To access the Customer Form Designer, head to the “Customers<\/strong>” menu from the “Main Menu<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n Click on “Customer Forms Designer<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n This opens the “Form Records<\/strong>” list. Any records you have created or installed will show up here for you to select and edit. In this example, we do not have any yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n To create a new form, click on “Add a New Record<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n Click on “Edit Form<\/strong>.”\u00a0<\/p>\n This opens the Report Designer. If you’ve used the Report Designer before to create reports, you’ll notice it functions practically the same.<\/p>\n Before you start working on your form, you’ll want to give your form a name so it’s saved within Artisan. Click on the \u201cReport<\/strong>\u201d tab and \u201cSummary<\/strong>\u201d option within the Report Designer.<\/p>\n Name the \u201cReport Name<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cReport Title<\/strong>\u201d as you see fit. Click \u201cOK.<\/strong>\u201c<\/p>\n At the top of the Report Designer are different tabs to choose from. These tabs contain dropdown fields that allow you to modify or adjust the form.<\/p>\n Close:\u00a0<\/strong>You may exit the Report Designer by clicking \u201cclose<\/strong>\u201d (or the red \u201cX<\/strong>\u201d on the top right of the Report Designer screen).<\/p>\n Page Setup:\u00a0<\/strong>This allows you to control the overall size of the form.<\/p>\n This is the size of the paper your form will print onto. The default size is set to US-Letter, 8.5 x 11 inches, which is the standard printing paper size. Keep in mind how many fields, columns, and so on you\u2019re including in the form, as smaller paper types might cut off information if the margins aren\u2019t properly adjusted.<\/p>\n This determines if the form will print vertically (portrait) or horizontally (landscape). You\u2019ll notice as these options are toggled, the width, height, and margins automatically adjust.\u00a0<\/p>\n These are the boundaries of the form\u2013the space between the text and the edge of the page. We recommend leaving these fields alone. However, if you need more or less space, adjust the boundaries incrementally until you have the results you want.\u00a0<\/p>\n Import Subreport:\u00a0<\/strong>This allows you to select a report from your computer to combine with this form.<\/p>\n Most of these fields are self-explanatory. For example, \u201cUndo<\/strong>\u201d will remove the previous change you made, while \u201cRedo<\/strong>\u201d will restore that change.\u00a0<\/p>\n This is handy if you need to delete more than one field. Hold shift on the keyboard and click with your mouse to select more than one field to delete.<\/p>\n This option will only be accessible if the field selected is classified as a \u201cgroup<\/strong>\u201d field.<\/p>\n This option will only be accessible if the field selected is classified as a \u201csection<\/strong>\u201d field.<\/p>\n This tab lets you add fields to the form, from text, to columns, to images, and more. We\u2019ll go over how this tab functions in detail later.\u00a0<\/p>\n This tab includes additional ways you can edit a field.<\/p>\n Adjust the text\u2019s font, size, and other characteristics, such as bold, italic, and underline.\u00a0<\/p>\n Checking this field off means the text will move down to the next line once it reaches the edge of the text box.<\/p>\n Checking this field off means that any time a comma is used in the text box, the text after that will go to the next line.<\/p>\n Automatically adjusts the text box to expand downward as necessary.<\/p>\n Information on \u201cFormat<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cTranslate Names<\/strong>\u201d will be included in this article soon.<\/em><\/p>\n Bar Code Format<\/strong><\/p>\n We recommend leaving this section alone unless instructed by our tech support team.<\/p>\n Align<\/strong><\/p>\n The alignment causes the text or barcode to be flush left, right, or center within the field itself.<\/p>\n Color<\/strong><\/p>\n You may pick a swatch with the color dropper tool to update the text\u2019s color. Or, you may use the other tabs for more control over mixing hues.<\/p>\n Inversing colors will switch the foreground colors to the background, and vice versa. Be mindful of your printer\u2019s color capabilities and the color paper you\u2019re printing on.<\/p>\n Border<\/strong><\/p>\n This tab contains all parameters for a field\u2019s border. A \u201ccount\u201d set to \u201cnone\u201d will not show a border line. You may have up to three lines on each side in a solid, dot, or dash style.\u00a0<\/p>\n Examples:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The database tab contains the \u201cTable Linker<\/strong>.\u201d The table linker connects form fields to Artisan code, which affects what appears on your form. We recommend leaving this section alone unless instructed by technical support.\u00a0<\/p>\n This tab also includes \u201cSQL Query<\/strong>.\u201d This is particularly helpful when identifying any problems within the form. The staff might ask to see this information when repairing a form, which you can copy and paste into a support ticket.\u00a0<\/p>\n The first few tabs contain shortcuts to run or view the form, export or save a copy on your computer, or send it over email. The other sections contain options to sort, select, and view additional information.<\/p>\n Run<\/strong><\/p>\n You may run the form without having to exit out of the Report Designer area. You may export, print, or email the form. When you\u2019re finished, Artisan will return to the Report Designer.<\/p>\n Export<\/strong><\/p>\n This screen lets you save the form from a variety of fields, such as .PDF or .XLS.<\/p>\n Choose a location to save this copy of the form and press \u201cSave<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n Email<\/strong><\/p>\n Easily send the form right from Artisan. Enter the email address you\u2019re sending to. Adjust the subject and text field as you see fit. When you\u2019re finished, press \u201cSend<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n You may edit already existing fields or add new fields. When editing a field, the border around the field turns blue.<\/p>\n Adjusting Placement<\/strong><\/p>\n If you need to adjust the field\u2019s placement, use the arrow keys on your keyboard to shift the field from left to right. For more control, right-click and select \u201cPosition and Size<\/strong>.\u201d We\u2019ll go over this screen in a moment.<\/p>\n Hide:\u00a0<\/strong>This screen allows you to hide a field if necessary. We recommend not altering this screen without instructions from the support staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n Delete:\u00a0<\/strong>Selecting this option will remove\/erase the selected field.<\/p>\n Replace Field Source:\u00a0<\/strong>Selecting this option causes any field that is placed on the form (using the \u201cInsert<\/strong>\u201d option or \u201cField Picker<\/strong>\u201c) to assume the position, size, border, and format of this field.<\/p>\n Position and Size:\u00a0<\/strong>This screen lets you edit the field\u2019s position on the page, as well as the overall size of the field. The \u201cY<\/strong>\u201d axis is the vertical position while the \u201cX<\/strong>\u201d axis is where the field is placed horizontally. Adjusting the \u201cX<\/strong>\u201d axis moves the field up and down while adjusting the \u201cY<\/strong>\u201d axis moves the field left to right. For example, this field is currently at a Y-Axis of 7.0 and an X-Axis of 6.0.\u00a0<\/p>\n Inputting a new Y-Axis number, 10, moves the field down.\u00a0<\/p>\n Notice how the field moved from its original position.<\/p>\n As well as headers, footers, and columns, you may also organize information via sections and groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n A \u201cdetail<\/strong>\u201d is any section between the headers and footers. If you have more than one detail section, Artisan will name the sections Detail (a), Detail (b), and so on.<\/p>\n To create a section, right-click and select either \u201cInsert Section Above<\/strong>\u201d or \u201cInsert Section Below<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n You may manually adjust the height of these sections by pulling on the lines separating each section.<\/p>\n Right-clicking on the form reveals additional tools.<\/p>\n Suppress<\/strong><\/p>\n Selecting this option opens the \u201cSuppression<\/strong>\u201d window. This is used to tell the Report Designer to ignore certain codes (information) on the form.\u00a0<\/p>\n Background Color<\/strong><\/p>\n This will change the background of the section of the form you\u2019re editing. Remember that all printers will not print colors accurately, and be mindful that dark text on a dark background is difficult to read.<\/p>\n Before:<\/p>\n After:<\/p>\n New Page Before<\/strong><\/p>\n This will cause the form, when viewed or printed, to have a blank page before the first page.<\/p>\n Shrink to Fit<\/strong><\/p>\n This will cause the section to compress around whatever information is in the section, eliminating unnecessary blank space above and below the field.<\/p>\n Before:<\/p>\n After:<\/p>\n Select All In Section<\/strong><\/p>\n This grabs everything in the section, which is especially helpful if you want to move more than one field at a time, or adjust the field\u2019s font, size, etc.<\/p>\n To add a field to the form, click on \u201cInsert<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cDatabase Field<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n This opens up all fields that will pull data from Artisan to generate information for your form. Sort by section to find the field you\u2019re looking for. In this example, we want to add a logo where we would like to place it on the form.<\/p>\n To resize the image, click on it and drag down a corner. \u00a0<\/p>\n To see our changes, let’s head to the “Report<\/strong>” tab and press “Run<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/certek.com\/kb4\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/2022-09-01_14h00_41.png\")
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\nCreating a Form<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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\nEditing the Form<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nReport Designer Tabs<\/h3>\n
File<\/h4>\n
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\nInsert<\/h3>\n
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\nFormat<\/h3>\n
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\nDatabase<\/h3>\n
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\nReport<\/h3>\n
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\nEditing the Form<\/h3>\n
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