This article will provide you with the basics of the PDF Editor and tutorials on the most commonly asked capabilities. Read here about the basics of customizing templates.
See here how to access the editor from Katana.
Katana is seamlessly integrated with the PDF Editor tool provided by PDF Generator API. This means that you are able to fully utilize all the capabilities of the PDF Editor and generate the templates to your needs.
No personal or business data is shared with the PDF Editor service - it only holds information about the layout and data fields used on the template. When working in the PDF Editor, you are provided with the example base template and demo data, so you do not need to start from a blank page.
What should I know about the PDF editor?
PDF Editor is a template-building tool to define printout layout and match data fields from Katana. It works as a drag-and-drop tool to define how different components and data fields are positioned when generating a PDF document from Katana.
Here are some basic elements of the PDF Editor:
Style toolbar - used to format the whole page layout (size, margins) or individual elements for fonts, alignment, color, etc.
Component toolbar - used to drag and drop components onto the template. Various components are available including images, barcodes, and tables. Tables and containers are components that iterate over repeating data fields - for example, multiple sales order rows would each be shown in a separate row in a table component. Read more about tables and containers here.
Component properties - used to manage component-specific properties. Most commonly used to match data fields in Katana to certain components on the template. Read more below under "Tutorials and samples..." on how to match data fields. PDF Editor also provides the possibility to use expression language for more advanced conditions to present data - read more here about expression language.
Layout editor - used to drag and drop components and design the layout of the template.
Menu bar - used to manage the whole template. Most commonly used for saving templates or to see different views of the PDF Editor (Select View > Preview, Editor or Data). Data view provides an overview of available fields from Katana coupled with example demo data used in the PDF Editor.
Note: PDF Editor does not auto-save - make sure you always save your work by clicking on the save icon in the top right after the template name or use cntr/cmd + S shortcut.
HTML content and Expressions are extended features inside the text component. For example: Address fields contain Expression in order to show/hide values that are available from the data in Katana. "HTML content" on the rows on the other hand includes convenient formatting for SKU and batch tracking information. To see the exact contents of the fields please refer to field formatting > Raw value.
In this video provided by PDF Generator API you will get an overview of the basic functionality of the PDF Editor:
Please see further detailed videos about the PDF Editor here: https://support.pdfgeneratorapi.com/en/article/how-to-use-the-editor-1a194yy/
See the next chapter ⬇️ for tutorials to get you started.
Tutorials and sample designs to get you started
Here we have gathered some basic tutorials that should give you a good overview of how to get started. Also, providing you with some inspiration from sample documents:
Samples are found here
Invoice-styled sales order
Packing list with barcodes
More samples of documents also found on PDF Generator API gallery: https://pdfgeneratorapi.com/example-documents
How-to tutorials for basic components
Need help with the templates?
PDF Editor has an extensive support portal available here: https://support.pdfgeneratorapi.com/en/ and is responsive in chat to help you out with any questions regarding your templates. Please see here if you are stuck and need further assistance.