Note: As of 3/19/2018 an update was made to make the watermark process a bit easier. If you've had HomeGauge installed since before that date, to get the new watermark-ready stylesheets you'll need to navigate to Documents\HomeGauge\PrintFormats and delete the contents (if you have any custom stylesheets, do not delete those!) Then reinstall HomeGauge by accessing the Install HG5 link on your Dashboard. Once done, follow steps 1-3 below, ignoring the rest of the steps.
HomeGauge Sales and Support Monday - Friday 9a.m - 8p.m Eastern*
*From the hours between 5 p.m to 8 p.m. EST, support is open to online chat, emails, and voicemails. We will return any voicemail left to us.
Phone: 828-254-2030 Option 1.
Email: support@homegauge.com
- Create a watermark from your logo
- Open a high quality version of your current logo in an image editor such as PhotoShop, Paint.net, or Gimp.
- Using a tool such as as Levels, create a faded version of your logo for use as a watermark. For a watermark image not to interfere with your report content, you should make the watermark image very light.
- You can experiment with the size of your watermark image, but a limit of 500px wide (for landscape oriented logos) and/or 500px tall (for portrait oriented logos) is a good place to start.
- Save the file as watermark.jpg. It is critical that the name and file type are exact.
- Find your print format folder
- To find this in HomeGauge, go to the menu File - Printing Options and click on the Style & Format tab. Below the list of Styles on the right, you will see a line that says "Folder: Format#" -- that shows you which folder the style you use resides in. That folder resides in \Documents\HomeGauge\PrintFormats\ -- so, for example, the Narrative 3 format is in the folder: \Documents\HomeGauge\PrintFormats\Format8
- Important: Rename the existing file called watermark.jpg to watermarkold.jpg
- Copy your watermark image
- Paste the watermark image file into the folder you found in Step 2.
- Make a custom copy of the standard CSS file you use
- Using Windows file explorer, go to the same folder found in Step 2, and make a copy of the CSS file that you use. The CSS file you use will match the name of the Style option you found in your software in step 2 such as Blue.css or Red.css. Once you've made a copy, rename this copy to something else you'll remember such as Blue-CompanyName.css. It's important that this file be renamed so your customizations aren't overwritten in a reinstall.
- Edit the custom CSS file
- Open up the custom CSS file you created in Step 4 using Notepad.
- Paste the following code to the very bottom of the file:
/* HG Watermark Ready */
/*
hgImageInclude("watermark.jpg")
*/
@media screen { .screen-page { background: url("watermark.jpg") #fff center center no-repeat !important; } div[name^=sec-id-Cover] { background: #fff !important } }
@page { background: url("watermark.jpg") center center no-repeat !important; }
@page:first { background: none !important; } - Save your file.
- Select this new style from your printing options. Go back to the menu File - Printing Options and click the Style & Format tab. Find your new custom CSS file from the list on the right, select it, and click OK. The next time you upload or print, you should have your watermark in your report.
If you decide to remove your watermark from a stylesheet, you can remove watermark.jpg from that folder. Then rename watermarkold.jpg to watermark.jpg
If you are using one of the following formats, there is one modification you'll need to make:
- Format6 - Modern Gradient
- Format7 - All colors
- Format7b - All colors
For these stylesheets, open the corresponding .css file for the color you're using in Notepad, and look for the following line near the top: hgImageInclude("images\line-blue.gif", "images\line1.jpg") - The exact images shown will differ, but in any case you'll want to add the a comma after the last double quote but before the ) followed by a space and then "watermark.jpg". For instance: hgImageInclude("images\line-blue.gif", "images\line1.jpg", "watermark.jpg")
Comments
1 comment
I wish people like you were answering the phones and showing us how to enhance HomeGauge to us RV inspectors. We are not so many yet but we are here to stay.
Again Thank You.
Sergio BBMotorhomes
Please sign in to leave a comment.