Overlay Templates can be used to display text data on top of an image - called overlay. This is useful if you want to store text data as your document but display them as if they were printed on a standard form. Storing text is much faster and cheaper because less space is used for text than for scanned images. If you have data that is printed onto stock forms from another system chances are you can use Overlay Templates to stored and view your information more efficiently.



In the list you will see the Overlay Templates currently configured. You can use the ADD button to add new Overlay Templates or you can choose to edit one by clicking on its entry in the list. If you wish to delete an Overlay Template, click its delete icon on the far right. 


You can also import an Overlay Templates using the Import button the far right of the tool bar. 




General Settings


Name

Give this a name that makes sense. It is not used in the interface anywhere - it is simply to help you remember which one it is.


Record Type

Select the Record Type in which this template is to be used. If you select one then the Field Name / Field Value selections will not show up. If you do not select a Record Type then you can specify a Field NAme / Field Value combination.


Field Name / Field Value

If you want to match the template to a record based on a field/value combination use these to specify the field name/value


Category

If you enter a value in the Category field then only documents in that Category will use this Template.


Document

If you want to match the template to a specific document name in the Record then specify the name of the document on which to use this template.


Page Delimiter

If this template is for a multi-page COLD file then you will need to specify the separator characters for the pages. The entire COLD document is stored together and each page is split out as viewed so the system needs to know where the pages are to be broken.




Overlay Pages

Each page group in the template can be designed independently. It is common for COLD files to use one overlay for the first page and another for all other pages. In this case you would add 2 "pages" to the template and set the first one to work with pages 1 to 1 and the second to work with pages 2 to 1000 (of some number far above the page count expected in your cold files.




Page Settings


General


Page From  - The first page # for which this overlay is good.


Page To - The last page # for which this overlay is good.


Upload Overlay - UIse this button to upload the actual overlay image that will be used for this page.


View OVerlay - This button brings up this page's overlay in a viewer so you can see it.


Preview Template - This button will merge the sample COLD data onto the template overlay to show you the final rendering. You must have both a sample document and an overlay uploaded for this to work.



Font Settings


Field Name - Select the name of the font to use or type in a font name. Be careful to enter a valid, standard font name because only standard web fonts will work. Also be sure to use a fixed-width font or the layout will differ based on the content.


Font Size - The size of the font to use when drawing the text on the overlay.


Color - The color of the font to use when drawing the text on the overlay.


Bold - Whether or not to use a BOLD version of the font.



Layout Settings


Width - The number of pixels wide the overlay image should be scaled. The image is scaled to this size then the text is drawn on it. This allows you to size the overlay for the text to fit.


Height - The number of pixels high the overlay image should be scaled. The image is scaled to this size then the text is drawn on it. This allows you to size the overlay for the text to fit.


MarginLeft - The number of pixels from the left to start drawing the text


Margin Top - The number of pixels from the top to start drawing the text



Advanced Layout Settings

This section allows you add or remove extra spacing on specified areas of the screen. This is a more advanced section but there are times when it is absolutely required.


Brightness - This will adjust the brightness of the background image (overlay) so the text can stand out more if needed. Play with this setting to see the effect and determine if it will work for you.


Kerning - This will adjust the spacing between the characters as they are drawn. If you need to stretch the letters / characters to make them fit then use a positive number. If you need to "squeeze" the letters together more then use a negative number.


Leading - This will adjust the spacing between the lines of text as they are drawn. If you need to add space between the lines to make them fit then use a positive number. If you need to "squeeze" the lines together more then use a negative number.


Line Spacing - If you need to add space between each line then use Leading instead of this feature. However, if you need to add extra space between, let's say line 10 and 11 only, then this will work. Add an entry and specify the lines before which to add space (typically the same value in the Line and To fields). Then add the number of pixels to add before the line(s). You can add several entries and each will be used. If you need to remove spacing between specific lines then use a negative number.


Column Spacing - If you need to move text left or right in a line or set of lines then you can use this feature. Add an entry and specify the lines in which to move the text around. Then specify the Col and To (column from and column to) to the letter position in the line that you want to move (typically the same value in the Col and To fields). Then add the number of pixels to add before the column(s). You can add several entries and each will be used. If you need to remove spacing between specific columns then use a negative number.


Column Spacing Example: If this example you have a template where you can get almost all text to line up exactly. However, the first character in the invoice date is being written on a line of the date field box in the template. Let;s say the invoice number is on line 10 of the text file and starts at position 51. If we want to move this to the right to miss the box line then we can add a Column Spacing as follows:


Line: 10

Line To: 10

Col: 51

Col To: 51

Padding: 15


If there is text to the right of the invoice date that we didn't want to move then we can add another adjustment to move the rest of the text back to where it was. We can assume the date will be 10 characters for this example. Add another Column Spacing after the initial one as follows:


Line: 10

Line To: 10

Col: 61

Col To: 61

Padding: -15


The second example moves the original text back to the original position before the first example's 15 pixel move right.