Frequently Asked Questions

(Note: some references to earlier versions of Word and Windows are present in this file.
FAQs - VISTA and Word 2007 are also covered here.
If you have a question, address to support@printbox.com for coverage here...)

To configure an application to always run elevated

1. Right-click an application that is not likely to have been assigned an administrative token, such as a word processing application.
2. Click Properties, and then select the Compatibility tab.
3. Under Privilege Level, select Run this program as an administrator, and then click OK.

Note:
If the Run this program as an administrator option is unavailable, it means that the application is blocked from always running elevated, the application does not require administrative credentials to run, the application is part of the current version of Windows Vista, or you are not logged into the computer as an administrator.

AddInTools.com promises to "Bring back the familiar menus and toolbars of Office 2003 to your copy of Microsoft Office 2007", and this is pretty much what it does. Classic Menu actually adds a menu item to Word 2007 where you can access the old familiar Word 2003 menu items. You could look at it as training wheels for Word 2007, but we use it a lot...

MORE ON UAC...
(VISTA provides an additional level of security by implementing this feature. PrintBox tells you how to set our products on VISTA machines, but for those who find UAC really beyond the pale, here is a memo on how to "tweak" and even disconnect some features).

cL1cKm3.exe

10:27pm Fri Feb 2 2007

UAC is a good feature but sometimes it is necessary to tweak it a little so that it is less annoying for more experienced users. For example, an advanced user may be overwhelmed by the number of pop up authorization they receive. By tweaking the settings they can reduce the number of those they see as well as completely disable UAC. Although I do not recommend you completely disable UAC, you can fine tune it to be easier to get along with.

1. To get started, open up the Local Security Settings MMC to show the local security policies by running secpol.msc.

2. Navigate through Local Policies and Security Options.

3. Scroll through the list on the right of the various security settings until your reach the User Account Protection settings. Refer to the list below of the various settings, to change them, just right click and select Modify. Items in bold are the default values.

* User Account Control: Admin Approval Mode for the Built-in Administrator account
o Enabled
o Disabled
* User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode
o Elevate without prompting.........<---select this one so you dont have to answer for every thing you execute which is the main annoyance imo
o Prompt for credentials
o Prompt for consent
* User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for standard users
o Automatically deny elevation requests
o Prompt for credentials
* User Account Control: Detect application installations and prompt for elevation
o Enabled
o Disabled
* User Account Control: Only elevate executables that are signed and validated
o Enabled
o Disabled
* User Account Control: Only elevate UIAccess applications that are installed in secure locations
o Enabled
o Disabled
* User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode
o Enabled
o Disabled
* User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation
o Enabled
o Disabled
* User Account Control: Virtualize file and registry write failures to per-user locations
o Enabled
o Disabled

Q: Why am I getting a "Time Out" error message when I try to print in the background?

A: A search of the internet reveals that a Ukranian user reported this problem to Microsoft several months ago (http://www.tutorials-win.com/WordVBA/solution-Word/). . Here is how he solved the problem - he did not have his name shown on his copy of Word 2007, nor his initials. He added both, and voila! Problem solved...

A: There is no short answer, but we are happy to read in Woody's Office For Mere Mortals that all the Word 2003 shortcuts still work (now don't tell me you never use shortcuts):

ORDERING FORMS
Q: I ordered 1,000 tickets but I messed up the first 20 sheets. Help!

A: Don't do that! TMpro provides a SAMPLE checkbox on the Number Selector Screen. Always print a sample before you select numbers! And if you are doing the tickets for someone else, always show them the sample, and have them initial the changes -- that is just a rule learned the hard way, make it yours. PrintBox always ships extra stock with your order so you can verify how the sheet must feed into your printer. If in doubt, draw an arrow in pencil at the top of a sheet indicating Front Top and print it. Put a Post It Note on your printer so you remember for next time.

Q: I thought you said we could imprint the back of our tickets. We keep getting numbers on the back. What's wrong?

A: Yes we provide a form for you to imprint the back of your tickets. Those forms are located in the Backups directory. That process is not automated. There are no functions in TMpro to do that job. Here is how to use the appropriate Backups Form: Use File>Open to go to your Tickets directory (usually at c:\program files\microsoft office\office11 (or 10)\tickets) and look for the Backups directory. Each form is numbered -- style01, style02... -- open the form you want to use. Enter your copy on the topmost ticket area, then copy and paste it into all other ticket areas. Save it as MyBackup1.doc or whatever, and test it. Revise if necessary. When ready, put your paper into the printer tray -- be sure BACK of form is imprinting, then select the number of Pages you want to print, just like you would with a copier. Total pages would be based on tickets per page, and total quantity of tickets. Remember, always test until you have it right Before Printing!

(LIGHTS UP FORUM)
Q: What is the difference between a venue and a performance?

A: As far as Lights Up is concerned, there is no functional difference. Commonly a venue refers to a facility, and a performance to a particular event in that venue. But for Lights Up, every performance is a new deal. It makes no difference where the performance is held, whether it is the same facility or another one -- every performance is unique. Seats for Tuesday night have no connection whatsoever to seats for Thursday night, etc. Information on each performance stored in its own database.

Q: We have some graphics on our ticket, and our printer is choking on them. What do I do?

A: Do not insert your graphic in the ticket. Instead, choose Insert | Picture | From File, then right-click on the Insert button and choose Link To File. This will not paste multiple copies of your graphic into your tickets which dramatically increases file size of your completed ticket print file. Link To File will go get the file as needed, thereby keeping file size down.

Microsoft has two solutions for this problem -- you pick:

Method 1: Turn Off Drawing Canvas When You Insert AutoShapes

To prevent Word from automatically creating a drawing canvas when you insert AutoShapes, follow these steps:

1.	On the Tools menu, click Options.
2.	In the Options dialog box, click to clear the Automatically create drawing canvas when inserting AutoShapes check box on the General tab.

Method 2: Change the Wrapping Style

To change the wrapping style of the drawing canvas, follow these steps:

1.	Click the drawing canvas. Notice that the Drawing Canvas toolbar appears.
2.	On the Drawing Canvas toolbar, click Text Wrapping, and then click any wrapping style other than In Line With Text.

(Full details at microsoft.com/kb/292155 (WD2002: Error Message: Word Found Locked Fields During Update.)

***

Your printing is dependent upon your printer. When you select File>Print Preview, Microsoft Word shows you what it thinks your page will look like when printed. Sometimes the printer driver furnished by Microsoft may not be the current driver, so check the site of your printer manufacturer to be sure you are using the up to date driver. Also, see "Just Installed TMpro 11" topic below for explanation of default paper sizes. To change any margins or position of your selected ticket style, you can go to tickets/format directory and open any style; change margins, then use File>Save to make change permanent (if you change your print file which is named 'Mytkt.tmp' that will change margins for that session only!).

We have made some changes in templates and older samples may not work correctly. Here is what you do: when you see the Open screen with samples, press Cancel. You will be served up with a new blank ticket. Enter your copy (or cut and paste into this new space). Then press TktSave, and TktPrint. Your new ticket should now be formatted correctly.

If you wish to use specific fonts which are not part of the standard Microsoft release as shown under Format>Font, you should embed them into your ticket. This is a Word option which can be defined and applied automatically.

To Embed Fonts Within A Word Document, go to Tools>Options>Save Tab and check 'Embed True Type Fonts'.

For more background information on font portability, see http://www.microsoft.com/typography/embed/embed.aspx

Important Summary of Installation Details:

We look for the file "winword.exe" to locate your new Tickets folder.

If you have more than one version of Word on your machine, we use the first one. This could be a problem (you may still have an Office 10 directory, yet you have upgraded to Office 11), and you may have to Search for winword.exe yourself and locate your Tickets folder there manually, or run tmpro11.exe and change the definition by selecting the correct directory.

When you run "Tickets" from File>New but do not find Tickets listed, look under Tools>Options>File Locations and select UserTemplates (third item down). Be certain that it is set to the same location where you found normal.dot!

Word will sometimes point to another location, and that can be a problem which you must fix.

Finally, make certain that you have set Security to LOW. Word cannot run any macros unless Security is set to Low. Word does no checking for viruses whatsoever, so you are not compromising your machine.

Also, if you do not see file extensions (if you see tickets instead of tickets.dot), go to Start>Control Panel>Tools>File Options>View and set Hidden Files and Folders to 'Show All Files', and be sure the next checkbox -- 'Hide File Extensions for Known File Types' is UNCHECKED.

To use TMpro, open Word and go to File>New.
Select tickets.dot from Templates On My Computer or General Templates
When Tmpro Ticket Selector opens, select vstyle08 as a test.
When Open screen appears showing all sample style8 tickets, select ORIB.tk8.
Press Footprints on Tmpro Floating Toolbar.
From Tmpro Number Selector, select 40 quantity as a test.
You now have the file mytkt.tmp on screen. Inspect number sequence to see how Tmpro keeps your numbers in sequence after being cut.

NOTE; If you base your ticket on a sample, please run a test to be sure that the sample size agrees with the current version of the ticket you are using -- if you have older tickets which may have been created with an obsolete style, the formatting could be wrong. To verify that, when you see the Open screen showing the list of samples, press Cancel. You will be served with a new blank which is the correct size. You can copy and paste any text or graphics into this blank ticket (how could this occur? Some ticket styles have been updated, and less popular styles have been replaced with more popular versions).

Q. WE KEEP GETTING THE MESSAGE: "Opening this document will run the following SQL command: ..." WHY IS THIS, AND WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT IT?

Search their Knowledge Base for "SQL commands in Word". Microsoft implemented this "feature" in Word 2003 to make the product more "secure". If it is really bugging you, here is the workaround (but they don't recommend it! -- go figure...):

Q. I CLEANED UP SOME OF YOUR TEMPLATES
but now they don't work...
A. Thanks! Here is the url to download a clean copy. If you set the template tables to Center, or if you gave the tables a "Preferred Width" all Heck will break loose. You may not notice it when you run TktPrint but you sure will if you run ObjectPrint. Custom tables have to be set from 0/0, that is from upper left position, and if you give them fixed widths, they will try to squoosh everything into that area -- 'nuff said?

TROUBLE WITH BORDERS
Q. Sample attached. What's wrong?
A. The ticket style you are using doesn't have room for borders. We put a text box in the ticket area and put your text inside it. See corrected sample attached.
Moral: Word will get confused if you add borders where there really isn't room to put them. Also we use a routine called ObjectPrint which does it's best to duplicate anything you enter, but even it can get confused.

HOW MANY WORDS?
Having problems with TMpro? Been working on a document a long time? (it doesn't have to be in TMpro -- this applies to any Word project). If you run into an error when running Word which takes you back to the desktop, use Ctl_Alt_Delete in Windows 98 and check for other copies of Word. If any are open, close them before continuing. In Windows XP, pressing Ctl_Alt_Delete will bring up a list of Processes where you can check for other instances of Word. Moral: be sure you are only running one copy of Word!

"Character-From-Paragraph Styles"
Word 2002 has the ability to create styles on-the-fly, as documented in Woody's Office Watch, a popular free newsletter on things Microsoft. Woody's reviewers state that it is a feature of Word 2002, but it has problems (i.e. it's buggy). TMpro 11 addresses those problems by providing not one, but two methods of creating your print file: 1) PrintObject and 2) TktPrint. If you have problems with styles, try Option 1. It has it's own problems, but it will copy the most customized styles faithfully.

"Downloaded your TMPRO 11 last night, and when I get the print file -- mytkt.tmp -- some of the borders are messed up but it prints OK. Why?"
Two things - Your printer driver may not be updating your display. Press File>Print Preview to force it to update. Second thing is we had to go to an object-oriented model in order to be compatible with Windows XP. Everything is an object -- in our case, cells. Some of them may appear to be blocking others on Windows 98 machines.

"Why is the screen flipping around when we go to print?"
See above -- we are throwing around pieces of your ticket into a formatted new document. The good news is that your formatting will be more reliably preserved when we finish creating your print file. There were some problems in earlier versions caused by styles.

Editor's Note: TMpro11 questions are shown below. Many of the questions and answers are valid for all versions of PrintBox products, and for many print formatting problems regardless of your application.

"Those inkjet cartridges are expensive! Any thoughts?"
Yes. If you operate an H-P brand inkjet, immediately set your Printer Preferences to Draft Mode. Printing speeds up dramatically and ink consumption is cut by at least 1/3 (this will not work with Epson, whose Draft Mode is bad for final printing). Another option: you can now buy a laser printer (and a fast one) for $99. We use two USB cables and go back and forth as the need arises.

"What kind of a printer should I buy?"
This is normally a question you should ask Cousin Tommy or whoever is the family expert, but I'll give it a try -- compare Speed, Resolution, Dependability, and (something Tommy might not tell you) Capacity -- 250 sheet capacity is almost a necessity if you are going to do serious work. Although HP remains the Resident King around here, we are looking at Epson because so many of our users now own them ... more later (UPDATE: we looked at Epson and HP is still King in our neck of the woods. 'Nuf said?)

One more thing -- check out the ink and dye technologies and how they effect your final output. Remember that the type of paper you are using can have a dramatic effect on your results. Trying to save a buck? OK, but watch out for some of those rebuilt ink cartridges!

"That pesky Office Assistant is driving me nuts ... how do I kill it?"
That would be illegal -- and morally wrong! But you can choose not to use the little guy. Right click on the strange looking thing to get a dialog box; select the Options tab, uncheck the box entitled Use Office Assistant. You can temporarily dispatch it by selecting it and pressing delete, where it will disappear into the menu strip at top.

"We started to run TMPRO, but we got this message about macros and how they might be dangerous?"
That would be Microsoft, telling you that viruses can be spread by macros. They can also be spread by .exe files, .com files, .bat files, scripting files, Excel files, Outlook files. Our advice ma'am or sir? Get a good Virus Checker and keep its .dat files up to date -- set it to run automatically, and DO NOT OPEN files you receive as attachments to e-mail unless you are expecting them.. But then again, a meteorite could get you overnight, and you won't have to worry anymore.
By the way, if your machine is not set up to recognize file extensions, you'll never know what hit if you if you do open a file containing a virus. See Trouble Shooting page for details on how to set your machine correctly.
Moral: Macros are a good thing when they come from trusted sources. PrintBox products are subjected to three different types of scans -- by us and by our distributor which uses two of the major security firms in the world.

"AARGH! Lines keep jumping around!"
If your ticket does not look right after pressing the TktPrint button, it is probably because a hidden earlier format is being applied -- which helps you not at all. Try this: move your text out of the ticket (or stub) area and draw a textbox in the cell. Put your text into the textbox and select Send Behind Text in the Draw | Order menu. Select the edge of the textbox again and use Insert | Bookmark to assign the bookmark TKT1 to the textbox. Your text will remain as you specified, free of automatic (and unwanted) style applications. Thanks Ann, for suffering for us.

"AARGH! Lines still keep jumping around!"
Look in Format>Styles with your final print document on screen. Go to Modify and select Paragraph. If you had say, Headline2 defined as Centered, Red in your ticket, then change Headline2 to Centered here. You will see all your ticket change to Centered after leaving Styles. But first, to fix your font color, select Font, and change the color from Automatic to Red. When you leave style, all instances of Headline2 will change to the desired settings.

"HELP! Install is crashing!"
If a PrintBox install file is crashing, search for the file INSTALL.DLL and if found, rename it as INSTALL.OLD -- it is usually in the Windows Temp folder.
Another program may have created this file earlier in a format which we do not recognize. We are modifying our install software so this will not occur in the future. (Thanks to Malachy who just wouldn't give up.)

"Just installed TMpro11. Why are the TKTMKR forms printing all the way to the top of page?"
If you are using your own paper, you can print to top of page -- in fact you will have to using the five or ten-up format on most inkjet printers. If you have a laser printer you can adjust top margin of some top margins downward -- also reset the page size from 11.3 to 11".
In order to fit five or ten tickets on a page, we have to use every line we possibly can. Inkjet printers have a rather wide bottom margin, hence the narrow top margin setting.

"I can't install TMpro. I am using Word 2000."
(New defaults have been added to installation for TMpro11 to make installing mostly a matter of clicking the OK button.)
Sometimes we can't find the template directory in Word 2000, especially if you still have some old Word 97 files on your machine. Here is how to fix that: go to Tools|Options|File Locations and write down the EXACT path for User Templates (third option) and Startup Directory (last option). Double-click the Modify button to see the full path in blue.
When you install, browse for the location requested using the light gray browse button at right of file box (it's hard to spot).
If all else fails, you can move any or all of the three TMpro components using Explore from your desktop.
Your Tickets directory should be located under the defined Word documents folder; PrintBox directory should be under the defined Word User Templates folder, and Global.tkt (the file) should be in your Word Startup folder.

"What is wrong with the three-up ticket? When we print a sample, the number text is squashed over to the right."
Sure looks that way, doesn't it? If you use real numbers you will see that Word actually did its best with type too big to display the entire VOID text, which would appear on samples. Check it out by selecting and printing 10 tickets. You will see that real numbers actually do fit.

"Why aren't trim marks visible at top and bottom of sheet?"
That's because marks may not print at top and bottom --we are using the maximum sheet possible and in many cases we are using the unprintable area of the sheet as the margin of your ticket (and those aren't trim marks -- trim marks are positioned away from the final trimmed piece. They never show. We are using tick marks, which are small marks which are visible on the finished sheet -- unless you're so good you can split the mark with your paper cutter!).

"I tried your new ticket styles where the top ticket is supposed to be settable to the top of the paper -- it doesn't measure 2-1/2" -- too high. What's going on?
Yep, you're right. Here is what is happening: if you are not using the color bars (those narrow panels and top and bottom of each ticket), you can delete the top color bar which will push the ticket up. Just don't forget to resave the Format directory template. Additionally, you can define your top margin to very narrow. Your printer will complain, and you can't put type at the very top of the ticket, but it works!
If you are using the color bars, we would recommend that you leave the top margin at 0.5" -- when cutting, cut on the small side marks, then set your cutter back gate to 2-1/2", and turn that top stack around and trim to 2-1/2". Same with the bottom.
NOTE: If you are taking your tickets to a copy shop for cutting, it is a good idea to mark up your sample with pencil lines so they can see that you want all tickets 2-1/2" in height. Also, ask them to rubber band each stack! You can print this page and take it with you (a marked-up sheet is available via e-mail upon request).

"I used your 10-up form and everything was fine until I went to print. Then I get a message every page that says my margins are too wide. How do I get rid of that message?"
When the Print screen appears, go to Properties and set paper size to Custom. Select 11.3" for the height of the form. You won't see the message again.

"Can I change font orientation between stub and ticket? "
Yes. We now handle orientation so that you can switch orientation from stub to ticket without problems.

"How do we include logos for all our sponsors?"
It is possible to customize a ticket so that logos can be contained in separate cells. This requires that you define a new View template and a new Forms template. We can provide assistance to volume users in creating custom forms. If you want to try it yourself, be aware that View and Form cells should be exactly the same, and that Bookmarks for multiple cells must be redefined to include those cells!

NOTE: When you format a picture, be sure that vertical setting is from Paragraph -- not from Page. It is formatted from Page, all four of your images will appear piled on top of each other (and it looks like they didn't copy at all).

(Note on Topic Help! I've just lost all my templates! )
This problem is now behind us for TMPRO8 and TMPRO7. The solution described in the next topic below still works for earlier versions, but we no longer read the Environment variables when opening TMPRO unless there is no defaults.dat file. That means that if your settings are good in Tools|Options|File Locations, they'll be good when you leave TMPRO -- gu-aran-teed! Most people would like to see Documents set to say, Office, or WinWord, but some people want to use MyDocuments or whatever. To see your standard Word templates, you must have UserTemplates set to \Templates -- that's the one above main Word directory (Microsoft Office usually). Our third setting -- Workgroup Templates can be anything you want, but it is not recommended that you use the same directory as UserTemplates.
So if you see something you don't like in the behavior of Word, delete defaults.dat from your Tickets directory, set the Locations as you want them, and thereafter we'll set the environment back exactly that way whenever you leave TMPRO.

(Still more on Help! I've just lost all my templates!)
After we implemented the solution described above, an alert user of TMPRO for Word 7 reported she could still bomb the new version. Sure enough, there was a way. We closed that door for good on 12.18.98. No, I won't tell you where the problem was -- too embarrassing. Keep at it -- there is fame and riches awaiting any user who reports a problem!

Will your new version overwrite my old files?
In most programs, a new install will only overwrite files which have a timestamp earlier than the new version. As in all cases, back up any file you have created which you want to save. But recall that newer versions may behave differently that older versions, particularly when there is a primary number change (version 7 to version 8, etc.). As far as Views and Forms are concerned, you can modify most anything in PrintBox products providing you do your homework -- see the utilities in the Utes directory, and read the Help files!

Help! I've just lost all my templates!
No you haven't! And stop sniveling! Go to Tools|Options|File Locations and set User Templates to Templates ( if in Word 6, your general templates are in Template). Your normal templates will then reappear.
This can happen if you do not use the Exit button in PrintBox products -- actually newer versions do not even require that -- just exit any way you like and we will restore your normal environment.
You have probably noticed that the PrintBox interface defines just that type of product you are working on -- we do this by temporarily setting the environmental variables in Tools|Options|File Locations. When you are done, we set everything back to normal -- normally.

I'm planning to become a PrintBox Associate. Lots of my customers don't even have computers and we want to produce 10-up cards using your PbTen Plus. Problem is styles don't end up the same as I defined in the View card. What to do?
Here's what to do: go to Tools|AutoCorrect|AutoFormat AsYouType Tab. Uncheck box that reads, Define styles based on your formatting. No, I'm not a genius. I finally printed out the Styles Help topic. I've had the same problem for months, and finally found the answer. Please read the topic carefully, and you may want to set it back after any PrintBox session. We will probably automate that capability as a toggle, but not now.

I can't receive your attachments to me. I have AOL.
Some AOL email accounts won't accept attachments because the AOL option to block attachments is turned on. To turn it off:

1) Bring up your AOL client software.
2) Keyword "Mail Control."
3) Click on "Go To."
4) Click on "Edit."
5) Click the "Block attachments to Mail" box to de-select it.
AOL mail gateways do not block mail attachments.

I thought your software was free -- aren't there time locks and usage locks on your software?
The short answers are Yes, and Yes. The long answers are: the license to use our software is free -- we are not giving you the software -- we own it, or rather our stockholders own it. Products like Linux and now Netscape Communicator make their source code available, and we will do that as well for PrintBox Associates. Ask us about it.
The second answer is: We release a new version of TMPRO every 90 days -- we add new examples, we modify the program to make it faster and more usable thanks to your feedback, and we introduce new forms. When your time lock expires, it's time to download the new version. As for usage locks, we designed proprietary forms to go with each PrintBox product. Essentially, when you're out of forms, you're out of software. Can you just download another copy? Yes, but check out our forms -- we have new ones all the time (see NEWS), if you don't see what you want, ask us about it, and we often have special offers. Whew!

We are running 30,000 using Tmpro2 Professional Series. When we start printing, we get the message "copy printing outside margins of Section ***. Do you want to continue?". We don't want to press the Yes button every page!
Go to File | Page Setup and select margins. Extend your bottom margin. Then go to page size and extend the page length (if set to 11.3, go to 11.5). Now try printing. You normally will not experience that problem with cassette-fed printers such as laser printers. If you do, you cannot change the 11" length unless you are printing from the top tray -- even then you may get a complaint about page size. If you are printing a custom ticket, you may have to change your layout to a slightly narrower ticket if your printer will not handle your layout. Remember, all printing is printer dependent. A job created on one printer may need modification to print on another printer!

We are using gif files. Selecting Picture Placeholders to speed up printing doesn't work -- pictures still visible.
Uncheck Drawing option and check Picture Placeholders. Pictures should then become invisible on screen. Two other tips on printer speed: use Economy Mode when printing, and select the TMPRO2 modules which print with oversize numbers. Be sure to define graphics larger than normal when using Economy Mode -- this compensates for the lower resolution when Speed Printing.

I went to use the landscape cover form and all heck broke loose -- form looks completely corrupt...form ended up on two pages, nothing in place.
We have fixed that problem in currently posted version. There were a couple of things happening which deserve mention: The landscape forms can cause a cell to be pasted into the form, not into a bookmark (an existing cell) within the form. This will move everything down, and generally make a mess. We redefined the bookmarks -- something you can try if your ticket has knocked out a bookmark, or was mis-defined (stub should be spelled in CAPS, and tkt should be TKT -- bookmarks are case-sensitive). Also in the landscape forms, depending on your printer you can have spill-over onto a second page. We have defined the landscape forms more conservatively so that they will fit on a page when most popular printers are being used.

I can't put graphics and text over each other on the ticket. How do I do that?

Yes, you can. First, insert your graphic, before adding text!. To bring a graphic in From Clip Art (option in Insert|Picture), use Insert, then right click on the the picture or use Format|Object. In the Format Picture|Position Option, be sure that the Float Over Text box is unchecked. Your graphic will then move into place so you can size it, etc. If you use From File option in Insert|Picture, you will not have to go through the right click procedure.

Note: look at the colors options in Format Picture. You can define the picture as a watermark so that it will not interfere with your text.

Now you have your graphic in place. Next, select the cell where you want your text, normally the ticket area, and create a textbox. Enter your text and format it. Then right click on the textbox and select Format Textbox. Under Position tab, set horizontal to Column and Vertical to Paragraph. Set Wrapping to None, and set Colors/Fill to No Fill and Lines to Line/Color No Line. The purpose of these settings is to set the textbox to invisible, so only your text appears -- you can achieve special effects by modifying these settings, but not in this lesson.

These settings will copy your textbox down the page. If you have only one ticket across, that is fine. If you have more than one ticket across, such as the landscape formats and the multiple forms such as 8up, the text boxes will copy OK, but they will pile up on the first column and they must be moved manually. This is a limitation of the text box definitions, but if you have more than a few tickets to print, these moves will require only a few minutes.

Here is the procedure: select the numbers and quantity you wish and press OK. You will create the file mytkt.tmp, where the text boxes appear only in the first column. Close mytkt.tmp and do not save. The file format.tmp will now be visible on screen. Make your moves by right clicking on the textbox and dragging it (you will get a drop down menu -- dispatch it by pressing ESC). If you have trouble aligning the textboxes, you can use the horizontal settings to set each box exactly where you want it. Now go to Tools MailMerge and select Merge. Press OK for a new document. Your corrected file will now appear on screen, ready to print, and complete with the numbers you requested..

NOTE: Some samples have been provided in TMPRO, usually graphicsdemo.ht1 and graphicsdemo.tk8..

I tried your two-stub ticket. When the full sheet is created, a couple of the lines are not centered, even though my original is centered. How come? What do I do about it?**

First, go the cell with the problem and select the entire cell. Then select Format|Paragraph and select left indent of 0.3" (or other indent as specified below). Then go to TktPrint. If that fixed the problem, here is what is going on: when you change indents in the middle of a paragraph, Word will revert to default setting as shown in Style, not the Paragraph alignment! Although it may not have been apparent, you probably did change indents in the middle of the paragraph.

As for indents -- our two-stub ticket plays some games with margins which could bite you in the foot. The first stub has right indent set to 0.3", no left indent. Second stub has no such special setting -- choose whatever you wish. The ticket itself is set to 0.3" left indent. The net effect is to make the unprintable left and right margins appear to be part of the ticket. That is the long answer!

Ok, ok -- select the text in the troublesome cell and reset the alignment: first to flush left, then flush right, then to its final desired orientation.. Alignment sometimes acts a little funky. Some thing when you use the orientation feature in Word 97 -- great feature, but sometimes cranky (yeah, particularly if one doesn't understand Style settings -- see Style topic at top!).

You can modify the templates located in your Format directory by physically pasting exactly what you want in each cell. You must then break the connection between vstyle* and style* by first opening your vstyle template (in the Tickets directory) and using insert>bookmark, and delete all bookmarks. Now when you run TMpro, nothing will be pasted or copied into your style template -- only the numbers will merge. The text you put into the style template will not change!

We had a couple of problems installing TMPRO for Word97. What do you mean by 'OK to install Tickets'? Also, we got a report that the install program couldn't find Word97.
We solved this over the phone, and it deserves notice. We are asking for the location of your Templates directory, normally at the same level as Office. When you installed under Office, you got a template directory that Word couldn't find. Also, your system did not contain the file of97spec.ii, a common product of installing Microsoft Office. If you don't have such a file, create a dummy file by that name with Notepad. Then reinstall TMPRO.

Well, they aren't all different -- here is the history: when we added tickets on card stock to TMpro our commercial customers were cutting the tickets to size using paper cutters. To minimize cutting, we set the top margin to 0.1" or even 0.0" so that no top margin cutting was required -- just set the tickets in the cutter and start chopping to 2-1/2" high.
Now that we offer card tickets perforated in both dimensions, there are top and bottom margins stub of 1/2", so page settings will show top margin of 1/2". Still awake?
(The utilities macro located in utes directory will set all 8-1/2" forms to whatever you wish -- the hardtkts forms (7" x 11") should be set manually to fit the type of form you ordered).
NOTE: SEE NEWS FOR A LISTING OF NEW TICKET FORM S

We just downloaded the Word 97 version of TMPRO. The names of the tickets are not showing fully in the opening Ticket window, and after I saved my ticket, I couldn't find it again.
The default path may be so long, there is not room enough for you to see the full name. The names do appear at the bottom left of the screen, and we plan to fix that soon. About not finding a ticket, it is probably saved under the Tickets directory, which is not good. When you save, be sure Tickets\Files directory is selected! That should be automatic, but sometimes it is stopping at Tickets. We'll fix it. (Fixed circa 11/98)

We want to center a graphic in the stub portion of a TMPRO cover, but it always prints at the left margins. What now?
We had the same problem with the baseball sample in the landscape cover. The problem was that the Format Version (CVL) was using a left margin setting for the stubs, and the centering attribute applied to the View was not being copied. This can happen with graphics. Here is how to fix it: go into the Format directory and open the format version of your ticket. Set the stub to Center for all four tickets, save the form and close it. Now print your ticket. You can leave the stubs attribute set to center for use with text later, because formatting attributes of text will copy but attributes applied to graphics will not! If you need to change it later on, you know what to do.

I keep getting File Not Found errors when I try to set up TMpro. Help!
Sounds like you may not be displaying file extensions within Word. To check it out, close Word, and any other programs you may be running. From the desktop, select the EXPLORE icon (If you have no Explore icon, move the cursor to the START button and click on the mouse right button. Select PROPERTIES, then EXPLORE). Pull down the View Menu within Explorer and select OPTIONS. The View Tab should already be selected. Look for the middle checkbox at the bottom of the tab "Hide MS-DOS file extensions …" Uncheck the box, then select OK and exit. When you re-open Word, your file extensions should be visible, and TMpro should be able to find them.

TMpro reset my File Locations after a power outage. What's going on?
We set locations back to original values normally. If you abort session it is possible that we didn't get the chance to reset. For TMpro version 5.0 and earlier, you can set manually by opening with New Document. Go to Tools/Options/File Locations. Default settings for Documents is My Documents in Win 95, WinWord in Windows 3.x. Default setting for User Templates and Workgroup templates is Templates in Windows 95, Template under WinWord in Windows 3.x. The beta version of TMpro version 5.1 contains a UTES subdirectory. The UTILITIES template contains macros which will allow you to set these values for emergency use. A RESET macro will reset your computer to the original values (download the beta version to test these features. The Utilities will be shipping with TMpro forms soon). UTES now shipping -- 12.17.98, and TMPAGE still works. TMPRO8 no longer prints using definitions set in TMPAGE, but it is very handy to redefine margins for all forms when you change or setup a printer!

While I was creating a complex ticket, I got a message 'GDI Error' and then only a second partial message. I have lots of memory, what's up?
Either Windows 95 or Word (or both) have been grabbing memory and not giving it back. Multiple sessions will sometimes exhaust the GDI Resource space. To keep on eye on this, open the Resource Meter from Program / Accessories. It will present a four-bar green box on the taskbar, and will warn you if memory drops into that bottom bar. Save and close down both Word, and Windows, and reopen to continue (you can setup the Resource Meter to display whenever you open Word -- see your Windows help file).

When I ran a sample of a ticket, only the ticket portion appeared on the sheet, no stub.
Go the View template (prefix "v") in the Ticket directory and open the template. Check bookmarks using the GoTo button. If your entire cell is not selected, then exit the Bookmark Dialog Box and select the entire cell. Then reopen Bookmarks, and highlight MasterStub and select the Add button. This will overwrite the bookmark selection, which was only copying a blank bookmark instead of the cell contents. Follow the same procedure if you have problems with a ticket portion of a view template. Do not alter the Form template in the Form directory.

I just ran a ticket sample, and some of the text is missing. How come?
Check the bookmark in the ticket. You may have added a graphic element or something which moved the cell definition. Remove the bookmark (either MasterStub or MasterTicket) and select contents of the cell, then redefine the bookmark. That should do it. Try running your sample again Your problem should not affect bookmark definitions in the view templates (v files) nor the format templates in the format directory because your ticket is an instance of the view template. You can change your own ticket all day long without effecting the view template itself.

Why are there borders around the "view" templates ... the text entry screens? Won't those print?
No. The borders are merely so you can distinguish easily between various formats. If you select a border or a shading for any portion of your work, then they will appear in the finished job. We also highlighted views in color on some forms which print on the back of TMpro forms -- these will not print either. You can only get get color bars by specifying color for the narrow row at top of the stub form. If available on your form, that will print on all tickets.

We've been playing around with PBTEN which we got after registering PbCard. I'd like to have my own paper laminated, but can't I use the Avery template that came with Word?
Won't work. And I'll tell you why: the Avery card templates don't have any cell sub-divisions, so you can't place a complex card into the simple cell dividers defined by Avery. We tried it -- we figured Why reinvent the thing? You could use our single panel card and paste it into Avery by hand, but why bother when we do that for you automatically? And we manage graphics the same way, which can be real pain duplicating by hand.

The Custom Card allows you to specify up to five columns and three rows within a card. You can define 1, 2, 3, 4 , 5 columns or none in any of the three rows. You cannot change the number of rows, but you can reduce a row down to 2 points, which effectively eliminates it. We check out the math when you select column widths and row depths so that your finished card is exactly 3-1/2" wide and 2" high.

When I go to save a card, the proposed name has quotes around it. What gives?
In order to retain card-specific extensions it is necessary within Windows to enforce special extensions by using quotes. If you remove them, a "second extension" (.doc) will be added by Word. We rely on card extensions to present cards to you by type, so you should leave the quotes around the name when saving. Note: the alternative is to register file extensions in the Windows Registry. We did not do that because we figured you just wanted to print some tickets or cards -- not engrave our programs onto your forehead. For that same reason, we do not display any permanent toolbars in Word. When we go away, we clean up after ourselves.

I printed one of your card samples with a heavy bar at top of card. It printed OK, but there is an extra bar at the bottom. Why?
Because the cards are contiguous, the top of card two is recognized as belonging to the bottom of card one. This shared property is not noticeable until you get to the last card, where it is visible. Another version of PbCard may include double marks which would provide empty spacer rows so that properties are not shared. If you have an urgent need for this design, you can do this yourself by modifying the card which best suits your layout. Try adding a l point row between each card and doubling the horizontal marks. Just be sure you record the bookmarks so you can retain them in the appropriate printable rows. Study the bookmarks to see how this works. Naming conventions are fairly intuitive, and a little trial and error should get you going. You can even extend bookmarks to two rows for a true "bleed" card.

Samples furnished with PbCard show most color panels in tints instead of solids. What is the reason for this?
Money for one; inkjet cartridges are expensive. Also, if you test printing various colors in a series of tints, you will see that reducing intensity (when one color is white) cannot really be perceived until you move approx. 20% on the scale, so why waste ink? The dithered screening used by most modern printers doesn't result in the rule line screen effect we are accustomed to -- it's more like continuous tone. Further, you will find that drying is faster, and more thorough when you use the lightest tint you can tolerate. One final point: do not choose a pale tint based on monitor appearance! If 20% looks good on the monitor, make your actual selection 5%. Try this to verify settings on your equipment. We deal with drying, spot gain, and screens in our OnPress Desktop Printing Tutorial -- part of our plan to take over the world, soon now.

I have been looking at photo samples in PbCard, and I can't edit them. Also, they don't look like high resolution images.
The sample images were created with various graphics packages; ones which may not reside on your machine, which means that you cannot edit them. They were created in low-resolution "comp" mode for several reasons: 1) to save space on your machine 2) often printers cannot resolve high-resolution images, so a bigger, hi-resolution file would be wasted. 3) In business card design, you may want to use a photo as a background, so the image should be "knocked down" in intensity (a process we call veiling). 4) Unless you have a video card with at least 4 MB of memory, redraws of high resolution images will be glacial. NOTE: if you have the equipment, you can certainly use high-resolution images for instance in a photo card such as our Remax sample. Numerous printer manufacturers now produce low-cost printers capable of marvelous photo reproduction, including H-P's Photo Realism(tm).

When I saved my business card with CardSave, no other cards showed in the Save box. Why?
We had a choice: we could carve the card extensions in stone, and place them in the Windows 95 Registry, or we could employ a dynamic strategy that will find (and save) extensions of any type defined by us or by you. We chose the latter. So when you save a card, file types are not being enforced. Recommended file name is shown in quotes to force the correct card extension, so leave the quotes in!
Background:
The upside of our dynamic strategy is that you can replace many components of PrintBox products with your own names and descriptions ... some even allow you to change the product name. Word's macro language, Word Basic, and its big brother VBA allow considerable customization. Many commercial packages are based on Access, for instance. But the use of macros has been described as being "a visitor in a strange land". We try to be good guests, and that includes not taking up space on your registry when we may not be staying. PrintBox is only visiting -- not moving in.

In LetterSets, we defined our DefaultFileName as "monthly.rpt" using your example. In the File dialog box, it says this is a Crystal Reports document. How come?
If you opened monthly.rpt, you saw that it is not a Crystal report file, it is the default file which you chose. You would probably rename it to something like "May97rpt" anyway. In fact LetterSets will keep reusing your default name, just like you would see "Document" in normal Word operation.
The reason why Crystal Reports is identified, it that "rpt" is a file extension registered by Crystal Reports on your machine (probably with Visual Basic). You can avoid this problem by using ".doc" for everything, but you may rely on your own file extensions for many reasons, just as we do!
If you like, you can turn off that level of tree reporting at the top of the File Open box, or live with it, or just say "Doc"! But if you really want to use your own file extensions, here's how to do it: use double quotes around the name when you save. That way, you can use filenames like acme.fax or jsmith.ltr -- when you open files, select either the extension you are searching for such as *.fax or enter *.* to see files of all types.

Why can't I use Print as shown in the drop-down File menu?
PrintBox does not create documents in print format. Modules are divided into View and Format methods which allow you to work on a single page of a document which may then be printed in multiples. When you select Print manually, you are going to get what you see on the screen, not a finished document. Similarly, when you save a file, use the PrintBox Save routine, which will retain all the information you need to restore the complete job -- depending on the PrintBox module you are using that could include quantity, number sequence, recipient addresses, etc.

What does 8.3 format mean in the LetterSets Save Menu?
The 8.3 format refers to the original DOS file format of eight characters or numbers in a file name, and up to 3 positions in the extension. Example would be: SAMPLE.LTR. Windows 95 support of Long File Names (LFN) actually masks the fact that 8.3 is still the underlying format used to save documents. The Long File Name is actually a pseudoname for an 8.3 name. To verify this, go to DOS and type "DIR" at the command prompt. Be sure you are looking a directory which contains some long file names. Such names will be truncated, using the tilde character followed by a number. LetterSets also uses pseudonames, assigning revision numbers to files of the same name. We also give you numerous facts about the file, such as beginning text, etc. In return, we ask you that keep your file names down to 8.3 -- at least for now (Long File Names represent an attempt to make file names more descriptive. The problem is, LFN doesn't really pick any keywords; it can just as easily present with you today's date. Our descriptors allow you to choose your own file descriptor text. If you don't, we display the first 255 characters of your letter).

The Technical Support Staff
PrintBox Technologies Ltd
Developer of The Tmpro Series of Ticketing Products