Outputting Cards to File

Once we have created our Data Sets, filled them with Card Data, and selected our front and back Layouts, we can finally begin outputting cards to file. There are several ways to do this. We can output the image of a side of an individual card by first selecting a card in the card data grid of the Data Set view and then clicking the "Output to Image" button found in the top right corner of the card preview. We can also output all card images for the entire data set with the "Output All Cards" button found above the card data grid, to the right of the card and field buttons.

Let's click the "Output All Cards", which first asks us for the output parameters. Here we decide what resolution to output cards, whether to include the bleed region, what orientation the output is in, what format the images should be saved in, and what CMYK converter to use, if any.

By default, cards output at print resolution (300 PPI) and include their bleed region, which is what we want since we intend to print these cards. Many card printers require that the card images be upright, which ours already are, so we want the default 0 orientation. They are output as PNG files by default. For this tutorial, we will leave the CMYK converter empty.

Once we have selected our output parameters, we click the "OK" button, and Card Editor asks us for a folder where is should save all of the images. By default this is the root folder, but let's create a child folder inside called "Output" and select it.

If we go into the Output folder, we will now see that it has created images for each card. If the front or back Layout has any Elements that are bound to a Field, then Card Editor will generate a separate image for each card, where the image's filename is the card's Id followed by either "_front" or "_back" as appropriate. If the Layour does not have any Elements that are bound to a Field, then it will only generate one image for it, where the image's filename is the DataSet's Name followed by either "_front" or "_back" as appropriate. In our case, our back side does not have bound Elements, so we only have one "Heroes_back" image.

Now let's switch over to our Location cards and output those. Once again, we will click the "Output All Cards" button, where Card Editor will ask us for the output parameters for these cards.

Note that the 90 degree orientation has been selected by default.

Rotating output cards

Card Editor assumes that cards should be in an upright position for printing. When we have a landscape Layout (that is, a Layout that is wider than it is tall), it will automatically select an orientation that puts it upright. The orientation selected in the output parameters will rotate the final output by that many degrees clockwise, so the top side will be on the right at 90 degrees, on the bottom at 180 degrees, and on the left at 270 degrees. Since we are outputting all of the cards in the Data Set, this will apply to both the fronts and backs of each cards. If we wanted the back sides point in the opposite direction, we can check the "Flip back layout" option, which will rotate the back layout in the opposite direction. This is useful when you want the cards to flip on a different edge.

We can click "OK", select our Output folder we created earlier as the destination, and our Location card will now have appropriate images for printing.

You now know all of the basics of making cards in Card Editor!