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PDF For Every Product Page On Your Site: Always Fresh® Flyers

Instantly downloadable — Free for up to 1000 products

Unique PDF for Every
Product On Your eStore

Replace your print buttons with a link to a high-quality, pre-made PDF. Each PDF features the product information contained on that page. The entire process is automated.

Update Every
24 Hours

Your content, including images, is checked every night. If anything has changed, or if products have been added or deleted, the PDF is automatically updated. Always Fresh® ensure that your PDF is always current with your latest content.

Your Link to the
PDF Stays the Same

Once you make the link from your site to the product PDF, you are done. You never need to touch it again. The PDF is updated automatically — the link never changes. And you get to specify the name of the link.

Images from
Your e-Store

Your e-store product images (especially if there are zoom images) are well suited for creating the flyers. Images are automatically resized and optimally arranged for best fit with text, attributes, and SKU tables. You can have multiple images per product.

Product Descriptions

Use the same product descriptions for print as you have for your e-store. Bullets, other simple HTML, and descriptions of any length are supported. And Catalog-on-Demand Plug-Ins can be used to automatically transform content (such as stripping out unwanted HTML) to make it more suitable for your Always Fresh Flyers.

Product & SKU Attributes

The product attributes you have made for your e-store will also work for your Always Fresh Flyers, at both the product family and SKU levels. You choose which attributes you want to appear. Plug-Ins can be used to transform attributes, or even generate new attributes.

Prices

Your e-store prices can be published or not, as you want. You can show multiple prices if needed. Price overrides are supported. Using Plug-Ins, you can compute prices based on any other product data or other conditions.

Product Family SKUs

SKU tables of any length, with any number of attributes are supported. Column widths are computed automatically, or you may set the width for consistency across products. Tables automatically flip if there are more attributes than will fit in the available space. Plug-Ins can be used to generate table values from any available data.

Variant Images

SKU graphics are especially useful for showing color variations or product configurations. It is also a good way to show accessories or replacement parts. You can show as many as you need — they will automatically carry over to the next page if needed.

Branding

You can brand every Always Fresh Flyer with your own logo and colors. You can use your own background artwork.

Filler Ads

Give your Always Fresh Flyers a more professional look by filling white space with ads or artwork that you create. You can create as many different filler ads as you want. The ad that is the best fit will always be selected. Use the “ad test” feature to find out what size ads will work best for your publication.

QR Codes Drive
Mobile Traffic

If you wish, a unique QR code is generated and placed on every Always Fresh Flyer. If viewed online, clicking on the QR code (or the product image) takes the reader to the corresponding product on your site. If looking at a print copy, scanning the code with their phone or tablet will take the reader to the corresponding page on your site.

Languages and Currencies

All western and eastern European languages (such as Greek, Cyrillic, Croatian, etc.) are supported, including special characters. Languages can be blended to any extent, such as when descriptions contain terms or attribute values in a language different than the rest of catalog. Most of the world’s currencies are supported. Catalog-on-Demand Plug-Ins will work with any language.

How To Make a PDF for Every Product
(Always Fresh® Flyers)

Part I: Getting Started

Here are the steps to create flyers (PDF for every product) in Catalog-on-Demand:

1. a) Sign in to Catalog-on-Demand.
b) Click “Start a New Configuration”.
c) Choose Flyer, then click on “Ironwood Flyer”.

2. Configure your flyer appearance and features.
a) Click on the help icons to learn about each setting.
b) Frequently save your configuration.

3. Make test flyers. To do this:
a) Click on Select Products.
b) Expand the tree, check the box for a few products, then click Finished Selection.
c) Enter a Job ID and click Create Test Publications.

4. Cycle through steps 2-3 until you are satisfied with how your test flyers look.

Be sure and test your configuration with a representative selection of products.
For example, try products with wide graphics, narrow graphics, long descriptions, short descriptions, etc.

5. When you are ready to create flyers for all your products:
a) Click on Create Flyer for Every Product.
b) Click OK to the message about taking 24 hours (usually it is much faster than that!).

6. Inspect your flyers from the Always Fresh Dashboard
a) At any time, click on the Details button for the Up-to-date flyers.
b) Click on Download to view any of the listed flyers.
After you have spot-checked your flyers, you are ready to enable them on your e-commerce site.

Contact your e-commerce provider to inquire if they offer support for linking to a PDF per product page.

  • If yes, follow their instructions (usually a configuration setting).
  • If no, refer to this page. Ask your provider to implement this feature.

Part II: Static Elements

Background Image URL

Making a background graphic

1. The image must be in JPG or PNG format.
2. Use any editor you like.
3. Post it to a public URL (you can use a free service such as Dropbox).
4. Enter that URL here.
5. Click the double arrow to preview.

A few notes

  • Graphics are published at 150dpi.
  • To make your background graphic as wide as the page, then make it 1275px wide (8.5 inches x 150 pixels)
  • To make your background graphic as tall as the page, then make it 1650px tall (11 inches x 150 pixels)
  • If your graphic is smaller than 1275 x 1650px, then it will not fill up the entire page.
  • If your graphic is wider than 1275px, or taller than 1650px, then it will be proportionately resized to fit the page.

Special note for flyer backgrounds

    Make your design around the edges. Assuming you make the background graphic 1275 x 1650px, the page content will be:

  • 190px from the top edge
  • 110px from the bottom edge
  • 60px from the left and right edges

Left Footer Text

You may enter up to 12 lines of text. The text will be left justified.

Right Footer Text

You may enter up to 12 lines of text. The text will be right justified.

Footer Image URL

Making a footer graphic

1. The image must be in JPG or PNG format.
2. Use any editor you like.
3. Post it to a public URL (you can use a free service such as Dropbox).
4. Enter that URL here.
5. Click the double arrow to preview.

A few notes

  • Graphics are published at 150dpi.
  • A footer graphic may be up to 366px wide and 450px tall without being resized.
  • If a footer graphic is narrower than 366px, it will be centered horizontally.
  • If a footer graphic is wider than 366px, it will be proportionately resized to a width of 366px.
  • A footer graphic cannot be wider than 720px.
  • A footer graphic cannot be taller than 450px.

Footer Link URL

If you want people to be able to click on the footer graphic, then enter a URL here. Click on the Test button to see if your link works as expected.

Part III: Product Layout Configuration

Layout > Product Family > Maximum Image Height

All product images are automatically resized to the maximum height that you specify. The default height is 2.0 inches.

  • You may adjust the maximum height to any value between 0.75 and 3.0 inches.
  • The width is automatically adjusted to maintain the aspect ratio. Product images are aligned to the right edge.
  • Sometimes the image is so wide that there is not room for the text to wrap around the image. In these cases, the image is automatically positioned below the product name and above the description.
  • In order to preserve image quality, images are only shrunk to fit the maximum height. They are never enlarged. If an image is smaller than the maximum height, it is aligned to the top outside corner.
  • Product images are published at 150dpi, which is important for understanding how large a product image can be published.
  • Example #1: An image that is 150px tall has a maximum publishing height of 1 inch, even if your max height is greater than 1 inch.
  • Example #2: An image that is 450px tall has a maximum publishing height of 3 inches. But if your max height is 2 inches, then it will publish at 2 inches tall.

Layout > Product Family > QR Code

A QR code lets people use their phone or tablet to quickly go to your e-commerce site from a printed page.

The QR code will appear only for those products that include a URL in the data. If the product data does not include a URL, then a QR Code will not appear with the product, regardless of this setting.

You should select the Large option if you want to be sure that your codes can be read by older smart phones (2008-9). If you are not concerned about this issue, then choose the Small option because it will take less space on the page.

Layout > SKU Table > Hide Columns

If you have some sku table columns that you would prefer not be included in the catalog, list them here. Each column label should go in its own field. Click the plus sign for each column name.

Layout > SKU Table > Column Heading Substitution

This is where you can enter substitutes for column header labels. For example, suppose the original column header says Material but you would prefer that it say Fabric.

You would enter Material in the left field, and Fabric in the right field. To add more substitutions, just click the plus sign.

Layout > SKU Table > Single SKU Appearance

This applies only to product families that do not have multiple skus (such as multiple sizes, colors, etc.).

If you want the price to appear in large type, without the sku number, choose retail format.

If you want the price to appear with the sku number, in the same way as if there were multiple skus, then choose table format.

Part IV: Other Configuration Parameters

Colors

This page allows you to configure the color of each element in the presentation of your product information. Special note: If your products each have a single SKU (no SKU table), then the price will be published in the color of the product name. The currency will be published in the color of the Column Label for the SKU table.

Filler Ads

Making a filler ad graphic

1. The image must be in JPG or PNG format.
2. Use any editor you like.
3. Post it to a public URL (you can use a free service such as Dropbox).
4. Give your ad a unique name.
5. Enter the URL of the ad in the URL field.
6. If you want people to be able to click on the ad, then enter a link URL.
7. Click Save. Your new ad should now appear in the ad list.
8. Click on the arrow (far right) to preview your ad.
9. Click on the link button (second from right) to test your link.

A few notes

  • Graphics are published at 150dpi.
  • The tallest you can make your ad is 7 inches (1050px).
  • The widest you can make your ad is 7.3 inches (1095px).
  • We recommend that you make a variety of ads suited to the different sizes of white space that might occur on your pages. For example, if you are making filler ads for flyers, then you should make several ads that are each 7.3 inches (1095px) wide, but different heights.

Miscellaneous > Continued Text

Miscellaneous > Hide Price

Check this box if you do not want the price to appear in your publications.

Miscellaneous > Currency

Choose your currency symbol here.

Miscellaneous > Publication Name Prefix

This prefix will appear in the file name, before the job number. Typically this would be the name of your business. Use hyphens in place of spaces.

Part V: Make a Link To A PDF for Every Product on Your Site

This is best done by your e-commerce (or template/theme) provider.

Ask them to build in links to a “PDF for every product”. It is simple! Send them to this page.

This is a free service from Catalog-on-Demand. Explain to them that their services and products will be more useful by allowing their users to include this link on every product page.

The Parts of the Link

If you cannot get support from your provider, you will need to put a linked image on every product page, like this:

<a href=[URL of the Always Fresh flyer] target=”_blank”><img src=[URL of the PDF icon]></a>

The PDF Icon Link

For the URL of the PDF icon, most sites use this link:

https://app.catalog-on-demand.com/print-catalog.png

 

However, you can use any other icon that you prefer.

The URL of the PDF

The URL of the PDF flyer is constructed like this:

https://www.catalog-on-demand.com/PDF-e-Link/?AID=[organization ID]|[product code (encoded)]

Important! Be sure to put a pipe delimiter | between the organization ID and product code.

organization ID

  • You will find your organization ID at the top of your Catalog-on-Demand Account page, under Account Info. Often it is the same as your user name.

product code

If you are using a Catalog-on-Demand data feed…

  • Use the value mapped to “productName”.

If your data source is Google Product Search data feed…

  • For products without variants, use the value you mapped to “g:id”.
  • For products with variants, use the value you mapped to “g:item_group_id”.

If you are using the Catalog-on-Demand extension for Magento…

  • For simple products, use the Product ID.
  • For grouped products, use the Product ID of the parent product.

Don’t forget the product code must be encoded!

Magento Developers — Here’s a tip from L.j. Lee of RSAwares about how he      successfully created links from his product pages to the PDFs produced via Catalog-on-Demand. Thanks L.j.!
If you need the code for others that need help, this is what I used:
<a href=”https://www.catalog-on-demand.com/PDF-e-Link/?AID=[organization ID]|
<?php echo $_product->getId() ?>”><img src=”https://www.catalog-on-demand.com/print-catalog.png”></a>
I added this code in the magento directory under:
apps/design/frontend/default/[store template]/template/catalog/product/view.phtml

If you are a developer with additional
suggestions on how to make links,
please let us know!