Adding a custom "Thank You" message on receipts

The addition of custom Form definitions in version 4 has been very helpful for some of our users, but it's also one of the most difficult features to master due to its technical nature.  Other than the sample forms that you can import to modify if needed, there has been little in the way of examples because anything more than the simplest of additions involves many steps that must be done precisely.

That said, here is an example of how you could add a large, angled, colored "Thank You" to the bottom of your full-page receipt, for instance to look like it was applied with a rubber stamp.

1. Find out which receipt format you're using -- e.g. in Reservation Transactions, look above the "Print Reservation Receipt (All)" button.  This is the receipt format selection.

2. Go to Maintenance / Advanced Customizations / Forms.

3. Select (click on) the receipt format you want to modify, and click "Edit Form Definition" to edit the form.  Note that you won't see any elements in the definition, because this is really an "add-on" definition to a pre-defined form.  Anything you add here will be printed on top of the pre-defined format.  (If you wanted to make changes to existing parts of the form, you would have to create the whole definition -- but there are Sample forms you can import that already mimic the pre-defined forms.  See the documentation for details.)

4. Click "Add Element"

5. For the Element type, select "Text"

6. The Top and Left entries should each should show "Absolute (in region)" selected.  Enter the number of inches for the location of where the top left corner of the text should start, as measured from the top left corner of the paper.  This may take some experimenting to get right, but just take a guess for now -- e.g. try a Top of 8 and a Left of 3.

7. Enter the desired message in the "Text" box, e.g. "Thank you for your patronage".

8. If you want a color other than black, click the "Text" button next to the color to change the text color.

9. You can also change the font style, size, etc. if needed -- again, you'll probably want to experiment with this.

10. The alignment could be changed in "Align Text", but we recommend leaving it as Left aligned.  However if you want your text centered in the page, then select Center alignment, and then also change the "Left" position (in the previous step 6) to 0.

11. Unless your text is long enough to fill more than one line, uncheck the Auto-wrap option.

12. If you want your text at an angle, you can enter an Angle. For instance, enter 20 to angle it 20 degrees upward.

13. Click "Save" to save the element, and then click "Save & Test Form" to see what it will look like.  Click the Close button on the preview if you don't want to print it.

14. If it's not what you wanted, click Edit Element to go back and make changes as needed.

15. Depending on the form and on the location of your added message, you may need to reduce the number of transactions printed per page so it doesn't overlap your message.  To do this, change the "Trans. rows/page" value.  Typical may be 20 to 30, depending on the form.

16. Save the form when finished.