The Sandbox

PDF Ink allows on-the-fly manual manipulation of PDFs at the bottom of the WordPress -> PDF Ink -> Sandbox settings page. The sandbox settings are separate from frontend settings to allow experimentation... or... you surprise us!

Sandbox Settings

The sandbox settings include the same fields as the frontend settings settings, but also feature “Magic Tags.” The fact the sandbox is separate from the frontend, makes it a place to safely experiment with PDF manipulation, away from the view of your website users. You can also use magic tag settings to add dynamic content to your PDFs. If, for example, a PDF needs to be created for an existing customer with an existing Order ID, the customer’s information (name, email, address, etc.) can be added to the PDF by just entering the Order ID.

Magic Tags

Magic tags can be used to replace variables in your placement content during testing. If you have a valid order number for WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, or Download Monitor, you can use that to mark a PDF with purchaser information. Fill in the settings you want, and the PDF will be stamped according to what you have entered in the magic tags settings!

Screenshot of PDF Ink magic tags settings, where you can enter information to be stamped on a PDF file.

Order Number

The Order number magic tag does two things at the same time. If you are using the [ORDERNUMBER] magic tag in your PDF stamp content, then the number will magically replace that tag. At the same time, if you have left the First name, Last name, Business name, Email, Phone, and Date fields blank/empty but have entered a valid order number, then information from that order will replace [FIRSTNAME] [LASTNAME] BUSINESSNAME][EMAIL] [PHONE] and [DATE] magic tags in your content.

Post ID

There is no [POSTID] or [POST-ID] tag in PDF Ink, so this setting is for function, not display. If you have a PDF in your shop with unique stamping settings (e.g. the stamping starts on a specific page and is a different font, with slightly different text) and want those settings to apply in the Sandbox, enter that product’s WordPress post ID here.

Wildcard

The wildcard magic tag is anything you want it to be, handy for if you want to drop [WILDCARD] in your content settings, leave it there, and then change it in the Magic Tags settings before using the sandbox. It can represent almost anything, but needs to have a value in the Magic Tag settings in order to function.

Playing with your Settings in the Sandbox

Near the bottom of the Sandbox Settings page, you will find the main Sandbox feature, highlighted in a rainbow-colored box. Here you can choose a file, choose which settings to use (frontend or sandbox), then manipulate that PDF.

PDF Ink Sandbox - test PDF manipulation on-the-fly here