Welcome to REDLIKE Print Template Editor (R-PTE)
R-PTE is used for print template editing – these are the labels which can be printed along with the can of dispensed colour to be put on the can. In this manual, it is shown how to:
- start Redlike Print Template Editor
- set the size of the template
- insert text on the template
- use variables in the template
- create a frame on the template
- insert pictures on the template
- apply template in Redlike
- insert QR code on the template
Starting Editor
R-PTE can be accessed:
- from the Start (Windows) menu in the folder Redlike 2
- or directly in Redlike from Print Settings (left menu –> Environment Settings –> Print Settings)
- here you can either add a completely new template or edit an already existing one
Setting Size
Once a new document opens, the first step to do is to set the page size in the Page Settings. These settings can be found in the Tools Panel under the REDLIKE Print Template Editor logo.
Click on the highlighted icon and set the desired size of the template (in cm!), its orientation and its margins (again in cm!). Then click OK.
The result (empty template) might look something like this:
Inserting Text
You might want to add some fixed text on your template which will always appear the same such as the description of a variable or some warning. Think of the structure of your template and insert as many texts as you like.
To insert a new text field, select the Text object tool on the left.
Then click into the template field to insert the text field. You cannot place it beyond the set margins (later you can move it there but anything beyond the margin will not be visible on the template).
A text field will pop up where you can insert your text – this will be named “Memo”. In our example, we inserted the text “Date:”. After typing the respective text, click OK.
The result for now migh look like this:
There are multiple options to edit the text after placing:
- the simplest way is to use the text panel in the upper part of the programme with options which you know from other text editing softwares such as MS Word,
- other possibility is to right-click the text field, for example:
- Edit… – returns the initial pop-up menu (you can achieve the same result by double-clicking the respective field),
- Clear Contents – deletes the text in the text field,
- Cut – cuts the text,
- Copy – copies the whole text field,
- Paste – enables to paste after copying,
- Delete – deletes the entire text field
- change properties such as height or width (in cm) in the setting field on the left
It is also possible to resize the text field by dragging the black points on its edges and by simply clicking anywhere on the field, one can also move with the text field and place it anywhere on the template.
You may proceed like this – adding more and more texts.
Using Variables
Let us assume we inserted more text fields with text and our template looks like this now:
Those are fixed texts (our descriptions) which are going be the same on each template. However, there are some data which are going to be different depending on the colour we dispense. Therefore, we need to use variables which will be filled automatically according to which colour is being dispensed.
There is a long list of variables which are recognised by Redlike. The entire list can be shown when we open the left menu (located similarly to Redlike) and click on Variables.
The following pop-up will show up:
This is only an example of variables, the list is much longer when you scroll down. Clarification to the variable list:
Variable – stands for what you need to write in [square brackets] into the text field to activate it
Example – example of how the result on the printed template might look
Description – explanation of what is going to be printed on the template
As the screenshot illustrates, for the can size, we use the variable [canname] so we can insert it in our example template (again, using Text object tool as before):
It is recommended to type the variable in bold in order to make it easily distinguishable from the fixed text but this is not required (this also means that the final text of the variable will be bold). Be careful with the lenght of the text field of a variable – if your database contains long names, make sure there is enough space for it to print (otherwise the text will be cut off).
After inserting all remaining variables, our template looks like this:
Creating Frames
You might want to create a table or a frame on your tamplate to make it look more stylish. This is fairly simple to do.
For our example template, we added two more text fields – fixed text saying Formula and a variable which enumerates all colorants in the formula. After that, we extended the text field of the variable to the bottom margin of the template.
Since we want our colorants to be in a table, the text field needs to be framed. This is done by adding individually each line – on top, bottom, left, and right (you can also use this feature to only add some of them, for example as separating lines).
Also with colorant amounts:
Inserting Pictures
For images, we use different tool from the tool panel on left, namely Picture object.
After selecting Picture object, click into the field of the template and insert it where you want to have it. Do not worry about the size and place, it can be adjusted.
At the screenshot below, there are blue helping lines helping us to insert the picture to be exactly aligned with the previous objects on the template.
Once the field is placed, there is going to be a pop-up again. Click on the icon of file and browse your computer to select the respective picture you want to be shown on the template. Note that the format has to be JPG. PNG is not supported.
After selecting the picture, you can see its preview. Confirm your choice by clicking on the tick sign ✓.
The picture is going to be inserted and you can modify it further – adjust its size, position, add frame, etc. Let us take a look at how our example template looks right now after some small final editing.
Our template is complete. We can save it.
Applying Template
In order to see the results of our hard work, we need to put the created file into the correct folder from which Redlike is reading data about templates. The path towards this folder is: C:\ProgramData\Deso\rcc\templates
If your RCC was running while inserting the file into the correct folder, you need to restart it. You can do it by bouble-click the Helper icon in the taskbar (similar to Redlike icon) which will open Redlike Helper.
Here, click on Stop and afterwards on Start again.
Reconnect the machine by clicking on RCC Reconnect button in the bottom part of Redlike.
Now the new template will be visible in the menu in Print Settings (left menu –> Environment Settings –> Print Settings) where it can be set as default.
Set also other print settings features here. Mreover, we can see the template preview before printing. Although some template is set as default, it can still be changed in the Template section along with the Printer and the Number of copies.
Inserting QR Code
Another option to store information on the label is to insert a QR code on it. For this step, we deleted the colorants and formula variables.
There are various types of codes which might be inserted on the label. This is done using the specific object called obCatBarcode found in the left menu.
Open the object and select QRcode on the very bottom of the list. Insert the selected object as the previous ones.
Editor will display a mock QR code to demonstrate how the template looks after printing. You can adjust the position of the QR code after inserting.
The last step to do is to insert the QR code data into it (the default data in the QR cide, as you can see from the picture above, is 12345678). To do so, open the Events tab on the left side while having clicked on the QR code and change the attribute Text to the variable [orderqrcode].
This variable contains the following data:
%HDatabase,E 03-31,EUROTREND,PUTZ FASADE,FB,,1 L,1,1.000,1.000,L,LE,3.375,FE,3.712,CNE,1.350
- %H – required for the scanner reader to read the data properly
- Database – name of the database
- E 03-31 – colour
- EUROTREND – fandeck
- PUTZ FASADE – product
- FB – base
- 1 L – package name
- 1 – number of packages
- 1.000 – nominal amount
- 1.000 – filling
- L – measurement unit
- LE – first colorant name
- 375 – amount of LE colorant
- FE – second colorant name
- 712 – amount of FE colorant
- CNE – third coorant name
- 350 – amount of CNE colorant