This article is designed for users of the platform creating a Multi-page Virtual product from a Fulfiller's Blank which is designed to generate a Raster output.

This article presumes user knowledge of Virtual Products and the Create Virtual Products routine. Prior to using the new features outlined in this article, we recommend that you go through the introductory guide on creating your first Blank Product. You can access the article here: Create Your First | Virtual Products (Manual) >>

The article assumes the Blank has been set up correctly with individual Aspects for each side of the card and Merged layouts set to combine the outputs for printing.

Please check with the print specification on the Blank product and do a Print test to make sure you are comfortable with the outputs that will be generated.

1. Access to a Fulfiller's Blank Product that has been configured correctly
   
2. Prepared Artwork files for each page of the card
   

Log in to the Platform and go to Product Manager

Search for the Blank product by Product ID or SKU

Select the Blank Product using the tick box and from the Bulk Action drop-down menu, select Create Virtual Products

From the Virtual Product Creation Menu, select Manual

Select a category in the Platform to place the new Virtual Product

If you have multiple Product Categories in the Platform you can use the scroll bar, or search box to find the folder that you want to add the Virtual Products to. 

Click Pick to make your  selection

Add a Design Name and enter Branding Options (optional) and click on Create Virtual Products

On the following screen click on Multi-Edit to be immediately taken to the product to begin editing

Step 2: Product Configuration - Adding the Artwork to the first print area

Click on 'Print Specification' and Click the pencil Edit icon under Actions for the first Print Area you wish to add Artwork to

The Print Areas should be either named or listed in a logical manner, if not please contact the Product's fulfiller for clarification.

On the print area page, open the Artwork roll-out menu

Click the Upload option to add your the artwork file of your design to the Virtual Product

The Preview will update to display the Artwork applied to the Product

You can also click on the Print Test button (under Contextual actions) to instantly see the artwork as it would appear to the user in a live preview app)

Simply repeat the process in Step 2 for all the other Print Areas of the product where you wish to add design artwork

In the case of our example this may be for Front and Inside / Left Right

Generally the back of the card is reserved for branding information and barcodes so it may not be possible to add Artwork here.  In that scenario the Print Area may be set to Preview only preventing the uploading of artwork files

If any part of the Print specification is unclear you should contact the Fulfiller directly for information on how to use the Blank they have configured.

From the Configuration Panel, select Functionality and then click on the Text Tab and click on the Create a Text Area button

This opens up the Text Area setup options. We want to set the following options:

Name - Give the text area a name to easily identify it (if more than one text area is available on the product this will be visible to the user)

Print Area - Choose the Print Area the text area will be linked to (This auto-updates the preview when selected and centers your text to the full Print Area)

This Interactive preview can then be used to position your Text Area against the product

Important note: The menu page previews are for guidance only, for accurate size and placement of text areas you should always use the Print Test feature.

Additional Control is then available via the roll-out menus:

Options

Under the Options rollout you can decide whether the text are is Single or Multi-line and also control user interactivity - eg whether the user can they move / rotate / resize text.  It's also possible to set a placeholder if needed

In our example we will use a single line so that we can use the Auto-Fit feature, we will also disable Move, Resize and Rotate so that the text is fixed in place

Formatting

Under the formatting roll out you can decide on the exact look and behaviour of the text.  You can also choose options available to the user in the app such as a range of Fonts, Sizes or Colours

In our example we will add a yellow Fill and a red Stroke to our Name

Validation

The validation rollout is used when you need to set Max Characters or an input rule such as ASCII only to prevent emojis

In our example we have set a 12 character limit for the name input

If the text area is multi-line and additional validation option becomes available for Max Lines

Advanced Options

The advanced options rollout allow you to set boundary-cased features that operate based on user input

In our example we will use the Auto-Fit feature which will dynamically resize text when the input reaches the width of the specified boundary

Enable Auto Fit

Click Show Boundary beneath the preview image

Interactively position the boundary box around the central position of your text to define the max width/height

Click Save

Step 5: Product Configuration - Adding a second Text Area for to allow a message inside the card

From the Configuration Panel, select Functionality and then click on the Text Tab and click on the Create a Text Area button

Assign it to Inside Back print area and click Save.

Open the Options rollout and enable Multi-line. Add a placeholder eg: 'Add your message' (don't worry about the size we will rectify that in the next step)

Open the Formatting rollout and change the default size to 14.  Add a Font Set, Size Set and Colour Set to give the user customisation choices in the app of how their message will appear

Open the validation rollout and add a max number of lines and characters if needed.

Click Print Test to review your changes.

You will notice that the Message text area appears above the Name message in the app (by default the behaviour is alphanumeric).  To control the order, click on the Text tab and over on the right under the Actions header, use the up arrow to move message above Name, hit Save and then use the down arrow to move it back below Name and hit save again.  This will store the positions of the text areas and use them in the app.

Step 6: Reviewing your product

Click the 'Print Test' button from the Contextual Actions menu. This will load the product in a test environment where you can see your design applied and review your Functionality

Click Generate Artwork to create print files in multiple formats to test the output

Continue to use Print Test to make any last tweaks or adjustments to the product as needed based on the resulting output files.