Template Design View

Use the Template Design view to design one or more templates so that you can print items exactly as you see them on the screen. When you design templates, you have access to a large array of design tools, including layers, formatting shortcuts, and more. By default, the Template Design view is displayed each time you start the application or start a new document.

If you are currently in the Data Entry Form view, you can switch to the Template Design view by using one of the following methods:

When you are using BarTender's scrolling tools, it is possible to "lose" the template by scrolling it completely out of the design area. When this occurs, BarTender displays a Find Template button on the right side of your top ruler. When you click Find Template, BarTender automatically centers the template in the design area. Alternatively, you can press Home.

The following components are available.

ClosedMain Menu Bar

The main menu bar is the horizontal bar across the top of the screen that you can use to display menus. It includes a list of commands that you can use to configure and use BarTender. The following menus are available:

ClosedToolbars

The toolbars include the most frequently used commands. The following toolbars are available:

For more information, refer to Toolbars.

ClosedToolbox

The Toolbox is a set of panes on the left side of the design window from which you can drag reusable objects and data sources to make it easier to design your template. The Toolbox includes the following panes:

ClosedRecord Navigation Bar

The record navigation bar is available at the bottom of the Template Design area after you connect a database file to your document.

This navigation bar provides the following options and information:

Disconnects the database from the document.

Indicates that the database is in a disconnected state. When you click this icon, BarTender tries to reconnect to the database.

Refreshes the record set to include any updates to the database.

Opens a query prompt that was created for the document by using the Query Prompts dialog. The record set that is available for preview in the Template Design area is updated to reflect your query prompt entry. Available only when a query prompt is created for the document.

Opens the Select Records dialog, which you can use to select the specific record that you want to view in the Template Design area.

Record: Indicates the number of items that will be printed. This number is based on the record set that is provided by the database connection and includes any updates to the record set that you requested by using the query prompt or the Select Records dialog. You can preview these items within the Template Design area by using the following control arrows:

Shows the first item.

Shows the previous item.

Shows the next item.

Shows the last item.

ClosedTabs

The tabs at the bottom of the design window provide access to the templates, page template, and data entry forms that are associated with the open document. If you have enabled double-sided printing or are designing multiple templates, multiple tabs along the bottom of the template are available to help you switch between the different templates.

To make the Page Template editor available, click to select Enable Page Template on the Page tab of the Page Setup dialog.

ClosedStatus Bar

The status bar is located at the bottom of the user interface. When no control or object is selected, it displays general information about the document and the template itself. This basic information includes such details as the printer that is currently associated with the document and the size of the form. When a control or object is selected, the status bar displays the name, position, and size of the control or object.

For more detailed information, you can display a tooltip by pointing to the section of the status bar that you want. You can also click a section of the status bar to open the corresponding dialog. For example, when you click the page setup section of the status bar, the Page Setup dialog opens.

When you point to an icon on a toolbar or to a menu item, the basic document information is replaced with a short description of the icon or item. This is useful in determining how a specific tool is used or in identifying the tool that corresponds to a particular icon on the toolbar.

In some cases, you may want the status bar to be hidden. To toggle the visibility of the status bar, use one of the following methods:

To switch to Template Design view from Data Entry Form view or to switch between different templates within Template Design view, press F7.