Configuring figure + description templates

To edit figure + description templates, perform the following steps inside the Patent Drafting Preferences window:


  1. Switch Template Type to "Figure" option:

       


  1. Select one of the configured figure templates and then click on the Edit button in the lower right corner of the preferences window (if you don't have any such templates configured or need to make a copy, create a new one using the Add or Duplicate buttons shown above).  Note that you can also generate multiple templates from a single figures file using the import tool.


       

  1. Edit the selected figure template settings, then click on Accept Edits to save:


    1. General Figure Settings - switch to the General Settings tab:



    1. Specifies the name of the figures template that is being edited.
    2. Specifies the location of the file that contains the figure for this template.  The file must be in Visio, PPT, or Word format.  PDF files can be converted to Word format (with some tweaking) using Word own "Import from PDF" feature. 
    3. Specifies the page of the file that contains the desired figure.  Default value is 1 for the single-page files. However, if the file contains multiple pages, this value should be set to the number of page/slide that contains the figure that is to be used for the template. This way you can have multiple figure templates set up referencing the same general figures file but pointing to different pages within that file.  
      1. You can generate multiple templates from a single figures file using the import tool.
    4. Shows the preview of the selected figure based on the specified file name and the page within that file.


    1. Figure Description Settings - switch to the Figure Description Settings tab:



    1. Specifies the default number (e.g., Figure 1, 3, etc.) that will be assigned to the figure when it selected in the figures drafting tool. You can always change it to another number within the tool.
    2. Sets the number of digits reserved for specifying part #s in the template when FigureNumberXXX form is used for annotating part #, where the length of XXX varies as specified by this setting. 
      • For example, if this field is set to "2", then part # 1311 in the template will be interpreted as referring to part 0011 in Figure 13.  Thus, when figure is changed to 5, the part will be renumbered as 511.
      • On the other hand, if this field is set to "3", then 1311 will be interpreted as referring to part 311 in Figure 1. Thus, when figure is changed to 5, the part will be renumbered as 5311.
    1. Specifies the template for brief description of the figure to be used in the Specification.  This section can contain various text annotations, objects and variables.
    2. Specifies the template for general description of the figure to be used in the Specification.  
      • You can keep part #s in their original form and they will be adjusted when the figure number is changed, according to the part numbering scheme set above (item 2). Therefore, part # 101 will become 301 when figure number is changed from 1 to 3, etc.
      • Alternatively, to avoid any ambiguities with renumbering, you can place F# placeholder for the location that specifies the figure number, both in places that directly reference figures and also the associated part numbers. This placeholder will be replaced with the actual figure number when the figures are generated. For example, F#11A will become 211A (Figure number = 2) and 1011A (Figure number = 10).
      • This section can also contain various text annotations, objects and variables.