Create a Fixed Element

Fixed Elements are used for placing content, such as background images, logos, and repeating objects in a predetermined location. During page composition, Fixed Elements are positioned based on their original master page location.

Only one occurrence of a Fixed Element can be placed in a Typefi Section. However, multiple Element instances (duplicates) can appear throughout a Section. For example, you could use a Fixed Element for placing a logo or icon at the top of every page in a Section. During the automated page composition process, each Element instance is populated with the same content.

Creating a Fixed Element involves three key steps:

1. Create the artwork and specify its position.
2. Create the Element.
3. Apply the Element to the artwork.

Create the artwork and specify its position

1. Create the Element artwork in InDesign.
   The artwork may consist of one or more Typefi Frames (Element Content, Element Image, Element Audio, or Element Video), Typefi Fields, lines and shaped objects, and any other boilerplate text and objects that remain the same in each Element instance.
2. Place the artwork on a master page that is assigned to a Typefi Section.
   

   Do not place the artwork on a document (non-master) page because Typefi removes document pages from the template during the automated page composition process.

3. (Optional) Use the Typefi AutoFit tool to link objects into parent-child relationships, and the AutoFit panel to automatically resize text frames when content is added to them.
4. Position the artwork where you want it.
   Place the artwork precisely where you want it to appear in the generated output. You can also duplicate a Fixed Element to create one or more Element instances. During page composition, each instance is populated with the same content throughout the Section, which is useful for placing repeating content onto each page of a Section, such as a logo or section identifier.

Create the Element

To create a new Fixed Element:

1. Open the Typefi Elements panel (Window → Typefi → Elements).
2. Click the Create new element icon at the bottom of the panel, or choose New Typefi Element from the panel menu.
   
3. In the Typefi Element Options dialog:
   
   
   1. Enter a unique Element Name.
      To optimise your publishing workflow for multi-format publishing, specify Element names that only contain alphanumeric characters, dashes, and underscores. Symbols and spaces are not supported in EPUB and HTML.
   2. From the Element Type pop-up menu, choose Fixed.
   3. Choose an option from the Default Paragraph Style pop-up menu to specify which style will be applied to the Element text when the Element is inserted into a Microsoft Word document, using Typefi Writer.
      The default paragraph style can be overridden with another style in Word.
   4. In the Fields tab, specify which Element Fields are required in the Element.
4. Click OK. The new Element appears in the panel, identified with a lock icon .
   

Apply the Element to the artwork

After creating the Fixed Element, the next step is to apply it to the Element artwork you set up and positioned in Step 1.

To apply a Fixed Element:

1. Select and group the Typefi Frames and any other objects that form the Element.
   If only one Frame is needed for the Element, selected only that Frame. For example, a Fixed Element to hold the company logo icon needs only one Element Image Frame for the graphic.
2. In the Typefi Elements panel, select the Fixed Element and click the Apply selected element icon at the bottom of the panel, or choose Apply Element from the panel menu.
   
   

When you apply a Fixed element to multiple Frames, a frame border (green by default) is applied to the master Element. When you apply a Fixed Element to a single Typefi Frame, the original border colour is preserved.

You can change the border colour in the Typefi preferences.