The post Creating Intelligent PDF Forms appeared first on Tidalfire.

Trading in our third and four quarters was up on the previous year and bookings for the first quarter of 2013 are hugely encouraging.

Our International business has increased over the past year with forms development projects in Afghanistan and Somaliland. We also returned to South Africa to deliver training in web technologies – HTML5 & CSS3, jQuery and JavaScript; later this month we will be in Gibraltar delivering custom forms consultancy services and projects are in the pipeline for South East Asia and China.

Our positive start to 2013 is in contrast to much of what we hear and read in the media where most articles are peppered with phrases like ‘we are in difficult times’ and ‘it’s very challenging’.

Well, we’ve heard enough of all those ‘hardship’ statements! Being in buisness for any length of time will surely mean that there will be some challenging times along the way. It’s what you do next that counts and it’s your attitude that will make the difference.

We are focusing on the difference we can make for the clients we serve. Teaching emerging technologies and revolutionising the way they gather and distribute data. Tidalfire’s teenage years are going to be the best yet!

What are you doing to positively influence change in the circles that you operate in?

The post Fabulous February and Mad March! appeared first on Tidalfire.

Tidalfire is delighted to welcome three hugely talented photographers to The Window of Opportunity for the next two weeks.

Iain Kendall

Iain Kendall is an amateur photographer based in Edinburgh. What started as a hobby, and an antidote to his busy working life, quickly became a passion. Favouring film, and using his keen eye for atmospheric shots, Iain focuses on capturing his city in unique and iconic frames. His photographs reflect the beauty and intrigue he finds in the everyday images around us. Sourcing and fixing cameras, taking risks with exposures and lenses, and developing his own photographs; photography is a journey for Iain, where he watches his images come to life.

www.iainkendall.com

James Pearson

James Pearson is a documentary wedding photographer based in the Scottish Borders. To complement the digital process of wedding photography, he turned to film photography and other traditional photographic processes to produce his personal work. The tactile experience of using different vintage cameras and capture formats, and the hands-on nature of developing film has led to a whole new world of creative fulfilment for James. He is currently building a darkroom in his garage to allow him to explore the world of traditional silver gelatine prints.

www.jameslpearson.co.uk

Simon Kidd

Simon is an amateur photographer based in Edinburgh. With a keen interest in experimentation, he makes photographs on mediums such as film, black  & white and colour papers, and also using and flatbed scanner. A keen collector of cameras, with and particular love for early 1900 cameras and lenses, Simon has recenlty used one of these lenses to make a homemade ultra large format camera. Simon feels that film photography is a process of making a photo rather than taking a photo, and thinks that’s something worth getting excited about.

streetlifeedinburgh.wordpress.com

What is the Tidalfire (WoO) Initiative

The objective of WoO in Tidalfire is to provide local artists an exhibition (wall) space plus window display on St Mary’s Street. The space is provided free of charge for a two week period for the purpose of showcasing the artists work.

The initiative is aimed at creatives producing arts, crafts, sculpture etc. who may not ordinarily display or exhibit their work with the view to promoting their craft and ultimately resulting in a commission or sale of goods.
St Mary’s Street is in the heart of Edinburgh city centre and a thoroughfare that sees a huge increase in footfall during the period of Edinburgh’s festivals in July and August. The tour buses also travel through St Mary’s Street throughout the year.

If you would like to display your work, please email: info@tidalfire.com with a brief description of the work you wish to display, alternatively drop in and say hello  or contact us on 0131 510 1240.

The post Three Great Photographers Exhibit at Tidalfire appeared first on Tidalfire.

This tutorial show how to add a web form (HTML5) into a Digital Publishing Suite Folio to capture information. The ability to add web content means that files containing HTML, CSS & JavaScript can be used to add interactive web content to a DPS project.

NOTE: This tutorial uses Adobe InDesign CS6 and assumes that you have knowledge of constructing a DPS Folio.

Adding Web Content with the Folio Overlays Panel

1. Within Adobe InDesign open the Folio Overlays palette.
2. Ensure that an existing Frame is selected (where the web content will be placed)
3. Click Web Content in the palette

Setting Web Content Overlay Properties

Within the Web Content Overlay properties set the various options:

1. Browse for the location of the folder that contains the web page and associated assets e.g. images, CSS & JS files

2. Set the options for:

• Delay
• Allow User Interaction
• Scale Content to Fit

3. You can then select Preview to Preview on Desktop to emulate how the application will behave on a tablet device.

Preview the Form

The Enquiry Form displays in the Adobe Content Viewer. The form can be completed and submitted if it has the necessary code within the page to process the data – just as you would expect with a web form.

About the Form & HTML Code

When creating the web pages for use in a DPS document any references to linked assets e.g. images, CSS or JS files need to be relative i.e. the assets should be “local” and not referenced on a website.

1. In the form example the code shows how the CSS style sheets are stored in the boostrap/css folder

2. Note also the file is using the HTML5 Doctype

If the HTML Form tag is configured with the necessary Action & Method properties then the form will successfully submit data.

This tutorial was based on the 13.1.1.20130115_m_709452 – 8.0.10.25 – Folio Builder version

Go forth and publish.

Download the HTML Form

View the form.

The form used in this example can downloaded here.

NOTE: This sample form will not submit or send data but can be filled in and used as a basis for further development..

This type of HTML form could be used to allow users of your DPS app to submit comments, enquiries, capture user feedback , subscribe to services and even send data directly to systems such as SalesForce.

If you would like more information or have more questions on how forms can be used within an Adobe DPS application for capturing customer information or responses please contact us via our Easy Enquiry Contact Form.

The post Add a Web Form to an Adobe Digital Publishing Suite Folio appeared first on Tidalfire.

There are some topics that need to be taken care of and a good “international” business plan is a starting point.

Consider the different issues that may arise based on which country you intend to do business with:

• Currency
• Legal Contracts
• Agents and Business Partners
• Terms and Conditions
• VAT & Pricing

It may seem like a lot of extra to think about and yes it doesn’t come easy for most businesses but there is help and support.

One example is the Smart Exporter program (run by Scottish Development International) that provides businesses in Scotland with help in establishing an export plan as well as providing support via research and training programmes.

Having completed the Smart Exporter Preparing to Export 2-day course with a variety of businesses present from translation companies to web developers there is definitely an appetite to get a bigger piece of the international business market. The idea that Scottish businesses have lost their will to move into markets outside of the UK is certainly not evident at this event.

The Smart Exporter program provides some of the answers required with knowledgeable consultants at hand but the main focus gained from the program was that it helps companies and individuals to consider, discuss, think and make their own plans on selling out of their geography. After all – all business are different.

Part of the programme works towards writing an action plan which is one of the most valuable parts of the sessions as all businesses present what they expect to achieve and there is opportunity to get feedback from the other participants.

The programme has helped Tidalfire  to start thinking about preparing a more focused plan on selling our services to a wider audience. Why not? We have completed business for clients in Australia, South Africa, Afghanistan and are currently working with an organisation based in Somaliland.

If there are two days out of the office that are well spent then the Smart Exporter program is well worth attending. You may come away deciding that it isn’t for you but would recommend you put yourself in the position and find out if expanding your business overseas is for you or not.

On another note (kismet if you want) on the second day out of the office we signed a contract with a bank in Gibraltar proving that if you expand your vision a bit a wider who knows what opportunities may be waiting round the corner.

For more information on the Smart Exporter programme check their web site.

The post Get Ready to Export – Selling your Services and Goods Abroad appeared first on Tidalfire.

The ALT-PHOTO Festival hits the city from 28 Feb – 13 March 2013

A few years ago alternative photography was anyone using a digital camera to capture images; downloading the images to computer and then using an application such as Adobe Photoshop to crop or alter some aspect of the picture.

The post Alternative Photography Festival in Edinburgh appeared first on Tidalfire.

Whilst many, certainly in our circles, look at January as a fresh start, a clean slate, an exciting time to be entering into a New Year for some reason this year some of us in the team were drawn by the level of ‘moaning minnies’ out there complaining about a variety of subjects ie the length of time until pay day, the dreich weather, the state of the economy and so as not to permeate any further we won’t list any more but be assured they were not the most optimistic words.

Any of those thoughts were left firmly at the doors of Tidalfire, no such thoughts even entered our heads, mostly because the prospect of a new year was genuinely exciting, we had worked very hard in the run up to Christmas. True to form Tidalfire has had a fabulous January. From the minute we opened the doors on the 3rd January we have not stopped! Our pay day came and went in January and we arrived in February feeling like we had not taken breath.
We currently have projects stretching from Scotland to Somaliland and a few bits in between! Training courses ran at Tidalfire in Edinburgh and also at client sites across the UK. The training that took place ranged from HTML5 CSS3, DPS – Adobe Digital Publishing Suite and InDesign but also included Photoshop and Illustrator.

We hosted Adobe on their Create the Web Tour at the Point Hotel where we had 120 delegates signed up.

To answer the title of this blog ‘What was memorable in January?’ The whole month was!

It was our best month financially (YTD) and we head towards the end of our financial year (Feb 2013) with huge optimism.

Rock n’ roll

p.s we are still all breathing….

The post What was Memorable in January? appeared first on Tidalfire.

Adobe Digital Publishing Seminar – Edinburgh

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013

Event Details

iPad and tablet computing is revolutionising the publishing industry. More and more publishers are taking advantage of this new platform to enhance their publications, re-enforce their brands and reach new audiences.

We are delighted to host Rupert Knowles (Adobe Solution Consultant for Design and Publishing) in a seminar session that will showcase examples across different industries including traditional publishing, retail, travel and finance.

Discover how Adobe InDesign and the Digital Publishing tools can provide designers and organisations with new ways to meet customer and consumer requirements and stay ahead of the competition.

The post Adobe Digital Publishing Seminar – Edinburgh appeared first on Tidalfire.

Sandra Stewart is delighted to be able to share her first experience of exhibiting her art in the Window of Opportunity

Sandra lives and works from home on a smallholding near Callander. She paints part time and has been working on a variety of mediums including watercolour, charcoal, pastel and acrylic and more recently has been using oils. Sandra has attended a local art class but is predominately self taught.

She has had a lifelong interest in landscapes and animals having been brought up on a farm. When not painting Sandra runs her own business working with farmers in farming and conservation, enhancing their farms for wildlife.

What is the Tidalfire (WoO) Initiative

The objective of WoO in Tidalfire is to provide local artists an exhibition (wall) space plus window display on St Mary’s Street. The space is provided free of charge for a two week period for the purpose of showcasing the artists work.

The initiative is aimed at creatives producing arts, crafts, sculpture etc. who may not ordinarily display or exhibit their work with the view to promoting their craft and ultimately resulting in a commission or sale of goods.
St Mary’s Street is in the heart of Edinburgh city centre and a thoroughfare that sees a huge increase in footfall during the period of Edinburgh’s festivals in July and August. The tour buses also travel through St Mary’s Street throughout the year.

If you would like to display your work, please email: info@tidalfire.com with a brief description of the work you wish to display, alternatively drop in and say hello  or contact us on 0131 510 1240.

The post Watercolour, pastel and more by Artist Sandra Stewart appeared first on Tidalfire.

Please download the source code for this tutorial to see how the form has been enhanced.

Our example form wasn’t too complex for a user to complete but here I will demonstrate the ease at which we could improve a user’s experience by paging through the obvious sections of the form. When I say sections I actually mean the fieldsets we have used in the HTML structure.

The HTML Structure

Please open http://www.tidalfire.com/downloads/tut2/tutorials2.html. First lets review the form structure. For the plugin to do its thing we need to seperate each desired ‘page’ of the form using <fieldset> elements. This we did in tutorial1:-

<fieldset>


<legend>Your details</legend>

...


</fieldset>

<fieldset>


<legend>Delivery address</legend>

...


</fieldset>

<fieldset>


<legend>Card details</legend>

...


</fieldset>

The only other requirement is to assign an id to the form. Its not really a requirement but it makes it easier to target our form in the jQuery below. Our form already had the imaginative id of ‘form1′.

And that’s it. Any content within each fieldset will be displayed on each page of the form once the plugin has been applied.

The jQuery Functionality

Next the page has to be linked to the jQuery library before we can implement the FormToWizard plugin. We are linking to the library hosted on Google’s CDN :-

<script type="text/javascript" src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.8.3/jquery.min.js"></script>

Once we have referenced jQuery we then link to the plugin itself :-

<script type="text/javascript" src="FormToWizard/formToWizard.js"></script>

And then we write our own custom script to trigger the plugins functionality :-

<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function(){

$("#form1").formToWizard( );
});
</script>

The CSS Styling

All that’s necessary now is to apply some styling. Please open styles2.css.

There’s nothing clever going on here. Just basic old CSS to prettify the elements dynamically added by the plugin. Two of the elements to look out for are the next and previous links which can be targetted by the classes .prev and .next :-

Each step (or page) is represented inside an unordered list which is assigned the id #steps by the plugin. So we can style this useful feedback to the user like so :-

Remember how useful the Inspect Element tool (found on most browsers these days) is when you are using plugins. Use it to view the real HTML structure of the page at runtime.

Thanks to Will Gregory for this tutorial.

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