static Image button on the Toolbar 2 Draw the image object as described in Draw an Object on page 1 32 The Open dialog box appears when you release the mouse button 3 Browse to the image file you want to insert in the keyline then click Open Note The image size is automatically set to match the size as specified in the image file header Add Dynamic Images To add a dynamic image perform these steps 1 On the Draw menu click Dynamic Image or click the Dynamic Image button on the Toolbar 2 Draw the image object as described in Draw an Object on page 1 32 The object will maintain the aspect ratio as set in your application for the default image type for example Photog
59. ocumentation that accompanies your Magnetic Stripe encoding module The printer automatically verifies whether or not a card has been successfully encoded Depending on your printer s features if a card is not encoded properly the printer ejects the blank card and the on line LED flashes If this occurs reexamine the information you have selected for encoding and make the necessary modifications to your track layout Note You do not need to add special data characters to signify Start Sentinels End Sentinels and Field Separators as defined by ISO 7811 2 standards EPIDesigner will add these characters automatically during the encoding process Set Up Magnetic Stripe Smart Chip or Proxy Encoding To set up Magnetic Stripe Smart Chip or Proxy Encoding perform these steps 1 On the File menu click Layout Properties 2 Click the General tab then click Encoding The Card Encoding dialog appears Figure 26 Card Encoding dialog Card Encoding Tracks Track 1 ck Tent Fielde en Field Espi Teck Ep de Selected 1Prox Add Field E E Images to Encode Image Type Fingerprint v Field E pression Selected Images Add Image Cancel 3 From the Tracks list select the type of technology that can be read by your card reader For magnetic stripe encoding refer to your hardware documen tation to find out which tracks are supported by your particular device Credential Designer User Manual 59
60. om position n to the end MID SUBSTR and SUBSTRING are synonyms Examples MID Card Code 3 4 MID Card Code 3 INSTR n s1 s2 Search the string s1 for the first occurrence of the sub string s2 If the optional argument n is given it is the character position to start searching Returns the character position where s2 starts or 0 if s2 is not found in sl Example INSTR First_Name e INSTR 5 First Name e STRING n c Make a string consisting of the character c repeated n times Example STRING x 100 CHAR n CHR n Return the character with a given ASCII code n is a number and the return value is a single character string CHAR ASCII c equals c CHAR and CHR are synonyms Example CHAR 34 ASC c ASCII c Return the ASCII code of a given character ASC and ASCII are synonyms ASCII CHAR n equals n Example ASC A Credential Designer User Manual Numeric functions 69 FIX nm Convert a number or numeric string to an integer The result is rounded to the nearest integer so for example FIX 0 99 equals 1 Example FIX Height FLOAT s Convert a numeric string to a floating point number Example FLOAT 3 14159 HEX n Convert an integer number to a hexadecimal string Example HEX 65 OCT n Convert an integer number to an octal string Example OCT 65 Date and time functions NOWO Return the current date and time in a string DATE Return the curr
61. on 4 Release the left mouse button when the dimensions of the object are satis factory Credential Designer User Manual 33 Edit an Object 1 Select the object Handles appear at each corner 2 Position the mouse over one of the handles then press and hold the left mouse button 3 Drag the pointer to a new position on the editing screen 4 When you are satisfied with the line release the left mouse button Double click the object and make any changes in the lt object gt Properties dialog box Set the Default Object Properties By setting the default object properties you can customize the appearance of the Line Color Line Weight and Fill Color for all drawing objects To do this follow these steps 1 Draw an object on the layout then make all modifications necessary 2 On the Object menu click Set Default Properties All subsequent objects will automatically have those new settings when drawn Remove or Modify a Border By default a line runs around the perimeter of all newly created objects except bar codes that can either be modified or removed To remove the line select the large X at the top of the line color list on the Attribute bar Line MIB Remove border D AAAAA Border Text E ug Preset colors To add border text select AAAA from the list See Adding Border Text to Objects on page 1 40 for more information To change the color select a color from the lis
62. ormat for date time fields list 6 Click OK Using EPIDesigner Design Objects 50 Adding Bar Codes Drawing bar codes on a card design can be a moderately complex process It is important to familiarize yourself with the type of bar code you will be using and to set the corresponding properties values and database field specifications with care Bar Code Properties and Values below contains descriptions of the various types of bar codes that can be added to your card design You should first refer to your hardware documentation for information on the types of bar codes supported by the card reader you have purchased and the type of data the bar code can accept Drawing a Bar Code To draw a bar code perform these steps 1 On the Draw menu click Bar Code or click the Bar Code button on the Toolbar 2 Draw the bar code as you would any other design object Figure 24 Sample Bar Code with Readable Text 123ABC Link a Bar Code to a Data Field or Expression In order for the bar code to convert and use the proper data from the data source it is important that you link it to a data field To do this double click the bar code to open the Bar Code Properties box Click the Bar code tab and then select a data field from the Field Name list Set Bar Code Properties and Values To set the bar code properties and values perform these steps 1 Double click the bar code to open the Bar Code Properties dialog box or click
63. oth two and five digit supplements are also supported Checksum is not used UPCEI 6 digit zero compressed version of the UPCA bar code This version allows 6 digits to be encoded The first digit must be a zero Both two and five digit supplements are supported Checksum is not used EAN 13 this bar code type is used when the country origin must be known EAN 13 is composed of 13 digits The first two characters are used to define the country of origin the next 10 are data the last is a checksum Both two and five digit supplements are supported Checksum is not used EAN 8 this bar code type is used when the country origin must be known EAN 8 is composed of eight digits The first two characters are used to define the country of origin the next five are data the last is a checksum Both two and five digit supplements are supported Checksum is not used Code 128 Auto a variable length bar code that is capable of encoding the full 128 ASCII character set Code 128 allows three subsets A B and C This Credential Designer User Manual 53 version automatically selects the subset that produces the smallest bar code See Note below for special checksum information Code 128 A a variable length bar code that is capable of encoding the full 128 ASCII character set Code 128 allows three subsets A B and C This version allows all standard uppercase alphanumeric keyboard characters plus control characters See Note below fo
64. ound file or use the buttons to browse to your file 5 Click OK The Enhance Delete and Save As buttons are enabled 6 Optional Make any modifications to the image See Enhancing the Card Background on page 1 27 for more information about the enhancement options 7 Click OK The card background is placed on the front or the back of the card design depending on which was selected Enhancing the Card Background When a background image is added to a card design the Enhance button on the appropriate Layout Properties tab is enabled This gives you access to the various enhancement options available for your background images cropping color balance as well as exposure contrast and brightness IMPORTANT When creating a background image for your card layout using a graphics software be sure to use the same dimensions or at least the same aspect ratio for your background as your card media If your image does not match your card media as set in the Card Size list EPIDesigner will stretch the image as required to fill the card layout This is also important to remember if you choose to crop your background image Using EPIDesigner Importing or Removing the Card Background 28 Figure 10 Image Enhancement Dialog Image Enhancement Original Image Preview Image Color Balance Red Green Blue El pan Cyan Magenta Yellow fo ep r Adjust View DK Exposure Whole image METI Contest Or toons
65. owest Resizes the wider object s to the same width as the narrower or narrowest object Note These commands do not maintain the objects aspect ratios Rotate Objects To rotate objects perform these steps 1 Select the object you want to rotate 2 On the Object menu click Rotate 90 Degrees 3 Click Left to rotate the object counterclockwise or click Right to rotate the object clockwise 4 Repeat until you are satisfied with the object s appearance Note Rotating can be used to design duplex cards with different front and back page orientations Using EPIDesigner Design Objects 36 Flip Objects The Flip function allows you to create a mirror image of an object by inverting the object either vertically from right to left or horizontally from top to bottom To flip an object follow these steps 1 Select the object to be flipped 2 On the Object menu click Flip The Flip submenu appears 3 Click either Left right or Top bottom Figure 13 Flip Object Samples Original Left Right Top Bottom Note This function is not available for bar codes or text objects Resize an Object To resize an object perform these steps 1 Highlight the object using the Select tool Handles appear on the sides and corners of the object 2 Position the mouse over one of the handles then press and hold the left mouse button 3 Drag the pointer to a new position on the editing screen 4 When you are s
66. pplication Import eye catching graphics as card backgrounds and personalize your designs with the logo of your organization Link templates to cardholder information and images stored in your database Add bar codes or encode magnetic stripes and smart chips all within the same application Even if you re not a design professional you ll get picture perfect results in minutes with EPIDe signer First Time Computer Users Conventions The first step on the road to designing identification cards is to learn how to configure and use this software This User s Guide was written to guide you through the entire process of configuring your EPIDesigner workspace linking to your database and designing cards The procedures outlined in this guide are straightforward step by step instructions that even first time computer users will be able to follow If you are uninitiated in the use of computers in general do not be intimidated by some of the terminology used in this guide These terms are common throughout the computer and photo imaging industries We have included an extensive glossary at the back of this guide to introduce you to the terms that are associated with using EPIDesigner and digital imaging This same glossary and most of these instructions as well as extensive reference material are also available on line through the Help menu Please make ample use of these tools This guide and the EPIDesigner Help system use the following
67. quick access colors in the Line Color list For a more extensive selection of colors click the ellipsis button next to the Line Color list 3 Change the fill color by selecting from the sixteen quick access colors in the Fill Color list For a more extensive selection of colors open the object Properties click the General tab and then click the ellipsis button next to the Fill Color list 4 If the object is static or dynamic text change the text color by selecting from the sixteen quick access colors in the Text Color list For a more extensive selection of colors click the ellipsis button next to the Text Color list Adding Static and Dynamic Text The are two types of text objects in EPIDesigner static and dynamic Static text objects are used as non changeable design elements such as headlines or field labels for example First Name Dynamic text data objects are connected to a data field or expression and change from card to card for example the first name of the cardholder The links between the database or data field in certain cases and your card design are created automatically You only have to select the font style point size color and location of both the data fields expressions and the text objects Create Static Text Objects To create static text objects perform these steps Using EPIDesigner Design Objects 38 1 On the Draw menu click Static Text or click the Static Text button in t
68. r of readers can recognize the black code against a non white field therefore if you intend to specify a bar code background fill as any color other than white first make sure your reader is capable of distin guishing the code from the color field A good rule to remember when printing bar codes against a non white field is to print the bar code on the K plane see Print Bar Codes on the K Plane on page 51 for more information To set the bar code background color highlight the bar code on your card design Change the bar code background fill color by selecting from the sixteen quick access colors in the Fill Color list on the Attribute bar or open the Bar Code Properties dialog and click the ellipsis button next to the Fill Color list to create a custom color Types and Checksums Bar Code Types The following sections describe the bar code types that are available on the Bar Code tab of the Bar Code Properties box This property is used to set the type of bar code to be used The following is a list of the possible types of bar codes Code 3 of 9 an alphanumeric bar code allowing uppercase letters and numbers Each character consists of nine elements three of which are wide An embedded CRC character is present To add a checksum to the bar code select an option Using EPIDesigner Design Objects 52 from the Checksum list Extended Code 3 of 9 this bar code type is similar to Code 3 of 9 except it allows the
69. r phrase will be repeated until there is no more room and the last iteration will be truncated to fit The text will begin at each corner as shown in Figure 18 Tip Add a space after the last word to create a buffer between it and the first word so they don t run together 3 Click the Color list to select a color for the text For a more extensive selection of colors click the ellipsis button next to the Color list 4 Click Modify to change the default font setting of Arial 3 point in black The options available are similar to those offered on the Text Style bar We recommend that you keep the font size very small 3 points being the smallest You may need to experiment with the size to find what works best with your printer Keep in mind also that the keyline or outside perimeter for your object becomes the baseline or outermost point of the text therefore any border text will reduce the size of the image The samples above were created from the same image object You can see that the larger font size reduces the space available for the image 5 Click OK to accept the changes Add Border Text to an Object 1 Add your Rectangle Text or Image object to the card Using EPIDesigner Design Objects 42 2 With the object still highlighted choose AAAA from the Line color list to set the line to border text Your object will appear similar to the samples in Figure 18 Adding Static and Dynamic Images You can use a drawi
70. r special checksum information Code 128 B a variable length bar code that is capable of encoding the full 128 ASCII character set Code 128 allows three subsets A B and C This version allows all standard uppercase alphanumeric keyboard characters plus all lowercase alpha characters See Note below for special checksum information Note For Auto A amp B Set the checksum to Mod 103 to use the regular Code 128 checksum value or to Mod 43 Mod 103 to perform the HIBC standard Mod 43 encoding prior to the Code 128 s Mod 103 checksum e Code 128 C a variable length bar code that is capable of encoding the full 128 ASCII character set Code 128 allows three subsets A B and C This version includes a set of 100 digit pairs from 00 to 99 inclusively This allows double density numeric digits two digits per bar coded character A checksum is automatically chosen Codabar a variable length bar code that is capable of encoding 16 characters including 0 to 9 plus the symbols 5 and It is used primarily for numeric data Any one of a b c or d must be used as the start and stop characters To add a checksum to the bar code select an option from the Checksum list MSI Plessey a variable length bar code that is capable of encoding up to 15 numeric digits To add a checksum to the bar code select an option from the Checksum list UCC 128 a specially defined
71. racter set below ASCII 128 using existing UPC and Code 128 character set patterns Up to 77 full ASCII characters or 154 numeric characters can be encoded into 2 to 16 rows and each row is divided by a separator bar The top and bottom of the symbol also have separator bars that extend to the ends of the minimum quiet zones Code 16K is similar to Code 128 in that you can choose between three subsets directly A B or C or you can choose Code 16K Auto for auto switching mode Code 16K A a multiple row bar code that can encode the full ASCII character set below ASCII 128 using existing UPC and Code 128 character set patterns In Code 16K A you can encode punctuation digits uppercase letters and control codes below the space character Code 16K B a multiple row bar code that can encode the full ASCII character set below ASCII 128 using existing UPC and Code 128 character set patterns In Code 16K B you can also encode lowercase letters but not control codes below the space character Code 16K C a multiple row bar code that can encode the full ASCII character set below ASCII 128 using existing UPC and Code 128 character set patterns In Code 16K C only digits can be encoded This mode prints digits in double density compressed mode Sample Text This property sets the sample text that replicates the data that will populate the bar code at print time Each bar code has its own associated sample text but you can modify it withi
72. raph Change the Image Properties To change the image properties perform these steps Credential Designer User Manual 43 1 Optional Change the image properties by double clicking the object to access the Dynamic Image Properties dialog box Select the Image tab Figure 20 Dynamic Image Properties dialog Dynamic Image Properties General Image Sample Image Conditional Display Dynamic Image Image Type y Field Name y Close Cropping None Hue variation 2 x Cameo effect Intensity threshold Hue intensity color match Y C Exact color match Effects Fade level 0 Transparency level 0 Use mesh pattern Gray scale 2 Change the Image Type by choosing from the list Note These options will differ depending on the product you have purchased 3 Optional Select Print image exactly as is to prevent changes to an image so that it prints correctly Use this feature for bitmaps that contain digital water marks which may be lost if the bitmap is resized Note When you select Print image exactly as is other properties for the image are disabled such as line color and thickness shadow close cropping fading transparency and gray scale However the checkbox Don t clip image becomes enabled allowing you to print the entire image even if it is too large to fit in its rectangel as defined on the layout 4 If applicable select the data source field that points to the image Selec
73. readers consult your supplier for possible anti counterfeiting options Intermec readers for example do not identify Pantone 202 therefore a K plane bar code printed against this color either resin or dye will still be recognized by the reader but remains difficult to reproduce If you are new to the concepts of proper font usage remember these simple rules to great ID card typography Never use more than one or two fonts in your ID card design If using two fonts be sure they complement each other In general combine one serif typeface and one sans serif typeface for example Times and Arial If your ID card printer prints at unusually low resolutions for example 200 dots per inch or under always use a single bold sans serif typeface printers with low resolutions cannot print the thin line weights in a serif font Set the point size to at least 10 If you are using a card background bitmap ensure your typeface fill color makes your text object stand out against the background Generally yellow and white characters can be easily read against dark background colors Try to avoid harsh contrasts for example red typography against a dark green background To test if you have selected the proper typographical point size print a sample card and try to read it at arm s length If you cannot see what is written on the card select a different font Tips and Tricks Creating Your Own Colors 64 NOTES Credential Desig
74. rs see Figure 6 2 Click the Front tab Front layout properties appear Figure 6 Page Setup dialog box Layout Properties General Front Back Page Header Page Footer r Size Orientation CR 80 Flush Cut 54 x 85 7 mm C Portrait Width 3 375 in A Landscape Height 2125in 2 r Background Color v Image Enhance Delete Save As Fade Level 0 v Print background Exclusion areas Bottom Add new DK Cancel Help 3 Select the required card size from the options listed in the Size list or select Custom Size to specify your own dimensions in the Height and Width fields provided Tip To get the maximum printable size for your printer choose Full Printer Page from the Size list 4 Select the card s orientation on the printed page as either Portrait or Landscape see Figure 7 Using EPIDesigner Selecting Page Sizes 24 Note This affects only the orientation of the cards and is not connected to the orientation of the page which is determined in the Printer Properties dialog See Printers on page 1 17 Figure 7 Landscape Card Layouts CTI GE 8 e 8 B mn AECA COM E z B gt mmm A AI UI u CL Landscape cards on a landscape page Landscape cards on a portrait page 5 Click OK Note These settings will automatically be the same for both the front and back of the card layout Creating New Card Designs When you
75. s following the period in a filename that identify the type of information in the file For example the DGN extension indicates that the file contains a EPIDesigner drawing The name which identifies the field In EPIDesigner a dynamic text object s label can be modified in the Text field of the Dynamic Text Properties gt Text tab An image or bitmap that is almost transparent so that the card background can be seen through it A series of evenly spaced intersecting horizontal and vertical dots used to align objects Small squares that appear on the corners and sides of the cropping rectangle You can use these handles to resize or move the rectangle over the captured image The area of the image that resides within the rectangle will be cropped and saved to the database The area of the image that resides outside the rectangle will be discarded The position of a color along the color spectrum For example green is located in the spectrum between yellow and blue The alignment of text in relation to the left right top and bottom margins of the text frame Glossary 76 L Landscape Page Orientation Luminosity O Orientation Pixel Point Size Portrait Page Orientation S Saturation Static Text Object Symbol PDF417 A page oriented so that it prints from left to right across its longest dimension The brightness of a color on a scale from black to white Refers to the direction in which pr
76. sponding Value box lt less than or equal to indicates the contents of the field you selected should be less than or equal to the value entered in the corresponding Value box lt gt not equal to indicates the contents of the field you selected should not be equal to the value entered in the corresponding Value box equals indicates the contents of the field you selected should be equal to the value entered in the corresponding Value box gt greater than indicates the contents of the field you selected should be greater than the value entered in the corresponding Value box gt greater than or equal to indicates the contents of the field you selected should be greater than or equal to the value entered in the corresponding Value box Not Null indicates the contents of the field you selected should be not null filled with any type of information You do not need to enter a value if you select this option Null indicates the contents of the field you selected should be null empty You do not need to enter a value if you select this option Drawing an object on the card layout is essentially the same for all object types Draw an Object 1 Choose the appropriate tool on the Toolbar 2 Move the mouse to the workspace 3 Press and hold the left mouse button to anchor one end or corner of the object and drag the pointer A flexible line stretches from the anchor point to the new pointer positi
77. ssions with a Database Connection While EPIDesigner allows you to define any manner of valid SQL expressions you will most likely combine available database fields for example First Name and Last Name Note You cannot use expressions if your configuration does not access textual data in your database SQL expressions that can be defined in EPIDesigner differ from database to database Refer to the documentation that accompanies the ODBC compliant database you are using Define Expressions with No Database Connection In the case of a no database connection that is when your application provides data directly to the card layout without the use of a database you can create expressions based on the data fields that are defined in the View menu by clicking Options and then Data Fields Note For this feature to work properly you must select the option Evaluate expressions in data fields on the General tab of the Layout Properties box Using EPIDesigner Design Objects 48 Define an Expression for a Conditional Display You can choose a combination of data fields that can be used as display criteria for a design object For example if you want a design object to appear only when the cardholder s name equals John Smith then you will need to create an expression that reflects that condition 1 Double click the object to open the Properties dialog box 2 Click the Conditional Display tab 3 Click the option Show
78. t or create a custom color in the lt object gt Properties dialog box Using EPIDesigner Design Objects 34 Edit Rounded Corner Curvatures for a Rounded Rectangle 1 After you have drawn the round rectangle a special handle appears inside the upper right hand corner of the rounded rectangle Position the mouse over the handle and the pointer changes from a single headed arrow to a four headed arrow 2 Hold down the left mouse button and drag the handle toward the center of the object to increase the curvature of the rounded corners or away from the center of the object to decrease the curvature 3 When you are satisfied with the rectangle s new shape release the left mouse button Note You can also modify the curvature using the Roundness options of the Properties dialog The Horizontal and Vertical entries indicate how far from the respective corners the curves should start Moving and Aligning Objects Dragging objects with the mouse allows you to position them interactively Move Objects 1 Highlight the object you want to move using the Select tool 2 Drag and drop the object at its new location Alternatively you may select the object and press any of the keyboard arrow keys to move it This is called nudging Copy or Duplicate Objects 1 Highlight the object you want to copy using the Select tool 2 Press and hold the CTRL key and then drag and drop the copy to its new location This creates a copy of
79. t a Sample Image If you want to add effects to your dynamic images it s a good idea to select a sample image so you can preview the effects prior to printing Perform these steps 1 Double click the image to open the Dynamic Image Properties dialog box Select the Sample Image tab 2 Click Load The Open dialog appears 3 Select an image that is a good representation of the typical image you will be capturing with your application Click Open Using EPIDesigner Design Objects 44 4 Click Enhance to make any enhancements necessary see Enhancing the Card Background on page 27 for more details These enhancements only affect the sample image and not the images that will be added at print time 5 Click OK Add Close Cropping Effects The Close cropping option allows you to remove the background pixels from an image On the Image Properties dialog box click the Image tab Select the Close cropping checkbox then click Settings The options you select depends on the image quality of the background you want to remove Cameo Effect Select this option if you want to create a cameo effect This will remove all background pixels around the subject of the image i e the cardholder s head Use this option with the Fade and Transparency levels to make an interesting ghost effect Hue Intensity Color Match Select this option if you want to remove all pixels within a specified hue intensity range This option is particularly
80. the object and leaves behind the original Note You can also perform this task using the Copy and Paste tools Align and Distribute Objects The Align function allows you to select several objects on your card design and align them by their left center or right points and or their top middle or bottom points You can also align objects according to their text baselines The Distribute function allows you to select several objects and space them evenly either vertically or horizontally on your design Credential Designer User Manual 35 To align or distribute several objects follow these steps 1 Select several objects by holding down the SHIFT key and clicking on the objects of your choice 2 On the Object menu click Align or Distribute and then choose the appro priate command from the menu that appears Resize Multiple Objects You can select two or more objects and resize them all to the same criteria For example if you draw a square and a circle on the layout and want them to be the same dimensions select them both by Shift clicking Then on the Object menu click Size and then choose one of the following options To Tallest Resizes the shorter object s to the same height as the taller or tallest object To Shortest Resizes the taller object s to the same height as the shorter or shortest object To Widest Resizes the narrower object s to the same width as the wider or widest object To Narr
81. tly Saved Card Design 25 Saving Card Designs 5 5 oosnbtenece irre pee ia beam tese ble dte deis 25 Saving a Card Design FOr th First Tite oo opc ce re 25 Saving Previously Saved Card Designs 26 Importing or Removing the Card Background 26 Importing the Card Backgrouhd eise pe da 26 Enihanncing the Card Background ne ei 27 Removing a Card Background yd ia 2 na ee lat h 28 Design Objects 5u nn ee ln 29 Object Properties ca nen nee 30 Drawing OBJEC ii an eh an ee ee nee 32 Moving and Aligning Obj amp cts a us an en u a ETOS 34 Changing Object Attributes ope na BR lala 36 Adding Static and Dynamic Text 37 Adding Border Text to Objects iit eee Ra E once da E CO M ed 40 iv Credential Designer User Manual Adding St ticand Dynamic Images ici A A a 42 DDeritiirig EXPressiOnS tt sal ci ee 47 Adding Bar COEN n 50 Drawing a Bar Code nenn LL Melted 50 Types and CHECKSUMS ii ii ILC S 51 Selecting Colors 3 bu ba A AAA A a 55 Selecting Colors Using the Attribute Bar Lists 55 Creating Yo r Own Colors teased sie epp NES E Eie este Rr ein 55 Placing Objects onthe Kond O Plates nanas sr riada a 56 Setting
82. to store your images without any form of compression This guarantees that there will be no loss in image quality Setting the Workspace Options Rulers To display the horizontal and vertical rulers on the design window on the View menu click Rulers To modify the ruler settings on the View menu click Options and then select the Rulers and Grid tab Here you can set whether the rulers should appear in the measurement system set as your Windows default or override that setting by choosing either Metric or Inches Credential Designer User Manual 15 Grid Lines To display the editing grid on the View menu click Grid To modify the grid options on the View menu click Options and then select the Rulers and Grid tab You can also use the Show Grid option on the Rulers and Grid tab to display the grid lines on the design area Set the grid size by typing in a positive number between 0 02 and 1 0 inches or their equivalent metric values in the Grid Spacing fields thus changing the distance between the lines Select the Snap Objects to grid option to have the objects you move always line up along the grid lines Cursor Crosshairs You can display extended crosshairs from your mouse cursor to help you line up objects horizontally or vertically To set up cursor crosshair on the View menu click Options and then select the Rulers and Grid tab Click Show Cursor Crosshair See Figure 1 on page 13 Zoom In Out To enlarge or reduce the si
83. ts are printed without being altered This disables options to change the object s line color and thickness shadow cropping fading transparency and grayscale so that you can print bitmaps that contain digital watermarks see Change the Image Properties on page 1 42 Select Don t clip image to print an entire image even if it is too large to fit on the card layout see Change the Image Properties on page 1 42 Static image auto sizing sets the size of an object to match the physical size of the image as specified in the image file header This prevents EPIDesigner from re sizing the image see Add Static Images on page 1 42 New settings allow the designer to specify the width and height of an object Using these measurements and setting the object s distance to the edge of the card designers no longer need to manually calculate image coordinates using the left right top and bottom positions of the object see Object Properties on page 1 30 When cropping a background click anywhere in the displayed image to choose a color to crop or use RGB color match to specify an amount of variation from a selected color You can also let EPIDesigner select the color automatically see Add Close Cropping Effects on page 1 44 Display text vertically top to bottom using the Vertical text option in the Static and Dynamic Text Properties dialogs see Adding Static and Dynamic Text on EPIDesigner Setup What s N
84. tting Up EPIDesigner 13 T Text objects Adding 37 Dynamic 39 Tips and Tricks Bar code security 63 Bar codes 62 63 Color Variation and Intensity Threshold Settings 60 Creating card backgrounds 60 Fonts 63 Objects 61 V View 13 W Workspace Attribute bar Line Color list 37 Line Weight list 37 Design windows 13 Grid lines 15 Zoom In Out 15 Edit menu 14 K Plane button 57 Text Style bar Justify buttons 38 Toolbar 11 Undo command 14 Index North America T 561 998 6100 T 888 GE SECURITY 888 437 3287 F 561 998 6224 E rs bctinfo ge com Asia T 852 2907 8108 F 852 2142 5063 Australia T 61 3 9259 4700 F 61 3 9259 4799 Europe T32 2 725 11 20 F 32 2 721 86 13 Latin America T 305 593 4301 F 305 593 4300 www gesecurity com O 2006 General Electric Company All Rights Reserved imagination at work
85. you to select a font when creating static or dynamic text objects Point Size list Allows you to select the point size of the characters Font Style buttons Allow you to change the style of the selected font bold italic underline Horizontal Justification buttons Allow you to horizontally left justify center or right justify your text objects and some bar codes within their bounding boxes that is the adjustable invisible box within which the text resides Vertical Justification buttons Allow you to vertically top justify center or bottom justify your text objects and some bar codes within their bounding boxes The attributes bar provides quick mouse access to color and line weight settings and access to data fields or expressions that are linked to dynamic text objects bar codes and image keylines Line Color Fill Color Data Field Line WENN r gt lt v Tex MN y First Nome Line Weight Text Color Line Attribute lists Allow you to select the color and weight thickness of lines and borders around drawing text and image objects You can also select Border Text from the Line color list Pro only Fill Color list Allows you to select the color for fills solid colors that are used to fill shapes Text Color list Allows you to select the color for text Data Field list Allows you to link dynamic text objects bar codes and image keylines to data fields or expressions For ex
86. ze of your card design workspace on the View menu click the Zoom In or Zoom Out button This command affects only how you view your card on your computer monitor and does not affect how the card will print The view you select will be displayed the next time you open the card Show Object Outlilne This option displays an outline around every object on the layout To display object outlines on the View menu click Options and then select the Rulers and Grid tab Click Show object outlines These outlines appear on the screen only and are not visible on the printed layout Image Setup This command allows you to define the types of dynamic images that are available in the database On the View menu click Image Setup If EPIDesigner is connected to a database the Image Setup configures the image types defined in that database Connecting to Other Databases By default EPIDesigner is not connected to a database To connect to a database you must first set up a properly configured JET database or ODBC data source for the new database if one does not yet exist Use a Database with EPIDesigner To use a database with EPIDesigner perform these steps 1 On the View menu click Options The Options dialog box appears see Figure 2 The EPIDesigner Workspace Setting Up EPIDesigner 16 2 Select the Data Fields tab If applicable the path and filename of the currently connected database appears below the Use the data fields defined i

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