Am I Dreaming, or can this be done

[Drip Dry]

I have to setup 600 engraved nameplates with 3 line of text on each.
I'll eventually need to print to a standard desktop printer a template with all the plates laid out and the unique info on each plate.

Is there a way to do this easily in flexi or should I be doing something in a database program.I would like it to be in Flexi, because I need to cut a template from vinyl for a template.

thanks
jt

 

[iSign]

probably not dreaming... but not explaining yourself very well either...

nothing I read in your post sounds hard enough to require a post asking about it, so I must be missing something.

How about investing in a paragraph of info identifying the scope of the job, the purpose of the various "templates" mentioned, purpose of paper prints, and vinyl... leading up to the actual engraved products

 

[flisk]

I have to agree, it seems simple enough based off of what you wrote, so I must have missed something too.

 

[Techman]

printing to s desktop means you are doing dyesub? yes?

If I remember right you can do sequential stuff in flexi..

 

[Drip Dry]

Yes, the final job will be dyesub.( output goes to desktop instead of plotter)

I'll try to explain better.

Fire dept has a huge wall plaque that will commerate 100 years. The plaque will have 600 individual nameplates that will contain:

NAME
COMPANY ASSIGNED
DATE

I will setup in flexi a template representing each nameplate ( I'll make one and use "step and repeat" to get the rest)
Now I have 600 blank nameplates on the page.
I'm hoping to now type in each "name, rank & date and have it fall into the correct position on each individual plate.
Or is there some type of merge function from within Flexi or maybe from Word ??

I hope this more clear, but as I type it, I feel it's getting more confusing.

 

[jiarby]

In Corel you can do a print merge from a data source... is that waht you mean?

 

[Fred Weiss]

The step and repeat should be done in Flexi with the text already entered. Then prepare your list in any word processor and copy/paste each three line entry from the word processor to Flexi using the text cursor to select the text in each application.

This will provide a way to have te customer approve a proof with the word processor document and when you paste each 3 line set into Flexi, the formatting you have setup there will be retained.

You can also use the Auto Serialize feature in Flexi to merge a data file.

 

[cOrKinSA]

Man Fred! You are like a rockstar to the sign industry with that big juicy brain.

 

[Drip Dry]

The step and repeat should be done in Flexi with the text already entered.

Fred,
I should create one plate with the 3 lines of text. Duplicate with step & repeat leaving me with 600 plates with the same info on each plate ?
Correct so far ??

Then prepare your list in any word processor and copy/paste each three line entry from the word processor to Flexi using the text cursor to select the text in each application.

Would I copy & paste 600 times ?

You can also use the Auto Serialize feature in Flexi to merge a data file.

Can you elaborate a little on this. I've read the help file on this but I can't seem to get it .

JT

 

[Fred Weiss]

Fred,
I should create one plate with the 3 lines of text. Duplicate with step & repeat leaving me with 600 plates with the same info on each plate ?
Correct so far ??

Yes


Would I copy & paste 600 times ?

Yes, assuming you already have the copy setup in such a fashion.


Can you elaborate a little on this. I've read the help file on this but I can't seem to get it .

JT

I have never used this feature in Flexi. A quick peek at what it is looking for is a tab delimited text file. So you would simply need a NotePad TXT file that has each namplate setup as follows:

Name >Tab Company >Tab Date

How that gets fed into your 600 nameplates will require you to experiment a bit unless someone else can help you. Going back to point #2, assuming you have a text file already which has been proofed and approved, it could well take you less time to just copy and paste each 3 line set into the 600 nameplates. Tiling your screens between NotePad, WordPad or Word and Flexi, the operation will likely take 1 to 1.5 hours. That's probably less than it will take you to figure out the correct setup to the auto serialization feature.

 

[Drip Dry]

assuming you have a text file already which has been proofed and approved, it could well take you less time to just copy and paste each 3 line set into the 600 nameplates. Tiling your screens between NotePad, WordPad or Word and Flexi, the operation will likely take 1 to 1.5 hours. That's probably less than it will take you to figure out the correct setup to the auto serialization feature.

Thanks Fred

Although I like the idea of the auto serialization function, it will likely be easier to copy and paste. Since this job is on a tight deadline, I think copy and paste will have to do for now. I will work out the serialization for the future and post it here if I fiqure out a step by step procedure.

 

[Ron Helliar]

If you sign up on the Scanvec Amiable website, you will be privy to several tutorials that go into a great deal more detail than the manual.
You may want to play with the step & repeat feature first to determine your spacing and numbers up on a useable sheet.

 

[Matthew Scher]

Hi Ron, It only takes a few minutes to setup the text file.

Here are the steps.

1. the data has to be tab delimited. I prefer to use Excel to input my text, with each row being the data for a new sign. I make columns for name, company, and date. Now save as tab delimited from Excel.

2. Make a template. In Flexi make one sign the way you want it to look:

name
company
date

Choose the font, size and style you like. You can even apply any effects at this point.

3. Make a border

If you want each sign to be the same size, you need to draw a border around the template. So if you need them each to be exactly 2in x 3 in, then draw a wireframed rectangle that size.

4. autoserialize

choose arrange>autoserialize, point to the data file and you are ready to go. It will make a set of your sign with each data input.

5. For desktop printer output, manually arrange output to fit a sheet. This is a bit annoying, but it is required when using file>print to output. You need to ungroup the serialization (assuming you have 8.1 or higher), then make blocks that fit one page. Now select each block and print selected objects to output (be sure to set scale to 100%)

It sounds harder than it is. I use this function frequently, and can do these steps in a few minutes. Just a few weeks ago I made 200 nametags for my daughter's school for all the K and 1st graders. It took only a few minutes to prepare the file, and about 1 hour to engrave.

 

[Samm]

I really should dig out my manual... !!!

 

[eforer]

You can also serialize info from a text file in illustrator.