Hello,

I have a PSM project where I was provided with a PDF file from the client. The PDF file basically has the outlines of a CD Wallet, so that when it is printed out on a special perforated media, it can be torn off along the perforations and folded into a CD wallet.

The single page PDF provided has 2 CD Wallet outlines drawn on it on which Variable Data is to be placed (2 records per page). The second CD Wallet outline is right below the first one, but is rotated 180 degrees clockwise.

I need to use PSM to add variable data so that when the job is printed there are 2 records corresponding to 2 CD Wallets on a single media (printed only on one side).

I drag and drop the PDF in PSM and place my variable data on the first CD Wallet outline (the top one). Then I set the preferences for 2 vertical repetitions and as expected I get 2 vertical repetitions of my data, with exactly same background of the first CD Wallet outline (unrotated).

I require that the second record on the page is displayed after the layout is rotated along with the variable text that is placed on it to match the perforation on the printing media. Is this possible to do in PSM?

Thanks

cube,

I'm not sure I follow you 100%, but if I'm getting this right, the solution is probably to actually take in 2 records at a time instead of 1. Instead of using repetition, just add your whole PDF (rotation and all) and add your data fields on top, rotating the ones for the second record.

If you need further assistance, I think opening a support request would be best at this point, so the agent can remotely connect and take a look at the document. While a picture is worth a thousand words, remote connections are worth about a billion . You can do this by phone or through the web.

Hi Eric,

Thanks for the response. Sorry for the extra verbose description of the problem

How do I take 2 records at a time and display them within individual text boxes in PSM?. I can then do the rotation on the second record .

Thanks!

Hi Eric,

Please let me know how to take 2 records at a time and display them on the same page.

Thanks

cube,

You have to do this in your data file itself - outside of PrintShop Mail. For example if you have a CSV file with 15 columns (fields), you would take row 2 and put it "besides" the other one, giving you 30 columns.

This would be a headache to do manually, you'd have to do this through some sort of automation - for example, a VBSCript that inputs the file and the writes the values to a new CVS file.

Just a suggestion:

You don't have to modify your data if you use two layouts. One that only shows the top half of your PDF, and one that only shows the bottom half. Then use the "Action" layout property to only print them under certain conditions. The top layout should only print for "odd" record numbers, the bottom layout only for "even" record numbers (use RECORD_NR and MOD).

By the way, in PSM 7.1 you can define custom queries. You can actually combine each pair of rows into a single row using a custom query. This requires advanced knowledge of SQL though, using two layouts would be easier.

Hi Sander and Eric

Thank You so much!, I Have tried both your suggestions and they work as I required it to. Changing the datafile as per Eric's suggestion turned out to be high maintenance in the long run, so I am sticking to Sander's method of having 2 layouts and displaying them conditionally.

Thanks to both of you for your support!