i'm having trouble with layers in FusionPro

Hi1

I' having trouble with layers in FusionPro. When I set the variable image to be in the back in FusionPro it stills compose (in FusionPro server) as the top layer. I cannot change the nonvariable graphic-objects in FusionPro.

And If I do set the nonvariable graphicobjects in FusionPro as variable I'm still having a problem because the variable graphics have variabletext that has to be on the top of the variable graphicobject that has to be in front of another variable image object in the back.

I cannot get the layers to work as it should in FusionPro. I like to see some adjustments in feature releases. I want it to look and behave more like Indesigns layeroptions.

All of the static elements from your template PDF are in the background behind all variable elements defined in FusionPro. This is by design and definition. We don't try to "de-compose" the template PDF document to break up any of its elements to make them into variable data. It's just the background; basically, it's a big static graphic at the lowest layer on each page.

If you're starting from QuarkXPress or InDesign, you can simply mark all of the frames in the document for variable export, and then you will be able to change their layers relative to other variable frames. You should be able to place variable frames in any layer order.

If you could post an example of specifically what you're trying to do or what's not working, then I or someone else may be able to offer more specific suggestions.

I think I managed to get my template to work. The problem was that I couldn't get a graphic object that has been created in Adobe Indesign to be a variable graphicfield. The export from Indesign ended up in red square (it was suppose to be a speech bubble)

I had to create a PDF and open the PDF in Adobe Photoshop and save it in right size then add the graphics in Indesign and Export to FusionPro to get the graphic to show up correctly in the FusionPro layer.

Now to next problem. I want the variable graphic layer to be static in my PDF. I only did it variable to get the layers right in the FusionPro PDF. How do I set this option in FusionPro? Do I have to do some rule to get FusionPro to show the image all the time?

We are using DSF (Digital Storefront) at our company and when we create variable data from DSF I cannot get the variable picture to show up at all in the template so I think I have some settings wrong.

I think I managed to get my template to work. The problem was that I couldn't get a graphic object that has been created in Adobe Indesign to be a variable graphicfield. The export from Indesign ended up in red square (it was suppose to be a speech bubble)

FusionPro has its own composition engine, which can't recreate every possible typographical element in Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress, or any other page layout application. When exporting from those apps, FusionPro really only supports "basic" text and graphic frames, and it does the best it can with other more esoteric design elements.

There are competing products to FusionPro which leverage the composition engines of InDesign or QuarkXPress, but they only work with those respective application's documents, not with any arbitrary PDF background like FusionPro does.

However, FusionPro does have a very rich set of typographical features, and the FP Expression integration adds even more.

I had to create a PDF and open the PDF in Adobe Photoshop and save it in right size then add the graphics in Indesign and Export to FusionPro to get the graphic to show up correctly in the FusionPro layer.

This sounds like a good approach.

Now to next problem. I want the variable graphic layer to be static in my PDF. I only did it variable to get the layers right in the FusionPro PDF. How do I set this option in FusionPro? Do I have to do some rule to get FusionPro to show the image all the time?

Yes, you need a very simple rule. You can either use the Switch Wizard to create a rule with just a default value, or you can create a simple one-line Graphic JavaScript rule like so:

return CreateResource("MyResourceFile.pdf");

Or, if you're using a named resource:

return Resource("MyResourceName");

We are using DSF (Digital Storefront) at our company and when we create variable data from DSF I cannot get the variable picture to show up at all in the template so I think I have some settings wrong.

If you have questions specific to the DSF, you'll have to ask the folks at EFI.