Understanding PixelPerfect features

PixelPerfect is the Qlik NPrinting solution to create aesthetically perfect reports from QlikView or Qlik Sense data, and to then export the reports to PDF. PixelPerfect is an implementation of band reporting, which gives you pixel level control over layout and appearance.

For example, you can set font size, color, image positioning, and dimensions, chart types, options, and much more.

Description of features

Template editor

You can use the PixelPerfect template editor to design structured templates. Using the Field list tree view, you can drag and drop images, cells, variables, and formulas.

You can also add levels to create tables, or to repeat a segment of the report for each value of the field or the table used as a level. Levels can be nested within one another to create a hierarchical view.

You can configure the appearance and behavior of each object using its properties. They are entered in the Property Grid panel in the bottom of the editor.

Level

To add levels, do the following:

1. Right-click the Levels node, and select Add levels.
2. Choose an object from the list that appears.

• If you insert a QlikView field, the report segment will be repeated for each value of the field.

  For example, if you select the field Year, you will get a segment for each year that is present in your dataset.

• If you select a QlikView table, the report segment will be repeated for each row in the table.

  You can repeat a segment for many different combinations of a group of fields. For example, if you select a table with a country and a sales representative column, you will get a segment for each combination of Country/Sales representative values visible in the table.

Levels can be made hierarchical. To add a sub-level, do the following:

1. Right-click the name of an existing level, and then select Add Level.

2. Choose the field or the table that you want to insert.

   For example, you can add a level for Year and nest the Product Category under it. You can have a segment repeated for each year, with many segments inside repeated for each product category.

3. Before adding a level to the template, select the destination band and right-click it.

4. Click Insert Detail Report and select the name of the level you want to add.

   A new band will be created and it will be cycled by each value of the level.

5. Drag and drop the level content to the band that will be transferred to the final report.

   A new label containing the field information is created.

If you want to create a table in the final report, you have to use levels.

Table

In PixelPerfect templates, tables are data sources for charts and sparklines. If you want to create a table in your report, you must use levels. You do not add the source QlikView table in the Tables node.

To add a table, do the following:

1. Right-click the Tables node, and select Add objects.
2. Click on the desired object from the list that appears.

Images

You can add QlikView objects as images to your template.

Do the following:

1. Right-click the Images node, and select Add objects.

2. Select a QlikView object from the list that appears, and then drag and drop the new image onto the template.

   A new picture box is created.

3. To specify the image position, select the image area with the mouse and move it until you reach the desired position.
4. To change the image area, select one of the blue squares in the corner or in the middle of a side and adjust to desired position.
5. Use the Sizing property to set the image behavior.

Possible values are:

• Normal: the image is inserted with the original size. If the area is too small the image will be clipped, maintaining the alignment with the upper left corner.
• Stretch Image: the image is stretched to fill the width and height of the content area. Aspect ratio will be changed.
• AutoSize: the final image keeps the original size of the image exported from QlikView. Other data in the final report will be moved in order to maintain integrity of the report.
• Center Image: the image is displayed in the center (horizontally and vertically) of the area with the QlikView dimensions. If the image is larger than the area, the image is cropped.
• Zoom Image: the image is proportionally re-sized to fill the area, while keeping the aspect ratio. The image view can zoom in or out.
• Squeeze: if the area exceeds the image size, the image is centered and shown at full-size. Otherwise, the image is re-sized to fit into the area.

To set other properties of the image, use the Property Grid.

Variables

You can add QlikView variables to your template. QlikView variables will be replaced with their value at the time of report generation.

Do the following:

1. Right-click the Variables node, and then select Add Objects.

2. Select the variable that you want to add from the list that appears.

   A new label containing the information about the variable is created when you drag and drop the variable.

You can set other variable properties using the Property Grid.

Formulas

You can add QlikView formulas to your template.

Each formula:

• Will be evaluated at time of report generation.
• Must use the QlikView formula syntax.
• Must return a single value.

To add a formula, do the following:

1. Right-click on the Formulas node in the Field List.
2. Choose Add Formula, then insert a name and the formula using QlikView syntax.

3. Drag and drop it onto the template.

   A new label containing the information about the formula is created.

4. You can edit the formula by right-clicking on the formula name and selecting Edit Formula.

Cells

You can add specific cells from a QlikView object to your template.

Do the following:

1. Right-click the Cells node, and then select Add Cells.
2. To insert a name, click on the dots to the right of the Object label.
3. Select a QlikView object from those that appear.
4. Insert the number of desired rows on the top and bottom, in addition to the number of columns.

5. Drag and drop each cell onto the Report area.

   A new label containing the information for each cell is created. You can set other cell properties using the Property Grid.

Note that cells with a 0 in the row number refer to the QlikView table header.

If the original QlikView object has totals on the first row, the cells with 1 as the row number will contain the total. In this case, the first cells with data are those with 2 as the row number.

Multiple drag and drop

Do the following:

1. Select more than one entity in the Field list by pressing the Shift or Ctrl buttons.

2. Drag the items onto the template.

   When you drop them, a table containing your selected entities will be created.

3. To drag and drop only the column headers, select the columns and drag them by pressing Shift or by right-clicking the mouse.

You can also use Shift and Ctrl to select multiple objects from a list to a node. For example you can add many images by pressing Ctrl during the selection from the list of images.

Remove an entity

Do the following:

• Right-click on the entity and select either Remove Object or Remove Levels to remove an entity from the Field list.

Using ToolBox controls

The toolbox on the right side of the editor allows you to insert some control objects into the template. For example, you can insert charts, sparklines, page breaks, labels, and many other objects.

To insert a control in your template, select it from the toolbox, and then drag and drop it into the template.

You can set control properties using the Property Grid.

Labels

Labels are used to insert fixed text or bind it to a source. For example, you can insert dynamic text from fields, variables, or formulas.

To insert a new label, do the following:

1. Select the label from the Toolbar then drag and drop it into the template.

2. Insert your own text by double-clicking on the control and entering the text.

   You can bind a label to a data source by selecting it and clicking on the smart tag (the small arrow in the top right corner), then by opening the Data Binding menu. Be sure to select the proper data source. You can set other label properties using the Property Grid.

Charts

You can develop charts from your QlikView data with PixelPerfect. A chart does not need to exist in a QlikView document to add it. PixelPerfect uses QlikView tables as data sources for charts. You can also choose from a great variety of chart types to customize the appearance.

To add a new chart, do the following:

1. Drag a chart object from the Toolbox onto the template.

   A wizard appears. Follow the steps to select the data series and set the properties. A data series can be bound by going to the Data tab, selecting Series Binding, and then selecting the argument and the values for each series.

2. Click on the columns of the tables already inserted in the Field List.

   Following the other steps will help you customize presentation properties. You can also change properties by using the Property Grid panel, or by reopening the wizard and clicking on the smart tag and selecting Run Wizard. To jump to a specific property in the wizard, click on its name on the left side column. You can insert a chart inside a level.

Sparklines

A sparkline is a very small line chart (typically drawn without axis) that presents the variation of a measurement, typically over time. PixelPerfect supports sparklines, so that they can be inserted into your reports.

Sparklines need a table as the data source. You first add a table in the Tables node, select the sparkline object from the Toolbar, and drag and drop it into the template. To bind it with your data, click on the smart tag (the small arrow in the top right corner), and then set the Data Member and Value Member properties.

You can display a sparkline for each row of a table by inserting a sparkline inside a level.

Rich text

You can use Rich text to display information in different formats.

• Select the Rich Text button from the Toolbar, drag and drop it into your template, and then double-click on it to input data in edit mode.

In edit mode, you can type fixed text or drag and drop entities from the Field list: a field between square brackets will appear. Your can drag and drop variables, fields, formulas, images, and cell values. You can set other Rich Text properties using the Property Grid or the ribbon bar. Rich Text also supports nested levels.

Other controls

Use page break, zip code, panel, or line to customize your template.

Export formats

PixelPerfect supports PDF, HTML, Xls, Xlsx, Png, Gif, jpg and Tiff formats. The default is PDF, which is the best choice when you want total control of appearance. If your goal is to create an Excel or HTML report, we recommend using an Excel or HTML template.

To display the preview in another format, click on the arrow under the lens, or set a specific output format in the task.