Show details for Dropdown Variables & Clipart Resource Sets | IV_004

Dropdown Variables & Clipart Resource Sets | IV_004

In this tutorial, we will learn how to create clipart sets within Invent for use in your MegaEdit templates. We will link the selected clipart to a variable, which will appear as a selectable option in our MegaEdit template. The variable will then be linked to an image field located on our canvas.

Tutorial Video Transcript

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In this tutorial
we will learn how to create clip art.

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Sets within.

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Invent for use in your.

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MegaEdit products.

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We will link the selected clip.

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arts to a variable.

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Which will appear as a selectable option
within our.

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MegaEdit template.

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The variable will
then be linked to an image.

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Field located on our canvas.

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So a couple of terms to.

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Note that were mentioned in quite a. Bit.

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The variables within.

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Invent are used to create forms
for your products.

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They can take the form of text.

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That can be boolean. So true. Or false

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Dropdown options and much more.

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Another key term of note is resources.

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So these are collections.

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Of assets that can be used to help
create a MegaEdits product.

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There are several forms of assets
available throughout Invent.

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Including backgrounds, clip arts

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And fonts.

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So what we're going to start off
doing here is by creating.

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A new resource set.

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So if we've got.

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InDesign launched and the Invent plugin.

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Make sure you.

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Navigate to your resources tab
and then click on Add resource set.

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This gives you a pop up box.

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Giving you a selection of different
resource set types that you can.

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Choose from.

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In this case, we're.

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Going to go for a clip. Heart set.

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So clip arts can be used as extra design
elements on a product, either as fixed.

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Assets on the. Design or as options for.

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Users to select
when personalizing their MegaEdit product.

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Creating a clip art.

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Set allows you to create a. Container.

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To upload all of the image files
you want to make available.

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These
then get created and included within.

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MegaEdit as a clip arts category.

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And then within that clip category,
there are.

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The individual clip elements themselves.

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So if I press select

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and I'm going to type in a name,
we can set the accessibility level.

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So whether it's only available
for administrators or both administrators

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and users.

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And then we want to add some images
or PDF.

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Files to this particular set.

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So that's just a case of selecting,
locating the files

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that you want to upload

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and clicking

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open.

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You can change the order
in which the resources within.

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The clip set will. Appear.

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And this will also change when they're

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within MegaEdit as well.

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You can consider creating.

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A dropdown
variable automatically using this button.

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Here. So dropdown variables are commonly.

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Created to link
to a particular resource. Set.

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We've added a function
which will automatic create.

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A dropdown variable linked to
this clip art set.

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Any variables can.

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Also be created and modified
separately if required or if preferred.

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So we're going to
check this on in this case and we'll make.

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The variable.

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Automatically.

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And then I'm going to click Save.

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So now we can see that that clip art set

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has been created with two clip
art elements within it.

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And if I navigate across
to my variables tab.

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I can see that it's a drop down
variable has also been created for me.

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So we can.

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Amend this variable if we wish to do so,
and we can create new variables

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by clicking on this add
variable button here.

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These other icons set.

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Up forms and sets of logic
will be covered in future tutorials.

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But now we're just.

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Going to edit our existing

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variable,

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which will bring up a separate pop up
window.

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Where we can.

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Modify
the behavior of that particular variable.

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The first of all,
we're going to select a mode,

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and this gives you a choice
between value or resource.

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So value means that you can manually
add values for the user to select between.

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You can see we could enter some things in.

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There, or we could select resource
which selects between the resource.

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Sets that we've created within Invent.

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So you can see that if I select resource,

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I have two options, which are the ones
I currently created in the resource tab,

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the Academy logos

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and our business card backgrounds.

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If I select a resource
that you can select, which is considered

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to be the default item,
so what the variable

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will go to by default

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and then we can hit

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save to confirm those choices.

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Next, we need to actually set.

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Up a variable image field.

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So we'll begin by loading up the.

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Properties tab within the plugin.

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And then selecting the field.

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That we want to make variable.

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Now there's only one major field on here,
which is this image.

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I click on that you can see is.

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Registered in the properties tab
that this is an image field

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and if we hit enable over on the right
hand.

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Side, that makes that a variable field.

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So that's now going to be controlled
by Invent and subsequently MegaEdit.

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And then we get access
to some additional options.

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So the options.

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That appear allow you to customize the
image settings and the general settings.

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Image

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settings that are modifications
to be made. Or.

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Enabled or disabled in the.

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Selected image itself.

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And we'll cover a bit more about this

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in a later part of this tutorial.

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The general settings.

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Covers modification of.
The image background.

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As well as additional restrictions.

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Such as. Disabling field deletion.

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And. Configuring.

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Transformation commands.

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So if you're on the general tab
and you scroll down a little,

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you'll see that
there's a lot of options close.

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To the bottom.

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Which allow you to enable
or disable certain

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capabilities
of that particular image frame.

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This just allows you to control what.

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The end user will be able to do with this
frame.

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The main thing we're going to control.

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Here, though, is the actual image itself.

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So if we go back to the image tab.

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In order to dynamically change.

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The image from our MegaEdit editor.

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We need to map the. Image
field to either a.

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Specified.

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Variable or a specific resource set.

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So in our example, we'll link it.

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To our created dropdown variable,
which is going to appear in the form.

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And we begin by.

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Selecting variable from the type
dropdown list.

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That will give us a list of all
of the variables that we have created.

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In this case, there's only. One.

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Which we can select.

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Scrolling down a little bit,
we can select media and clip arts.

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From the. Mode dropdown to enable the use.

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Of both resource types.

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So next, we're going to review the image
constraints.

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Image constraints
can be used to control the way.

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In which the end users interact with the.

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Image field.

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And as we saw previously with
the general tab, there are some similar.

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Options available on the Image tab itself,
which will adjust the actual

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image contained within the frame,
whereas the general tab will control

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the frame itself.

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So on the Images tab,
if I come to the constraints.

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Right down at the bottom,
I could make some changes.

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So for example,
I might want to limit some transformation.

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Options such as. Flipping.

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And rotation.

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I can force the image to resize
within the frame.

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Rather than being cropped to fit the frame

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so that in that one
I can select allow fit without.

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Cropping.

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So that's good for something like a logo
where you need to make sure

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you see the entire range.

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And I could enable or disable effects
such as

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effect adjustments, opacity changes

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and that will probably do

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for the selection right now.

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So with all these changes made,
we actually need to.

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Reexport the MEX file which we then import

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into Infigo.

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So first of all,
we go across. To the export tab.

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And repeated.

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Process from previous tutorials in the.

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Series.

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It's just a case of validating the design.

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This will tell you

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if there's any particular problem
you need to be aware of.

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In this case, we.

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Can see there's. A problem,
so we can say the.

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Field does not have general.

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Setting background set correctly.

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Gives you an option to jump.

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Straight to that property,
which in this case is the image field.

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It said there was a background problem.

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So I'll go to General

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and then for background it's
saying that it's looking for a variable,

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but we haven't linked anything,
so I can just change that to unlinked.

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So it's not working to do anything
with the background

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of that frame.

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Back to export.

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And we'll. Try validations again.

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This time
it's just asking me to save the document

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and export.

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Next we'll navigate to our Infigo

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admin area, locate the relevant product.

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In our MegaEdit.

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Products, screen. And edit.

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And then as we've seen in previous
tutorials, we can.

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Re-Import the file on the top right?

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So now will launch the MegaEdit editor
with that product.

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And what we see there is that we now.

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Have our.

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Logo available and it's filling
that particular image field.

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And on the right.

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Hand side we have a dropdown box
which is linked to those.

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clip art

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resource.

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Sets that we defined.

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So we now have the ability to change.

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Between the utilised logo

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if I just put a background selection
on there

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from the previous tutorial
just so we can actually.

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See that.

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We can see that logo is being utilized.

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Now in terms of what the end user
is able to do with.

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This field.

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We can verify that the same way we would.

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As part of the general MegaEdit
capabilities where we can go

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a menu and then emulate user mode.

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From here
we can double click on any of the fields

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and it will allow us to interact.

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With them
in the same way that our end users can.

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So in this case, because we've got do.

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Not select enabled.

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We're not able to interact with that
at all.

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So our end user can't make any changes
apart from

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the dropdown over on the right hand side.

 

Incomplete
Step by Step Guide

Dropdown Variables & Clipart Resource Sets

In this tutorial, we will learn how to create clipart sets within Invent for use in your MegaEdit templates.

We will link the selected clipart to a variable, which will appear as a selectable option in our MegaEdit template.

The variable will then be linked to an image field located on our canvas.

Some key terms of note:

  • Variables within Invent are used to create forms for your products. They can take the form of text, boolean (true/false), dropdown and more.

  • Resources are collections of assets that can be used to help create a MegaEdit product. There are several forms of assets available through Invent, including backgrounds, cliparts and fonts.

Creation Date: Dec 13, 2022
Created By: Sam Webster

1. To begin creating a Resouce Set, click Resources

To begin creating a Resouce Set, click Resources

2. Click Add Resource Set

Click Add Resource Set

3. Select the Resource Set type to add. For this example, clip Clipart Set

Clipart Sets

Cliparts can be used as extra design elements on a product either as fixed assets on the design or as options for users to select from when personalising their MegaEdit product.

Creating a Clipart Set allows you to create a container to upload all the image files you want to make available. These then get created and included as a Clipart Category and Clipart's within it in Infigo once imported.

Select the Resource Set type to add. For this example, clip Clipart Set

4. Enter a name identifying the Clipart Set

Enter a name identifying the Clipart Set

5. Select an accessibility level

You can make this resource set available to administrators only, or administrators and users.

Select an accessibility level

6. To add resources to your Clipart Set, click Add Images / PDF

To add resources to your Clipart Set, click Add Images / PDF

7. Select any resources you would like to add to the Clipart Set

Select any resources you would like to add to the Clipart Set

8. Click Open

Click Open

9. Change the order of resources if required

Changing the order of resources in the Clipart Set will change they order they display within the MegaEdit editor

Change the order of resources if required

10. Consider automatically creating a dropdown variable

Dropdown variables are commonly created to link to resource sets. We have added a function which will automatically create a dropdown variable linked to this Clipart Set.

Any variables can also be created and modified separately if required.

Consider automatically creating a dropdown variable

11. Click Save

Click Save

12. Click Variables

Click Variables

13. Edit dropdown variable

A dropdown variable was automatically created when we added our Clipart Set. This variable can be amended by clicking the Edit button.

New variables can be created using the Add Variable button. Other tutorials will cover the different types of available variable.

Edit dropdown variable

14. Select dropdown variable Mode

Select between:

  • Value - Manually add values for the user to select between

  • Resource - Select between the Resource Sets created within the Invent tab

Select dropdown variable Mode

15. Select a Resource Set

For Resource mode, select a resource set to utilise

Select a Resource Set

16. Select the default resource to use from the selected Resource set

Select the default resource to use from the selected Resource set

17. Click Save

Click Save

18. Select an image field and click Properties

Next, we will set up a variable image field. We begin by loading the Properties tab within the Invent plugin.

Select an image field and click Properties

19. To make a field variable, click Enable whilst the field is selected on the canvas

To make a field variable, click Enable whilst the field is selected on the canvas

20. Review available options for image fields

Options will appear allowing you to customise Image settings and General settings.

Image settings allows modifications to be made or enabled/disabled in the selected image (covered more in this tutorial).

General settings covers modification of the image background, as well as additional restrictions such as disabling field deletion and configuring transformation commands.

Review available options for image fields

21. Map the image used to either a variable or resource set

In order to dynamically change the image from our MegaEdit editor, we need to map the image field to either a specified variable or a specific resource set.

In our example, we will link to our created dropdown variable. Begin by selecting Variable from the Type dropdown list.

Map the image used to either a variable or resource set

22. Select the variable to use

With Type Variable selected, a new field appears named Variable. From here, you can select between available variables in this Invent template.

Select the variable to use

23. Select Media and Cliparts from the Mode dropdown to enable the use of both resource types

Select Media and Cliparts from the Mode dropdown to enable the use of both resource types

24. Review image constraints

Image constraints can be used to control the ways in which end users can interact with this image field in the MegaEdit editor.

For example, you can:

  • Limit transformations such as flipping or rotation

  • Force an image to resize within the frame rather than being cropped to fit the frame

  • Enable or disable effects such as opacity and shadows

Review image constraints

25. Navigate to the Export tab

From here you can obtain the MEX file which can be imported into your Infigo MegaEdit products to create a variable product template.

Navigate to the Export tab

26. Click Start Validations and resolve any issues

Click Start Validations and resolve any issues

27. Click Export and save the MEX file

Click Export and save the MEX file

28. Review license information and click Continue

Review license information and click Continue

29. Navigate to your product's MegaEdit configuration settings and click MEX Import

Ensure you choose a product already defined as a MegaEdit product type.

This product does not need to have canvas, stock and output types defined. All of this information is created and selected as part of the MEX file.

Navigate to your product's MegaEdit configuration settings and click MEX Import

30. Click the upload icon, select an MEX file then Import

Click the upload icon, select an MEX file then Import

31. Launch the MegaEdit editor for this product

Launch the MegaEdit editor for this product

32. Review and test your variable image field

A form variable will be visible to the right of the screen. The contents of the form variable is the resource sets assigned to that variable.

As this variable is linked to one of the image fields on the canvas, changing the dropdown will change the image on the canvas.

Review and test your variable image field

33. Click the variable dropdown and select between available resources

Click the variable dropdown and select between available resources

34. The utilised image will be updated

The utilised image will be updated

35. Example of modified image against a different background selection

Changing the background selection options is covered in a previous tutorial.

Example of modified image against a different background selection

36. Background and image variation example

Background and image variation example
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