Configuring Document Viewer Panes in the Laserfiche Windows Client

The document viewer displays information in panes. Available panes are the:Image Pane, Text Pane, Metadata Pane, Thumbnails Pane, Annotations Pane, Business Process Pane and Electronic File Pane. In the document viewer, panes are displayed in the area below the toolbar. The number of panes displayed depends on the type of layout being used and how it has been configured.

Note: The Electronic File Pane is only available in the Laserfiche Windows client. All other panes are available in both the Laserfiche Windows client and the Laserfiche web client. In addition, pane display configuration is different in the two products; see Configuring Document Viewer Pane Display in the Laserfiche Web Client for more information on panes in the Laserfiche web client.

Panes can be displayed in almost any configuration: you can remove or move and rearrange panes on the image, float panes, or lock them in place. You are also not restricted to a particular number of rows or columns when you open panes in the document viewer. For example, you can display four panes of equal size in a foursquare pattern, or you could display your Image Pane and Metadata Pane side-by-side with the Thumbnail Pane above them both. This flexibility allows you to display information about a document however is most useful to you.

Pane layout is saved on a per-user basis. This means that one user could customize the pane layout one way, without affecting the way another user customizes theirs. This allows each user to set up the panes in the way that is most useful to them. In addition, pane layout is saved separately for electronic documents and imaged documents. Pane layouts for the Laserfiche Windows client and the Laserfiche web client are also saved separately.

Opening and Closing Panes

You can choose to display any combination of panes you want by opening certain panes and closing others.

To display a pane

To close a pane

Resizing Panes

You can resize any pane. To do so, hover over the edge of the pane. A two-way arrow will appear. Click and drag to make the pane larger or smaller.

Moving and Rearranging Panes

You can move and rearrange your panes in any way you want in the document viewer. To move a pane, click and drag the title bar from any visible pane. While you are holding down the left mouse button, icons called docking stickers will appear to indicate where you can place the pane.

Each docking sticker represents a portion of the document viewer where you can drop the pane by releasing the mouse button. For example, dropping the pane on the left-most docking sticker places the pane on the left side of the document viewer. When you hover over a docking sticker, a shaded blue rectangle will indicate where the pane will be placed if you drop it there.

If an area of the document viewer already contains a pane, additional docking stickers will display that allow you to subdivide that area. For instance, if you already have a pane on the left side, and you move another pane, you will have the option to place it above or below the existing pane on the left side. If you already have a pane on the top, and you move another pane, you will have the option to place it to the right or the left of the existing pane.

If you drop a pane in the same location as an existing pane (rather than to one side of it) by dropping the pane on the center icon, you will group the panes. See Grouping Panes for more information.

If you drop the pane when it is not hovered over a docking sticker, it will not dock, and will be a floating pane. See Docked and Floating Panes for more information.

Note: Panes cannot be rearranged if you have locked the display, but you can unlock the display if you need to do so. See Locking Panes for more information.

Pinning and Hiding Panes

Once a pane has been displayed in document viewer, you can determine whether it should always be visible or whether it should be open but hidden. A pinned pane has a fixed location in the document viewer and is always visible, unless manually closed, while the document viewer is open. A hidden pane, in contrast, minimizes itself when it is not selected. Hidden panes are useful for sections of the document viewer that you refer to frequently but do not need to see at all times.

ClosedPinned panes are represented by a vertical pin, while a Closedhidden pane is represented by a horizonal pin. All newly-opened panes are pinned by default.

To hide a pinned pane, click the pin icon in the pane's upper right corner. The pane will be hidden, but can be opened by hovering the cursor on the pane's name, which will be visible on one side of the document viewer. The hidden pane will be visible for as long as your cursor is active in that pane, and will automatically be hidden again when you move your cursor to another pane.

To pin a hidden pane, so that it will always be visible, click the pin icon again, or double-click the title bar for the pane. It will be displayed permanently until it is closed or hidden.

Note: Panes cannot be pinned or hidden if you have locked the display. See Locking Panes for more information.

Docked and Floating Panes

A docked pane will be fixed in the document viewer; a floating pane will not have a fixed location and can be moved. Once a pane has been undocked, it will appear and behave like any other window, and can be closed, resized, or positioned anywhere on the screen. It will still be affected by the document viewer being minimized, restored, and closed.

There are two ways in which a pane can become a floating window. You can either double-click the title bar, or click and drag the title bar without dropping it on one of the pane docking icons. To dock a window, double-click the window's title bar again to return it to its original location, or drag the title bar and drop it on the pane docking icons.

Note: Panes cannot be docked or floated if you have locked the display, but you can unlock the display if you need to do so. See Locking Panes for more information.

Stacking Panes

You can group multiple panes in the same location in the document viewer. When panes have been grouped together, only one pane is visible at a time, but the other panes in the group can be accessed by selecting the tab for that pane at the bottom of the group. For instance, you might choose to group the Metadata and Annotations panes, and switch between viewing them using the tabs. This allows you to view them at a larger size than if both were displayed separately.

To group panes, place one pane in the location where you want all the grouped panes to be, and then place another pane in the same location.  For more information, see Moving and Rearranging Panes. To remove a pane from a grouping, drag its tab to the new location where you want to place the pane.

Note: Panes cannot be grouped if you have locked the display, but you can unlock the display if you need to do so. See Locking Panes for more information.

Locking Panes

You can prevent accidental changes from being made to your pane display by locking the display. Locking the display prevents you from moving panes, docking and undocking them, pinning and hiding them, or grouping them. You can still display and close panes and resize them.

Note: Locking the display will lock both the toolbar and the panes.

To lock/unlock the display

Pane Reset

If you accidentally move a pane, or rearrange your panes and later decide that you aren’t happy with them, you can quickly reset your pane layout to the default.

To reset the document viewer pane layout

Using the Restore Default Settings command in Options: Reset: General will also restore the default pane layout, along with all other user options and settings.

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