Detailed Report
The user can obtain a detailed report with all the information that has been generated through the pallet calculation process. The report features four tabs. The first tab contains the three main graphics; the primary package drawing, the case drawing and the pallet drawing. Clicking on them with the right button (ctrl+clicking on a Mac) allows copying the drawings onto a third-party application.
The actions that can be performed from the report are listed below. All of them are accesible through the File menu.
- Print the Report: Allows printing the report graphics and data in portrait and in landscape modes, according to the Page Setup. The landscape mode prints the same layout that is presented to the user on screen.
- Save the Report: The user is prompted to save a file containing all the report information. This file can be opened at any time during the execution of the program (while in any of the program windows).
- Export the Report text: The report information can be exported to a tab-delimited text file, which can later be read by any spreadsheet application. This feature is useful for creating custom reports, which can be built by adding the copied graphics to the text.
- Export the Report graphics: Creates a graphics file which is a snapshot of the front-most report. If QuickTime is installed, the user will be presented with a wide variety of formats to export to. Otherwise, only Windows Bitmap or Macintosh PICT formats will be available, depending on the operating system.
- Export box coordinates: Quick Pallet Maker can export a comma-delimited file that can be read by a palletizing machine to arrange boxes in a pallet.
- Export the Palletizing Movie: This feature requires (free) installation of QuickTime. An animated sequence that depicts the pallet loading box-by-box can be created by selecting "Export Movie" from the detailed report. The movie creation steps are the following:
- The user will be first prompted to specify the movie file name.
- The palletizing sequence is captured frame by frame. The time that this takes depends on the amount of cases per pallet (equal to the number of frames) and the user's computer speed (graphics and CPU speed).
- Once all the frames have been captured, the user will be prompted to define the movie compression settings. A better quality movie will take a larger file space and vice-versa. We recommend "Animation" for the compression type.
- QPM builds the movie from the picture sequence. This file can be opened with the QuickTime viewer or any media player that supports the QT format, allowing you to share your pallets with your peers.
- A tip: The (free) QuickTime player allows you to move between frames by clicking the left and right arrows on the keyboard. This is useful for viewing the animation step-by-step.
The second tab of the detailed report allows the user to preview and edit the pallet report as an HTML (web page) file using the default web browser. The user can also select which of the drawings will be included in the HTML file at the right of the HTML text. To change the default drawing type, right-click (ctrl+click on a Mac) and select from the contextual menu of any of the drawings and then enable them by clicking the box at the left of the drawing.
The third tab contains a bigger drawing of the selected pallet using different views. The user can select "Toggle Pallet View" from the View menu to change the side from which the pallet is seen.
The fourth tab contains the Knocked-Down-Flat (KDF) drawing of a RSC box using the dimensions of the selected box. The box that is selected can be changed by using the horizontal scrollbar under the box drawing in the first tab. Future program versions will allow custom box designs.