Personalize PDF Documents
BACKCLICK lets you personalize PDF documents that will be sent with the newsletter as an attachment. These documents may optionally be protected with a password. You can send documents, invoices, certificates, coupons, filled-out registration forms, or personalized orders, all without having to change the document and its contents for the recipient. Paid services that offer digital copies of a document may be securely assigned to the original recipient. All you need to do is provide a sample (Template) of the item in PDF format to BACKCLICK.
While sending out a newsletter, BACKCLICK will automatically send the right personalized PDF document to the right recipient. The Enterprise Version of BACKCLICK contains this module. If you only bought a Professional License Version, the personalization module may be purchased separately for BACKCLICK.
Those who purchase the BACKCLICK personalization module receive a special license key. This key is to be entered under the menu item “System Administration-> Registry Code.” Once entered, the module is ready to install. If the module is installed correctly, a second entry field will appear for entry of the PDF module’s registration code. If you do not see this field, the installation of the module was either incomplete or incorrect.
To prepare the newsletter samples, you will need Adobe Acrobat Version 5.0 for Windows 98, 2000, XP, and a Plug-in designed especially for BACKCLICK. You will find this Plug-in (PDFlib block Plug-in) as an installable program in the BACKCLICK PDF module you have acquired. You also can download the plug-in from the following website: http://www.pdflib.com/products/pdflib/download/pdflib5.html .
It is important that you use Version 1.x of the Plug-ins. Newer versions do not cooperate to 100% with BACKCLICK personalization. Follow the instructions for installing this program. This software is not necessary for personalization; it only fixes the place and the appearance of the fields for personalization in the PDF presentation (in the Template).
Create the sample for personalized PDF-attachments
In order for you to create the sample,
Adobe Acrobat 5.0 software must be installed on your computer. If this is the case, you can prepare a PDF document from most programs, such as Microsoft Word, Adobe PhotoShop, Quark Express, etc. Using the print function of the program, and select the printer “Acrobat Distiller” or “PDF”. You will then be asked for the name of the PDF file and the location where it is stored. If this file has already been produced, you have to open it in Adobe Acrobat 5.0. After the successful installation of the Plug-ins, you will see a new button. The button is displayed as two-cornered brackets with text included.
Abb. 11.5.1 - Adobe Acrobat - PDFlib-Block-Plugin
Now you must activate the function for inserting the placeholder variables, by selecting the button. Draw a frame where (for example) the subscriber’s last name may be inserted later, by moving the mouse to the desired position. After you have set the size of the block by dragging the mouse, you will see a dialog box marked “PDFlib block qualities.” First, you need to choose a name for this block. PLEASE NOTE: You can only use text and variables as contents for the block name. BACKCLICK will only display the variables in CAPITAL LETTERS.
Abb. 11.5.2 - Adobe Acrobat - PDFlib-Plugin-Eigenschaften
Click on the quality “block name Block_x” first. At that moment, the current name of the block will appear in the lower part of the dialog box. Here you may now type the desired text in the personalized fields. Choose the button “assign” and then “OK.” A double click on the block will re-open the quality window, where you can determine (among other things) the typeface and size. If you now store the document in Adobe Acrobat 5.0, you will have a complete PDF-Template that BACKCLICK can use to produce personalized attachments.
NOTE: Converting is absolutely necessary!
Because there are several versions of PDF formats, it is important to downgrade the template into the “Acrobat 4.0 format.” Use the function “file -->reduce file size” in the Acrobat software. You will be asked what name you want to use to store the optimized version. You may overwrite the original file if desired; no information will be lost.
You can now provide the BACKCLICK server with this document, which you have stored on your local hard disk. Open the administrational interface of BACKCLICK, and switch over to the menu item “newsletter editorial staff > PDF ™Templates & fonts.” An overview of the already available PDF Templates is displayed here. To bring your template into this list now, click on “searching” and specify the location where your PDF file is stored. The path of the file appears in the entry field next to the “searching” button. You then need to click on “upload,” and your new PDF file will be published in the overview. By clicking on the “Preview” icon in the respective line, you may now see a preview of the PDF file. Therefore, you will need a PDF Browser plug-in. This will be installed by Acrobat and Acrobat Reader automatically at every installation.
How to create a newsletter with personalized PDF documents will be described in Chapter Newsletter/Campaign.