2017c Fall Print Catalog

About: ClonedProducing the Practical print catalog (fall 2016)

tag #PrintCatalog

We compose the products
in the catalog in on our web application
db/catalog.php →

#1 …

denise chooses the products and
places them on pages ~~1-12~~ 1-16 (denise added an extra print sheet this year) ← #done

#2 …

to generate the XML structure for print job
composed in InDesign click
db/gen_print_xml_files.php?niche=p →

← #done

Fix parsing errors. After generating stroy_and_pictures.xml (above), special caracters must be removed from the data via db. The file is best audited by viewing the XML file in a browser, Firefox will indicate exactly where the errors be. apparently my famous “...” cannot be used in our product descriptions … they make a character type which when copied from here to speaktomecatalog db barfs when it gets into an XML file.

So edit out all erroneous “copied” character types so that the XML file validates ← #done

#aside: niche “p” contains only the practical products not the fun novelty ones. this is the only print catalog that we have produced for the last couple of years.
#SeeAlso “New Print Catalogs by Niche” and “(private thought)”
perhaps more in niche,print … lots of old history to shuffle through to see what actually happened and stuck. but this does not need to be done right now … er, hopefully.

#3 …

in my local mac drive, create a new directory for the print project
- sethrussell/Google Drive/print projects/niche PT 20YY-MM … here YY=17, MM=09 ← #done
set FTP view called “print catalog XML” to the following ….
- new local directory above ← #done
- public_html/db ← #done
and download story_and_pictures.xml into that local directory ← #done

#4 …

Joson dinks and puts the high resolution pictures in CYMK in our shared Google/My Drive/picture
That directory should sync to my local Google Drive/picture.

Currently they look in sync. ← #done
But if they were not i might have to download. ????

#5 …

load the last inDesign file from it’s google drive directory and #SaveAS in the current one just created in step #3 above. Old directory will probably be in File/Open Recent.
in 2017 new cataloged was saved to
My Drive/print projects/PT 2017-09.indd ← #done

#5a …

4 pages were added in the middle of the document turning the 12 page catalog into a 16 page catalog

← #done

#6 Replace old XML structure with new one

You can see the old structure by clicking View/structure/show structure.

To replace it with the new structure click File/Import XML and let the options show the same as in this picture, and click OK. The new pictures and text will replace the old ones in their respective slots on the pages

← #done

#6a Adding pages and products on a page that were not present in old catalog

Bear in mind that the XML structure in the left panel of the inDesign screen shows the desired structure that is produced by the catalog.php app. The structure of the pages must be changed to correspond. For example to add pages 7 – 10, go to those pages and add text frames. Then add the picture frames as content type graphic.

… then drag from the structure element in the left XML panel to the corresponding structure in the document to apply the content to that element.

← #done

Notes on adding pages and products

Product pages, or product pictures are added to the catalog by …

making a frame in the appropriate place and
selecting whether it is a text frame or a graphic frame: menu object, content, text or graphic
Drag the corresponding page or product text from the XML structure and drop it on the frame.

#7 Now review all the pages and products.

Move things around in the app → http://www.speaktomecatalog.com/db/catalog.php
Make changes to the product text in → http://www.speaktomecatalog.com/db/
Export the new XML file with → gen_print_xml_files.php?niche=p
ftp the XML file back to the local drive with the FTP profile “Print Catalog XML”
Import the revised XML file in the document with “File/Import XML”

… repeat → #done

# 8 Dink pictures ← #done

Your basic dink is ...

select the picture
click fit frame to content
click fit content to frame
move with just arrow keys to new position, or drag yello gadget on right of the frame.

# 9 Review performance of last year’s coupon

← 2015c coupon
Count of use of code “PRINT1” in Tome yields: 15 orders @ $10 each costing us $150 and yielding something in excess of $750. the exact gross is more because people did not just order $75 but would take too much work to calculate.

← in 2016c coupon
Count:

← in 2017c coupon → #done
Count:

# 10 Spellcheck the whole document within the #indesign

Call up the spellchecker: Edit/Spelling/Check Spelling
change spellings in /db
update the document as in #7 (2-5) above

#11 Output Black & White version for press – save in google drive directory

Job sent in email here ← #done
Attaching the PDF file …

→ #done

Proof was sent us as PDF and approved
it looked identical to the one we sent them → #done

#14 Code the neiche in the comment line of each invoice

Hit nicheExport.php to produce a db/niche.txt file that gets FTP’d to denise:c:TOME
Run codeselectivemail.prg on TOME. In 2017 i started this ~ 1:30 and it ran till 3:30 … 2 hrs. ← #done

#15 Generate the mailing database to send to the mailing company

Modify db/labelm.prg according to this ...

*Niche mailing of practical borshire

* count is 5364 before selectivecoding

* after codeselectivemail.prg counted 5706

* moved date up to {^2014-04-01}

* 5706 sent to mailing house 10/13/2017

thismail="#A"

set filter to;

        (empty(media) or "p" $ lower(media));

        and not "x" $ code;

        and not "x" $ media;

        and empty(country);

        and not empty(zip);

        and "p" $ lower(comment);

        and not "$" $ comment;

        and statusdate>{^2014-04-01}

*******************************************************

run labelm to produce the c:\tome\mailing.dbf
mailing.dbf emailed to Eagle Mailing service with job specifications in this email → #done

Eagle Mailing Service
1-800-752-4081
503-393-7260 Fax
www.eaglemailing.com

see old Ray Little’s email archive here

#16 Make a coupon for PRINT3 #done