Introduction to border files

Powerdraw is a companion application to Asta Powerproject and Asta Easyplan, the powerful project management applications for Windows. You use Powerdraw to design borders with which you can frame the charts and histograms that you print from within Asta Powerproject and Asta Easyplan.

A border can include backgrounds, logos, notes and chart information such as the start and end dates of a project. You can include an area in which 3D models are printed, if you work with Asta Powerproject 4D. You can categorise the items within your borders so that you can choose which items are displayed as you work on the border. You can also provide translations for any text in a border, so that the border can be presented in different languages.

A border file contains information that determines the page layout used by your printout. For example the border file contains page size, orientation and margin information. A number of default borders are provided with Asta Powerproject but you can edit them and create your own using the separate border program: Powerdraw.

A border can include information from your project, such as the project title, start date, finish date and duration. You include this information by inserting fields into your border. A field represents a piece of information. For example you could insert fields to display the project title and the project duration. When editing a border in Powerdraw, fields show their default names, but when you load a border into Asta Powerproject and preview the active view, the field names are replaced by the real information that the fields represent.

If you want to update any of the information that is displayed in a border file's fields, you can do so when previewing your output by clicking the button on the Print Preview toolbar to access the Output Fields dialog. You can use this dialog to view, and in some cases edit, information relating to the project and the view that you are previewing. The fields on this dialog are duplicates of fields, taken from a variety of other Asta Powerproject dialogs, that may be referenced in border files. This dialog provides you with a quick and easy way of viewing and updating the information that may be included in a border's fields, saving you from having to close the Print Preview window and locate the different dialogs in which the fields are located in order to view and edit them.

For example, if you choose to print using a border into which the <VIEW-REVISION-COMMENT> and <PROJ-MANAGER> fields have been inserted and you realise that you want to update the active view's revision comment and the name of the Project Manager prior to printing, you can click this button and edit these fields in one step using the Output Fields dialog, rather than having to close the Print Preview window and edit the fields using the View Properties dialog and the Chart/Project Properties dialog respectively.

In addition to fields, your borders can include almost any designs that you want. For example, your borders could feature:

Coloured and patterned background rectangles.
Coloured borders around the edge of the page.
Text notations.
Line and shape graphics.
Imported graphics such as your company logo.

Within each border there is an area defined as the chart area. The view that you print from Asta Powerproject is placed within this chart area. When you print from Asta Powerproject, the active view is printed within the chart area defined in the border, then the border is printed over the active view. So when editing the border, if you place objects in the chart area they might obscure part of the active view.

You can embed border files within your projects. Embedding a border file in a project means that the border file can always be used for printing when the project is distributed, without the need to distribute the original border file itself separately.

Refer to Powerdraw Help for details on creating and editing border files.

Using border files that have been uploaded to Asta Vision

If your organisation has uploaded one or more border files using Asta Vision's Global Files page to make them available to all users, you can download these borders and use them when printing:

Click File, then click Print.
Click Print Options. The Print dialog appears.
Click the Details tab.
Click the dropdown to the right of the Browse button and select Vision from the menu that appears. The Download From Asta Vision dialog appears (if you are not currently signed into Asta Vision, you need to sign in before the dialog appears).

This dialog displays a list of all the border files that have been uploaded using Asta Vision's Global Files page. The Status column displays 'New' for borders that you have not yet downloaded; 'Updated' for borders that you have downloaded where a more recent version is available to download; and nothing for borders where you have already downloaded the latest version.
Select a border and click Download to download the border file to your local 'Border' folder, as specified on the File Locations tab of the Options dialog, and to select it in the Border file field on the Print dialog.

If you are signed into Asta Vision and the border file that is specified in a project is not available locally, but is available as one of Asta Vision's global files, a message now appears to inform you that the border is available in Asta Vision. Click Yes to download the border to your local 'Border' folder, as specified on the File Locations tab of the Options dialog.