Jig Tool

The Jig tool (previously called Template) fills a pre‑designed jig/template with incoming jobs. It places each document into the jig’s placeholders, names the result according to your pattern, and can keep accepting more jobs until the jig is complete.

What the Jig tool does

• Lists jigs from your Cloud Hub so you can select the design to fill.
• Places incoming documents into the jig’s placeholders (in order), generating a new .aur file when the page is filled.
• Optionally keeps the jig open for more jobs (multi‑job input), or flushes immediately after a fill.
• Automatically names the created file using the Name pattern (with menu inserts like Jig name, Date & time, Job ID, etc.).
• Optionally auto‑submits/flushes when a timeout or deadline is reached.

Before you start

• Ensure your jigs are uploaded and available to your account (Cloud Hub – shown in the list when the dialog opens).
• Jigs must contain one or more Placeholders to be usable.

Open the tool

1. Open the Workflow Editor.
2. Add or select the Jig step.
3. Click Configure to open the Jig dialog.

Jig Setup dialog (Static tab)

• Jig — Select the jig/template from the drop‑down. A live preview is shown when available. The list is loaded from your cloud resources, sorted alphabetically.
• Maximum Job Age — If set (> 0 min), the jig will auto‑submit (flush) after the last added entry is older than this time.
• Name — Pattern used to name the created file. Use the button to insert live items: Jig name, Date & time, Media type, Media size, Job ID, Barcode, Document Name, Print Deadline. Example: {JigName} {DateTime}.
• Multi‑job Input — When enabled, the jig stays open and keeps accepting more jobs until placeholders are filled or you flush it.
• Status — Shows a preview and counters for filled and open placeholders when available.
• Buttons: Reset clears the current in‑progress state; OK saves; Cancel closes.

Variables tab

You can override certain options per job using Variables.

• Jig Id — Overrides the jig selection for the current job. When set, the step ignores the jig chosen in the dialog, loads the jig specified by the variable, fills it with the document, immediately flushes it, then restores the step’s original jig and state to accept the next job.
• Placeholder — Target placeholder name to fill (optional; default is the next free placeholder).
• Resize — How the document fits the placeholder (Fixed, Fit, Average, Expand, Fill).
• Alignment — Align the document inside the placeholder (Left/Center/Right × Top/Center/Bottom).
• Offset X / Offset Y — Nudge inside the placeholder.

Multi‑job input & job selection

• Multi‑job Input is ON by default.
• When multiple input documents are present, the jig takes the first one in alphabetical order.
• The Name field supports variable inserts beyond the menu, such as {Key:<UserData>} and {Job:<XPath>}, in addition to the classic {<XPath>}.

How it works (at runtime)

1. The step loads the selected jig and checks for any previous in‑progress state for this step.
2. Your document(s) are placed into available placeholders (per‑page for multipage files).
3. If the page becomes full, a new .aur file is created and named using your pattern; thumbnails are updated. The jig is then ready for the next items.
4. If Multi‑job Input is disabled and not all placeholders can be filled, the step will stop and report that free placeholders remain.
5. If Maximum Job Age is set (or a placeholder deadline is reached), the jig auto‑submits (flushes), creating the output immediately.

Typical workflow placement

Place the Jig step after pre‑flight/image preparation and before output or finishing steps.

Tips & best practices

• Give jigs descriptive names so operators can pick the right one quickly.
• Use the Name menu to include job data (e.g., Barcode or Print Deadline) in the output filename.
• Keep Multi‑job Input on for continuous kitting; turn it off when each job should generate its own filled jig.
• Use the Jig Id variable to route a specific job to a one‑off jig without changing your step configuration.