PDF Template Help

[Ga Bowen]

At the end of my document I have 4 datasheets.

I would like these 4 datasheets to use a new template I have created in Print Manual Designer.

What is the best way to do this?

[Tim Green]

Hi Ga,

A PDF template is always used for an entire HM project. It applies the layout you choose to the project when you publish to PDF. So you can't choose a PDF template for just part of a project.

However, you can insert a user-designed page in your PDF template and place a snippet on that page with the text from the topic file you want to display. The only restriction is that the topic must fit on a single page, because snippets cannot flow to a second page in the PDF template. If you want to have more than one page you must repeat the procedure with multiple pages and multiple snippets, one for each page.

1. Create a topic file in Project Files > Topic Files (i.e. without a TOC entry) containing the formatted text you want to use. Set its include options so that it is only included in PDF. Make a note of its topic ID (look in the Topic Options tab below the editor for this).
2. In Manual Designer Select the section before the Table of Contents section (usually "Title 3") and then select Insert Page in the Pages menu to insert a new page.
3. Select Insert Text Snippet in the Insert menu to insert a box for the snippet.
4. Select "Load Topic" as the snippet type and insert the topic ID of your topic file from step 1 as the source of the snippet.
5. Set the anchors to Left, Right, Top, Bottom and "Anchor to margins" and click on OK to insert.
6. With the mouse adjust the borders of the snippet box to the margins of the page.

You will not see the contents of the snippet until you publish the PDF with your project. The contents of the selected topic file will be inserted in the snippet box on publishing.