Using PDF templates

Navigation:  Publishing > PDF and Printed Manuals >

Using PDF templates

 Previous pageReturn to chapter overviewNext page

Show/Hide Hidden Text

The layout of Help & Manual's PDF and print manual output is controlled by template files called "print manual templates" with the extension .mnl that do much more than just define the appearance of your pages. These templates can also add front and back covers, multiple title pages at the beginning, an introduction, a formatted table of contents, title pages for individual chapters, graphics, headers and footers, a formatted index and multiple endnotes pages. You can also define your own additional pages and insert topics from your project or external files with a "snippets" function.

All the global variables and user-defined variables from your project file can be used in your print manual templates. Since the templates are external files you can use them in multiple projects, applying them to your output just as you apply skins to HTML-based output formats.

Click to expand/collapseHow to select a print manual template

You can select separate templates for PDF output and printed manuals.

Selecting a print manual template for PDF output:

1.Select Publish in the Project menu, then select PDF as your publishing format.

dlg_mnlselect

2.Click on the dropdown area shown above to select the template you want to use.

Selecting a print manual template for printing a user manual:

1.Select the File menu and click on Print User Manual.

dlg_mnlselect_print

2.Click on the dropdown area shown above to select the template you want to use.
Click to expand/collapseHow to edit a print manual template

•Select Project  > Tools > Manual Designer to open the Print Manual Designer. Then select File > Open in the Designer to open the template for editing. You can find a selection of standard templates that you can edit in the \Templates\pdf folder in the Help & Manual program directory.

The Print Manual Designer is a separate program with its own documentation. See the help in the Designer for details on how to use it.
Click to expand/collapseLocation of the standard print manual templates

Help & Manual comes with a selection of standard print manual templates that are stored in the \Templates\pdf subdirectory in the Help & Manual program directory. These templates have the file extension .mnl.

See also:

Templates and Secondary Windows