Slugger^™ v4.2

A Way to Customize Your Slugs

Document Tracking Software

USING GLUON SLUG CUSTOMIZER

Selecting ‘Slug Customizer...’ in the GLUON Menu brings up the Slug Customizer dialog. This dialog contains global controls plus 4 Tabbed panels: Text, Elements, Fields and Files.

Setting General Slug Behavior Options

Four options appear at the bottom of the Customizer:

Allow Cancel—When checked, users will be able to cancel out of filling in Slugger Specs and User Log In;
User Log In every document—If checked, each time a document is opened, it will require the user to provide a name; Track Documents—When checked, Slugger will create a tracking history for every document.
Tracker Header—When checked, tracking files will contain headers for the fields tracked.

Colors can be set from the list of standard undeleteable Quark colors. Two Font Sizes can be set as well as the Leading and Horizontal Scale for all slug text. Font sizes and Leading are set in points, while Horizontal scale is set as a percent. Text Fitting determines how the Slugger will fit text into the Main Slug box in case of text overflow. Grow Box Up causes the top of the Main Slug box to grow up the page, Grow Box Down causes the bottom of the Main Slug box to grow down the page, Fit Text to Box causes the Size and Leading of the text to shrink in order to fit the existing size of the text box and None allows text to overflow. Care should be taken while setting up your slug when using the Grow Box Up or Grow Box Down selections to avoid Slug elements overprinting other Slug elements or other page elements. Text Inset determines the inset of text from all sides of the Slug box. This is the same as Quark’s Text Inset setting in the Modify dialog’s Text Tab. Number of Columns determines how many columns across the Slug will use. The Tabs / Box radio buttons allow you to set whether the Main Slug box’s columns will be made up of Tabbed text or separate text columns (where text flows from column to column). In the case of Tabbed text, you have two method for setting these tabs. The default method will create evenly spaced tabs to create the number of columns specified. Custom tabs (Main box only) are set by first creating a mockup of the main slug box with all the tabs set as you desire. Use all Left tabs. Others are not currently supported. You can have a different tab setting on each row of your slug. Remember, Slugger will place items into the slug in the order you’ve set in the Fields Tab (see below) so be aware of this as you plan your tab settings. To “teach” Slugger your tab settings, first select the properly tabbed text right before entering the Slug Customizer. At this point, you can check the “Use TABS from selected text” option. If you’ve already done this, then upon saving future modifications, make sure “Use Custom TABS” is checked so they don’t get lost or replaced with defaults. It should be automatically selected by Customizer just in case you don’t. This option only appears enabled when tabs have already been customized.

The Text Tabs

The Text Tabs are where you set the attributes for the text in the Main and Secondary (optional) Slug boxes of your slug. The settings in the Text Tabs are used to set the overall attributes that are individually assigned to specific fields in the Fields Tab. All attributes from Text 1 are assigned to the Main Slug Box. All attributes of Text 2 are assigned and used in the Secondary Slug Box. The Plain and Bold Font are set using the Popup font controls from the fonts currently loaded on the System. The fonts selected here must be loaded on all stations using Slugger. Two

The Elements Tab

The Elements Tab is where you determine which elements will be used in your slug and where these elements will fall on the page. The Element List is the list of all of the elements that are currently unused in the slug. The Slug List is the list of the elements currently in use. An element can be added to the Slug List by selecting the element in the Element List and clicking the button. This moves that element from the Element List to the Slug List. Elements can be removed from the Slug List by selecting the element in the Slug List and clicking the button. This moves the element from the Slug list to the Element list, deleting it from the slug. The button clears all elements from the Slug List except for the Main element.

The elements are:

Main — This is the main slug text box. This element cannot be deleted or not used. It’s the reason you bought Slugger.

Secondary — This is another text box that can contain the same, different or overlapping information as the Main box. Often used as a ‘guide line’ or fonts and images box.

Logo — A logo EPS or TIFF file is placed by the Slugger into this box. The Logo file is selected in the Files Tab. The Logo box should be sized so that the logo file will fit the box at 100% scale with no horizontal or vertical offset. By default an EPS file named “sluglogo” in the Preferences folder within the System folder is used for the logo.

Signoff — An EPS or TIFF file is placed by the Slugger into this box. The Signoff element is intended as a ‘hand sign off’ check off area. The Signoff file is selected in the Files Tab. The Signoff box should be sized so that the Signoff file will fit the box at 100% scale with no horizontal or vertical offset. By default an EPS file named “signoff” in the Preferences folder within the System folder is used for the Signoff element.

Graybar — This is a set of 10 gray swatches ranging from 100% to 10% in 10% increments. The Graybar fits within the Graybar box as set in the Slug Customizer.

Color Chips — These are color swatches of all non-sepa- rated colors used on the page that the slug appears on. The name of the color appears to the right of the color chip in registration color. In addition, a set of CMYK chips can be added to the color chips. The Color Chips are placed starting at the upper left corner specified in the Slug Customizer and grow down and to the right. Be sure to leave enough room in your slug design to accommodate the number of Color Chips expected on your pages.

Positioning the Slug

Slugs can be positioned on the page or in the pasteboard but all elements of the slug must fall entirely within the pasteboard bounding rectangle to avoid crashes. First set the Slug Offset which is relative to the position you choose from the Page Position popup. For instance, if you select Lower Left, offsets will be towards the top of the page and towards the right. As you fiddle with it, it will become apparent by watching the Preview. The Global Slug Position is represented in the preview as a cross-hair. All slug elements are positioned relative to the Global Slug Position.

Global Slug Settings

The Global Slug settings determine positioning and attributes for the entire slug. Inset from determines where the Top and Left of the slug will fall in relation to the location selected from the popup. This position is shown in the page Preview as a crosshair. Bleed is used if your slug is going to overlap the pasteboard. Make sure you give enough bleed so your slug will print. The Customizer will try to calculate this for you. The Auto Center check turns on horizontal auto centering of the slug. With Auto Center on the Left setting of Global Slug positioning is overridden. The Holding Rule check toggles a holding rule around all slug elements except Color Chips. Color Chips are not included in Auto Center or Holding Rule calculations.

Element Settings

When an element is selected in the Slug Element list that element’s settings are displayed in the Element settings area.The Top and Left settings are in relation to the Global Slug,/Page Position settings. Width and Height determine the size of the selected element. Editing these settings causes an update in the page Preview. For the Main slug box there is an additional setting for Border Width. This determines the width of the border put on the Main slug box. A setting of zero will create a borderless box. For the Color Chips element only Top and Left positioning settings are used. The size of the Color Chips is determined by the Rows setting and the number of colors used on the page. The Rows setting sets how many vertical rows of color chips will be displayed. Common settings for Rows are 2 or 4. The CMYK check allows for the inclusion of CMYK chips in the slug.

Preview

The Preview area shows how your slug will look on the page. If a document is open when invoking the Slug Customizer the Preview display will be based on that document’s page size. If no document is open the Preview area will be based on a US Letter size page. As you edit the settings in the Global Slug and Element position controls the Preview will be interactively updated.

The Fields Tabs

The Fields Tabs are where you set which fields are used in the Main and Secondary slug boxes as well as the text and attributes of the fields. Both the Field List and the Slug List contain the possible fields that can be used in a slug. Fields 1 Tab applies to the Main Slug Box and Fields 2 Tab to the Secondary. Fields displayed in Roman type appear in the Slugger Specs dialog and fields displayed in Italic type are special function fields that are calculated at slug update time. On the left is the Field List. This list displays all fields that are not currently used in the slug. To the right is the Slug List. This displays the fields currently assigned to the slug.

A field can be added to the Slug List by selecting the field name in the Field List and clicking the button. This moves that field from the Field List to the Slug List. Fields can be removed from the Slug List by selecting the field name in the Slug List and clicking the button. This moves the field from the Slug list to the Field list, deleting it from the slug. The button clears all fields from the Slug List. The order of the fields in the Slug List determines the order that the fields will appear in the page slug. This order can be changed by dragging list elements up or down. It is usually a good idea to put the longer text fields (Notes, Font list, Color list, Image list, Document Path) at the end of the Slug List as each of these fields have a RETURN after them when the TABS settings is used for Column type in the Text Tab.

By selecting a field in the Slug List you can edit the attributes of that field. The Dialog setting is the text that is shown in the Slugger Specs and/or User Log-In dialogs for the field (See Dialog Tab). This control is not active for special function fields. Special function fields display the function name for the field. There are 3 fields (Notes, User Name (Operator) and Proof #) that are unique in that they are both Dialog fields and have a special function. These 3 fields appear in the User Log-In dialog. In the Fields Tab of the Slug Customizer these fields display their Function name as well as the Dialog setting. The User Name and Proof # fields appear in both the Slugger Specs and User Log-In dialogs. The User Name function field is also used to update the Previous User field.

The Label area is where you set the text and attributes of the label for the field in the page slug. You enter the text that you wish the field to display for its label and set the Font, Color and Size for the label text. The choices here are those set up in the Text Tab.

The Info area is where you set the text and attributes of the info for the field in the page slug. The info is either the text that is entered in the Slugger Specs dialog for dialog fields or the data calculated at slug update time for special function fields. Set the Font, Color and Size attributes for the info text using the popup controls.

Additional Field Options

The Tracked check allows you to turn tracking on for each field (see Tracker Function below). The order that the fields occur in the Slug List determines the order that the fields appear in the Tracker File.

The Fraction check designates any Dialog field as a fraction. When Fraction fields are updated in the page slug any fraction entered in the field (8 1/2) will be formatted as a fraction (8 ¹/2). You should not use the Fraction function on fields that contain a slash that are not fractions, such as dates (6/7/99).

Special Function Fields

Previous User: The User Name the previous time that the file was worked on.

Computer Name: The Network name of the computer of the current work session.

Previous Computer: The Network name of the computer of the previous work session.

Current Date: The date and time when the page slug was last updated on opening, printing or saving the document. Date Created: The date and time that the Slugger Specs dialog was initially filled in.

Print Time: The date and time that the document was last printed. Save Time: The date and time that the document was last saved. File Name: The file name of the document.

Doc Path: The full path to the document including the volume (Hard Drive) and folder names.

Galley #: The page number of the page containing the slug. Handling #: The number of times that the file has been saved followed by the number of times that the file has been printed. (3.2 = Saved 3 times, printed twice)

Font List, Color List, Image List: The fonts, colors or images used on the page containing the slug. The fonts and images of the slug itself are not included in these lists. The Color List consists of non-separated colors only (spot colors).

The Dialog Tab

Any fields you have added to your page slug which require user input are automatically added to the dialog list. You can rearrange the order of this list the same way as with other lists by dragging elements around. The order of the list is the order which will appear in the Slugger™ Specs Dialog. To change the wording in the dialog, edit the Dialog Text on the upper right.

The Use popup menu check allows you to make certain Dialog fields appear with a convenient popup list next to them. These lists are created by Placing Slugger List 1, 2, 3 or 4 in your System Preferences folder or on a specified server as set in the Files Tab (see below). Users can then fill in that field in the dialog by selecting from the pop-up list.

The Required check allows you to make any Dialog field a required field. Required fields must be filled in before the Slugger Specs dialog can be closed.

The Files Tab

The Files Tab is where you select the load and save locations of the files used by Slugger. For each of the file settings the current file or location is listed under the button. If you’ve selected a location for a file and wish to go back to the Default location, simply click the “Use Default Location” button for that item.

Tracking Folder… is the location that all Tracker data will be saved. By default this is a folder named ‘Tracker data’ in the System folder of the machine running Slugger. Click on the Tracking Folder... button to select a new folder. Any local or network mounted folder can be selected.

Logo File… is the file loaded into the Logo element on the page slug. This can be any EPS or TIFF file. The Logo file should be sized so that it will fit the Logo element’s box at 100% scale with no horizontal or vertical offset. By default an EPS file named “sluglogo” in the Preferences folder within the System folder is used for the logo.

Signoff File… is the file loaded into the Signoff element on the page slug. This can be any EPS or TIFF file. The Signoff file should be sized so that it will fit the Signoff element’s box at 100% scale with no horizontal or vertical offset. By default an EPS file named “signoff” in the Preferences folder within the System folder is used for the Signoff element.

Slugger List Folder… is the location that the Slugger XTensions will look for Slugger List 1-4. If you have turned on this option in the Fields Tab, Slugger will look for the proper list first here and then in the System Preferences folder. The files must be named “Slugger List 1, Slugger List 2, etc. and must be basic ASCII text formatted like: text 1, return, text 2, return, text 3, return, etc. They can be created in SimpleText or any word processor. By using a network version of the lists, all users can refer to the same list(s) and a manager need only change it in one place on the net. This is especially good for presenting the user with a pre-defined/approved selection of Job Numbers or User Names.

Buttons

The Factory Settings button allows you to return the Slug Customizer to its default, factory settings. The Test button, active only if there is a document currently open, allows you to test your slug. Any slug information on the front most open document will be deleted. The Slug Settings ARE NOT SAVED when you test your slug. The Cancel button will return all settings to how they were prior to opening the Customizer. The Save button will save your settings to the local Preferences folder as well as the Settings Folder chosen in the Files Tab.

IMPORTANT: Distributing Your Customized Sluggers

When you hit Save in the Customizer, a file called “GLUON Slugger Prefs” is created in your System Preferences Folder (inside your System Folder). In order for another machine to have a custom slug, you must copy this file to that machine’s System Preferences Folder too and place a regular Slugger in the Quark XTension folder. DON’T copy the Customizer. It’s for manager use only and only runs on one machine at a time anyway. When the user launches Quark on that machine, they will now have a customized slug on every document.

Tracker function

If you have enabled the Tracker feature on your Customized Slug then every time you close a document, its Tracker file will be updated and appended. This file is called “Document Name.trk” and resides,by default, in a folder named ‘Tracker data’ in the System folder of the machine running Slugger, or if set in the Files Tab to that designated Tracking folder.

If the Tracking folder is set to a non-local, Network volume and that volume is not available when the document is closed, a temporary tracking file will be created locally. The next time the that file is closed and the Tracking Folder volume is available, the temporary data will be appended to the tracker data on the Network volume.

The tracker file can be loaded in any database software or can be viewed as a text file or in spreadsheet applications.

A sample tracker file, with the Track Header option activated, is as follows: This is a tab-delineated text file which is almost universally accepted in spreadsheets and database programs. Of particular interest is the Time Worked field which can be added up to for billing purposes. This field is added as the final field of all tracker files and does not appear in the Fields Tab of the Slug Customizer

New Documents and Slugless Documents

Whenever the Slugger Customizer sees a document that doesn’t have one of its slugs on it, it behaves just like a normal Slugger and puts up the Slugger Specs dialog. If you don’t wish to have a slug then hit Cancel. Otherwise, fill in the desired fields and the slug will then automatically be created at the bottom of the page. Once a slug is created, it can be resized and moved anywhere.

To remove slugs from documents select Delete Slugs from the GLUON Menu. Be aware that this erases all slug information previously stored with that document.

When QuarkXPress is Launched

Whenever you restart QuarkXPress, Slugger will ask you to verify and/or enter the current operator’s name

IMPORTANT: GLUONS will not operate if the activation procedure is not followed! Please keep the GLUON Activator in a safe place off the network as you may need it again if the System or Quark is reinstalled.

Installation—READ THIS BEFORE USING!!!

Mac: Activate any GLUON by launching the GLUON Activator, provided. This is not necessary for DEMO versions. Place all GLUON Xtensions in the XTension folder inside the Quark folder or in the Quark folder itself. This process must be repeated for each machine upon which you want to use GLUONS.

Win: Double-click the Setup.EXE and follow the prompts.

Preparation

IMPORTANT: FIRST REMOVE ANY OLD VERSIONS OF THE SLUGGER OR SLUG CUSTOMIZER (LEAVE THE SLUGLOGO FILE) AS THIS WILL CAUSE QUARK TO CRASH! Make sure to have the correct fonts loaded in Suitcase. Slugger will substitute Helvetica when these are not present.

IMPORTANT: Don’t run both Slugger and Customizer on the same machine!

Distributing Customized Sluggers

The whole purpose of Slugger Customizer is to create a file called “GLUON Slugger Prefs” (found in your System Preferences Folder) which contains the customization information each Slugger will read at startup. Place this in each machine’s System Preferences Folder at the same time you install regular Slugger to that machine. Don’t distribute the Customizer as it’s only for use by system/production management personnel.

Copyright Notice

Slug Customizer™ and accompanying instructions are copyrighted. You have purchased the right to use this program on the number of machines specified at the time of purchase. It is a felony to distribute copies of Slug Customizer™ in any form without prior written or verbal consent from GLUON, Inc. You may make archival backups of this program for use in accordance with the above copyright notice.

GLUON Slugger™ Copyright ©1994-2000 GLUON,Inc., New York, NY.