Darwin VDP Software Version 3.
Copyright © Kodak, 2009. All rights reserved. This document is also distributed in Portable Document Format (PDF). You may reproduce the document from the PDF file for internal use. Copies produced from the PDF file must be reproduced in whole. Trademarks Kodak, Creo and Darwin are trademarks of Kodak. Adobe, Acrobat, Adobe Illustrator, Distiller, InDesign, Photoshop and PostScript are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Contents 1 Install the software 1 Installing Darwin on Windows-based computer....................................................................................................................1 Software and hardware requirements..............................................................................................................................1 Installing Darwin 3.0 software .........................................................................................................................
vi Darwin VDP Software Assigning data to a Darwin job...............................................................................................................................................40 Editing your data source.............................................................................................................................................................41 6 Working with functions 43 Function overview...............................................................................
Contents 12 Managing pages in Darwin Pilot vii 93 Page Manager overview............................................................................................................................................................93 Working with pages....................................................................................................................................................................94 13 VDP output 95 Producing VDP output.....................................................
viii Darwin VDP Software
1 Install the software Installing Darwin on Windows-based computer Software and hardware requirements Software ● ● Adobe InDesign® software (it is recommended that you install the entire Adobe® InDesign CS3 software package) One of the following versions of the Microsoft® Windows® operating system: ❐ Windows 2000 with Service Pack 2 ❐ Windows XP Professional or Home Edition ❐ Windows Vista® Hardware ● ● ● 1.8 GHz.
2 Chapter 1—Install the software 2. Double-click the Darwin 3.0 Installer file. The Darwin 3.0 Installer Wizard appears. 3. Follow the instructions in the wizard. The software is installed, and a shortcut to the Darwin 3.0 software appears on your desktop. Installing Darwin 3.0 software without removing a previous Darwin version Keep Darwin 2.0 software on your computer when you install Darwin 3.0 so that you can work with both versions.
Removing the software 3 Removing the software 1. From the Start menu, select Settings > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs. The Add or Remove Programs window appears. 2. In the Currently installed programs list, select Darwin 3.0, and click Remove. A Darwin 3.0 message prompts you to confirm that you want to completely remove the application and its features. 3. Click Yes. The Darwin 3.0 software is uninstalled. 4. To complete the process, in the Darwin 3.0 Wizard, click Finish. The Darwin 3.
4 Chapter 1—Install the software Installing Darwin 3.0 software Requirements: ● ● ● Your hardware and software must meet the requirements for the Darwin software. These requirements include the Adobe CS3 software, which must be installed on your computer. If Darwin 2.0 software is installed on your computer, and you want to install Darwin 3.0 on the same computer, you must follow a different installation procedure. If a previous version of Darwin 3.
Removing the software 5 5. Follow the instructions in the wizard. ● ● ● ● The Darwin 3.0 software is installed. A shortcut to the Darwin 3.0 software appears on your desktop. Your Darwin 2.0 plug-ins are backed up. The Darwin Version Switch utility that enables you to switch between Darwin 2.0 and Darwin 3.0 is installed. Note: You must close the Darwin 3.0 software and InDesign CS3 before using this utility. For more information about the Darwin Version Switch utility, see the Darwin 3.0 Release Notes.
6 Chapter 1—Install the software
2 Darwin 3.0 overview What is Darwin? Darwin is authoring software that facilitates the process of merging variable data with a design to produce high-quality variable printing jobs. Darwin enables you to create full-color postcards, coupons, newsletters, proposals, and more, completely customized for each recipient. Any amount of text and graphics can differ on each page for each recipient. The variable content is based directly on your data or on rules you define.
8 Chapter 2—Darwin 3.0 overview Darwin Pro package also enables you to implement sophisticated logic via JavaScript, as well as perform complex data operations via functions. What is a Darwin job? A Darwin job is a collection of all the files and entities that make up a VDP template: Note: It is recommended that you keep all the files and entities that relate to the same Darwin job in one folder.
The Data Planner tab 9 The Data Planner tab Workspace component Description Data Tools panel Contains options for managing and updating your data source. These options enable you to add, rename, and rearrange fields. You can also edit your data source and immediately view the changes when you refresh the data.
10 Chapter 2—Darwin 3.
The Page Manager tab 11 The Page Manager tab Workspace component Page Library panel Pages to Print area Description ● ● ● ● Displays icons of all the pages of the InDesign CS3 file Under Page Rules, displays all the page rules that you created on the ToolBox tab, and enables you to apply to certain pages of your job Displays thumbnails of job pages that you want to include in your VDP job Includes the Production button, which enables you to create a VDP job
12 Chapter 2—Darwin 3.
3 How do I create a VDP job? Hands-on tutorial Overview The aim of this tutorial is to give you hands-on experience with the Darwin software. By the time you complete this tutorial, you should be able to use the Darwin features that enable you to print a variable data printing (VDP) job. To practice creating a Darwin job, you can use the files that come with this guide. Using these files, you will create a promotional mailer for male and female customers of a jewelry store.
14 Chapter 3—How do I create a VDP job? Hands-on tutorial Figure 1: Tutorial page layout and variable data—first page of the InDesign CS3 file Figure 2: Tutorial page layout and variable data—second page of the InDesign CS3 file
Files supplied with the tutorial 15 Note: The complete Darwin job, Jewelry_USA.dvj, contains more variable elements than those you will create in this example. You can later explore the complete job to discover additional rules. Files supplied with the tutorial The files that you need for the Jewelry tutorial are in the Sample Files folder on the Darwin 3.0 DVD. In this folder you will find two subfolders that contain all the necessary files for performing the activities in this tutorial.
16 Chapter 3—How do I create a VDP job? Hands-on tutorial Folder Files for Practice\VI Data File Name Icon JewelryData.xls Files for Practice\VI Resources Description Excel® file containing the data required for the tutorial Contains the variable images required for the tutorial Creating a Darwin job from a data file Create a new Darwin job by practicing with a real file. Requirements: ● ● ● Copy the folder called Sample Job from Darwin 3.0 DVD to your desktop. JewelryData.
Creating a Darwin job from a data file 17 6. Click OK. The Manage Fields window appears. It displays a table showing the list of fields from your data source and the field types. Note: You can add or remove fields using the Add Field and Remove Field buttons, and you can change the order of the fields by clicking the Move Up and Move Down arrow buttons. 7. Make sure that the field types are logical. The field type tells Darwin what kind of data belongs in that field.
18 Chapter 3—How do I create a VDP job? Hands-on tutorial 8. Click OK. The records appear under the Data Planner tab, in the Data area, and a Darwin job is created. 9. From the File menu, select Save. 10. In the Save dialog box, type the desired name (Jewelry), select the desired location, and click Save. The Darwin job called Jewelry.dvj is saved.
Assigning data fields to an InDesign CS3 page 19 In this example, you will place the fields containing the customer’s name on the InDesign CS3 pages. These fields are called First Name and Last Name in the data source. 1. In the Darwin Pilot workspace, click the Page Manager tab. Thumbnails of the pages of the InDesign CS3 file that you have added earlier are displayed in the Page Library panel. 2. To open your InDesign CS3 file, double-click a thumbnail of one of the job pages.
20 Chapter 3—How do I create a VDP job? Hands-on tutorial c. On the second InDesign CS3 page, select the Last Name text placeholder. d. On the Variable Elements panel, double-click the field Last Name. 5. From the File menu, select Save. 6. To preview your file, on the Variable Elements panel, click Preview Current Record.
Adding a text rule 21 The field names appear on the InDesign CS3 page with the data from the data source. Note: To preview other records, click Preview Next Record or Preview Previous Record at the lower part of the Variable Elements panel. Adding a text rule Add a rule that controls the text that will appear in each recipient's version of a personalized mailer. Rules are based on information about the recipients in a data source.
22 Chapter 3—How do I create a VDP job? Hands-on tutorial 3. Click Add New Rule . 4. In the Name box, type a meaningful rule name. In this example, type Title, because the rule determines whether the title "Ms." or "Mr." will be used. 5. (Optional) In the Comments box, type a comment about the rule. 6. In the Type list, select Text. 7. Click OK. 8. In the Rule Editor area, you first need to define the If statement: a. Click the If box.
Adding a text rule 23 9. In the list that appears next to the If box, select the condition for the rule. In this example, select equals. 10. In the box that appears, type a definition for the rule. In this example, type Female. Note: The Darwin software is case-sensitive, so make sure that the text that you type (Female) is identical to the value that appears for this field in the data source. 11. In the Then list, select use text as your result. 12. In the box that appears, type Ms. 13.
24 Chapter 3—How do I create a VDP job? Hands-on tutorial Applying a text rule to an InDesign CS3 page Requirements: A text rule. In this example, use the rule called Title_Text, which is a text rule that you created in Darwin Pilot. 1. In the InDesign CS3 workspace, in the page layout, select the placeholder for theTitle_Text rule. In this example, select the word Title at the upper part of the second InDesign CS3 page. 2.
Applying an image rule to an InDesign page 25 b. Click the arrow icon and in the list that appears, select Season. 9. In the list that appears next to the If box, select the condition for the rule. In this example, select equals. 10. In the box that appears, type a definition for the rule. In this example, type Winter. 11. Define the Then statement for your image: a. In the Then list, select use image. b. In the box that appears, click the browse button. c.
26 Chapter 3—How do I create a VDP job? Hands-on tutorial 4. Preview a few records to make sure that the rule was added correctly. Check for both the winter and the summer images. Adding a new result to a rule Use the existing logic of the image rule that you created earlier to add a result that controls the color that will appear in each recipient's version of a personalized mailer. Requirements: A rule. In this example, use the Season image rule that you created earlier.
Adding a new result to a rule 27 5. From the menu that appears, select Add. 6. Select Color. A Color icon appears on the rule results bar, located in the lower portion of the workspace. 7. Add a Then statement specifying a color based on the logic of the image rule. That is, define a color to represent summer and a color to represent winter.
28 Chapter 3—How do I create a VDP job? Hands-on tutorial a. Click the Then box. b. In the box that appears, click the browse button. c. In the Select Color window, click Import Color. d. In the Select InDesign file window, locate the InDesign CS3 file from which you want to import the colors, and click Open. In this example, open the file called Jewelry_USA.indd. The colors are imported into the current Darwin job and are displayed in the Select Color window. e. Select the required color.
Applying a color rule to an InDesign CS3 page 29 The new icon indicates that your image rule has more than one type of Then (result) statement. 9. From the File menu, select Save. Your color result is automatically added to the Variable Elements panel in Darwin CoPilot as a color rule called Season_Color. See also: Rule overview on page 45 Applying a color rule to an InDesign CS3 page Requirements: A color rule or a color result added to another rule.
30 Chapter 3—How do I create a VDP job? Hands-on tutorial 6. Preview a few records to make sure that the rule was added correctly. Check for both the winter and the summer colors. Adding a complex image rule Requirements: Images. In this example, use the images called Man_Summer.tif, Man_Winter.tif, Woman_Summer.tif, and Woman_Winter.tif located in the folder VI Resources at Sample Files\Jewelry\Files for Practice.
Adding a complex image rule 31 7. Click OK. 8. In the Rule Editor area, in the If list, select Gender. 9. In the list that appears, select the first condition for the rule. In this example, select equals. 10. In the box that appears, type a definition for the rule. In this example, type Male. 11. Add another condition to the If statement by clicking . 12. In the box that appears, select Season. 13. In the list that appears, select the second condition for the rule. In this example, select equals. 14.
32 Chapter 3—How do I create a VDP job? Hands-on tutorial The new Season+Gender rule automatically appears on the Variable Elements panel in Darwin CoPilot. Next: Apply the Season+Gender rule to the image box on the first InDesign CS3 page. See also: Rule overview on page 45 Composing pages for VDP production Select the pages and the VDP format that you want Darwin to use for generating your VDP job.
Composing pages for VDP production 33 5. Click Save. Darwin begins processing the files for printing, and the InDesign CS3 Print window appears. 6. Check the settings, and modify them if necessary. 7. Click Save, and select a location for saving your job. Darwin creates the required VDP output file. You can now print your job by dragging it to a hot folder or by submitting it to the printer via the Creo Color Server Job Ticket software.
34 Chapter 3—How do I create a VDP job? Hands-on tutorial
4 Creating a Darwin Job Start a new job by either opening a data file or manually creating fields. Data overview Before you start working with the InDesign CS3 and the Darwin software, you need to define a list of fields that describe the data in your job. You can either: ● ● Use a data source that contains a list of all the fields used in the job (the list is usually made of the first row of the data file). Create a list of fields manually It is recommended that you work with existing data files.
36 Chapter 4—Creating a Darwin Job Access table or query. The data source can contain only one table and no more than 255 columns. Note: If you are using a text file as your data source, make sure that field type is appropriate. If it is not appropriate, change the field type according to data content. For example, a customer number field contains a number, so the appropriate field type is Number. 1. In the Darwin Pilot workspace, from the File menu, select New. 2.
Creating a job manually 37 6. Click OK. The Manage Fields (Schema) window appears with all the required fields. 7. Make sure that the field types are logical. The field type tells Darwin what kind of data will be in that field. For example, a city name consists of text, so the field type that is assigned to City is Text. The customer number is a whole number, so Customer Number field type is Number. 8. Click OK. A job is created, and its fields and data appear on the Data Plannertab. 9.
38 Chapter 4—Creating a Darwin Job 2. Select Create New Job Manually. 3. In the Field Name column, type a name for the first field. For example, type Last_Name. 4. In the Field Type list, select the appropriate type of field. For example, for the Last_Name field, select Text. 5. To add another field, click the Add Field button, type a name for the field in the Field Name column, and select the appropriate type in the Field Type list. 6. Create all the fields that you need for your job, and click OK.
5 Working with fields and data Adding a field Add a field to the list of fields in your Darwin job when the job must incorporate new or unused data. 1. Click the Data Planner tab. 2. Under Data Tools, click Manage Fields. 3. 4. 5. 6. Click the Add Field button . In the Field Name column, type a name for the field. In the Field Type list, select the appropriate type of field. To move the field up or down the list, click the appropriate arrow button. 7. Click OK.
40 Chapter 5—Working with fields and data Darwin field type Content of the data source field Text Free text Number Whole numbers and decimals Date Dates Time Time in hours, minutes, and seconds Image path Full path to an image file Textfile Full path to a text file Editing the list of fields Change a field's name or type, move a field up or down in the list, or remove a field from the list. 1. Click the Data Planner tab. 2. Under Data Tools, click Manage Fields. 3.
Editing your data source 41 ● ● ● Test your Darwin job with a sample data set before you produce the job with the real data Reuse a job periodically with new data each time Add data to the fields in a job that you created manually 1. In the Darwin Pilot workspace, under Data Tools, click Assign Data. Note: The Data Source area displays the fields and the data contained in each field of your data source. The Previous Record and Next Record arrow buttons enable you to move from record to record. 2.
42 Chapter 5—Working with fields and data 2. 3. 4. 5. Make the required changes. From the File menu, select Save. Close the data source file. For the changes to take effect, on the Data Planner panel, click Refresh Data.
6 Working with functions Function overview Darwin enables you to use predefined functions to perform various types of operations and calculations on data from your data source. For example, you can use a function such as Caps to change all the text in a specific text box to uppercase letters. Examples of common functions that Darwin provides are sum, average, rounding up, and rounding down. Unique functions in Darwin include zodiac signs and automatic numbering of paragraphs in a text.
44 Chapter 6—Working with functions a. Click the P1 box. b. In the parameter list (P1), select the source information for the value. In this case, select Field. c. In the list that appears next to the P1 list box, select a field (the list of fields comes from your data source). In this example, select Birth date. The function calculates the person's age by subtracting the value of the Birth date field from the current date. . 9.
7 Working with rules Rule overview A Darwin rule is an object that produces a result based on the content of your data source. For example, you can create a rule that displays images and colors based on the gender of customers listed in the data source. A Darwin rule consists of an If statement, a Then statement, and an Or else statement. If the If statement (a condition) is met during output, the Darwin software applies the associated result from the Then statement.
46 Chapter 7—Working with rules style result can cause the VDP output to print male names in italics and female names in bold. Styles are defined in InDesign CS3. See also: Adding a complex image rule on page 30 Adding a new result to a rule on page 26 Adding a text rule Add a rule that controls whether specific text will appear in personalized VDP output and if so, which text will appear. For example, you can define a rule that places the word "Mr.
Adding an image rule 47 button in the lower portion of the workspace and define the conditions. 10. In the Then list, select the desired text result: ● ● The Use text option enables you to type the desired text in the text box. The Use file option indicates that text from a file should appear and enables you to select the file. Click the browse button, and navigate to a plain text (.txt ) file. Note: The text file may contain an InDesign CS3 tagged text.
48 Chapter 7—Working with rules 3. Click Add New Rule 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. . In the Name box, type a meaningful name for the rule. (Optional) In the Comments box, type a comment about the rule. In the Type list, select Image. Click OK. In the Rule Editor area, add at least one condition, as follows: a. In the If list, select the desired field. For example, select Country. Note: The If list contains a list of all the fields in your Darwin job and a list of the functions that you have defined. b.
Adding a color rule 49 Adding a color rule Add a rule that controls the color that will appear in a text box or a graphic element in personalized VDP output. Requirements: InDesign CS3 must be running. You can apply a color rule to a selected text box frame, a text outline, or a specific graphic element. For example, you can define a rule that adds a red, white, and blue strip to the VDP output of a recipient in the United States and a green and yellow strip to the output for a recipient in Brazil. 1.
50 Chapter 7—Working with rules 10. Click the browse button. 11. In the Select Color dialog box, click Import Color colors for your rule from your InDesign CS3 file. to import the Note: To increase the variety of colors of your Darwin job, you can import colors from your InDesign CS3 file each time you set a color result. 12. In the Select InDesign File dialog box, locate your InDesign CS3 file and select it. 13. Click Open.
Adding a visibility rule 51 16. In the Or else box, click use color. 17. Click the browse button. 18. In the Select Color dialog box, select a color to use for all the records that do not meet the condition of the rule. Make sure the color differs from the one selected earlier. 19. Click OK. The selected color appears in the Or else box. 20.On the Tools panel, click Accept . Your rule is added to the Rules list. 21. From the File menu, select Save.
52 Chapter 7—Working with rules Note: The If list contains a list of all the fields in your Darwin job and a list of all the functions that you have defined. b. In the list that appears, select the next component of the condition. For example, select is equal to. c. In the box that appears, type the next component of the condition. For example, type USA. 9. In the Then list, select the desired visibility result: The Show layer option indicates that the selected layer should be displayed.
Adding a page rule 53 3. Click Add New Rule 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. . In the Name box, type a meaningful name for the rule. (Optional) In the Comments box, type a comment about the rule. In the Type list, select Page. Click OK. In the Rule Editor area, add at least one condition, as follows: a. In the If list, select the desired field. For example, select Gender. Note: The If list contains a list of all the fields in your Darwin job and a list of the functions that you have defined. b.
54 Chapter 7—Working with rules Next: Assign the page rule to a Darwin page: Drag the rule from the Page Rules list (on the Page Library panel) to the Pages to Print area. The page rule replaces the InDesign CS3 page with which it is asociated. In this example, the rule page replaces the cover page. Adding a style rule Add a rule that controls whether a character style will be applied to text in personalized VDP output and if so, which style will be applied.
Adding a style rule 55 9. In the Then list, you can select the desired style result: The use style option enables you to use a desired character style from your InDesign CS3 file. ● The don't use style option indicates that no style will be applied. 10. Define a specific style to the selected text: a. In the Then list, select use style. b. In the box that appears, click the browse button. ● c. In the Style Picker window, select a specific character style to apply to the text and click OK.
56 Chapter 7—Working with rules Next: Apply the style rule to your InDesign CS3 page: On the InDesign CS3 page, select specific text in the appropriate text box, and on the Variable Elements panel, double-click the style rule that you created. Note: In case your job contains more than one InDesign CS3 file, make sure that all your InDesign CS3 files contains the required character styles.
Adding multiple results to a rule 57 7. Add a Then statement specifying an image based on the logic of the previous rule. a. Click the Then box. b. In the box that appears, click the browse button, and navigate to the desired image file. 8. Click the Or else box. 9. In the Or else list, select the image that Darwin should apply if none of the conditions for the rule is met. 10. On theTools panel, click Accept . The icon of your original rule changes.
58 Chapter 7—Working with rules
8 Working with barcodes Barcode overview Darwin supports one-dimensional (1-D) and two-dimensional (2-D) barcodes. Among the many types of 1-D barcodes that Darwin supports are Code 11, Code 39, EAN-8, EAN-13, and Code 128. Darwin supports the following types of 2-D barcodes: ● ● ● ● ● ● Data Matrix PDF417 MicroPDF417 QR Code MaxiCode CODABLOCK-F Selecting the correct barcode is critical to the success of your barcode implementation plan.
60 Chapter 8—Working with barcodes 4. 5. 6. 7. In the Name box, type a name for the barcode. (Optional) In the Comments box, type a comment about the barcode. In the Type list, select the type of barcode that you want to use. Click OK. The barcode type appears in the Barcode Editor area, in the Type box. Note: If necessary, you can select a different type of barcode in the Type list. 8.
Applying a barcode to the InDesign CS3 page layout 61 3. To preview the barcode for each customer, click the Previous Record and Next Record arrow buttons.
62 Chapter 8—Working with barcodes
9 Working with charts Chart overview Charts enable you to visually display data in your job. With the Darwin software, you can create multiple charts for each record in the data source and then preview each chart in the InDesign CS3 software before you create the VDP output. You can change the presentation of your data by choosing a different type of chart or different colors, labels, and text properties.
64 Chapter 9—Working with charts Chart types and subtypes Chart type Column Chart Chart subtype Basic Stacked Percentage 3-D Basic 3-D Stacked 3-D Percentage Column Chart Pie Chart Basic 3-D Area Chart Basic Stacked Percentage 3-D Basic 3-D Stacked 3-D Percentage Basic Stacked Percentage 3-D Basic 3-D Stacked 3-D Percentage Bar Chart Doughnut Chart Basic 3-D
Creating a chart 65 Chart type Chart subtype Radar Chart Basic Stacked Line Chart Basic 3-D Basic Percentage Creating a chart To help you easily learn how to create a chart, we will use a real-life example. In this example, we will create a chart to compare the amount of marketing expenses over the last three months of 2007 and 2008 of a certain company.
66 Chapter 9—Working with charts 5. (Optional) In the Comments box, type a comment about the chart. 6. In the Type list, select a type of chart. In this example, we will use the default Column Chart. 7. In the Subtype list, select a subtype of chart. In this example, we will use the default subtype, Basic Column Chart. 8. Click OK. Defining the chart display options Darwin enables you to customize and enhance the look of your chart. You can add chart a title, labels, background color, and gridlines.
Defining the chart display options 67 ● ● ● Off--do not display labels Values--display values from the data source. For example, if the sum of the marketing expenses on Oct 07 is 20($K), the number 20 will appear on the top of the appropriate column. Percentage Values--display the percentage values of the values in the data source. a. In the Label list, select Values. b. Define the font, style, size, and color for the labels. In this example, keep the default values. 3. Select Background. a.
68 Chapter 9—Working with charts a. If you want to display labels on the Y axis, make sure that the Enable check box is selected. b. Define the angle of the labels, font, style, size, and color for the labels on the Y-axis. In addition, you can define the number of tick marks. In this example, keep the default values. 8. Select Gridlines.
Defining the chart data 69 expenses for 2007 and 2008, so we need two series: series 1 for 2007 and series 2 for 2008. 1. To name Series 1, under Chart Data, in the Name box, type the required name for your series. In this example, type 2007. 2. To add another series, click Add Series . 3. Make sure that Series 2 is selected and then in the Name box, type the required name. In this example, type 2008. 4. Select Series 1. , and select the fields that you 5.
70 Chapter 9—Working with charts You can save your chart at any stage of your work. Once you save a chart, it is added to the Variable Elements panel in Darwin CoPilot with a chart icon, and to the chart list on the Tools panel. Previewing a chart in the InDesign CS3 page layout After defining the chart display options and its data, you can preview your chart in the InDesign CS3 page layout and adjust the chart display options if necessary. 1.
Adjusting the margins size 71 Adjusting the margins size The margins area is the area around the chart graphic. The titles and labels of the chart appear in the margins area. Darwin enables you to enlarge or reduce the margins size for different purposes. You can reduce the size of the chart graphic area by enlarging the margins size to better fit the titles and labels, or you can enlarge the chart graphic area by reducing the margins size. 1. Select Chart Dimensions.
72 Chapter 9—Working with charts 2. To adjust the margins size, clear the Maintain proportions check box. 3. In this example, we will enlarge the size of the chart graphic area. To do this, we will set the margins size to 10 mm (instead of the default 15 mm). Note: It is recommended that you use the ruler guides in InDesign CS3 to define the desired margins size. 4. Now that you have adjusted the margins size, preview your chart again: a. In the InDesign CS3 page layout, select the chart placeholder box.
Adding a legend to the chart 73 7. To make sure that the legend does not overlap the chart graphic, in the InDesign CS3 add ruler guides to define the desired new plot area (green ruler guides appear in the chart below to mark the new resized chart graphic area). The new desired plot area minimizes or eliminates overlapping between the legend and the chart graphic area.
74 Chapter 9—Working with charts 8. Measure the distance between the new ruler guide on the right (the green ruler guide) to the margin on the left (the orange line). This measurement represents the width of the new plot area. In this example, the width of the new plot area is 58 mm. 9. Measure the distance between the new ruler guide at the top of the plot area (the green ruler guide) to the margin at the bottom of the chart (the orange line). This measurement represents the height of the new plot area.
Adding a legend to the chart 75 12. In the Height of plot area box, type 51. 13. Under Tools, click Accept. 14. Preview your chart in the InDesign CS3 document. Resizing the plot area, minimizes or eliminates overlapping of the legend and the chart graphic.
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10 Working with personalized images Personalized images overview Darwin enables you to create graphically rich, personalized images for VDP jobs—for example, to display each recipient's name in the form of a signature on a baseball. To create personalized images, you use Photoshop® CS3 software. Darwin supports the following Photoshop CS3 features: ● ● ● Text layers: You can place variable text in a text layer. All the effects previously applied to the layer are applied to the variable text.
78 Chapter 10—Working with personalized images 5. (Optional) In the Comments box, type a comment about the personalized image. 6. Click OK. 7. In the Personalized Image Editor area, click the Browse button to locate your .psd file. 8. In the Select Photoshop file window, locate the required .psd file, select it, and click Open. The Photoshop CS3 text layers and Smart Object layers are displayed under Layers. The Darwin job fields and rules are displayed in a list on the right, under Storage. 9.
Creating a personalized image 79 11. If you want to create a personalized image in a Smart Object layer, perform the following steps: a. Under Storage, double-click an image rule or a image file-path field. The field(s) or rule(s) appear in the Content box. 12. Repeat steps 9-11 for each layer in which you want to have variable information. 13. To add a Photoshop CS3 action, select the Use Photoshop Action check box. Notes: Actions must be saved as Action Set for Darwin to recognize them.
80 Chapter 10—Working with personalized images Applying and previewing a personalized image Apply a personalized image to an InDesign CS3 page and preview the images. 1. In the InDesign CS3 workspace, in the page layout, select a box that will contain the personalized image. 2. On the Variable Element panel, double-click the personalized image that you have created. 3. Click Preview Current Record. The first name of the first record appears. 4.
Generating a personalized image 81 ● ● You can generate the personalized images during production, a process that results in extending the production time. You can generate all the personalized images before production and use the pregenerated images while creating the VDP output. This option saves time during production and improves the preview speed. In the Personalized Image Editor area, click Generate.
82 Chapter 10—Working with personalized images
11 Placing variable elements on InDesign CS3 pages Darwin CoPilot Overview After defining the fields for your Darwin job and creating rules, charts, or barcodes, you use Darwin CoPilot to apply the variable content to InDesign CS3 pages and save them as Darwin documents. Darwin CoPilot consists of four panels: Variable Elements, AutoFit, Darwin Preflight, and Frame Elements. You can access the Darwin CoPilot panels from the InDesign CS3 Window menu.
84 Chapter 11—Placing variable elements on InDesign CS3 pages Placing variable text fields and rules on an InDesign CS3 page Specify where variable text fields (containing text, numbers, dates, or times), color rules, and text rules should appear on your InDesign CS3 page. Requirements: ● ● ● Darwin Pilot must be running. InDesign CS3 must be running. The Darwin CoPilot panels must be displayed. Note: Variable data can be placed only on individual pages, not on a master page. 1.
Checking for hidden text 85 1. In the InDesign CS3 workspace, on the Variable Elements panel, click Preview Current Record. The data from the specific record that you selected appear in the fields on the InDesign CS3 page. 2. (Optional) To preview the page with another record, click Preview Next Record or Preview Previous Record.
86 Chapter 11—Placing variable elements on InDesign CS3 pages Next: If some of the text is not displayed in a text box, enlarge the box so that the entire text will fit in. Resizing text so that it will fit in a text box Use the AutoFit panel to have the font size and the horizontal scale automatically adjusted in a specific text box. The AutoFit option is not available for text that is in a separate file. 1. On the InDesign CS3 page, select the text box whose font size you want Darwin to adjust. 2.
Checking for the longest line of text 87 Note: If you do not want the font size of the text changed, make sure that both values are set to 100%. Darwin reduces or increases the font size and leading (weight) as necessary, according to your specifications. 4. In the H. Scale boxes, enter percentage values that indicate a horizontal scaling down or scaling up of the text in the selected text box. ● ● To have Darwin scale down the text horizontally, enter a value less than 100% in the Min column.
88 Chapter 11—Placing variable elements on InDesign CS3 pages Example: A text box contains the following text: [First name][Last name] text text text text text text text text text text [Age]. In the Darwin data source, the field values are as follows: First name Last name Age John Brown 35 Alexander Trumpet 42 Darwin determines that the longest combination of fields in the text box is "Alexander Trumpet, 42" (and not "John Brown, 35").
Placing variable graphic elements on an InDesign CS3 page 89 Note: The InDesigned tagged text can be found in text file fields or text rules. Placing variable graphic elements on an InDesign CS3 page Specify where variable images, charts, barcodes, and personalized images should appear on an InDesign CS3 page. Requirements: ● ● ● Darwin Pilot must be running. InDesign CS3 must be running. The Darwin CoPilot panels must be displayed.
90 Chapter 11—Placing variable elements on InDesign CS3 pages Resizing and positioning an image to fit in an image box Use the AutoFit panel to have the size of an image automatically adjusted in a specific image box. 1. On the AutoFit panel, in the Fitting Mode box, select the desired fit. For example, select Proportional Fit to have Darwin enlarge the image proportionally. 2. In the Position box, select the desired position for the image.
Saving an InDesign CS3 page as a Darwin document 91 2. Click OK. ● ● The InDesign CS3 document is saved and associated with the selected Darwin job. Darwin automatically adds the pages of the saved file to the Page Library panel on the Page Manager tab in Darwin Pilot.
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12 Managing pages in Darwin Pilot Page Manager overview You use the Page Manager tab to manage and work with the pages of your Darwin job. The Page Manager tab contains two sections: ● ● Page Library panel: Contains InDesign CS3 files that were saved as Darwin documents. Under each InDesign CS3 file, thumbnails of its pages are displayed. Each thumbnail represents an individual page of an InDesign CS3 file. On this panel, you can also find a list of all the page rules that you created.
94 Chapter 12—Managing pages in Darwin Pilot Working with pages After adding variable elements to InDesign CS3 pages, you use the Page Manager tab to plan the layout of your Darwin document. In order to plan the layout of your VDP output and define the pages or page rules that will be included in your VDP output, you first need to add the InDesign CS3 pages to your Darwin job. 1.
13 VDP output Producing VDP output After defining the pages for your job, you can produce your VDP output. In the production stage, the Darwin software defines which records are printed and how they are sorted. 1. To produce a VDP job, in the Page Manager area, click the Production button. The Production window appears. 2. In the Output Types list, select the required type.
96 Chapter 13—VDP output ● ● 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Warnings: Darwin generates warnings when some rule elements are missing—for example, when a Then statement in a text rule is blank. You can decide to continue the production even if there are warnings (as long as there are no errors). However, Darwin does not print the records that caused the warning.
14 Managing Darwin jobs Collecting and packaging job resources Save all the Darwin job resources and linked items in one folder so that you can organize them easily and compress them for transferring to another computer (from a Mac® to a Windows-based computer or the other way around). Requirements: Your Darwin job must be open. Note: It is recommended that you save all the job resources and linked items in one folder while you create your job.
98 Chapter 14—Managing Darwin jobs 5. 6. 7. 8. File option. When you select this option, Darwin packages and compresses your job. Click Pack. An Adobe InDesign CS3 warning message instructs you to obtain permission for your fonts. Click OK. Darwin packages your job and a message informs you that the process has been completed successfully. Click OK. In the Collect and Pack to Folder window, click Close. Your packaged job appears in one folder in the required location.
Updating file locations 99 Updating file locations Check for broken links and update them to prevent problems during job production or to correct errors that occur during production. When you change the name or the location of a linked item, such as an image in an image rule or a linked InDesign CS3 file, the link in the job breaks. You must correct the broken links before you can produce a job successfully. 1. In Darwin Pilot, from the File menu, select Missing Links.
100 Chapter 14—Managing Darwin jobs ● ● To accept the updates and close the Missing Links window, click OK. To cancel all your updtaes and close the window, click Cancel.
