Scaling rules

Rules define how Fiery Smart Scaling will adjust the size, shape, and position of design elements depending on the dimensions of the carton the design is printed on.

Each rule includes several parameters for how the visual or group of design elements inside of the bounding box will scale. For example, you can specify a minimum size for text in your design so that it is large enough to be readable even on smaller cartons, or you can specify that a barcode scales symmetrically so that it is not distorted and unreadable on a carton half as wide but with the same height and depth as the template.

Best practices for defining rules

Keep in mind the following when defining scaling rules:

The bounding box of a rule must be confined to one panel of the carton.

Fiery Smart Scaling ignores rules with bounding boxes spanning more than one carton panel.
Design elements that are not completely within the bounding box of a rule are not scaled using the rule parameters.
Rules should not extend over the edge of the carton.
Rules should not overlap unless the design elements overlap in the original design. For example, if the design has an image with text in front of it and the image and text must scale differently, it is okay to overlap the rules. Smart Scaling will show a warning when you preview the design.
Rules must contain at least one design element. Empty rules will cause warnings.

Note: VDR rules must contain a design element even though Smart Scaling displays a placeholder graphic.
When rules overlap, the order of the rules in the design information pane determines the layering order of design elements. Design elements in rules lower on the rules list have a higher z-order and appear in front of design elements in rules higher on the rules list, which have a lower z-order. You can rearrange rules by clicking and dragging.

Create a rule

In the Design tab, click the Rule Tool on the toolbar.
Drag a rectangle around a visual or a group of design elements.
A rule appears in the list in the sidebar.
With the rule selected, type a rule name and specify the scaling parameters in the Properties pane.
Changes made to rule properties are saved automatically when you click outside of the edited field.

You can use the Select Tool to select a rule and copy and paste to duplicate it. With a rule selected, you can use Ctrl+L or click the padlock icon in the Properties pane to lock the rule properties. While the properties of locked rules cannot be changed, you can still use cut, copy, and paste for locked rules.

Edit a rule

You can edit an existing rule in Fiery Smart Scaling.

In the Design tab, do one of the following:
- Click the name of the rule in the sidebar.
- Using the Select Tool, click the bounding box of the rule.
Edit the rule parameters in the Properties pane.

Scaling properties

Refer to the following table for descriptions of the available scaling properties.

Scaling property	Setting	Description
Rule name	Rule name field	The name of the rule.
Use VDR	Barcode	You can select Use VDR to apply Variable Data Replacement to the rule. Smart Scaling shows a placeholder inside VDR rules that will be replaced by a job specific barcode, address, or Department of Transportation (DOT) label when you print the carton.
	DOT Label
	Address Label
Scaling options	Units	The units of measurement used by the rule parameters.
	Scaling	You can choose whether a visual element scales symmetrically or asymmetrically. Select None to apply no scaling to the visual elements inside the rule.
	Symmetric scaling axis	Smart Scaling uses the X- or Y-axis to scale the visual elements when symmetric scaling is selected.
	Minimum size	The minimum height and width of the visual element.
	Maximum size	The maximum height and width of the visual element.
Anchor positions	Directional arrow or center tile	You can use this option to anchor a side, a corner, or the center of the visual element in place relative to its location on the carton panel. When the panel size and shape changes, the anchored rule will be adjusted according to the carton dimensions. For best results, anchor the rule to the closest panel edge or corner.
	Absolute position	With this option applied, the rule will maintain its absolute distance from the anchor point. For example, a rule anchored 2 inches from the left side of a carton panel will maintain the 2 inch distance on a carton of any shape or size.
	Relative position	This option allows the distance between the anchor point and the side or corner of the panel to adjust by the proportion between the original panel size and the target panel size. For example, on an 8-inch wide carton panel that is scaling down to 4 inches wide, a rule anchored 2 inches from the left side of the panel will adjust to be 1 inch from the left side of the panel.