Mail Factory Users Manual
Mail Factory Users Manual
User's Manual
Version 2.3 January 2006 BeLight Software, Ltd.
accordance with the terms of this license. All rights not expressly granted here are reserved by BeLight Software. The Licensor will not transmit your personal information to any third party without your express consent. 7. TERMINATION This license is effective upon Your installing the software on any machine, and shall continue until terminated. You may terminate this Agreement at any time. The Licensor may immediately terminate this License Agreement if you breach any representation, warranty, agreement or obligation contained or referred to in this License Agreement. Upon termination, you must dispose of the Software and all copies or versions of the Software by destroying the Software. 8. LIMITED WARRANTY BeLight Software provides a thirty (30) day money-back guarantee on the Software. If, during this period, you are dissatisfied with the Software for any reason, BeLight Software will refund your money if you return the Software and all copies to the place of purchase within thirty (30) days of the date of the original purchase. THE FOREGOING IS THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE WARRANTY OFFERED BY BELIGHT SOFTWARE. BELIGHT SOFTWARE DISCLAIMS ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH REGARD TO THE LICENSED SOFTWARE AND ALL ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS. BELIGHT SOFTWARE AND ITS AGENTS DO NOT AND CANNOT WARRANT THE PERFORMANCE OR RESULTS YOU MAY OBTAIN BY USING THE SOFTWARE. 9. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IN NO EVENT WILL BELIGHT SOFTWARE OR ITS AGENTS BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES, CLAIMS OR COSTS WHATSOEVER OR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, OR ANY LOST PROFITS OR LOST SAVINGS. BELIGHT SOFTWARE'S AGGREGATE LIABILITY AND THAT OF ITS AGENTS UNDER OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID FOR THE SOFTWARE, IF ANY. 10. FEES The Software is available in download version. If your download version of the Software does not come with a License Code, you may register your copy of the Software by purchasing a License Code for the download version at: http://www.belightsoft.com/composer/buy/ The License Code will disable the restricted printing feature of the Software. You may not distribute the License Code. By clicking "Agree", you acknowledge that you have paid the Licensor all applicable license fees for the Software. 11. SEVERABILITY Should any term of this license be declared void or unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, such declaration shall have no effect on the remaining terms hereof. 12. GENERAL PROVISIONS This License Agreement is personal between You and BeLight Software. It is not transferable and any attempt by You to rent, lease, sublicense, assign or transfer any of the rights, duties or obligations hereunder. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT, UNDERSTAND IT AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY ITS TERMS AND CONDITIONS. YOU FURTHER AGREE THAT IT IS THE COMPLETE AND EXCLUSIVE STATEMENT OF THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND BELIGHT SOFTWARE WHICH SUPERSEDES ANY PROPOSAL OR PRIOR AGREEMENT, ORAL OR WRITTEN, AND ANY OTHER COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN YOU AND BELIGHT SOFTWARE OR BELIGHT SOFTWARE'S AGENT(S) RELATING TO THE LICENSED SOFTWARE. If you have any questions regarding this Agreement or if you wish to request any information from BeLight Software please use the address and contact information included with this product to contact BeLight Software. 2003-2006 BeLight Software, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. BeLight Software and Mail Factory are trademarks of BeLight Software, Ltd. Mac, the Mac logo, Mac OS X, iPhoto, and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Digital image content. All rights reserved. Avery is the trademark of of Avery Dennison Corporation. All other trademarks, registered trademarks, product and/or brand names are the sole property of their respective owners.
Contents
Contents
Contents
CHAPTER 12: USING CONTACT INFORMATION FROM EXTERNAL DATABASES AND CONTACT MANAGERS ............................................................................ 77
General Information ...................................................................................................................... 77 Importing from External Contact Managers.................................................................................. 77 Importing Data from Text and Microsoft Excel Files .................................................................... 78 Importing Addresses from vCard Files ......................................................................................... 80 Importing Data from a FileMaker Pro Database........................................................................... 80
Contents
APPENDIX A: POSTAL GUIDELINES ............................................................... 83 APPENDIX B: MENUS..................................................................................... 84 APPENDIX C: SHORTCUTS............................................................................. 87 APPENDIX D: USAGE TIPS ............................................................................. 89
How to add "Attn.", "Mr. & Mrs." or other text into an address panel. ........................................ 89 Problem with import from Microsoft Entourage ........................................................................... 90 Importing Custom Fields from Microsoft Entourage .................................................................. 901 Problem with Import from Microsoft Excel................................................................................... 91 How to Create Back-Up from Embedded Databases?................................................................... 91 Importing data from DayLite ......................................................................................................... 92 Printing is too slow ....................................................................................................................... 92
Introduction
Chapter 1 Introduction
Welcome to Mail Factory
Thank you for choosing Mail Factory, the fastest way to print envelopes, labels and postcards on your Macintosh. Whether you want to print just one address, or prepare a mass mailing - Mail Factory will best fit these needs. Mail Factory supports numerous envelope sizes and large number of mailing labels from Avery, APLI, A-One and other manufacturers. Mail Factory prints on DYMO (LabelWriter-series), Seiko (SLP-series) and Brother (QL-series) label printers and almost all decktop printers. Mail Factory integrates with Mac OS X Address Book, Microsoft Entourage, Microsoft Excel, Now Contact and File Maker Pro, allowing you to mix contacts from different sources into one mailing list. The program features a lot of ready-made label and envelope designs and various effects for images, including masks, opacity control, shadow effects. Intuitive and elegant interface makes creating labels and envelopes fast and easy.
System Requirements
Mac OS X v10.2 or later 50 MB of available disk space Printer - inkjet or laser (optional)
Registration
To register Mail Factory, enter your License Code in the License dialog that comes up when you launch the software, or in the System menu choose Mail Factory/License... If you already purchased Mail Factory from BeLight Software or its resellers, you'll find the License Code in the purchase confirmation e-mail or inside the Mail Factory pack (in case of the CD version).
Introduction
To enter your license code (if it is in e-mail), copy it from an e-mail that informed you about successful purchase, then launch Mail Factory and choose "License..." from the application menu; then paste the code into the dialog box that comes up. Its recommended to save this mail for the case you will need to register the application after re-installation or after update. In case of the CD version, enter code manually. Be attentive, don't use 'O' character, type only 0 (zero) digit in the license code. There is also no small letter 'I', but only 1 (one) digit in the license code. The unregistered version of Mail Factory is fully operational. The only limitation is that it prints "Mail Factory Trial Version" text at the bottom of each label or envelope that you print. To eliminate this text, you need to register your copy of the software. To move from the trial to the registered version of the program you need to purchase and register it. See details on our web site: http://www.belightsoft.com/buy/
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Introduction
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(1) Databases and contact managers can often export data to tab- or comma-delimited text files. If you encounter difficulties with import from an application directly or if Mail Factory doesnt support import from your database, import data via tab-delimited text file. (2) Contact managers usually can save contact data as a vCard file. It also can be used as an alternative import method. Some of contact managers save only one person's data per vCard file. (3) Databases and text files exported from databases usually have header that helps Mail Factory correctly interpret the meaning of data fields. When such data source doesnt have a header, you need to associate importing data with Mail Factory internal data fields in the Map To dialog during the import process. (4) If an address was pasted in a text box (not in an address panel), the program will recognize it as text. In this case functionality like automatic address formatting, bar codes, batch printing will be unavailable.
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(5) You need to have the coresponding application installed on your computer to import its data. If an address is written on a piece of paper, you can type it in fields of an address panel or into embedded database (its better because data will be saved for further use). Mail Factory stores all imported addresses in the internal cache, so that you dont need to import every time you start Mail Factory. Example. How to deal with DayLite program (direct import from which is not supported). According to DayLite specification, it can: Export contacts to vCard Save any list view as tab-delimited data Synchronize with Apple Address Book Mail Factory can import from Apple Address Book, vCard and from tab- and comma-delimited text files. So there are several possibilities to import data from DayLite. It is better to use vCard or tab-delimited text file in our case. See details in Appendix D. Transfering data via Address Book is not a good idea unless you are going to keep data from DayLite there.
Apple Address Book has Phone, Fax and Email fields. How to use them in Mail Factory?
Standard address panels in Mail Factory contain the most common postal information. Fields for telephone or fax number arent included. But Mail Factory can deal with them and with various of other fields. To see all available data fields, you need to open the Address Fields tab of the Design window. You can drag them on your label (you'll get separate field). By default, such field shows data of a person, selected in the Contacts window. You can choose another sender's data to display in this field using the Inspector window. You can drag several data fields from!the Design window and group them into an address panel. To add a data field to an existing address panel, you need to ungroup this address panel, place a new field among others and group all these fields again. Address book can contain several telephone numbers (work, home). Mail Factory allows you to select one of them (Preferred Address) in the Inspector window. For more information about address fields see Chapter 8, "Working with Text Fields and Working with Address Panels.
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Program Interface
The tool switch on the toolbar has two conditions: Select tool for working with objects (select, drag, etc.) and Text Edit tool to place a new text box or to edit the existing text. Address Panel button is a tool for adding address panels. For more details about address panels see Chapter 8. On the right side Zoom control is located. To change the scale use slider or - and + buttons. The toolbar contains Design, Inspector, Contacts and Layout buttons for opening and closing corresponding windows. Merge Printing button launches mass mailing mode. In this mode addresses for labels or envelopes will be automatically taken from a list. Print button starts ordinary printing. One or several labels or envelopes will be printed with the same address.
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Program Interface
Address templates tab contains the list of address panel templates. These templates differ in purpose, in combination of fields and fields' positioning. You can drag and drop a template on the envelope or label. You will get "To" address panel and if you have already selected the recipient, his personal data will be automatically inserted there. An address panel can be switched to "From" (to display the sender's address) using Format/Refers To command from the menu. The template of the selected address panel can be also changed later. Choose the Format/Address Template menu to do this. For more details about address panels see Chapter 8. Address fields tab contains the list of separate text fields (name and other personal information). You can drag and drop a field on the envelope or label. If you have already selected a person, his corresponding personal data will be inserted automatically into this field. Later address fields can be grouped into address panels. Image collection gives access to several image collections: Clipart, Smart Shapes, iPhoto, Custom Folder.
Clipart is a large amount of pictures supplied with the program. Use "Clipart" pop-up menu to select image category, then scroll up or down to find a picture within the category. Another way to find a picture is to search by name. You can search within the clipart or in the Internet. To select search area click the "lens" button in the edit box. For more details about images see Chapter 8. Smart Shapes is a collection of vector geometrical shapes with controllable behavior. For more details about Smart Shapes see Chapter 8. iPhoto shows pictures from the Apple iPhoto. Custom Folder shows images from any folder selected by you. Click Browse button and select a folder with your images. Images from this folder will be displayed in the collection window. Custom Folder is a suitable embedded image browser. You do not need to switch to other applications for previewing images from your hard disk. Select a folder and you will see thumbnails of images from this folder in the Design window. You can start working with the images immediately.
Handling labels - various handling signs such as "Air Mail", "FRAGILE" and other, supplied with the program. Use "Labels" pop-up menu to select the label category. Note: if you have selected an object on your label or envelope and then clicked on another object of the same type in the Design window, the selected object will be replaced with the new one. Thus, you can replace one image with another one, replace a smart shape with a new smart shape and change address panel type. Object's size will be preserved. If you have selected several images, all of them will be replaced. But if a smart shape is selected, clicking on image will result in adding a new image, because these objects are of different types. Images from Image Collection, Handling Labels, iPhoto library and Custom Folder belong to one type.
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Program Interface
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Program Interface
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Program Interface
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Assistant
Chapter 4 Assistant
Assistant is a special tool, that step-by-step helps to design a label, envelope or postcard from a ready-made template. It is very helpful for beginners and when you need to get the result quickly. When you launch the program, the Assistant comes up by default. In the program Preferences you can set whether to launch the Assistant when the program starts. To start Assistant when the program is launched, use:
Menu: File/New from Assistant Shortcut: Cmd+Shift+N
To create a label: 1. Click on the Label tab at the top of the Assistant (selected by default). 2. Browse through the list of supported label templates to locate the label paper you're going to use. To find the necessary paper faster, just type the product part number in the Search field. To narrow the list you can specify the Manufacturer, Paper size or Label Category. The selected template is previewed in the preview area to the right. Once you've found the needed label paper, click Next. To create an envelope: 1. Click on the Envelope tab at the top of the Assistant. 2. Browse through the list of supported envelope sizes to locate the envelope you're going to use. To narrow the search, use the pop-up list at the top left part of the Assistant. If your envelope has a window, you may tick Use window box. The selected envelope is displayed in the preview area to the right. 3. Once you've found the needed envelope, click Next.
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Assistant
To create a postcard: 1. Click on the Postcard tab at the top of the Assistant. 2. Browse through the list of supported postcard sizes to locate one you're going to use. To narrow the list you can specify the Manufacturer and/or Paper size. The selected template is previewed in the preview area to the right. Once you have found the needed postcard paper, click Next.. The Recently Used tab contains the list of label paper or envelope types you recently used. Its possible to change the paper type using the Layout window after you started working on your document. If you don't want to use next steps of the Assistant click New Blank or Open button. New Blank - opens blank layout, selected at Step 1. Open - opens previously saved document. Note: If the selected label is not a mailing label (e.g. a "File Folder" or "Video Tape" label), the Assistant consists only of Step 1.
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Assistant
Later you will be able to edit the design you selected. Note: in contrast to labels and envelopes, pre-defined postcard templates come in pairs: for front and back sides. So you will have to go through the Assistant twice to get both sides.
To return one step back click Prev button. If you don't want to use the next steps of the Assistant click New Blank or Open button.
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Assistant
Sender, One Recipient and Multiple Recipients tabs represent data from external and embedded databases. The contents of Sender and One Recipient tabs look similar. The right part contains a list of persons, the left - editable fields with personal data of the person that is selected in the list. Sender tab displays the Sender list, which refers to the contents of Sender database. The program can use different sources of personal data for the Sender list. (At the first start only Apple Address Book will be available because information from other sources must be imported before use.) You just need to select a person in the list. You can delete a person from the list by selecting it and clicking "Minus" button. To add a new person, type new personal data into fields and click "Add To List" button. You can also copy a complete address (or part of it) from an external text file to the clipboard and then click Paste from Clipboard. The Sender Database can be edited later from Contacts window. For more information about Sender Database see Chapter 10. One Recipient tab displays the data of persons from My Recipients (embedded database) or one of external data sources: Apple Address Book (used by default), MS Entourage, Eudora, Now Contact, vCard Data Source, Text File, MS Excel, FileMaker Pro. To find a name within the current list, type the name in Search field below. If address source as Text File is selected, this file can be reloaded by clicking Update button. New data can be typed into fields manually or pasted from the clipboard. You can also edit this data later via the Contacts window. For more information about using database sources see Chapter 11.
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Assistant
Multiple Recipients tab is used if you want to print more than one recipient's address. It refers to Print List Database (see Chapter 10). It can be also viewed and edited via the Contacts window. All personal data, selected at this step, can be edited later (see Chapter 8 and Chapter 10). When all needed addresses are selected, click Finish if you want to continue working with the label or envelope. It will be displayed in the application's main window.
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The Layouts dialog contains three tabs: Predefined, Custom, Recently Used. The selected template can be seen in the preview area to the right.
If you're going to use labels or envelopes, which are not listed in the Predefined list, you can create a custom layout. The list with custom layouts is on the Custom tab. The Recently Used tab contains the list of last labels or envelopes worked with. Use it for fast access to the most frequently used layouts. All items can be deleted from this list by the Clear Recent button. To find the necessary layout faster, enter its name in the Search field, or use the filters at the top of the dialog. To narrow down the list you can specify the Manufacturer, Paper size or Label Category.
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If you click the Create Custom button, you'll be able to edit the layout and save it with a new name as a custom layout. For more information, see "Custom Label Creation" and "Custom Envelope Creation" subchapters. Under the list of predefined envelopes you can see the Use window checkbox. The checkbox is disabled when a selected envelope does not have window. When the checkbox is selected, you can see the position of the window on the preview and on the envelope document. To change the position of the window, click the Create Custom button, and set the window dimensions and position in the dialog that comes up.
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Delete, Edit, Duplicate, Create New buttons at the bottom of the Custom tab let you work with the list of custom layouts. The Edit and Create new buttons open the dialog where you can edit dimensions of a label or an envelope and some other parameters. The dialog looks slightly different for labels and envelopes. The changes you make in the dialog can be immediately seen in the Preview area. Tips for Creating Labels and Envelopes If you need to create a label or envelope that is slightly different from the existing one, select the existing label/envelope on the Predefined tab of the Layouts dialog and click Create Custom button. The parameters of the new custom label or envelope will be equal to the selected one. Then make the needed corrections. Creating a custom label for label printer is quite tricky because this printer uses label rolls. Therefore it is recommended to use predefined label layouts.
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In the Name and Description fields you can type the name of the layout and its short description. Size, name and description will be seen in the custom layout list. So, its a good idea to make these fields descriptive as much as possible. The Paper size pop-up menu lets you choose the paper size - A4 or US Letter. In the Units pop-up menu you can choose the measure units for dimensions - either inches or millimeters. You should set up units before entering the numeric data, because changing Units leads to automatic recalculating dimensions to the new unit. The Size section contains the width, height of the label and corner radius (used for labels with rounded corners). The Layout section determines how the labels are arranged on the page: Columns and Rows specify the number of columns and rows of labels on a sheet of paper, Top margin - sets the distance between the top edge of the page and the first label, Left margin - sets the distance between the left edge of the page and the first label, Horizontal space - sets the horizontal distance between the labels, Vertical space - sets the vertical distance between the labels. If you wish to print the labels on a plain thick paper and then cut them manually, you may only enter the height and width of labels and tick the Arrange labels automatically box. Click OK to save the layout. Now when you need it, click on the Custom tab of the Layouts dialog and select your previously saved layout from the list of custom ones.
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In the Name and Description fields you can type the name of the layout and a short description for it. Size, name and description will be seen in the custom layout list. So, its a good idea to make these fields descriptive as much as possible. In the Units pop-up menu you can choose the measurement units for dimensions - either inches or millimeters. You should set up units before entering the numeric data because changing Units leads to automatic recalculating dimensions to the new unit. The Envelope section describes the width and height of the envelope. If your envelope has a window, tick the Enable window box and specify the window size and offset from the bottom and left sides of the envelope in the corresponding fields. Click OK to save the layout. Now when you need it, click on the Custom tab of the Layouts dialog and select your previously saved layout from the list of custom ones.
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(on Avery #05159 paper, with a person's name, company name, address and barcode, right aligned) Step 1. Selecting a Layout Open a new label document using File/New Label menu or press Cmd+N. Click the Layouts button on the toolbar. The Layouts dialog will appear. Type 05159 in the Search edit box and when Avery #05159 is highlighted, click OK. If your Mail Factory starts with Assistant (you can change this in Preference window), select the paper type at the first step and click New Blank. Using Zoom control make your label take all free space on the design canvas. But avoid scroll bars appearing. Step 2. Adding an Address Panel Click Address Panel button on the toolbar. An address panel will be added to your document. The program will apply address format that is the most common for the stated in the address country. You may not write country name!(only state or province) if your correspondence is local.!In this case, you can set country for the selected address panel!via the Format/Country menu. This will help the program to choose the correct address formatting. It's possible to set the default country in the program for all addresses without country name. To do this, open the program preferences through the "Mail Factory/Preferences" menu, switch to the Address Panel tab and choose country in the pop-up menu. Click on the right side of the panel tag and select Name+Company from the list. You can also find this list in the menu: "Format/Address Template". Note: you have another way to add Name+Company address panel to the document. Open the Design window (Design button on the toolbar) switch to Address templates tab and drag Name+Company panel from the list to the document. Now we will fill the address panel with a recipients address. Open the To tab in the Contacts window (Contacts button on the toolbar). Make sure you have a delivery (not return) panel at the left side of the panel tag To must be shown. Select the needed name in the Contacts window. If you dont have the necessary personal information you can import it from external contact manager. To enter address manually, click on an address field (for example, First Name). The program will switch to editing mode. Type the name in. And so on. If you have an address in a text file, e-mail or somewhere else (in text format), copy the address to the Clipboard. Then select Edit/Paste As Address in the menu, the program will help you to paste data into correct fields.
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For more information about Address Panels see Chapter 8. Step 3. Arranging the Address Panel Open the Inspector window (Inspector button on the toolbar). Select the address panel (not a separate field). Use Size slider to make the font bigger (the address panel will be resized), set font size 14. If you select a separate field on a panel, only its font size will change. Drag the address panel to the top right corner until two guidelines appear. Dont cross them to have blank border between text and the edge of the label. To set right alignment for the panel click the right Alignment button in the Text section of Inspector. Step 4. Adding a Barcode Mail Factory supports barcodes for the limited number of countries. To add a barcode select an address panel and tick Barcode checkbox in Inspector. (For unsupported countries Barcode is disabled.) Then select the Below Address radio button. If barcode is disabled in Inspector, see what country is selected in the Format/Country menu (the menu should not be grayed out). Note: every time you design a label or envelope document, remember about the Postal Service recommendations. They concern font type and size, spaces between lines and other items. These recommendations can differ from country to country. For more information about Postal Guidelines see Appendix A.
Printing You can print your labels on virtually any laser or inkjet printer. Click Print button on the toolbar, Print dialog will come up. At the left part of the dialog you can preview your document. At the right part you can select printer, set starting position, number of labels to print, etc. If you're going to print multiple addresses, you can select a print list at the top-bottom corner of the window. Click Next button. System print dialog, with selected Copies&Pages option, will come up for setting printer options (such as print quality, etc). Finally, click Print button. If your labels don't line up correctly on the label paper, it means that you need to calibrate the printer. Go to Printer Calibration from the File menu, and follow the instructions in the dialog that will come up. For more information about printing see Chapter 9.
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The program menu has the group of commands that are very useful now: Bring Forward (Cmd+Option+F); Bring to Front (Cmd+Shift+F); Send Backward (Cmd+Option+B); Send to Back (Cmd+Shift+B). Use them to move selected objects above or behind other objects. On the picture with three circles the selected red circle is under the light brown one. To make it above, use the Bring Forward command. To position the circles one above another more accurately, use arrow keys on the keyboard. Add a Horizontal Line from Smart Shape tab to the document. Make its left end touch the edge of the bigger circle. Pull the right end to extend the line to the edge of filled rectangle. You can leave thickness 1.00 or change it if you like. Color it as the bigger circle. Now our graphics is ready. Step 2. Adding Address Panels Lets add a recipients address. Click the Address Panel button to add an address panel. Select Name+Company address format on its tag. Select right alignment in Inspector for this address panel. Move the To panel to the bottom right corner of the label. Leave the gaps to the brown frame wide enough. In the Contacts window select a recipient name on the To or Print List tab. If you want to modify personal data, double click on a person or click the Edit button. If you dont have the needed contact data in the Contacts window, type an address into address panel, add a person to one of the embedded databases or import data from an external source. Set font size 10 and select right alignment in Inspector. Now well add a senders address. Click the Address Panel button. Click To on the tag and select From, it will became a return address panel. Move it to the left part of the label. Align it with the left edge of the bigger circle (when you will see a vertical blue guideline stop moving it horizontally). If Snap checkbox in Preferences is selected, program helps to align objects. Select a person in the From tab of Contacts. Use Color button in Inspector to set the same red color as a rectangle at the bottom has. Click Font button in Inspector and select bold font for the return address. Click on the first name on the "To" address panel and select it. Set red color for the first name the same as the color, used for From panel. Press Cmd+B to make the name bold. Do the same for the last name. Our label is ready.
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Title Watercolor for the Serious Beginner Graphic Design School A History of Graphic Design Digital Texturing & Painting
We will use APLI #01282 paper for the label. Mail Factory is flexible enough application for designing not only for address labels. We will use Custom address panel, because Mail Factory primarily is a mailing program and its standard address panels do not suffice our needs. Step 1. Adding Objects to the Label Open a blank label with APLI #01282 layout (see Chapter 6, Example 1). We start with adding a custom address panel. Select Format/Customize Address Panel menu and then Add, address panel template editor will come up. Type Price label in the Format name field. Delete all fields using Clear button. Add to the following fields: First - for the book title; Custom1 - for ISDN code; Simple Text for $ sign; Custom2 - for the price. Click OK. Add an address panel using the Address Panel button (it must be To panel, see Step 2 for explanation). Click on the right side of its tag and select Price as address panel template (also you can use menu: Format/Address Template). Move it approximately to the center of the label. Step 2. Importing Data from the External Database To fill the address panel fields we need to import data from Excel. Open Contacts window (click Contacts button on the toolbar), Print List tab. We will use Multiple Printing feature for our task because we need to print many labels taking different data records from the database. Click Edit Print List button to enter print list editing window. Click Plus button under Print List list. Type Pricelist as the print list name. In the Source of the Address Source section select MS Excel. If you have imported from Excel before, click Update (if not, Open File window will come up automatically). Select your database file and click OK. Now you need to match external data to our fields. Check The First Row is a Header because we have a header in Excel file. Map ISBN to Custom1 (in the Map To click the cell against ISBN and select Custom1 in the pop-up menu).
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Map Title to First. Map Author to (because we wont use this information). Map Price to Custom2. Click Import. All names of books will be listed in the Address Source list. To add all of them to Pricelist print list press Cmd+A and click Arrow button or drag them to the print list. Click OK to close the dialog. Step 3. Finishing the Label Move the address panel to the left edge of the label. Click on the Show Blank Fields button of Inspector to make Simple Text field visible. Enter a dollar (or other currency) sign there. Set the size 10 for the book name font, ISDN and $, for price - 20. Select Format/Move to Center (vertically) from the menu. From the Clipart, Education & Schools section, add any image with a book to the bottom right corner and resize it to cover free space. In the end you will have the following result.
You can choose Multiple Printing to print price labels for all books. Or use the Print option to print multiple copies of a label for the same book. For more details about printing see Chapter 9.
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Step 3. Arranging the Address Panels The envelope, we are using, is quite large. So its possible to make fonts in the panels bigger. Open Inspector window (Inspector button on the toolbar). Select the address panel (not a separate field). Use Size slider to make the font bigger (the address panel will be resized). Set font size 14 for both panels. You can move address panels quite freely on the envelope document but to make your envelope machine-processable, place address panels within the recommended areas. Use View/Show Postal Guidelines menu command to have these areas marked. Mail Factory will not print Postal Guidelines. For more details about Postal Guidelines see Appendix A. Step 4. Adding a Barcode Mail Factory supports barcodes for the limited number of countries. To add a barcode select an address panel and tick Barcode checkbox in Inspector. (For unsupported countries Barcode is disabled.) Then select the Below Address radio button. If barcode is disabled in Inspector, see what country is selected in the Format/Country menu (the menu should not be grayed out). Note: each time you design a label or envelope document, remember about the Postal Service recommendations. They concern font type and size, spaces between lines and other items. These recommendations can differ from country to country. For more information about Postal Guidelines see Appendix A.
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Printing You can print your envelopes on virtually any laser or inkjet printer. Click Print button on the toolbar, Print dialog will come up. At the left part of the dialog you can preview your document. At the right part you can select printer, number of envelopes to print, etc. If you're going to print multiple addresses, you can select a print list at the top-bottom corner of the window. Click Next button. System print dialog, with selected Copies&Pages option, will come up for setting printer options (such as print quality, etc). Finally, click Print button. For more information about printing see Chapter 9.
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Step 2. Adding Address Panels and Setting Their Color Click the Address Panel button on the toolbar to add a recipient address panel. Move it to the right part of the envelope. Set font size 11 in Inspector. Enable the "Back color" checkbox, then click Color button in the Text Format section of Inspector and select white color on the Color panel. The color of text should be black, as we need to have the recipient address well readable. Add another address panel for sender address. A To address panel was added. Click To on its tag and select From. Place the sender's panel (From) at the top left corner. Select this panel and click the Color button in the Text Format section of Inspector. Select white color for text. Press Cmd+B to get bold font. Note: white text on black background can not be printed wery well on inkjet printers. In this case it's better to make black text on white background.
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See Example 1 for details about person selection and about printing.
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Front Side
What will be on the front side of the future postcard is the matter of your taste and, of course, depends on the event to wich the postcard is dedicated. You can design the front side of your postcard as you want. To begin, look through ready-made templates in Assistant (Cmd+Shift+N). Maybe you will get an idea of your own design.
Back Side
The back side of the postcard usually has delivery and return addresses. The delivery address must comply with the Postal Service rules. For more information about these recommendations see Appendix A. Back side creation and printing is very similar to the envelope creation process. See "Example 1. A Simple Envelope Creation" from Chapter 1 for more details.
Printing
Since you are going to print postcard by yourself, consider your printer capabilities at the early phase of the design process. Print quality and colors To get postcards printed fine, use special paper for postcards or photo paper. This is essencial for the front side where colorful pictures and text are located. Calibrate your printer to avoid unnecessary picture shift at printing.
Borders
Some printers can print from edge to edge, some cannot. Usually printers have non-printable area along all sides. If your does too, keep this in mind: 1. If you plan to cover your postcard with an image fully, choose paper that has borders around cards like on the picture below.
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For the best result, make the background image slightly go over card borders. This will help to avoid deffects if the printer print the picture with slight shift. 2. If you will print on paper where card edges coinside with the sheet edges, leave blank borders along your card edges.
Or, to make your postcard more artsy, apply a mask to the background image. The background image will fade out to the postcard edge smoothly.
Make test print to define the borders width your printer leaves blank. a) Open a blank document and create a custom layout with page size you plan to use. For instanse, if you will print 4 cards on the Letter size paper, set Width to 8.5" and Height to 11". b) Place on the page a rectangle from the Smart Shapes collection (View/Smart Shapes menu). Make the rectangle slightly bigger than the page (it must cover the page fully). Set the Fill checkbox on the "Fill and Shadow " tab of Inspector. Choose color light gray (to save ink or toner). c) Print the test document. Make border width on your postcards equal or greater than the widest blank border on the printed sheet. Usually the bottom unprintable area is bigger than others. If you are using a borderless printer and want to use this printer's capability: 1. Make sure your printer supports borderless printing for the paper size you are going to use. Refer your printer documentation or see paper list in the printer driver (see the next paragraph). 2. Before printing, open the Page Setup dialog (via the File menu) and select a paper that marked as "borderless". For the best result, make the image slightly go over card borders. This will help to avoid deffects if the printer print the picture with slight shift.
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Alignment If you need to align edges or centers of several objects, select them all and use Align Right Edges, Align Left Edges or Align Centers commands from the Format menu. Commands Move to Center (Horizontally) and Move to Center (Vertically) from the Format menu help in moving selected objects to the center of a label or envelope. Sometimes you may need to place one object behind another. This is especially convenient when you use an image as a background. Use Send Backward and Bring Forward commands from the Format menu for this purpose. Send Backward command puts selected object behind the other objects. Bring Forward command places it in front of all other objects.
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Address panel, as any other object can be deleted by Delete button. It can also be broken into separate fields with Edit/Ungroup menu. Address Panel Properties Address panel can reflect Recipient ("To" panel) or Sender ("From" panel) data. The only differences are that the postal limitations on address creation are not applied to Sender Panel and no barcode can be added. The delivery address format should correspond the Postal Service recommendations, which concern font type and size, spaces between lines and other items. These recommendations can differ from country to country. For more information about Postal Guidelines see Appendix A. Data to fill Sender's panel is taken from the internal Sender Database - active record is shown in Contacts Window, From tab. For more information about the Contacts window see Chapter 10. Data to fill Recipient is taken from one of external sources (e.g. Apple Address Book) or internal Print List. For more information about import from external contact sources see Chapter 11. Each address panel is built according to a particular pattern that takes account of field order. Viewing and editing an address template can be done by clicking on the template tab (on the right side of the address panel tag). Template purpose can be identified by its name. For example, "Company+Attention" template places Attn in front of person's name, the template "Family" - creates address heading "The ... Family" If you'd like to make a special template, use Format/Customize Address Template menu to call the Address Panel Format dialog. Many address panel properties can be altered using the Inspector window. To open it, click the Inspector toolbar button, or use Show Inspector command from Window menu. Some of the address fields (e.g. country field) can be switched on/off from pop-up menu of "Address Fields". Use this if you dont need to have some contact data shown on the address panel. As a person's record may have more than one address location (for instance, "work" and "home"), you are given an option to choose which one to use from the "Preferred Address" pop-up menu. Mail Factory hides blank fields (not filled in the source) in address panels. To enter data you need to have them visible, for this, click the "Show Blank Fields" button. You can enter any text instead of grey fields. If unchanged, grey fields will not be printed.
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In the ON/OFF pop-up menu all fields of a selected address panel are listed. If you want to hide an address field, uncheck it in the list. To have the address written in capitals, click the Capitalize button. If a panel is designed for Recipient, you can turn on Barcode and set its positioning. The program does not support barcodes for all countries. Barcode is disabled or enabled depending on the country format that is set for the selected address panel. (See the Format/Country menu) The size of the address panel is determined by the size of the text inside it. When you increase or decrease the font size, the address panel is resized accordingly. Use the Size slide bar to change the size of the address panel. You may also change the formation of an address in the address panel, so that it confirms to various country standards. Choose a country in the Country list in the Format menu, the fields in the address panel will be formatted according to that country postal standards. Apart from preset country formats you can choose a custom format, which can be set in the Address Panel Format Dialog. (See the Format/Customize Address Panel menu.) You can change various font attributes of the text inside the address panel. For more information about this, see Chapter 8 "Working With Text". The program has a special option for the street address field: "Set street field in a line". The option is available in the program preferences (Address Panel tab). When it is enabled, multi-line addresses are shown in one line. The option affects separate Street fields as well as Street fields in address panels. The option can be used when: 1. You need to format automatically two-line street addresses into one line. 2. To get rid of blank line(s) after street address. Sometimes addresses with blank lines can be exported from extrnal data sources. Group and Ungroup Commands Group and Ungroup commands are used to create an address panel with special field order. The Group command creates a Custom Address Panel Template from separate text fields. The Ungroup command breaks the selected address panel into separate text fields. To create a custom panel, drag fields from the Design window and drop on the label or envelope. You can use any combination of fields and arrange them as you want. When it is ready, select these fields and click Group in Edit menu to create an address panel from them. It is possible to create custom address panels based on one of the predefined panel templates. For example, you want to add e-mail to "Name+Title+Company" panel. Select the panel and click Ungroup in the context menu. Drag and drop "Email" field from the Design window. Select all fields that you are going to add to the new address panel, then click the Group command in the context menu. The new custom address panel will appear.
Group text fields Menu: Edit/Group Shortcut: Cmd+G Context menu: Group Ungroup an address panel Menu: Edit/Ungroup Shortcut: Cmd+Shift+G Context menu: Ungroup
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To add a field to an existing address panel, select this panel, call a context menu and choose Ungroup. Then place an additional data field somewhere near existing and group all these fields. Personal Data type can be changed (e.g. phone to fax) using Type pop-up menu in Inspector. As a person's record may have more than one address location (for instance, "work" and "home"), you are given an option to choose which one to use. Use the "Preferred Address" pop-up menu. To have the data written in capitals, click the Capitalize button. You can change various font attributes of the text inside the address panel. For more information on this, see "Working With Text". The program has a special option for the street address field: "Set street field in a line". The option is available in the program preferences (Address Panel tab). When it is enabled, multi-line addresses are shown in one line. The option can be used when: 1. You need to format automatically two-line street addresses into one line. 2. To get rid of blank line(s) after street address. Sometimes addresses with blank lines can be exported from extrnal data sources. Counter Fields Counter fields are used for automatic label or envelope numeration while printing. To add counter, add a text field using the text tool from the toolbar and when this field is highlighted, choose Counter option from pop-up menu in the Inspector window. It is possible to set Starting Number from which counting starts and increment value (e.g. if you would like to obtain figures raw 010, 020, 030, 040 and so on you would have to enter 10). For obtaining figures with the same number of digits (e.g., consisting of 4 digits) leading zeros are added to them. This can be set by Make N digits (use leading zeros) option. In this case number 3 will look like 0003, and 346 will look like 0346. Note that numbers aren't displayed in editing mode, but will appear in Print Preview and when printed.
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File Data Fields File Data fields are used for automatic data insertion from a text file. To add such fields to a label or envelope, choose Text tool (A) and choose File Data option from pop-up menu in the Inspector window. To select a source file click the Browse button in Inspector when File Data field is selected. You can also specify a kind of delimiter. If you choose Read each line option - data will be read for each line, starting from the first line. If you choose Read as delimited option - data will be read according to delimiters. Lets examine a file that includes the following lines: 001,Russell Simmons,Manager,347-12-567 002,Shirley Kaiser,Accountant,653-54-444 For this file, you should choose comma as a delimiter (from pop-up menu). To display the field, e.g. Occupation - number 3 should be entered in Column field of Inspector Window (because the first in each line is the index number, the second is name, and the third is occupation). Note that text data from files is not displayed during editing, but will appear in Print Preview and when printed. Note: In fact, you can use Personal Data, option to fill text fields then use a text file as an external source. File Data will be kept unchanged, if it is necessary to take data from several files simultaneously.
Simple Text Simple text fields can keep any text you need. They dont have links to contact information in databases. So they stay unchanged when you move from one person to another in a person list. You can use Simple Text fields when you need to have some text unchangeble while Merge Printing (personal data will change from person to person). If information you want to use on a label or envelope cant be represented using special field (Personal Data), use Simple Text for it.
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Mail Factory can also print FIM on envelopes. FIM (Facing Identification Mark) tells automated processing equipment the data it requires to do its job. FIM allows automatic facing (orientation) of the mail for cancellation (postmarking). FIM is not essential, and is only used with barcoded mail. There are 4 types of FIM codes. Mail Factory supports FIM-A code. Other types are used exclusively for business reply mails. By default, Mail Factory allows to print FIM-A code on envelopes with US addresses that bear POSTNET barcode. To turn FIM on, choose Show FIM-A in the View menu. The ability to add a barcode and what format was used depends on the country selected in the program. For example a US barcode can be added to an address panel with US format address. To change country format for a selected address panel use the Format/Country menu. You can select the default address format in the Preferences window (Mail Factory/ Preferences menu). For more information see Postal Resources in the Internet on the BeLight Software site: http://www.belightsoft.com/products/resources/postal.php
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To apply a filter: - Select an image in the document window. - Double-click on it, or use the Edit button in Inspector. The "Edit Image" window will open. - Select a filter from the list. Adjust filter parameters (if you need and if available for the selected filter). - Click OK. More information related to Core Image filters can be found on the Image Tricks Web page: http://www.belightsoft.com/imagetricks/ Tint Image To tint the selected image with the selected color, enable the Tint check box. Click on the color button nearby to change the tint color (the Color panel will open). The Opacity slide bar changes opacity of the tint color.
Mask Image To get some interesting effects, you can apply a mask to an image. Check the Mask Image check box in the Inspector and choose the mask pattern.
To select a picture as a pattern from a file click the Browse button. To use a picture from the Clipart as a mask drag it into the box at the left of the browse button.
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Crop Image To crop an image, double click on it or select it and click on the Edit button in Inspector. The Edit Image window will open. Use the Crop tool to select a part of image you need, then click OK. Cropping is helpful when you want to use some part of a photo or other picture.
Image Rotation and Flipping To rotate and flip a selected image, use the Rotate and Flip controls in the Inspector. Opacity To change transparency of an image, use the Opacity slider. Transparent images can be used as a background for text or other images. Tile Image Tile Image creates multiple copies (1:1 or down-scaled) of the image in the rectangle which that image take. This feature can be used for decoration of your envelope or label. To tile image select it and choose Tile Image in the menu or tick "Tile" in Inspector. Use "Tile" slide bar to adjust number of tiles and their size.
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Printing
Chapter 10 Printing
Mail Factory allows you to print labels and envelopes on any inkjet or laser printer. The program also supports label printers like DYMO LabelWriter, Seiko (SLP-series) and Brother (QL-series) thermal printer. Mail Factory can print more precisely on special label paper and on envelopes than ordinary text editors. In order to get high quality in printing labels or envelopes, you need to design them using a template of paper that will be used for printing. To select a paper template use the Layouts dialog. More about the Layouts see in Chapter 5. Its also important, what kind of paper to use. Paper must be compatible with your printer. More about this see on BeLight Software Web site. http://www.belightsoft.com/products/companion/printers/labelprint.php Using Mail Factory, you can print one label or envelope, many copies of them with a single delivery address or with different delivery addresses at one printing task (Merge Printing mode). You can print individual addresses and multiple addresses. Print command (menu File/Print) is used for printing repeating addresses (e.g. when you need to print several Return Labels with the same address on them). Merge Printing command (menu File/Merge Printing) is used for printing labels/envelopes with automatically changing recipients' addresses on each following label/envelope according to Print List. Addresses are automatically processed: their formats change (according to the country), bulky addresses are resized, etc.
Start printing Menu: File/Print Shortcut: Cmd+P
When the Print window is already open, you can switch from one printing mode to another. Printing on a label requires precise address location, therefore we recommend to calibrate your printer first. The default printing settings can be changed in the program Preferences (Mail Factory/ Preferences menu, Printing tab).
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Printer Calibration
If labels don't line up correctly on the label stock, you should calibrate your printer. Printer calibration attempts to resolve this issue by adjusting the differences between what you see on the screen and what is printed out. To setup printer calibration: 1. Choose File/Calibrate Printer... in the menu. 2. Choose a printer from the pop-up menu. 3. Insert a sheet of the label stock into your printer. 4. Click the Print button. The calibration marks will be printed on the sheet. Enter the values of the tick marks closest to the RIGHT side and BOTTOM side of the top-left label on the sheet into the Horizontal and Vertical text boxes in the dialog. You can enter positive and negative values depending on the label shift direction. Horizontal: positive values will move your design to the right, negative to the left. Vertical: positive values will move your design to upward, negative downward. 6. Click the OK button when finished.
If after calibration you notice that the top rows of your labels print correctly, but the bottom ones get slightly offset, then you'll need to change the scale value. In the calibration dialog, enter the value of the tick mark closest to the top side of the bottom-right label into Scale field. You can calibrate each printer you use - just select the printer and go through each of the above steps in the Printer Calibration dialog. Usually, 1-2 paper sheets is enough to calibrate printer. After calibration, several labels in the middle of the paper sheet stay blank. You can use them later for printing. For example, if the 4th label is blank, set "Start from label" in the Print dialog equal to 4. According to this, you will need to decrease the "Number of labels" value. Calibration is not necessary when printing envelopes and for printing on label printers. Note: Entering correction values does not affect the calibration table. The calibration rulers on the calibration sheet always show the shift between printer and program null points, even after calibration.
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Printing
Sample If your printed calibration table looks like the one on the sample picture, enter 2 in HORIZONTAL and 3 in VERTICAL.
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Printing
You should define the distance between zero of the calibration rulers and center of the label. For this, fold the label in halves horisontally and vertically. The horizontal fold line will cross the vertical axis. Enter the ruler's value at this point to the Vertical (Y) box of the calibration dialog. Do the same for Horizontal (X) value. 4. Click the OK button when finished. Note: Entering correction values does not affect the position of the calibration rulers. They always show the shift between printer and program null points, even after calibration.
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Printing
Label Printing
This subchapter is about printing settings and about printing labels with a single delivery address. To print one label or many labels with the same address: 1. Click the Print button on the toolbar or choose Print from the File menu. 2. The print dialog will come up. In the dialog you can see the label preview as they will be positioned on the printed sheet. The page size (Letter, A4, etc.) is set automatically according to the label paper template you're using.
- Select the printer you would like to use in the Printer list at the top of the dialog (if you have more than one printer). - Enter the number of labels you would like to print in the appropriate field of the dialog. To print all labels on the sheet, click the Down stepper button on the right of the "Number of labels" edit box. - Enter the position where you would like the first label to be printed in Start from label field. Marking: If you need the cut marks or label outlines to be printed, tick the Cut lines and Dotted marks boxes respectively. This may be helpful if you're printing on regular paper, rather than special label paper, and want to cut the labels afterwards. Rules options are commonly used in Merge Printing to manage address appearance on the label. But they also work for ordinary printing (e.g. to switch off Country field). - Suppress Country Field hides the country field when the recipient is in the same country as the sender. - Address AutoResize enables/disables automatic resize of address fields. Used in Merge Printing when you cant make sure that all addresses from a print list find room on labels. - Hide separating Commas hides commas between the address panel fields. The default value of Rules can be set in the Preferences dialog. - Print as Raster Image - send the document to the printer as a raster image, rather than vector. Enable this option if you have problem printing your labels or envelopes - it makes printing slower, but solves some printing problems. The default value can be set in the Preferences dialog.
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Printing
3. Click the Next button. System dialog with selected Copies&Pages option will come up for setting printer options (such as print quality, etc). 4. Finally, choose the Print button. When you print out your labels, they may not line up correctly on the label stock - then you will need to calibrate your printer. For more information, see Chapter 9 "Printer Calibration". To select printing mode use Print for One Person and Merge Printing radio buttons. More about Merge Printing see in the Merge Printing subchapter. You can edit your label in the Print window preview. This feature is most useful in the Merge Printing mode. Usually such editing is used for slight corrections like text and image positioning and for text modifications. To edit a label document before printing, click on the Editing Mode button and select a label to edit. Or double click on a label. When finished, click the Close editor button. Unlike editing in the main program window not all features will be available. The result of editing in the Print window will not be applied to the original document. Printing a Portion of Labels on a Sheet You can print some portion of labels on a sheet and later continue with the first blank. For instance, at the first time you need to print 12 labels on a 30-label sheet. Enter 12 in Number of labels and 1 in Start from label (set by default). If at the next time you need to print 7 labels, enter 7 in Number of labels and 13 in Start from label. Dont forget inserting a paper into the printer always with the same side. Usually manufacturers mark one side to be inserted. Note: label paper manufacturers dont recommend printing on their paper more than once. But usually it doesnt cause a problem if you print twice on laser printer and several times on inkjet one. Dont use label paper repeatedly if there are defects on it (it is wrinkled, has unstuck labels, etc.).
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Printing
Envelope Printing
Printing envelopes has its own specifics. That mostly concerns envelope orientation and feeding, which may differ from printer to printer. Some printers cant print close to the paper sheet or envelope edges and that often cuts the return address. To resolve this problem, you can either move the address block further from the edges, or use the rotate buttons in the Print dialog - the mailing address and barcode are normally not too close to the edges, so if the envelope is rotated it may solve the problem. Usually envelopes are inserted in printers in the same way as plain paper. You insert them instead of Letter or A4 sheets. Almost all printers have built-in support for most popular envelope sizes. Some even have special envelope trays for feeding envelopes. Mail Factory allows you to choose between feeding from plain paper tray and envelope tray. Feeding envelopes from plain paper tray is selected as default. In this case you can control how to feed and position the envelope. If your printer has an envelope tray and you want to feed envelopes from it, enable "Load from envelope tray" option in the Print dialog. But your printer must support the envelope you want to print on. To print envelopes: 1. Click the Print button on the toolbar or choose Print from the File menu. 2. The print dialog will come up. In the dialog you can see a preview of the envelope and its position relatively to a printed page (at the right, centered, or at the left). How to set this option depends on your printer. Usually you need to choose the middle button for a laser printer and the left button for ink-jet printer.
- Select a printer you would like to use in the Printer list at the top of the dialog. - Use Load from envelope tray option, if you use a special tray and the printer supports your envelope size. - Enter the number of envelopes you would like printed in the appropriate field of the dialog.
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Rules options are generally needed in Merge Printing to manage address appearance on the envelope. But they also work for ordinary printing (e.g. to switch off Country field). - Suppress Country Field hides the country field when the recipient is in the same country as the sender. - Address AutoResize enables/disables automatic resize of address fields. Used in Merge Printing when you cant make sure that all address from a print list find room on envelopes. - Hide separating Commas hides commas between the address panel fields. The default value of Rules can be set in the Preferences dialog. Print as Raster Image - send the document to the printer as a raster, rather than vector image. Enable this option if you have problem printing your labels or envelopes - it makes printing slower, but solves some printing problems. The default value can be set in the Preferences dialog. 3. Click the Next button. System dialog with selected Copies&Pages option will come up for setting printer options (such as print quality, etc). 4. Finally, click the Print button. You can edit your envelope in the Print window preview. This feature is most useful in the Merge Printing mode. Usually such editing is used for slight corrections like text and image positioning and for text modification. To edit the envelope document before printing, click on the Editing Mode. Or double click on an envelope. When finished, click the Close Editor button. Unlike editing in the main program window not all features will be available. The result of editing in the Print window will not be applied to the original document. When feeding an envelope, pay attention to the orientation of the flap, so that the address is not printed upside down. The top edge of the envelope that you see in preview window is the envelope edge that has to be inserted into your printer's tray.
Here are the most typical Paper Feed settings. Laser printers InkJet printers
If your printer has special tray for envelopes, enable "Load from envelope tray" option in the Print dialog. Note: Refer to your printer User's Guide for details.
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Printing
Merge Printing
For instance, you need to send a number of envelopes with different delivery addresses. Normally this would mean you have to change a recipient address before printing every next envelope. Merge Printing is a way to print a number of different delivery addresses at one print task. They will be taken from a print list. You will need to design an envelope (or label) and compose a list of recipients (print list). The program will automatically take another recipient address from your list when every next envelope or label is printed. To print multiple addresses: 1. Once you finished designing your label or envelope, click Merge Printing button on the toolbar (or choose File/Merge Printing). Or click the Merge Printing radio button in print dialog.
2. Print dialog will appear again. In preview area you will see how your envelopes or labels look like with the selected addresses. Make sure that all settings, such as printer, number of copies, etc. are correct. For more details on printing settings see previous section about ordinary printing. - Select necessary print list from Merge Printing pop-up menu. If you don't have any print list or want to change the existing list, use Edit List item from the pop-up menu. Print List editing dialog will appear. In this dialog you can create one or several lists of people whose addresses you wish to print. (See details about print lists in the Chapter 10.) When finished, click OK. - Options for automatic address processing are available from Rules section. Their default values can be altered in the Preferences dialog. - Suppress Country Field option is used for hiding country field, when correspondence takes place within one country (e.g. From Canada to Canada). Such circumstances are tracked down and country field is automatically hidden. If there is only one address (when a label is printed), the second country address is taken from Default Address Format settings in the Preferences dialog. - Address AutoResize option reduces address panel print size, in case if the address is out of label/envelope borders. - Hide Separating Commas option was designed to remove commas between fields (between city and ZIP code, company and department).
BeLight Software, Ltd www.belightsoft.com
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Printing
Any label or envelope can be edited prior printing directly from Print dialog. This is very convenient if you need to move address panel on some labels, or some person's data require slight correction. You just need to enter label editing mode and make the corrections. Double click on a label/envelope to start editing (or click on Editing Mode button and select a label with the mouse). Preview window will display the selected document, in which you will be able to make necessary changes. To exit editing mode, click Close Editor button. Note, if there are many changes, you would better change initial document or database. 3. Click Next button. System dialog with selected Copies&Pages option will come up for setting printer options (such as print quality, etc). 4. Finally, click Print button. When you start merge printing the default number of labels or envelopes to print is equal to the number of people in the list. Sometimes it can be necessary to have envelopes or labels printed in alphabetical order (of personal or company names). For this, your print list can be sorted before printing. To sort it, open the Print List tab of the Contacts window, click Edit Print List and select a sorting rule. See more details in Chapter 10: Embedded databases. Merge Printing Tip: For example, you need to print on labels addresses of 10 people by 3 copies of each. And you have 30-label paper. Its enough for your task. Create 10-person print list and start merge printing. Set 30 in the Number of labels: 10 labels by 3 copies.
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Embedded Databases
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Embedded Databases
Sender Database
Sender Database is one of the embedded databases. Its main purpose is to keep sender's addresses. The number of senders is not limited to one. This is helpful if the program is used by several people, when you need to print work and home addresses or in other cases. Personal records can be imported from external data sources like Address Book and other. Sender Database can store personal data from several such sources. Alternatively, you can add a blank personal record and type contact data into corresponding fields. Imported data can be also modified. Mail Factory saves Sender Database to have it available after the next launch. Data from Sender database can be used to fill corresponding fields in "From" address panels. You can access the Sender database through the Contacts window and at the third step of Assistant (prior to designing). When you click the Edit List button, the following dialog will open.
There are three panels in the database window: Address Source - list of persons from the selected address source. Data of some address sources (like Address Book) is divided into several groups. You can select such group in the Group pop-up menu. You can search persons in this list using the search tool. If your external database was modified, you can force the program to reload data from it using the Update button. Sender - list of persons whose data can be used for From (sender) address panels. This list is represented by the From tab of the Contacts window. You can add, delete, and sort names in this list. Names in this list can be edited via the Personal Info panel. Names in the Sender list are sorted according to a sorting rule selected below. The "Plus" button adds a new blank personal record and "Minus" button removes the selected record.
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Embedded Databases
Personal Info panel shows information of the person selected in the Sender list. All fields are available for modifying. Working with the Sender panel Adding a person from Contacts list of Address Source: drag and drop a name to the Sender list or select a name in Contacts list and click "Arrow" button. Double click on a person in Address Source also adds this person to the Sender list. Adding a new person: click the "Plus" button to add a blank personal record. "No Name" will be added to the list. All fields in the Personal Info panel will be blank (you will see names of these fields in gray). Enter the required information there. Deleting a person: to delete a name from list, select it and click "Minus" button. Sorting persons: names in Sender list can be sorted by different criteria. Select criterion in Sort pop-up menu. "Last Name" is set by default. Working with the Personal Info panel This panel allows to preview and modify personal data such as name, address, company name, telephone number and other. Personal data fields on Personal Info panel can be edited. To select a field, click on it. To switch between fields use Tab and Shift+Tab keys. Some fields, such as address, phone and fax can be set for different locations. This is useful when you have person's work and home addresses. Or when some company has a headquarter and branches in different locations and you need to keep all their addresses. To switch between addresses select Home, Work or Other tab. Empty fields keep their names in gray. In the bottom of Personal Info panel are custom fields - use them for any additional textual or numeric information.
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Embedded Databases
My Recipients Database
My Recipients is one of the embedded databases. This database can be used if you need to merge records from several external databases into one place. Also, if you dont intend using any external database, save your contact data in My Recipients. Personal records can be imported from external databases like Address Book and other. My Recipients database can store personal data from several such sources. Alternatively, you can add a blank personal record and type contact data into corresponding fields. Imported data can be also modified. The data from My Recipients database can be used to fill corresponding fields in "To" address panels. You can access "My Recipients" database through the pop-up menu in the Contacts window, at the third step of Assistant and via Window/Contacts/Recipients menu. Contact data from "My Recipients" can be easily copied to the Sender and Print List databases because it is accessible there as a source. Using the My Recipients database is very similar to Sender Database. See details about using this database in the previous subchapter.
My Recipients Database
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Embedded Databases
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Embedded Databases
The Address Source panel represents external sources of contact data and My Recipients (embedded database). Below the Source pop-up menu you can see the Contacts list representing names from the selected address source. These names can be added to a print list. To find a name within the Contacts list, use the Search tool. The middle part of the database window contains list of print lists (at the top) and list of persons from the selected Print List (in the center). The Personal Info panel contains personal data such as name, address, company name, telephone and other of the selected person. Personal data fields on Personal Info panel can be edited. To select a field click on it. To switch between fields use Tab and Shift+Tab keys. Some fields, such as address, phone, fax can be set for different locations. This is useful when you have person's work and home addresses. To switch between addresses select "Home", "Work" or "Other" tab. Empty data fields keep their names in gray. At the bottom of the Personal Info panel there are custom fields - use them for any additional textual or numeric information.
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Embedded Databases
Creating a new print list via import 1. Click on the "Plus" button to add a void print list. You can change its name (for this, click on the name and type in a new one). 2. Choose a source address database. If its data is divided into groups, select a group. To get the latest data from an external database, click the Update button. The Contacts list will show the persons list of the selected source. 3. Fill your print list with persons from a source database. To do this, drag a person into the print list or double click on it. To add several persons, highlight them and drag into print list (or click the Arrow button). To highlight several persons using the mouse, keep the Cmd key pressed. To highlight a range, highlight the first person, press Shift and highlight the last one. To highlight all, press Cmd+A. 4. If you need to add or modify personal data, select a person in a print list and click on a data field of the Personal Info panel. Manual creation of a new print list 1. Click on the "Plus" button to add a void print list. You can change its name (for this click on the name and type in a new one). 2. Click on the "Plus" button below the Persons list to add a void personal record. Name "No Name" will be added to the list. It will change, when you enter First and/or Last name. Until you fill fields on the Personal Info panel, data fields will show their names in gray. 3. Enter the required information into data fields of the Personal Info panel. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to add as many persons as you need. To remove a selected person from a print list, click "Minus" button. Names in your print list can be sorted. Select required sort order in the Sort pop-up menu.
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Chapter 12 Using Contact Information From External Databases and Contact Managers
General Information
Mail Factory can use addresses stored in Apple Address Book, Microsoft Entourage, Microsoft Excel, Now Contact, Eudora and FileMaker Pro. If you have any of these programs installed on your computer, you will be able to select them as the source of your contacts. Besides, Mail Factory can take addresses from tabdelimited text files and vCard files because many programs can save data in these formats. The person's details are displayed in the Contacts window. They can be also used for filling out the embedded databases of Senders, Recipients and Print Lists.
General Information
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Mail Factory will import the contacts from the text or Excel file, and they will appear in the Contacts window. The imported contacts will be stored in Mail Factory until you import them from a new file. To import data from another file, just click on the Update button at the bottom of the Contacts window and repeat the above steps. Note: use plain text format files for importing. If you have a text file in RTF (Rich Text Format) or in any other, open this file with text editor and save it as plain text for further use.
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This dialog controls application-wide settings. The General tab Open on Start-Up - here you can specify what to do when the program is launched - open the Assistant, create a blank Label document or create a blank Envelope document. Snap - enables or disables the Snap mode - the mode, when objects are aligned to other objects when you carry them with the mouse. You can also temporarily disable the Snap mode if you press and hold the Cmd key when you move the objects. Font - sets default font for new texts. The Address Panel tab Default address format - allows you to choose the default formatting for address panels that will be applied when the program can't set the address format automatically. Capitalize address panel automatically - transforms the address to all caps. The default setting is off. Make address format country-sensitive - if this option is enabled, Mail Factory will automatically format the address according to the postal standards of the country in the address. If the country is not specified, the address will be formatted according to the Default Country setting. Set street field in a line convert two-line street addresses into one-line. The Printing tab The following settings represent default values of Print dialog settings. Print document as raster image - send the document to the printer as a raster image, rather than vector. Enable this option if you have problems with printing your documents - it makes printing slower, but more accurate. Suppress Country Field - enable this option if your correspondence is mostly within your own country, and you don't need the country in the address.
The Preferences
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Hide Separating Commas - hides commas within address panels (if there were any). The default setting is off. Mail Factory automatically inserts commas in addresses of specified countries (for instance, between City and State for USA).
Address AutoResize - automatically reduces the address panel's size if it is out of the label or envelope edges. The Address Importing tab Here the default location of the data source applications is selected. Mail Factory uses Apple Script for data conversion. Setting the exact path to the application helps to choose the correct application if there are several of them or they are incorrectly registered in the system.
The Preferences
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Postal Guidelines
Mail Factory lets you prepare your labels and envelopes in accordance with USPS postal guidelines (which should work for most other countries, too). For detailed information about designing automation-compatible mail and the benefits it gives you, use this link (refers to United States Postal Service): http://pe.usps.gov/text/Pub25/Pub25ch1.htm#Financial%20Savings See also the Postal Resources in the Internet article on our Web site: http://www.belightsoft.com/products/resources/postal.php
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Menus
APPENDIX B Menus
The "Mail Factory" Menu About Mail Factory License... Check for Updates Preferences (Cmd+",") Quit (Cmd+Q) The "File" Menu New Label (Cmd+N) New Envelope (Cmd+Option+N) New Postcard (Cmd+Ctrl+N) New from Assistant... (Cmd+Shift+N) Open... (Cmd+O) Open Recent > Close (Cmd+W) Save (Cmd+S) Save As... (Cmd+Shift+S) Export... (Cmd+Option+E) Insert Image... (Cmd+Option+I) Search Images on the Internet... Calibrate Printer... Page Setup... (Cmd+Shift+P) Merge Printing... Print... (Cmd+P) The "Edit" Menu Undo (Cmd+Z) Redo (Cmd+Shift+Z) Cut (Cmd+X) Copy (Cmd+C) Paste (Cmd+V) Paste as Address (Cmd+Option+V) Duplicate (Cmd+D) Delete (Del) Group (Cmd+G) Ungroup (Cmd+Shift+G) Select All (Cmd+A) Edit Image Tile Image
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Displays the dialog with information about the program. Gives access to the registration information. Checks for the latest updates on the Internet: http://www.belightsoft.com/mailfactory/update/ Brings up the program preferences dialog. Exits the application.
Creates a new blank label document. Creates a new blank envelope document. Creates a new blank postcard document. Creates a new document with the help of the Assistant. Opens an existing document. Contains the list of the documents you last worked with. Closes the active document window. Saves the active document. Saves the active document with a new name. Saves the active document as a graphics file (PDF or TIFF format). Inserts an image from a file into the active document. Opens a dialog where you can enter keywords to search images on the Web using Google image search. Displays printer calibration dialog where you can calibrate the printer for more precise printing. Presents the standard Mac OS X dialog for changing the size, orientation and other parameters of the active page. Brings up the Mail Factory print dialog for "Merge Printing" process. Brings up the Mail Factory print dialog. See "Printing Labels and Envelopes" for details.
Reverses the last operation you performed. Reverses the last Undo operation. Removes the selected objects or text and places the selection onto the Clipboard. Copies the selected objects or text onto the Clipboard. Pastes the content of the Clipboard into the document. Pastes address from the Clipboard and automatically defines address fields. Duplicates the selected objects. Removes the selected objects. Transforms the selected Address panel to separated text fields. See "Group and Ungroup Commands" for details. Creates a Custom Template Address panel from separated text fields. See "Group and Ungroup Commands" for details. Selects all objects in the document. Opens the Edit Image dialog. See "Working with Images" for details. Creates a tiled image. See "Working with Images" for details. 84
Menus Inserts the panel for the return address. Inserts the panel for the destination address.
Insert Sender Address Insert Recipient Address The "View" Menu Zoom In (Cmd+Option+"=") Zoom Out (Cmd+Option+"-") Actual Size Address Panels Address Fields Clipart Collection Smart Shapes iPhoto Library Custom Folder Handling Labels Show/Hide FIM-A Show/Hide Postal Guidelines The "Format" Menu Font->Show/Hide Fonts (Cmd+T) Font->Bold (Cmd+B) Font->Italic (Cmd+I) Font->Underline (Cmd+U) Font->Bigger (Cmd+"+") Font->Smaller (Cmd+"-") Font->Kern Font->Ligature Font->Baseline Text->Align Left (Cmd+{) Text->Center Text->Align Right (Cmd+}) Bring Forward (Cmd+Option+F) Bring to Front (Cmd+Shift+F) Send Backward (Cmd+Option+B) Send to Back (Cmd+Shift+B) Align Left Edges Align Centers Align Right Edges Move to Center (Horizontally) Move to Center (Vertically) Address Template -> ... Address Template -> Edit... Country Preferred Address Refers To Customize Address Panel
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Enlarges the current view. Zooms out the current view. Displays the document at its actual size (100%). Opens the "Address Panels" tab of the Design window. See "Design Window" for details. Opens the "Address Fields" tab of the Design window. See "Design Window" for details. Opens the "Clipart Collection" tab of the Design window. See "Design Window" for details. Opens the " Smart Shapes" tab of the Design window. See "Design Window" for details. Opens the "iPhoto Library" tab of the Design window. See "Design Window" for details. Opens the "Custom Folder" tab of the Design window with image clipart from the custom folder. See "Design Window" for details. Opens the "Handling Labels" tab of the Design window. See "Design Window" for details. Shows or hides the FIM (Facing Identification Mark) on the envelope. Shows or hides the lines that mark valid zones for addresses.
Displays Fonts dialog. Modifies properties of the selected text. Increases/decreases the size of the selected text. Modifies properties of the selected text. Aligns text to the left, right or center. Displays the selected objects above or behind all other objects.
Aligns the left edges of the selected objects. Aligns the centers of the selected objects. Aligns the right edges of the selected objects. Moves selected objects horizontally to the center. Moves selected objects vertically to the center. List of address templates. See Address Templates in "Design Window" for details. Opens the "Address Panel Format" dialog. See "The Address Panel Format Dialog" for details. Allows to choose a country-specific address format for the selected address panel. Lets you choose which of the person's addresses to use (for instance, "home" or "work"). Lets you choose to whom the selected address panel refers: Sender or Recipient. Opens a dialog where you can set custom formatting for the address panel. 85
Menus address panel. Opens a dialog where you can set layout for the selected address panel. See "The Layouts Dialog" for details.
Change Layout... The "Window" Menu Close Window (Cmd+W) Minimize (Cmd+M) Bring All to Front Show/Hide Inspector Show/Hide Design Contacts->Show/Hide Contacts->Senders Contacts->Recipients Contacts->Local Recipients Contacts->Print Lists Show/Hide Colors (Cmd+Shift+C) Show/Hide Fonts (Cmd+T) The "Help" Menu Mail Factory Help (Cmd+?) BeLight Software Web Site Useful Online resources About Postal Guidelines Send Feedback
Closes the currently active window. Minimizes the currently active window. Moves all application windows in front of the windows of other active applications. Displays or hides the Inspector window. Displays or hides the Design window. Displays or hides the Contacts window. Displays the Contacts window with open "From" tab. Displays the Contacts window with open "To" tab. Displays the Contacts window with open "To" tab where My Recipients source is selected. Displays the Contacts window with open "Print List" tab. Displays or hides the system Colors window. Displays or hides the system Fonts window.
Opens Help documentation, delivered with the application. Goes to the Mail Factory Web page. Useful resources on BeLight Software Web Site connected with Mail Factory. Displays information about correct mailpiece addressing and design requirements. Lets you send your feedback to the developers by e-mail.
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Shortcuts
APPENDIX C Shortcuts
Working with Documents Cmd+N Cmd+Option+N Cmd+Ctrl+N Cmd+Shift+N Cmd+O Cmd+S Cmd+Shift+S Cmd+Option+E Cmd+Option+I Cmd+Q Cmd+Shift+P Cmd+P Working with Objects Cmd+Z Cmd+Shift+Z Cmd+X Cmd+C Cmd+V Cmd+D Del Cmd+A Cmd+Shift+A Cmd+Option+A Cmd+Shift+F Cmd+Option+F Cmd+Option+B Cmd+Shift+B Arrows Working with Windows and Dialogs Cmd+"=" Cmd+"-" Cmd+M Cmd+W Cmd+"," Cmd+Shift+I Cmd+Shift+D Cmd+Shift+C Cmd+T Working with Text Cmd+B Cmd+I Cmd+U Cmd+Alt+"=" Cmd+Alt+"-" Cmd+Shift+C Cmd+Shift+V Cmd+{
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Create a new blank label. Create a new blank envelope. Create a new blank postcard. Create a new label or envelope by using the Assistant. Open an existing document. Save the active document. Save the active document under a new filename. Export the document to a PDF or TIFF file. Insert an image from a graphic file. Quit Mail Factory. Call the Mac OS X Page Setup dialog for adjusting the size, orientation and other properties of the printed page. Print the document.
Undo the last operation. Redo the last operation. Cut the selected objects to the Clipboard. Copy the selected objects to the Clipboard. Paste the content from the Clipboard into the document. Duplicate the selected objects. Delete the selected objects. Select all the objects in the document. Show/hide the delivery address. Show/hide the return address. Bring to Front. Bring Forward. Send Backward. Send to Back. Move the selected objects.
Zoom In. Zoom Out. Minimize the active window. Close the active document window. Call the application Preferences dialog. Show/hide the Inspector window. Show/hide the Design window. Display/hide color properties dialog. Display/hide font properties dialog.
Make text Bold. Make text Italic. Underline text. Increase font size. Decrease font size. Copy style of the selected object to the Clipboard. Assign the selected object style from the Clipboard. Align left. 87
Shortcuts Align right. Inserts a line break in a text field. Finish editing.
Cmd+} Return Enter Working with the Mouse Hold down Shift when working with handles Cmd+Mouse Option+Mouse Shift+click Double click on an image Other Cmd+?
Invert proportional resize to unproportional, and vice versa. Toggle the snap object mode on/off. Duplicate objects. Select/Deselect object without changing other objects' properties. Open an image in the Edit Image window.
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Usage Tips
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Usage Tips
Maybe you didn't pay attention to this. Mail Factory attempts for some time to get data and then stops trying to import. To allow importing you need to switch to Entourage and click OK. To allow importing for future, uncheck "Warn before allowing an external application to access the address book" in!Entourage preferences (Entourage/Preferences menu, Security section).
Note: In some cases Entourage can show other messages. You should react to them in order to let Mail Factory start importing. General recommendation: if you meet problems with import from an external database, launch it prior to Mail Factory, let this application load (if any messages appear, answer them) and then start importing.
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Usage Tips
If you click No, importing will be impossible because Excel won't open file from disk requested by Mail Factory. If you click Yes, Mail Factory will import data from file but you will loose unsaved changes. So, don't leave the document unsaved if you are going to import data from it.
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Usage Tips
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