Modifying Text Styles

Use this dialog to change settings for one or more text boxes on your document. Access this dialog by clicking a text box, selecting Text > Text Styles, then adding or editing a text style.

Scantron DesignExpert software has a Merge Text Style Control feature that enables you to control the style attributes of text printed from your merge database in addition to controlling it from the merge fields in your form. This feature can be used with merged text in both text and caption text fields.

Depending on the result you want, merge text style can be controlled by the placeholder on the form or by a tag in the database:

  • To get the same text attributes for merged text on all forms, define text attributes in the placeholder on the form.
  • To get different text attributes for merged text on each form, define text attributes in the database.

This feature is available with the MergePrint software utility in addition to the Scantron DesignExpert Merge Wizard.

When text style for a merge field is controlled by the merge field placeholder on your form, the appearance of text printed on every form is the same. For example, if a merge field on your form is defined as Times New Roman, 14 point, then text merge printed on every form for this field will be Times New Roman, 14 point:

Text Attributes

Merge Field Placeholder Examples

Printed Text Examples

Times New Roman, 14 point

{Name}

Allan Barnes

Arial, 12 point, Bold

{Name}

Becky Colter

Times New Roman, 16 point, Bold, Italic, Red, 50%

{Name}

Charles Davis

See Modifying Text Boxes or Modifying Caption Text for details on setting text attributes on placeholders.

When text style for a merge field is controlled by a tag in the merge database, the appearance of text printed on each form can differ.

Text Style Control attributes include Bold, Italic, Underline, Font and Size, Color and Screen percentage:

Text Attributes

Examples

Bold

Allan Barnes

Italic

Becky Colter

Underline

Charles Davis

Font and Size

Denise Edison

Color and Screen Percentage

Elizabeth Garman

These controls can be applied singly or in any combination. For example,

Text Attributes

Examples

Bold, Italic

Allan Barnes

Italic, Underline

Becky Colter

Font and Size, Color and Screen Percentage

Charles Davis

Bold, Color and Screen Percentage

Denise Edison

NOTE: Merge field (placeholder) text attributes Bold, Italic, and Underline override text attribute tags in your database. For example, if your merge field is Bold, your printed text will be Bold even if the <Bold/> tag is not included in your database.

The following chart displays the available text attributes, the tag for each attribute, an example of how the tag is applied in the database for a merge field called "Name" and an example of what the printed results will be with the application of this tag. An explanation of tag formatting requirements follows.

Text Attribute

Tag

Database Example

Printed Result

None

None

Name

Allan Barnes

Bold

<Bold/>

<Bold/>Name

Allan Barnes

Italic

<Italic/>

<Italic/>Name

Allan Barnes

Underline

<Underline/>

<Underline/>Name

Allan Barnes

Font and Size

<Font name: FontName1 size: FontSizeInPoints2/>

<Font name: Times New Roman size: 16/>Name

Allan Barnes

Color and Screen percentage

<Color index: ColorPaletteIndex3 screen: ScreenPercent4 />

<Color index: 2 screen: 100 />Name

Allan Barnes

Bold, Font and Size

<Bold/><Font name: FontName size: FontSizeInPoints/>

<Bold/><Font name: Times New Roman size: 16/>Name

Allan Barnes

Underline, Color and Screen percentage

<Underline/><Color index: ColorPaletteIndex screen: ScreenPercent />

<Underline/><Color index: 2 screen: 100 />Name

Allan Barnes

  1. FontName - Use the exact name of the font as presented in your Font dialog or menu. For example, Times New Roman.
  2. FontSizeInPoints - Use the size of the font you want applied. For example, 14 if you want 14 point type.
  3. ColorPaletteIndex - Use the color index number from the color palette of the Scantron DesignExpert software file being used. 0 = Black, 1 = White, 2 = First Palette Color, 3 = Second Palette Color, 4 = Third Palette Color, and so on. If you reference a color index that does not exist, black will be substituted.
  4. ScreenPercent - Use the screen percentage applied to the text (10% increments, plus 15%). 10 = 10%, 15 = 15%, 20 = 20%, 30 = 30%, and so on.
  • Tags are case sensitive, as shown in the chart above.
  • Tag syntax is as shown in the chart above.

If you need to print a tag that is included in your database, place the tag <Escape> before and after the tag to be printed. For example:

Database Example

Printed Result

<Bold/><Escape><Bold/><Escape> Name

<Bold/> Allan Barnes

  • The Merge Wizard and the MergePrint Utility support Merge Text Style Control with all Scantron DesignExpert supported database types.

Database Type

Merge Wizard

MergePrint Utility

Comma delimited (*.csv) text files

Yes

Yes

Tab delimited (*.txt) text files

Yes

Yes

Microsoft Access (*.mdb) files

Yes

Yes

Microsoft Excel (*.xls) files

Yes

Yes

TIP: See Merge Wizard Overview for additional information about Microsoft Excel database support, including our recommendation to convert Excel files to either comma separated or tab delimited text files.

Text and caption text box sizes are fixed in your design. If you are merge printing either type of text, make sure that the text box is large enough to fit the largest amount of text you expect to merge from your database. If the box is too small, the text that doesn’t fit will be truncated.

CAUTION: If you are merge printing caption text or paragraph text that will be read with the optional RealTime Character Recognition component of Scantron ScanTools Plus software, see ScanTools Help for font recommendations.

This dialog contains the following tabs:

 

Text Styles dialog