Creating Intelligent Templates™

Technical Document

English

USING DYNAMIC DESIGN TECHNIQUES TO PRINT

MULTIPLE OUTPUTS BY USING A SINGLE DOCUMENT

SUPPORTS:BARTENDER

2019 AND LATER VERSIONS

Contents

Overview 3

Dynamic Design Techniques 3

Conditional Printing 4

About Conditional Printing 4

Using conditional printing 4

Conditionally Printing Objects 5

Example 5

Conditionally Printing Layers 5

How layers work in BarTender 6

Example 6

Conditionally Printing Templates 8

Example 1:Conditionally printing templates 9

Example 2:Using template selectors 10

Using Visual Basic Script 11

Document-Level Events 11

Changing Object Properties by Using VBScript 12

Example 1 12

Example 2 12

Example 3 12

Example 4 13

Support for Data-Sourced VBScript 13

Automatically Sizing Objects 14

Using Auto Fit for Text Objects 14

Example 14

Using Auto Fit for Barcode Objects 15

Example 16

Automatically Sizing Picture Objects 16

Example 16

Using Suppression 18

Example 18

Appendix A:Task Reference 19

Related Documentation 20

Overview

As the popularity of complex and variable designs increases, so does the need for dynamic design

techniques. Companies can use BarTender to create Intelligent Templates™ to produce a wide

variety of flexible label designs without having to create and maintain hundreds of separate

documents, so that you can vary the image, color, object position and text on each item that you

print.

For example, one Intelligent Template generated all of the following membership cards by using a

variety of dynamic design techniques. This technical document describes these techniques in detail.

Dynamic Design Techniques

Use one or more of the following techniques to create a dynamic design:

l Use conditional printing to set conditionsthat specify when objects, layers or entire

templates are printed.

l Run custom Visual Basic script (VBScript) in response to certain document-level events. By

using VBScript, you can alter any object's appearance by changing its color, font, position, size

or border.

l Use automatic sizing for text, barcode and picture objects to make the objects fit a

designated space on your template.

l Use suppression to automatically hide text on your template based on conditions that you

specify.

Creating Intelligent Templates™ 3

Conditional Printing

Use conditional printing to specify exactly when different objects, layers or templates in your

document are printed. For example, you can configure a graphic to be printed under one condition

but not under any others. Or, you can choose to print a template based on a value in your database.

You can conditionalize printing for as much or as little of your design as you want.

About Conditional Printing

Conditional printing is based on conditional operators. For example, your conditions for printing might

be based on whether the conditionalized item contains or does not contain certain text, numeric

values, or images, or on whether the conditionalized item is less than, greater than, or equals a

particular value.

You can apply conditional printing to objects, layers or templates, depending on how much of your

design you want to change at print time.

Using conditional printing

To use conditional printing, use the When to Print dialog in BarTender to specify a conditional

statement that is based on a database field or a named data source value to determine when

the object, template or layer is printed.

Creating Intelligent Templates™ 4

For more information, refer to the following topics in the BarTender help system:

l Conditional Printing

l Building Conditional Expressions

l When to Print Dialog

Conditionally Printing Objects

When your design calls for only one object to change for multiple items, consider setting up

conditional printing for that one object. When you do this, you can print (or not print) one object

based on conditions that you specify. This technique is useful when you need different objects to

appear in variations of the same template.

Any of the following objects can be conditionally printed:

l Barcodes

l Encoder objects

l Text objects

l Line objects

l Shape objects

l Layout grid objects

l Table objects

l Pictures

Example

In this example, the document is connected to a database that includes a list of conference

attendees and their status. The When to Print dialog was used to configure the bottom text

object to be conditionally printed based on whether the attendee has a status of "VIP." Notice

that the position, formatting and visibility of all other objects on the name tag remain the same,

regardless of whether the status is printed.

Conditionally Printing Layers

When you have a complex design in which multiple objects are the same among all designs but other

objects change, consider using conditional layers. A layer is an object or group of objects that

occupies a single plane. Layers are stacked on top of one another.

Creating Intelligent Templates™ 5

How layers work in BarTender

In BarTender, each layer can contain one or more objects. When you need to dynamically print

multiple objects on your template at different times, you can put the objects on different layers

and then conditionalize the layers to be printed when certain conditions are met. You use the

When to Print dialog for each layer to specify when that layer is printed, just as you do when you

conditionalize an object.

Example

In this example, the following base layer includes all of the objects that remain the same on all of

your designs.

Each subsequent layer includes the objects that differ on each of your designs. Each layer can

include one or more objects, as shown.

Creating Intelligent Templates™ 6

After you conditionalize each of the subsequent layers by using the When to Print dialog, the

layers are printed on top of the base layer based on the conditions that you set. The final print

output for this example is as follows.

Creating Intelligent Templates™ 7

For more information about layers, refer to the following topics in the BarTender help system:

l Using Layers

l Layer Properties Dialog

l Arranging Layers on a Template

Conditionally Printing Templates

When one piece of information can alter the entire layout of the document that you want to print,

consider creating two or more different templates for the same document. You can configure

templates to be printed by using either conditional printing or template selectors.

Consider the following example. Your company has two offices, one in Seattle and the other in New

York. All of the employees are listed in the same database, and you need to print business cards for

all of the employees. The office in Seattle uses one design for their business cards, and the office in

New York uses a different design. Each design is saved as a separate template within the same

BarTender document.

The following examples describe how to configure conditional printing for this scenario by using both

conditional printing and template selectors.

Creating Intelligent Templates™ 8

Example 1:Conditionally printing templates

By using conditional printing, you can specify multiple conditional expressions for each template,

and you have a lot of flexibility for specifying print conditions.

For example, suppose that your database has a "City" field that includes multiple different

spellings for the same city (New York, NewYorkCity, NYC). To address the discrepancies in

terminology, you can define multiple conditional statements so that you can print items for all the

variations of "New York" in the database.

To do this, specify your conditional statements in the When to Print dialog to instruct BarTender

to print the document when it encounters "New York", "NYC", or "New York City" in the "City"field

of the database, as shown.

Repeat this procedure for the Seattle template to instruct BarTender to conditionally print the

template when the "City" field contains the values "Seattle" or "SEA".

As a result, if the value that BarTender reads from the database is "New York", "NYC", or "New

York City", the New York template is printed, and if the database value is “Seattle or "SEA",” the

Seattle template is printed.

For more information, refer to the following BarTender help topics:

l Page Setup Dialog

l When to Print Dialog

Creating Intelligent Templates™ 9

Example 2:Using template selectors

Template selectors provide a simple way to choose among templates

when you know all the values that could appear in your data source.

When you use a template selector, it determines which template to

print based on the content of the data source. Note that the data

source must match the name of the template for the template to be

printed.

For example, suppose that the only values for the "City"field in the

database are "Seattle" and "New York" and that the names of your

templates match these values.

On the Templates tab of the Page Setup dialog, add a new template selector. Drag both the

Seattle and New York templates to the template selector. Then, select the value that you want

to use to match the template name. In this example, select the "City" database field.

As a result, if the value that BarTender reads from

the database is “Seattle,” the Seattle template is

printed, and if the database value is "New York,"

the New York template is printed.

For more information about template selectors,

refer to the Using Template Selectors topic in the

BarTender help system.

Creating Intelligent Templates™ 10

Using Visual Basic Script

Visual Basic Script (VBScript) is a very flexible language that you can use to programmatically modify

objects at different times throughout the document design and print process.

You can use VBScript to change object properties such as size, location and color, in combination

with any other variables that you can script. For example, you can change an object's color based on

the time of day or change an object's size based on the color of another object. VBScript is perhaps

the most dynamic template design tool of all, because when you have the appropriate programming

skills, you can accomplish almost anything that you want in your BarTender document.

Although Visual Basic scripts can be complex enough to be

considered "programs," sometimes a single line of VBScript can prove

very useful. However, scripting is typically a technique for power users

that is not ideal for beginners. In any case, we recommend that you

determine whether BarTender offers a solution to your challenge

before you try using a script-based solution. For more information,

refer to the Visual Basic Scripting book in the BarTender help system.

For a complete listing of object properties that you can dynamically change by using VBScript, refer to

the Template Objects topic in the BarTender help system.

Document-Level Events

You can use VBScript to modify objects in

a BarTender document only by using

document-level event scripts, such as

opening or closing a document, starting a

print job, reading a database record, and

so on. To write scripts for these events,

use the BarTender Document Options

dialog to enable document-level script

events. Once this feature is enabled, you

can write scripts for the events by using

the Visual Basic Script Editor.

For more information about the available

document-level events that you can use

for Visual Basic scripting and how to open

and use the Visual Basic Script Editor,

refer to the following topics in the BarTender hep system:

l Document-Level Events

l Visual Basic Script Editor

Creating Intelligent Templates™ 11

Changing Object Properties by Using VBScript

The following examples describe how to change object properties by using VBScript.

Example 1

A common use case is to change an object’s color in response to the data that is coming from a

database.

In this example, you want to make an object's text color gold, silver or bronze, depending on

membership level. To do this, enter script that resembles the following in the Editor pane of the

Visual Basic Script Editor.

Set Notice = Objects("Text 1")

If (Field("MembershipType") = "Gold") Then

Notice.TextColor = btColor.Gold

Else

If (Field("MembershipType") = "Silver") Then

Notice.TextColor = btColor.Silver

Else

If (Field("MembershipType") = "Bronze") Then

Notice.TextColor = btColor.DarkGoldenrod

Else

Notice.TextColor = btColor.Black

End If

End If

End If

Example 2

If your database includes a column that contains the name of a color, you can use VBScript to

set the color of an object by reading the color from the database. To do this, enter script that

resembles the following in the Editor pane of the Script Editor.

ReferenceField("ConditionColor")

Objects("Box 1").FillColor = Eval(Field("ConditionColor"))

When you do this, the "ConditionColor" field in your database can contain values such as

"BtColor.Red" or "BtColor.FromRGB(255,0,0)".

Example 3

You can use VBScript to change the properties of linked objects and embedded objects or to

switch among the objects. The following sample code uses VBScript to switch between two

linked image objects based on conditional values.

ReferenceField("Image")

Set ImageObject = Objects("Picture 1")

If Field("Image") = "Black" Then

ImageObject.PicturePath = "C:\vbscriptimagepath\images\BarTender_Black.png"

Else

ImageObject.PicturePath = "C:\vbscriptimagepath\images\BarTender_RGB.png"

End If

Creating Intelligent Templates™ 12

Example 4

You can hide or show objects based on the data that is read from a database or named data

source. To do this, you can use an object’s PrintVisibility property, or you can move the object on

or off the design area by using its X and Y properties.

For example, if you want a line object to appear only if a "Location" database fieldhas the value

"Seattle,"enter script that resembles the following in the Editor pane of the Script Editor.

Set Notice = Objects("Line 1")

If (Field("Location") = ("Seattle")) Then

PrintVisibility = True

Else

PrintVisibility = False

End If

Support for Data-Sourced VBScript

You can feed VBScript into BarTender from external sources, such as a database or a program that

is controlling BarTender. For example, you might configure a field in a database to contain VBScript

code. Then, when BarTender reads the data record that contains that field, VBScript code in

BarTender can use the Visual Basic “Execute” statement or the “Eval” function to run the imported

VBScript.

This is an advanced technique that should be used only by users who

have extensive VBScript experience or who have the help of a

BarTender reseller or other consultant.

Creating Intelligent Templates™ 13

Automatically Sizing Objects

BarTender can automatically adjust the size of objects on your template based on the data that is

contained in the object. You can configure the sizing settings by using the Object Properties page for

a text, barcode, or picture object, as follows:

l For text objects and the human readable text portion of barcode objects, you can use the Auto

Fit property page to change the font size, scale and spacing of the text to make it fit the

available space on the template.

l For barcode objects, you can use the Auto Fit feature to automatically fit the barcode symbol

to a width that you specify.

l For picture objects, you can use the settings on the Picture Properties page to make sure that

the pictures automatically fit a specified space on the template.

Using Auto Fit for Text Objects

The Auto Fit feature configures the size of the text to fit into the text object that you have specified on

the template. The text object itself stays the same size; only the text inside the object is adjusted.

To use this feature, click Auto Fit in the navigation pane on the Text Properties dialog for the text

object, and then click to select the Automatically fit text to specified dimensions check box. After

you do this, you can specify the dimensions, alignment, minimum and maximum font point sizes, font

scale width, and character and line spacing .

Example

Suppose that you are creating mailing labels and that certain fields contain more address

information than others. For example, some customer names and company names are longer

Creating Intelligent Templates™ 14

than others and exceed the label dimensions. By using Auto Fit for these text objects, you ensure

that they always fit on your label.

When you apply Auto Fit to the text objects that correspond to the "Customer Name" and

"Company Name" fields of your label, the text size adjusts to fit the available space, as shown.

Using Auto Fit for Barcode Objects

You can use the Auto Fit feature for both the barcode symbol and the accompanying human

readable text, so that regardless of the length of the data source, the objects that contain your

barcode symbol and human readable text maintain a consistent size. You configure the Auto Fit

settings separately for the symbol and the text.

When you use Auto Fit to configure the human readable text, the text automatically fits into

dimensions that you specify. To do this, click Auto Fit in the navigation pane on the Barcode

Properties dialog, and then click to select the Automatically fit text to specified dimensions check

box. After you do this, you can specify the dimensions, alignment, minimum and maximum font point

sizes, font scale width, and character and line spacing .

When you use Auto Fit to configure the barcode symbol, BarTender adjusts the X dimension to

maintain the symbol size that you want. To do this, click Symbology and Size in the navigation pane

on the Barcode Properties dialog, click next to the X Dimension field, and then click to select the

Automatically fit barcode to specified width check box. After you do this, you can specify the symbol

width and maximum and minimum X dimension widths that you want.

The barcode width that you specify is the maximum width that the

barcode uses. Therefore, depending on the data source value, the

symbol that is printed might be smaller than what you specify.

Because Auto Fit can affect the density (and consequently, the

readability) of data, we recommend that you test your scanner’s

ability to read barcodes at both your minimum and maximum

settings.

Creating Intelligent Templates™ 15

Example

Suppose that you are printing labels and

that each label has a specified area

where one of four barcodes appear. The

barcodes contain varying amounts of

information and human readable text,

but you need all of them to fit within the

specified area on the template.

Depending on the barcode type and the values of the connected data source, your results when

you use Auto Fit might resemble the following sample labels. Notice that the X dimension of the

barcode symbol becomes smaller as the data source (indicated by the human readable text)

increases in length so that the symbol maintains its width.

Automatically Sizing Picture Objects

You can configure picture objects to automatically fit a specific area on the template. To do this, use

the picture object's Picture Properties dialog.

Example

Suppose that you want to create labels to mark sale items and that you want the picture of the

current sale item to appear in a particular place on the template. You have multiple pictures that

can appear on the label, and not all of the pictures are the same size. You need all the pictures

that appear on the template to be printed at the same size.

To do this, click Size in the navigation pane of the Picture Properties dialog, and then configure

the sizing settings that you want. Then, click to select the Lock Size check box. When you do this,

any picture that you use for that object appears at the size that you selected.

Creating Intelligent Templates™ 16

Creating Intelligent Templates™ 17

Using Suppression

You can use the suppression feature in BarTender to conditionally print data sources. Suppression

differs from the conditional printing methods that were described previously in that data sources are

suppressed, or hidden, when a condition is met.

Suppression is commonly used for a wrapped text object that contains separate data sources for

each line in the object, but in which a data source might not contain data. When the data source

does not contain data, you might want to configure BarTender to automatically suppress the data

source so that it doesn't appear on the label as a blank space.

Example

Suppose that you have a wrapped text object that uses multiple data

sources for an address label. The data sources are linked to database

fields that are called CustomerName, CompanyName, Address1,

Address2, City, State, and Country. To create line breaks between the

address lines, an Embedded Data data source that contains only a

carriage return is added after each Database Field data source.

For some records in the database, there is no data in the

"Address2"database field. You want to eliminate the blank space that

appears on the label if the "Address2"data source is empty.

To do this, on the Transform tab on the Data Sources property page,

apply the Suppress when previous data source is empty suppression

rule to the carriage return data source that follows the "Address2" data source. By suppressing

the carriage return when there is no data for the "Address2" data source, you eliminate the

blank space.

As a result, your address labels are printed without a blank space when the "Address2" field is

empty.

For more information about suppression, refer to the Suppression Dialog topic in the BarTender help

system.

For more information about how to read data from databases, refer to the Reading Data from

Databases topic in the BarTender help system.

Creating Intelligent Templates™ 18

Appendix A:Task Reference

The following table describes common dynamic design tasks and the methods that we recommend

that you use.

Task Recommended Methods

Show or hide a single object based on the data that is read Conditional printing for objects

Show or hide multiple objects based on the data that is read Conditional printing for layers

Change the color of an object based on the data that is read

Conditional printing for layers

VBScript

Change the font size of a text object based on the data that is read Auto Fit for text

Hide the contents of a selected data source under certain conditions Suppression

Change the size of a barcode object based on the data that is read Auto Fit for barcodes

Change the position of an object based on the size or other properties

of another object

VBScript

Change part of a template design based on the data that is read Conditional printing for layers

Change the entire template based on the data that is read

Conditional printing for templates

Template selectors

Creating Intelligent Templates™ 19