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Symbols with Dynamic and Editable Text
A number of users have asked if they are able to create symbols or stamps in Revu that contain either Dynamic text, or text that can be edited after the symbol has been added to their tool chest. The answer is YES. Both can be done by creating ‘hybrid symbols’ that contain multiple types of markup elements.
Dynamic text can be accomplished by adding a stamp to a PDF file. Dynamic text is automatically replaced by a value such as time, date, day, month, year, user name, file name, file path, etc., and is updated every time it is used.
Editable text can be accomplished with the use of the typewriter tool, or by adding a text box to a symbol.
To demonstrate this, we are going to create an extremely simple symbol that includes editable and dynamic text with the use of three markup elements, an ellipse, text box, and date and time stamp.
To create the symbol:
- Open Revu.
- From the File menu, click New. A "Set First Page Size" dialog box will display. From the Style drop down menu, select Grid Light Blue 1/4, and then click OK. This will start a new PDF file with a 1/4" grid that can be used as a reference for size.
- Select the Ellipse tool from the toolbar on the right hand side of your screen, and create a 2" circle. (This is just a concept exercise, and does not need to be exact.)
- After you are done creating your circle, click on the Text Box tool. Click your mouse in the top portion of your circle and drag to format the box.
- Type the word "Name" inside the text box. From the properties panel on the right, you can change the line width around the box, or center the text if desired.
- Next, click on the Stamp symbol, which is located in the top toolbar. From here, a drop down menu will appear. Select the DateTime.brx stamp and then click your mouse in the center of the circle. Today’s date and time will be displayed.
- Center the stamp horizontally inside of your circle.
- Next, click on the Select tool located in the top tool bar, and draw a rectangle around the ellipse, text box and date and time stamp. This allows you to select all of the markups at once.
- Once selected, right click on one of the selected markups and then click Group. This will group the three markups, and make them one single markup.
- Once the markups have been grouped as one, right click on the markup and click Add to Tool Chest, then My Tools. Your new symbol is now saved in your tool chest.
To create the symbol:
- Click on your new symbol in My Tools, then click anywhere in the PDF. Notice that the time in your symbol has automatically updated to the current time.
- To edit the text in your symbol, double click on “Name”. Notice that the text is now highlighted.
- Once highlighted, you can type your name, or any other text, to replace the existing text.
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This is just a very simple example of how interactive symbols can be created by adding text and stamps to you symbol. If the pre-defined stamps that are included with Revu do not meet your needs, custom stamps that only contain your desired Dynamic text can be created.
Previous articles about stamps, symbols and the tool chest include:
Additional Resources:
Watch Don’s Tutorials for more detailed examples on using the Tool Chest and the Stamp Editor.
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