PerfectTablePlan

The easiest way to create the table seating plan for your wedding, celebration or event

PerfectTablePlan2

Table of Contents

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2

................................................................................................................................... 61 Introduction

.......................................................................................................................................................... 6Introduction

.......................................................................................................................................................... 6Conventions in this document

.......................................................................................................................................................... 7System requirements

.......................................................................................................................................................... 7The help system

................................................................................................................................... 92 Quick start guide

.......................................................................................................................................................... 9Quick start guide

................................................................................................................................... 193 Movies

.......................................................................................................................................................... 19Movies

................................................................................................................................... 194 Tutorial

.......................................................................................................................................................... 19Tutorial

.......................................................................................................................................................... 191. Getting started

.......................................................................................................................................................... 222. Add guests

.......................................................................................................................................................... 293. Set Proximity

.......................................................................................................................................................... 314. Add tables

.......................................................................................................................................................... 365. Assign guests

.......................................................................................................................................................... 386. Assess plan

.......................................................................................................................................................... 417. Print plan

.......................................................................................................................................................... 438. Print stationery

.......................................................................................................................................................... 499. Import guests

................................................................................................................................... 565 User interface

.......................................................................................................................................................... 56Main window

.......................................................................................................................................................... 58Menu bar

.......................................................................................................................................................... 58Task tool bar

.......................................................................................................................................................... 59Main tool bar

.......................................................................................................................................................... 61Insert tool bar

.......................................................................................................................................................... 62Status bar

.......................................................................................................................................................... 63Left pane

......................................................................................................................................................... 63Left pane

......................................................................................................................................................... 63Guests pane

......................................................................................................................................................... 65Groups pane

.......................................................................................................................................................... 67Top pane

......................................................................................................................................................... 67Top pane

......................................................................................................................................................... 68Floor plan pane

......................................................................................................................................................... 72Table plan pane

......................................................................................................................................................... 75Schematic pane

......................................................................................................................................................... 77Table chart pane

......................................................................................................................................................... 78Guest chart pane

......................................................................................................................................................... 79Stationery pane

......................................................................................................................................................... 86Statistics pane

.......................................................................................................................................................... 87Bottom pane

......................................................................................................................................................... 87Bottom pane

......................................................................................................................................................... 87Proximity pane

.......................................................................................................................................................... 88Windows

......................................................................................................................................................... 88Windows

3Contents

......................................................................................................................................................... 90About window

......................................................................................................................................................... 90Change group window

......................................................................................................................................................... 91Chart title/footer window

......................................................................................................................................................... 91Dimensions window

......................................................................................................................................................... 93Export window

......................................................................................................................................................... 93Export data window

......................................................................................................................................................... 94Export PDF window

......................................................................................................................................................... 95Export vCard window

......................................................................................................................................................... 95Fonts and colours window

......................................................................................................................................................... 96Group properties window

......................................................................................................................................................... 97Guest properties window

......................................................................................................................................................... 99Import window

......................................................................................................................................................... 100Import data window

......................................................................................................................................................... 104Information window

......................................................................................................................................................... 105Insert couple window

......................................................................................................................................................... 107Insert family window

......................................................................................................................................................... 110Insert group window

......................................................................................................................................................... 113Insert guest window

......................................................................................................................................................... 115Insert guests scratch-pad

......................................................................................................................................................... 116Insert shape window

......................................................................................................................................................... 116Insert table window

......................................................................................................................................................... 119Insert text window

......................................................................................................................................................... 120Licence window

......................................................................................................................................................... 120Most recently accessed window

......................................................................................................................................................... 121Numbers and budget window

......................................................................................................................................................... 122Preferences window

......................................................................................................................................................... 126Print window

......................................................................................................................................................... 127Print setup window

......................................................................................................................................................... 128Save stationery layout window

......................................................................................................................................................... 128Select gradient window

......................................................................................................................................................... 129Select groups window

......................................................................................................................................................... 129Select guests window

......................................................................................................................................................... 130Shape properties window

......................................................................................................................................................... 131Stationery layout window

......................................................................................................................................................... 132Table order window

......................................................................................................................................................... 132Table properties window

......................................................................................................................................................... 135Text properties window

.......................................................................................................................................................... 135Drag and drop

.......................................................................................................................................................... 137Keyboard accelerators

................................................................................................................................... 1416 Importing

.......................................................................................................................................................... 141Importing

.......................................................................................................................................................... 142Importing guests from Excel files

.......................................................................................................................................................... 142Importing guests from text and CSV files

.......................................................................................................................................................... 142Importing guests from vCard files

................................................................................................................................... 1437 Names and titles

.......................................................................................................................................................... 143Names and titles

................................................................................................................................... 1448 Groups

.......................................................................................................................................................... 144Groups

................................................................................................................................... 1459 RSVP status

.......................................................................................................................................................... 145RSVP status

................................................................................................................................... 14610 Seat assignment

.......................................................................................................................................................... 146Seat assignment

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.......................................................................................................................................................... 148Automatic seat assignment

.......................................................................................................................................................... 150Genetic algorithm

................................................................................................................................... 15211 Copying to the clipboard

.......................................................................................................................................................... 152Copying to the clipboard

................................................................................................................................... 15212 Printing

.......................................................................................................................................................... 152Printing

.......................................................................................................................................................... 154Stationery

................................................................................................................................... 15513 Emailing

.......................................................................................................................................................... 155Emailing

................................................................................................................................... 15514 Exporting

.......................................................................................................................................................... 155Exporting

.......................................................................................................................................................... 157Export formats

................................................................................................................................... 15815 Back-up files

.......................................................................................................................................................... 158Back-up files

................................................................................................................................... 15916 Creating a good table plan

.......................................................................................................................................................... 159Creating a good table plan

................................................................................................................................... 15917 Multiple user access

.......................................................................................................................................................... 159Mutliple user access

................................................................................................................................... 15918 Frequently asked questions

.......................................................................................................................................................... 159Frequently asked questions

................................................................................................................................... 16019 Integrating with PerfectTablePlan

.......................................................................................................................................................... 160Integrating with PerfectTablePlan

.......................................................................................................................................................... 160Command line arguments

.......................................................................................................................................................... 161PerfectTablePlan file format

................................................................................................................................... 16520 How do I?

.......................................................................................................................................................... 165How do I?

.......................................................................................................................................................... 168Add a chart title/footer

.......................................................................................................................................................... 168Add a dance floor, stage etc to the floorplan

.......................................................................................................................................................... 168Add a graphic or logo

.......................................................................................................................................................... 168Add a new stationery layout

.......................................................................................................................................................... 169Add a title or text into the floor plan

.......................................................................................................................................................... 169Add or remove dots at the end of titles

.......................................................................................................................................................... 169Arrange multiple seatings for an event

.......................................................................................................................................................... 170Assign guests to seats

.......................................................................................................................................................... 170Change fonts and/or colours

.......................................................................................................................................................... 170Change proximity for multiple guests

.......................................................................................................................................................... 171Change table size or shape

.......................................................................................................................................................... 171Change the print pagination

.......................................................................................................................................................... 172Change the size of the room

.......................................................................................................................................................... 172Change the table order

.......................................................................................................................................................... 172Choose a format to export to

.......................................................................................................................................................... 173Copy guests from one plan to another

.......................................................................................................................................................... 173Create a non-rectangular room

.......................................................................................................................................................... 174Create a re-useable floor plan template

.......................................................................................................................................................... 175Create an E-shaped table

.......................................................................................................................................................... 176Customise standard guest titles

.......................................................................................................................................................... 176Email my plan

.......................................................................................................................................................... 177Estimate numbers and budget

.......................................................................................................................................................... 177Export a chart to Excel/Word

5Contents

.......................................................................................................................................................... 177Export guest and seating data to Excel

.......................................................................................................................................................... 178Export to PDF format

.......................................................................................................................................................... 179Handle guests with unknown names

.......................................................................................................................................................... 179Handle post-nominal titles

.......................................................................................................................................................... 180Import guest details from Outlook

.......................................................................................................................................................... 180Import guest details from Outlook Express

.......................................................................................................................................................... 180Import guests in couples/families/groups

.......................................................................................................................................................... 181Insert a new guest into an existing group

.......................................................................................................................................................... 181Liaise with caterers

.......................................................................................................................................................... 182Load sample stationery

.......................................................................................................................................................... 182Lock guests to seats

.......................................................................................................................................................... 182Move guests from one group to another

.......................................................................................................................................................... 183Only assign guests who have accepted

.......................................................................................................................................................... 183Order place cards

.......................................................................................................................................................... 183Print a guest list

.......................................................................................................................................................... 185Print to poster size

.......................................................................................................................................................... 185Remove stationery border or foldline

.......................................................................................................................................................... 186Rename a table

.......................................................................................................................................................... 186Retrieve old versions of the plan

.......................................................................................................................................................... 186Select multiple items

.......................................................................................................................................................... 187Set the RSVP status for multiple guests

.......................................................................................................................................................... 187Show gender in the floor plan

.......................................................................................................................................................... 187Show groups in the floor plan

.......................................................................................................................................................... 188Show unassigned seats

.......................................................................................................................................................... 189Track details of non-seated guests

.......................................................................................................................................................... 189Turn off guest name capitalisation

.......................................................................................................................................................... 189Turn the floor plan grid on/off

.......................................................................................................................................................... 190Zoom in/out of the floor/table plan

................................................................................................................................... 19021 Licensing

.......................................................................................................................................................... 190Licensing

................................................................................................................................... 19122 Support

.......................................................................................................................................................... 191Contact support

.......................................................................................................................................................... 191Report a bug

.......................................................................................................................................................... 192Request an enhancement

................................................................................................................................... 19223 Updates

.......................................................................................................................................................... 192Updates

.......................................................................................................................................................... 193Newsletter

................................................................................................................................... 19324 Uninstalling

.......................................................................................................................................................... 193Uninstalling

Index 194

PerfectTablePlan6

1 Introduction

1.1 Introduction

PerfectTablePlan v4.0.2 for MacOSX

PerfectTablePlan helps you quickly create table plans and seating charts for

weddings, parties, banquets and events. We think you will find it a lot easier than

using scraps of paper.

The unlicensed version of PerfectTablePlan only allows to you to save, export or

print plans with up to 30 guests. If you want more than 30 guests you will have to

purchase a licence.

If you are confident of your computer skills you should start with the Quick start

guide. This will get you creating your first table plan very quickly. If you would like

more in-depth instructions please go through the Tutorial. You can also watch

online demonstration movies.

Note We have a separate version of this document for Windows.

1.2 Conventions in this document

Screenshots are taken from the Windows Vista version of PerfectTablePlan.

Text that refers to elements of the user interface is in bold, e.g. Main window.

menu1>item1 means: click on menu1 in the menu bar and select item1.

Text that the user can type is in a

non-proportional

font.

Text that refers to keyboard keys is in italics, e.g.:

The keyboard accelerator for Insert> Single guest is +G, which means hold

down the Key and press the G Key.

Hyperlinks are shown in conventional hyperlink format.

Underline is used for emphasis.

'Click' means clicking the left mouse button, unless stated otherwise. If you have a

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 7

single button mouse you can simulate right click by holding down the Ctrl key and

clicking the left mouse button.

1.3 System requirements

The suggested requirements for running this software are:

Operating system

MacOSX 10.3.9 or later.

Processor

G3 or better

Memory

32 MB or better

Screen resolution

800x600 pixels or better

Colours

65,536 colours or better

You may be able to run the software satisfactorily on lower specification systems,

but we can't guarantee it. If in doubt, try running an unlicensed version before you

purchase a licence.

1.4 The help system

Help is available in a number of different ways.

Context sensitive help

Context sensitive help provides detailed information on the use of each pane and

window.

To access context sensitive help press ? or click on a Help button.

This opens help in a separate window.

The MacOSX Help Viewer

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The Macintosh Help is similar to the Windows Help, but is displayed inside a web

browser window. If you can't see the contents tree in the left pane, try enabling

Java in your browser.

PDF help

A PDF version of the help is also installed with the application. You may find this

more suitable for printing.

'How do I?' help

Click on the How do I? button on the tool bar to see a list of common tasks you

might want to perform. Click on an item in the list to go to the relevant help page.

The list of topics shown varies depending on what you are trying to do (e.g. which

panes are visible).

Tool tips

Some controls display tool tip windows when you hover your mouse cursor over

them. You can turn this feature on/off using the show tool tips checkbox in the

Preferences window.

'What's this' help

What's this help provides tips on individual controls, e.g. on the function of tool

bar buttons, menu items, text entry fields etc.

To access What's this help from the Main window select Help>Whats this. Then

click on the item you are interested in and a brief description will appear in a

small What's this window.

Note pressing Shift+F1 also activates this facility for the Main window.

Web pages

Additional documentation may be available on our web pages. To open the web

pages in a browser select Help>FAQ page or Help> Web pages.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 9

2 Quick start guide

2.1 Quick start guide

This page gives you instructions to get you started using PerfectTablePlan quickly.

If you want step-by-step instructions please go to the Tutorial.

There are 5 simple steps to creating a table plan:

1. Add guests.

2. Define who should sit near (or not near) whom.

3. Add tables.

4. Assign guests to seats.

5. Output results.

These 5 steps correspond to the 5 Task tool bar buttons.

When one of these buttons is pressed you will only be able to see the panes and

tool bar buttons appropriate to that task.

Ensure View>User interface>Basic is selected so that the Task tool bar is visible.

1. Add guests

Click on the button in the Task tool bar, if it isn't already selected.

Guests can be added as individuals, couples, families or groups using Insert>

Single guest, Insert> Guest couple, Insert> Guest family, Insert> Guest

group or the equivalent Insert tool bar buttons. You can add everyone as

individuals, but it saves time to add them as couples, families and groups, where

appropriate.

Each guest has the following properties:

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Property

Meaning

Title

The guest's title.

First name

The guest's first (given) name.

Last name

The guest's last (family) name.

Display name

The name you wish to display for the

guest (which may include qualifications,

job title and other information).

Gender

Whether the guest is male or female.

Age

Whether the guest is an adult or a child.

Meal

The guest's choice of meal (separate by

commas if there is a choice in more

than one course).

Special req

Any special requirements the guest has,

e.g. diabetic or in a wheelchair

(separated by commas if there more

than one special requirement).

Notes

Information not recorded elsewhere.

VIP

Used to mark a Very Important Person;

for a wedding this may be a member of

the wedding party, for a conference it

may be a keynote speaker and for a

business lunch it may be a table

sponsor.

RSVP

Whether the guest has been sent an

invitation and whether they have

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 11

accepted, declined or accepted then

cancelled.

Most of this information is optional, but a guest must have at least a first name or

a last name. Guests are shown in bold if they have not been assigned a seat.

In addition, every guest is a member of a group (even single guests belong to their

own group). Each group has optional contact details and notes. Each group only

has one set of contact details, so generally you should assign people to a group if

they have the same contact address (e.g. a couple or representatives from the

same company). You can easily drag guests from one group to another in the

Groups pane.

If you already have guest data (for example as vCards, in a spreadsheet, text file

or address book) you can import it using File> Import.... See Importing data for

more information.

You can also quickly create a guest list using the Insert> Guests scratch-pad or

the equivalent Insert tool bar button. This allows you to enter one guest/couple/

family/group per line in free text format.

Once you have entered a guest's details you can change their properties later by

selecting them and then choosing Edit> Properties or the equivalent Main tool

bar button.

Click on the appropriate column headers in the Guests pane to sort the guests by

first name, last name etc. You can also see how guests are grouped in the

Groups pane.

You can enter general information about your event using File> Information...

and check the number of attendees and cost using File> Numbers and budget....

You should now make sure you save your plan using File> Save. You will be asked

to provide a name for the new plan file.

2. Define who should sit near who

Click on the button in the Task tool bar.

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You may want to have some guests sitting close to each other (for example

couples, friends and people who you think might be compatible) and some sitting

far apart (for example divorced couples). The automatic assignment function will

take account of proximity when it decides where to place guests.

Proximity

Icon

Meaning

Next to

should be placed next to

each other

Near to

should be placed next to

or on the same table

Neutral

no preference

Not next to

should not be placed next

to and preferably not on

same table

Not near to

should not be placed on

the same table

If you add guests using Insert> Guest couple, Insert> Guest family or Insert>

Guest group a sensible default value will be set for their proximity. However you

can change the proximity so that members of a group are not sat together.

You can view and edit the proximity of guests in the Proximity pane. Just click

on the appropriate drop-down menu in the table to change the proximity. Note

that the table is symmetric - if you change the proximity for column A and row B

the proximity for row A and column B will change to match.

If you want to set the proximity for a number of guests, select them all in the

Guests pane (using Shift+click or +Click) and then select the appropriate

proximity from Edit>Proximity (you must select more than one guest).

Alternatively click on a group in the Groups pane and select the appropriate

proximity from Edit>Proximity. You will need to click on the button to show

the Guests pane.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 13

3. Add tables

Click on the button in the Task tool bar.

Tables can be added using Insert> Circular table, Insert> Rectangular table,

Insert> Banquet table, Insert> Head table, Insert> Semi-circular table,

Insert> Custom table, Insert> Row of seats or the equivalent Insert tool bar

button. The types of table are:

Table

Icon

Meaning

Rectangular

a rectangular or square

table with seats on four

sides

Banquet

a long table with seats on

two sides

Head

a long table with seats on

only one side, for

example a head (top)

table at a wedding or

banquet

Custom

a rectangular or square

table with potentially

different numbers of

seats on each of the 4

sides

Circular

a circular table with seats

all around it

Semi-circular

a semi-circular table with

seats around the straight

PerfectTablePlan14

side and/or curved sides

Oval

an elliptical table with

seats all around it

Row of seats

a row of seats (no table)

Each table has the following properties:

Property

Meaning

Name

The name displayed for the table. The

default name is "Table 1" , "Table 2" etc,

but you can set any name.

Shape

See above.

Angle

The rotation angle of the table in the

Floor plan and Table plan panes.

Colour

The colour of the table in the Floor

plan and Table plan panes. This

overrides any colour set for the pane.

Seats

The number of seats for the table.

Size

The size of the table. Check the auto

check box to size the table

automatically (according to the seat

size and the number of seats).

VIP

Check the box to designate a VIP table.

The automatic seat assignment attempts

to assign VIP guests to VIP tables.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 15

Notes

Used to record useful information not

recorded elsewhere

The Create field allows you to add more than one table at a time.

Once you have created a table you can change any of its properties (including the

name and shape) by selecting it and then choosing Edit> Properties or the

equivalent Main tool bar button.

You should make sure that you have enough seats for all your guests. You can see

how many seats and guests you have at any time by looking in the Status bar at the

bottom of the Main window.

New tables will be placed in an empty space near the centre of the Floor plan

pane. You can move tables in the Floor plan by dragging them (left click on the

centre of a table, hold down the left mouse button and drag to the appropriate

position). You can zoom in and out of the Floor plan using the and

buttons, or zoom so all tables are visible using the button. When you are

zoomed in you can move around the Floor plan by dragging the background (the

cursor will change to a hand) or clicking on the scroll bars. You can change the size

of the floor plan using the button.

Use the Insert shape and Insert text buttons to add shapes and text to the

Floor plan pane. Shapes can be used to represent dance floors, stages, walls and

other features of your floor plan. Text can be used for titles, headers and footers.

Rotate a table, shape or text 45 degrees clockwise by clicking the Rotate button

Move a table, shape or text behind (under) another by clicking the Move to back

button.

You can also view one table at a time in the Table plan pane. Use the

navigation buttons to change table.

PerfectTablePlan16

Save your plan using File> Save.

4. Assign guests to seats

Click on the button in the Task tool bar.

Once you have entered guest details and added tables, you can assign seats

automatically or using drag and drop. You will often need a combination of both

for best results.

If you have people that you definitely want to sit in certain seats (for example the

wedding party or VIP guests) you can assign their seats manually. Drag these guests

or groups from the Guests or Groups pane to the appropriate table or seats in

either the Floor plan, Table plan or Schematic panes. To drag a guest or

group left click, hold down the mouse button and drag to the appropriate seat

(select more than one guest/group by using Shift+click or +click). Drag a whole

group by holding down the Shift key when you start to drag a member of that

group. Make sure the Guests or Groups pane is set to drag and drop mode.

You can 'lock' guests to stop the automatic seat assignment moving them later.

Lock them in place by selecting the guests, for example in the Guests or Floor

plan pane, and choosing Edit>Locked (you can also select a table and lock all the

guests on it).

The rest of the guests can now be assigned to the remaining seats automatically by

selecting File> Auto assign seats or the equivalent Main tool bar button. If you

have a large table plan (200+ guests) you may need to increase the amount of time

allowed for the automatic assignment in the Preferences window.

The automatic assignment will try to find the best seating assignment using a

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 17

scoring approach. The scoring takes account of:

guest proximity

alternating genders (if selected in the Preferences window)

seating VIPs on VIP tables

not seating guests on their own

VIPs score higher than guests who aren't VIPs

You can halt the automatic assignment at any time by pressing the Stop button.

The best solution so far will be kept. If you don't like the changes you can select

Edit> Undo to undo the change.

You can reassign guests by dragging and dropping them in the Floor plan,

Table plan or Schematic panes to fine-tune the seat assignments. You can also

change proximities and re-run the automatic assignment as often as you like.

You can see how good your seat assignment is by looking at the scores in the

Schematic pane (check show scores, positive scores are good, negative scores are

bad) or by holding down the proximity buttons at the top of the Floor plan or

Table plan panes. For example the button will show you any non-ideal

positioning (such as guests with proximity who aren't sat next to each other). To

see these proximity buttons you will need to click on the button in the Floor

plan or Table plan pane. Obviously, what makes a good table plan is hard to

fully define in mathematical terms, but the score will usually give a fair indication.

Use the Table chart pane to see your plan ordered by table.

Use the Guest chart pane to see your plan ordered by guest last name.

Use the Statistics pane to see some statistics about your plan.

At any time you can unassign a guest from their seat by choosing Edit>Unassign or

dragging them on to the background in the Floor plan or Table plan pane. You

can select multiple guests for unassigning (except in the Floor plan or Table

plan pane) by using Shift+click or +Click.

PerfectTablePlan18

5. Output

Click on the button in the Task tool bar.

When you are happy with your table plan you can print off the Floor plan ,

Table plan, Table chart, Guest chart, Stationery and/or Statistics panes

using File> Print or the equivalent Main tool bar button.

From the Stationery pane you can print invitations, place cards, escort cards,

labels and other stationery. You can easily merge guest names and addresses and

other details into stationery items using substitution text.

You can order a digital poster print or place cards using File> Posters and cards.

You can export your plan to another application using File> Export.

Copy the contents of the Floor plan , Table plan, Table chart, Guest

chart and/or Statistics panes into the clipboard using Edit> Copy.

Make sure you save your plan using File> Save before exiting.

If you want to try laying out a more realistic table plan, try loading one of the

sample plans supplied with PerfectTablePlan.

If you are confident in your abilities you may wish to change to the expert user

interface by selecting View>User interface>Expert.

This completes the quick start guide.

See also:

Frequently Asked Questions

Tutorial

Movies

How do I?

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 19

3 Movies

3.1 Movies

We have demonstration movies on our website. This can be a useful way to get a

quick overview of the capabilities of PerfectTablePlan. They are in 'Flash' format

(viewable in most web browsers) and Windows .exe format.

4 Tutorial

4.1 Tutorial

This tutorial gives you step-by-step instructions on how to use some of the major

features of PerfectTablePlan. If you are a confident computer user and want to get

started quickly you might prefer the Quick start guide.

Note You can also view these tutorials as movies on our website.

Next: 1. Getting started >>

4.2 1. Getting started

Note You can also view this tutorial as a movie on our website.

If PerfectTablePlan isn't already running, start it now.

Double click on the PerfectTablePlan icon in the Applications folder (or

wherever you copied it to)

If you are reading this help on your computer screen try arranging the Help and

PerfectTablePlan windows so you can see them both. Alternatively you may find it

easier to print out this tutorial. To print the tutorial select File>Print... from your

browser.

You can also print the PDF version of the help.

Warning The PDF help is nearly 200 pages!

The Unlicensed software window may appear when you start PerfectTablePlan.

PerfectTablePlan20

If you have a licence key you can enter it now, however you can complete the

tutorial without it. Click the Continue button.

The Getting Started window may now appear.

If you don't want to see it again uncheck the show this message next time check

box. Click the Continue button. You should now see the Main window. For this

tutorial we will use the basic interface, select View>User interface>Basic, if it

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 21

isn't already selected. Then click on the 1.Guests button in the Task tool bar, if

it isn't already selected.

Take a minute to investigate the various menu items and tool bar buttons. If you

hover the mouse cursor over a tool bar button, a Tool tip window will appear with

some helpful text.

Select File> Information and add some basic details about the event.

PerfectTablePlan22

Next: 2. Add guests >>

4.3 2. Add guests

Note You can also view this tutorial as a movie on our website.

The first step to creating your table plan is to add information about your guests.

Click on the Insert single guest button in the Insert tool bar (on the left of the

Main window).

The Insert guest window will appear.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 23

Select Mr from the Title drop-down list. Note that the Gender has now been set

to Male.

Type

john

in the First name field. Note that it is automatically capitalised to

John

. Press the keyboard Tab key to move to the next field.

Type

smith

in the Last name field. Press the Tab key. Note the Display name has

been set to

Mr John Smith

PerfectTablePlan24

Click the Add button. The guest will be added to the Guests pane.

Click on the Insert guest couple button in the left (Insert) tool bar. The Insert

couple window will appear. Fill in the details of the first guest of the couple, as

below. Click on the VIP check box to show that this is a particularly important

guest:

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 25

Now move the scroll bar down and complete the details of the second guest of the

couple, as below:

PerfectTablePlan26

Click the Add button.

Click on the 2.Proximity button in the Task tool bar. Notice that a is

displayed in the Proximity pane.

This means that Joe Bloggs and Jill Bloggs should be placed on a table next to each

other.

Click on the 1.Guests button in the Task tool bar.

Click on the Insert guest family button in the left (Insert) tool bar. The Insert

family window will appear. Add the following guests:

Title

First name

Last name

Gender

Age

William

Jones

Male

Adult

Mrs

Nicola

Jones

Female

Adult

Master

Jason

Jones

Male

Child

Miss

Natasha

Jones

Female

Child

Click the Add button.

Click on the 2.Proximity button in the Task tool bar. Notice that a is

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 27

displayed in the Proximity pane for Mr and Mrs Jones. A is displayed for all

the other family members. This means that Mr and Mrs Jones should be placed on a

table next to each other, and the rest of the family members near to each other.

Click on the 1.Guests button in the Task tool bar.

Select File> Save to save the plan. The Save as window will appear. Enter a

sensible name, such as

tutorial

, and click Save.

Look at the Guests pane.

Notice that you can determine age and gender from the guest icon. The guests are

shown in bold as they haven't yet been assigned to seats.

Click on Display name, Title and other column headers to sort the guests.

Click on the Groups tab.

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Notice that the guests have been grouped as a couple, a family and a single person

(you can easily re-arrange the groups using drag and drop).

In either the Guests or Groups pane select Edit mode:

Then click on the row with Mr John Smith and in the Title column. Type

and

press the Enter key.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 29

Note the Display name is also updated (unless you have previously edited it). You

can also view/edit this guest by double clicking on his icon to display the

Guest properties window.

You can also set guest's choice of meal, special requirements, whether they have

accepted their invitation etc in this pane.

Note You can also add guests by importing them from other applications such as

Excel, Outlook and Outlook Express. This can save you a lot of typing.

Next: 3. Set proximity >>

4.4 3. Set Proximity

Note You can also view this tutorial as a movie on our website.

The next step to creating your table plan is to decide who should sit near (or not

near) whom.

Click on the 2.Proximity button in the Task tool bar to show the Proximity

pane:

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The means that these guests should be placed next to each other. The means

that these guests should be placed near to each other, either next to or on the

same table, but lower priority than .

Let us assume you have been asked not to seat

Jason

and

Natasha

next to each

other. Click on the cell where the column for

Jason

and the row for

Natasha

intersect. Pull down the drop-down list and select not next to.

Notice that the corresponding row for

Jason

and column for

Natasha

changes to

keep the table symmetric.

Click on the button at the top of the pane to show additional options. Select by

group from the Show drop-down list. The Proximity pane now shows just one

group at a time.

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The proximity will become important when we start assigning guests to seats.

Next: 4. Add tables >>

4.5 4. Add tables

Note You can also view this tutorial as a movie on our website.

The next step to creating your table plan is to add some tables for the guests to sit

at. Click on the 3.Tables button in the Task tool bar. Click on the Insert head

table button in the Insert tool bar.

The Insert head table window will appear.

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Click the Add button. A long rectangular table with 8 seats down one side will now

appear near the centre of the Floor Plan pane.

Click on the Insert circular table button in the left Insert tool bar. The Insert

circular table window will appear. Change Seats to 6. Change Create to 2.

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Note that you can see how many seats you will have after the tables have been

added, in this case 20 seats.

Click the Add button. Two circular tables, each with 6 seats, will now appear in

the Floor Plan pane. Click the Zoom so all tables visible button at the top of

the Floor plan pane to centre and zoom on the tables you have added.

Drag a table (left click on the centre of a table, hold down the mouse button,

move the mouse and then release). The table will be moved to a new position.

Drag the tables to the approximate positions shown below.

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Experiment with zooming in and out and scrolling the floor plan using the and

buttons and the scroll bars.

Note You can also use the mouse wheel (if you have one) for zooming or scrolling

(depending on the setting in the Preferences window).

You can change the size of the floor plan using the button. This allows you to

enter the dimensions of the venue in which the event will take place.

You can add shapes and text to the floor plan by clicking on the

and

buttons.

You can rotate a table, shape or text by clicking the button. You can move a

table, shape or text behind another by clicking the button.

You can change the colours and fonts in the floor plan by clicking the button at

the top of the pane.

The Status bar now shows that you have 7 guests and 20 seats:

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Click on the 1.Guests button in the Task tool bar. Add another 11 guests using

the same approach as in Tutorial section 2, so that you have a total of 18 guests.

Set any groups, names, genders and proximities you like.

Click on the 3.Tables button in the Task tool bar. You now have 18 guests and

20 seats. Right click on the head table in the Floor plan pane and select

Properties.

Change the number of seats to 6. Click the OK button.

There are now 18 seats and 18 guests.

Select File> Save to save the plan.

Note PerfectTablePlan creates a back-up file every time you save the plan (unless

you have disabled this in the Preferences window). This is useful if you ever

need to retrieve an old version of the plan.

Next: 5. Assign guests >>

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4.6 5. Assign guests

Note You can also view this tutorial as a movie on our website.

The next step is to assign guests to seats. Click on the 4.Assign button in the

Task tool bar.

Ensure the Guests pane is at the front and set the Mode to Drag & drop (not

Edit).

Left click on the icon for

Mr Joe Bloggs

in the Guests pane. Drag him (hold

down the mouse button, move the mouse and then release) to a seat on the head

table in the Floor Plan pane.

Right click on the seat you have dragged

Mr Joe Bloggs

to in the Floor plan

pane and select Locked.

A locked guest cannot be re-assigned until they have been unlocked. This is

particularly useful for stopping the Auto seat assign from moving guests who you

wish to remain in their assigned seat. You can also select a table and lock all the

guests on it.

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Drag

Mrs Jill Bloggs

to the next seat to

Mr Joe Bloggs

and lock her, in the

same way. Note that locked guest appear underlined in the Guests and Groups

panes.

Now that you have assigned your VIPs, you are going to assign the rest of the

guests automatically.

Click on the Auto seat assign button in the Main tool bar. The Auto assignment

window will appear:

The Auto assignment window should disappear after a few seconds. If you look at

the Floor plan pane you should see that all seats now have guests assigned. If

you hover the mouse cursor over a seat the details of the guest assigned will be

displayed:

Notice that the locked guests have not been moved and that guests that are

assigned to seats are no longer displayed in bold in the Guests and Groups

pane.

You can customise the assignments by dragging guests between seats. If you drag a

guest to a seat occupied by another guest they will swap seats.

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You may wish to use the Table plan pane, which displays just one table at a

time with an optional legend. Use the navigation buttons to change

table.

Next: 6. Assess plan >>

4.7 6. Assess plan

Note You can also view this tutorial as a movie on our website.

For an alternative view of the table plan look at the Schematic pane. It shows

the same information in a different format. It doesn't show the positioning of

tables, but it does show the scoring. Click the button and check the show

scores check box. The higher the score, generally the better the plan. In the

example below (which may be different to yours) you can see that

Jason Jones

has a total score of +4 made up of:

+5 for being next to

Mrs Nicola Jones

with proximity

+2 for being on same table as

Mr William Jones

with proximity

-5 for being on same table to

Miss Natasha Jones

with proximity

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+2 for being a male next to a female

= +4 total

Auto assign seats tries to find the highest scoring layout. You can run it as often

as you like. Each time it will start with the current plan and attempt to improve it.

If you don't like the changes made by the Auto assign seats you can undo them

by selecting Edit> Undo.

You can also drag guests between seats in the Schematic pane.

Click on the Floor plan pane tab to bring it to the front. Click on the button,

some additional buttons will be shown.

Holding down any of the buttons will draw lines between guests who

have this proximity. Holding down the button shows all proximities. The lines

are coloured according to the proximity, e.g. red for .

Holding down the button draws lines between guests who are not optimally

placed, for example guests with proximity who are sat on the same table.

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Depress the button to show guest genders (blue for male, pink for female).

Depress the button to show guest age (children are shown smaller).

Depress the button to show groups (different groups are shown in different

colours, up to 100 groups - the colours are selected automatically).

Depress the button to show colour-coded meal choices. Each meal is displayed

in a different colour (up to 10 colours). If you have more than one course (e.g.

“soup,fish,ice cream”) the courses will be displayed as concentric rings: outer

ring=first course, second ring=second course etc.

Depress the button to show guest and table VIP status (shown with stars).

Depress the button to show any guests with special requirements (i.e. with an

entry in their Special req field).

Depress the button to show guest RSVP status.

Depress the button to show which guests are locked (a padlock is displayed for

locked guests).

Some of the above will be easier to see if you use simple (e.g. default ) colours in

the Floor plan pane. Note that your layout is likely to be different to the one

shown below.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 41

Gender (colour), age (size) and proximity (lines) are displayed.

Using these buttons allows you to easily see whether moving guests to different

seats could improve your table plan. Try dragging some of the guests to different

seats. But keep an eye on the score in the Status bar to make sure that making

some things better doesn't make other things worse.

You can also see a useful summary of your plan in the Statistics pane.

If you want to try to create a more realistic table plan, try loading one of the

example plans installed with PerfectTablePlan (select File> Open).

See also:

Creating a good table plan

Next: 7. Print plan >>

4.8 7. Print plan

Note You can also view this tutorial as a movie on our website.

The next step is to print and/or export your table plan. Click on the 5.Output

PerfectTablePlan42

button in the Task tool bar.

Select File> Print or the equivalent Main tool bar button to print the front tab in

the Top pane. The Print window will appear.

Increase the Size until the plan will be printed across 4 pages (setting it to 100%

should be about right). Click on the navigation control to preview different pages.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 43

Click on Fit to page to fit the plan on a single page.

Click on the Setup button to change printer settings, for example to select the

printer (if more than one is available), paper size, print resolution etc. The

controls available on the Windows will depend on the pane you are printing. Click

on the Print button to print.

Print the Floor plan pane to see the overall layout of the tables and guests.

Print the Table plan pane for details of individual tables.

Print the Table chart pane to see your plan ordered by table.

Print the Guest chart pane to see your plan ordered by guest or group (sorted by

their last name).

Print the Statistics pane for an overview of numbers at your event.

Note You can also order digital prints online.

You can copy the contents of the Floor plan, Table plan, Table chart,

Guest chart or Statistics panes into the clipboard using Edit> Copy.

You can also export these panes using File> Export, for example to email or put

on a web page. You can also use File> Export to export for use in another

application, for example to create custom reports.

Next: 8. Print stationery >>

4.9 8. Print stationery

Note You can also view this tutorial as a movie on our website.

You can use the Stationery pane to print place cards, tickets, badges, escort

cards, invitations, thank you letters etc. We are going to create some place cards.

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Bring the Stationery pane to the front. Click on the Stationery layout button.

The Stationery layout window will appear. From the filters select Tent card and

then click on the DecaDry place cards. Click OK.

Set the number of Guides to

in the Stationery pane. These help to position

the text. Now click on the Add text button. The cursor will change to a

crosshair. Click on the bottom centre of the place card (as shown below).

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 45

Ensure Item per is set to Guest (at the top of the pane) and select

{guest_display_name}

from Insert substitution text.

Click the Add text button again. The cursor will change to a crosshair. Click on

the top centre of the place card (as shown below).

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We want the text to be displayed on both sides of the folded tent cards. Select

{guest_display_name}

from Insert substitution text. Click on the Rotate

button twice.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 47

Click on the Preview tab to preview how the place cards will be printed. Notice

that the text inside the curly brackets has been substituted by guest display

names. Change the page number to see what each page will look like.

We now want to add additional text to help the staff to lay out the cards. Bring

the Design tab to the front. Click on the bottom text and add the additional text

as below by a combination of typing and using the Insert substitution text drop-

down. Reduce the font size so the text fits on the card.

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Click on the Preview tab to preview the changes.

Select File> Print to print the stationery.

Note You can order place cards online.

Click on Save stationery to save this stationery design to use again (perhaps in

another plan).

Save your plan using File> Save.

To create address labels we would follow a similar approach, but would set Item

per to Group and for the substitution text we could use:

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 49

{group_name}

{group_contact}

You can also adapt the sample stationery we ship with PerfectTablePlan.

Note You can only save, print or export plans with more than 30 guests if you have

a valid licence for the software.

You have now completed the main part of the tutorial. If you want to find out how

to import guests whose details you have in a spreadsheet you might also want to

do the Import guests tutorial.

Next: 9. Import guests >>

4.10 9. Import guests

Note You can also view this tutorial as a movie on our website.

You can import guest details from spreadsheets, databases and other formats, so

that you don't have to re-type them. We will illustrate this by importing some

guest details from Excel. The principles are similar for other applications and file

formats.

Note The user interface of Excel may differ between different versions.

Create a simple Excel spreadsheet like the one below:

PerfectTablePlan for MacOSX can't read Excel binary files, so you need to save your

spreadsheet into a .csv (comma separate value) file that PerfectTablePlan can

read.

PerfectTablePlan50

Creating a .csv file in Excel

Select File>Save as and save it as the .csv file

guests.csv

(do not just rename a

.xls file to a .csv file). Click OK on any windows warning you about changing

format.

The data is now in a format PerfectTablePlan can read.

If PerfectTablePlan is running create a new plan by selecting File> New.

Otherwise start PerfectTablePlan.

Select File> Import. The Import window will appear.

Ensure CSV/text file is selected and click the OK button. An Open window will

appear. Navigate to the .csv file you just created and click Open. You should now

see the contents of the Excel file in the Import data window.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 51

We now need to tell PerfectTablePlan which columns correspond to which guest

properties. Select from the drop-down lists as shown below.

Note that you can edit the data in the table before you import it. This will not

affect the original .csv file.

Click the OK button. The guests should now be imported as below.

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PerfectTablePlan has used title preferences to extract titles and guess age and

gender. If it has guessed anything wrong you can easily change it in Edit mode or

Edit> Undo the changes.

The email address has been added to the guest Contact information.

It has also placed guests into groups. Note that

Mr Alan Black

and

Miss Erica

Black

have been placed in the same group because they were listed one after the

other with the same last name.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 53

If you don't like how they have been grouped you can easily drag guests between

groups in Drag and drop mode in the Groups pane.

If you look in the Proximity pane you will see it has set proximity for the

guests in each group.

If you want more control over groups you can add a group column to your

spreadsheet. You can also specify unnamed guests to import.

Select File> New to clear the current plan. Click on Don't save. Add an

additional group column and guest column to your spreadsheet, as below.

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Save and re-import the new spreadsheet into PerfectTablePlan (as above). Select

the property drop-down lists as shown below.

The guests have now been imported in the groups you specified and an unnamed

guest has been added for

Mr Alan Black

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 55

You can also import many other properties, such as addresses, meal choice, VIP

status, RSVP status etc. See Import data window for more details.

If you are importing data in a format PerfectTablePlan already knows about you

can select the format from the File type menu:

Click on the button in the Import data window to show additional options.

These options give you full control over how the import file is interpreted. For

example you can specify that columns in the import file are separated by Tab

characters, rather than commas:

Note If your spreadsheet contains non-ASCII characters (e.g. Chinese or other

Unicode characters) these may be lost if you save your Excel .xls file to a .csv file.

To avoid this problem save as Unicode text (*.txt) and import using Custom

format and a TAB delimiter.

You can also import guest name data using the simpler (but less flexible) Insert

guests scratch-pad window.

You can also import guests from any application that supports vCard format. This

includes many email and address book applications. Just drag the guest vCard(s) on

PerfectTablePlan56

to the PerfectTablePlan Guests pane.

This concludes the tutorial.

See also:

Frequently Asked Questions

Movies

How do I?

5 User interface

5.1 Main window

The Main window in expert mode ( View>User interface>Expert ).

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 57

The Main window in basic mode ( View>User interface>Basic ).

This is the main window of the application. Use the buttons at the top of the

window to minimise, maximise or close it.

Which panes and tool bar buttons are displayed will depend on whether View>User

interface>Basic or View>User interface>Expert is selected.

See also:

Menu bar

Task tool bar

Main tool bar

Insert tool bar

Status bar

Left pane

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Top pane

Bottom pane

Windows

Drag and drop

Keyboard accelerators

5.2 Menu bar

Use the Menu bar to access various actions supported by the software.

The File menu supports various actions on the current plan file.

The Edit menu supports various edit actions. Apart from Undo/Redo and Copy

these act on the selected items in the most recently selected pane (the icon for

this pane is shown in the Status bar).

The View menu allows you control which elements of the user interface are

visible.

The Insert menu allows you to insert new guests and tables into your plan.

The Licensing menu allows you to add or update your licence key.

The Help menu allows you to access various forms of help information.

Hint Many are available as keyboard accelerators, for example to access File>

Open without using the mouse type +O..

5.3 Task tool bar

The Task tool bar takes you through each stage of creating a table plan. Depending

on which stage is selected some panes and tool bar buttons will be hidden.

The Task tool bar is only displayed if View>User interface>Basic is selected.

Button

Meaning

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 59

Step 1: Add guests to plan

Step 2: Decide who to sit together/

apart

Step 3: Add tables to plan

Step 4: Assign guests to seats

Step 5: Output plan

5.4 Main tool bar

Use the Main tool bar to access common actions. All of these actions are also

available through the Menu bar. Many of them are also available as keyboard

accelerators, for example +O opens an existing plan file.

Note All of the Main tool bar icons are only displayed if you have selected

View>User interface>Expert. Otherwise only icons appropriate to the current task

are displayed.

You can also hide the tool bar buttons for basic actions by checking hide new/

open/recent/save tool bar icons in the Preferences window

Button

Meaning

New plan

Import guest information

Open existing plan

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Open recently accessed plan

Save plan

Information window

Numbers and budget window

Copy to clipboard contents of top

pane

Show/edit properties of selected

item

Delete selected item(s)

Automatic seat assignment

Order poster prints and place cards

Print Top pane

Email plan as an attachment (not

available on Mac)

Export plan in various formats

Show/hide Left pane

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 61

Show/hide Top pane

Show/hide Bottom pane

Show list of tasks you might need

help with

Hint Hover the mouse cursor over a tool bar button to get a tool tip window

explaining the action. You can turn tool tips on/off in the Preferences window.

5.5 Insert tool bar

Use the Insert tool bar to add guests and tables. All of these actions are also

available through the Menu bar. Many of them are also available as keyboard

accelerators, for example +G inserts a new single guest.

Note All of the Insert tool bar icons are only displayed if you have selected

View>User interface>Expert. Otherwise only icons appropriate to the current task

are displayed.

Button

Meaning

Insert single guest

Insert guest couple

Insert guest family

Insert guest group

Insert guests scratch-pad

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Insert rectangular table

Insert banquet table

Insert head table

Insert custom table

Insert circular table

Insert semi-circular table

Insert oval table

Insert row of seats

Hint Hover the mouse cursor over a tool bar button to get a tool tip window

explaining the action. You can turn tool tips on/off in the Preferences window.

5.6 Status bar

The Status bar shows various useful information:

a description of any menu item or tool bar button currently being hovered over

or selected

the icon for the currently selected pane (where File>Edit> Delete and other

operations will be carried out)

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 63

the total number of guests, the number of guests with RSVP accepted, the

number of guests assigned to a seat, the number of seats and the score

whether the software is licensed (and a Purchase licence button, if it isn't)

5.7 Left pane

5.7.1 Left pane

The Left pane contains the Guests pane and Groups pane. These are two

different views of the guests in your plan.

If View>User interface>Expert is selected you can hide this pane by clicking on

the button at top-right of the pane or using View> Left pane or the equivalent

Main tool bar button.

You can resize this pane using the splitter between it and the other two panes.

5.7.2 Guests pane

The Guests pane shows all the guests in the current plan as individuals.

The icon shown for a guest is determined from the details you have entered about

their gender and age.

Guests who have declined or cancelled are shown with strikethrough text. Guests

who have not been assigned to seats are shown in bold. Guests who are locked are

shown with underlined text.

Select from the Mode drop-down list to change the behaviour of the pane (see

below).

Type text in the Search field to hide non-matching guest names. E.g. if you type

it will hide all guests without

in their title, first name, last name or display

name (case is ignored). Click the cancel icon to clear the field.

PerfectTablePlan64

Click on the button to allow you to choose which columns are displayed.

Click on any of the column headers (for example on Display name) to sort by that

column. Clicking a column again reverses the sort order.

Ctrl+click on a guest to display actions in a pop-up menu.

Note that changing the RSVP status of a guest from Accepted may unassign them

from their seat, depending on your settings in the Preferences window.

Drop a plan file onto this pane to open it. Drop a vCard, text or CSV file onto this

pane to import it.

Drag a guest from another PerfectTablePlan window to add them to the current

plan.

Mode

Drag & drop

Left click on one or more a guests and drag them to a seat or table in the Floor

plan, Table plan or Schematic panes to assign them to a seat. Hold down the

Shift key to also drag all the other members of their group.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 65

Edit guest properties by double-clicking on them or Ctrl+click and select

Properties from the pop-up menu.

Ctrl+click on a guest to display actions in a pop-up menu.

Double-click on a guest to display the Properties window.

Select more than one guest by using Shift+click or +click. Use +A to select

everything in this pane.

Edit

Click on a guest property to edit it.

Use the Enter, Tab or +arrow keys to change row or column. Use the Space or

arrow down keys to edit a drop-down list.

See also: Add or remove dots at the end of titles

5.7.3 Groups pane

The Groups pane shows all the guests in the current plan arranged in their

groups.

The icon shown for a guest is determined from the details you have entered about

their gender and age.

Guests who have declined or cancelled are shown with strikethrough text. Guests

who have not been assigned to seats are shown in bold. Guests who are locked are

shown with underlined text.

The icon shown for a group is based on PerfectTablePlan's best guess at whether

the group is a family, couple etc. The group icon is just a visual cue, it doesn't

PerfectTablePlan66

affect anything else.

Select from the Mode drop-down list to change the behaviour of the pane (see

below).

Type text in the Search field to hide non-matching group names. Guest names

are not searched. E.g. if you type

Acme

it will hide all groups without

Acme

their name (case is ignored). Click the cancel icon to clear the field.

Click on the button to allow you to choose which columns are displayed.

Click Expand all or Collapse all to expand/collapse all the groups.

Check the various check boxes to hide/show columns.

Click on the Group name headers to sort groups by that column. Click on one of

the other columns to sort by Group name and then by the clicked column. Clicking

the column again reverses the sort order.

Note that changing the RSVP status of a guest from Accepted may unassign them

from their seat, depending on your settings in the Preferences window.

Drop a plan file onto this pane to open it. Drop a vCard, text or CSV file onto this

pane to import it.

Drag a guest from another PerfectTablePlan window to add them to the current

plan.

Note Deleting a group deletes all the guests in it.

Mode

Drag & drop

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 67

To assign seats left click on one or more guests or groups and drag them to a seat

or table in the Floor plan, Table plan or Schematic panes.

To change group membership left click on one or more a guests or groups and drag

them from one group to another within the Groups pane

Ctrl+click on a guest or group to display actions in a pop-up menu.

Double-click on a guest or group to display the Properties window.

Select more than one guest or group by using Shift+click or +Click. Use +A to

select everything in this pane.

Edit

Click on a guest or group property to edit it.

Use the Enter, Tab or +arrow keys to change row or column. Use the Space or

arrow down keys to edit a drop-down list.

5.8 Top pane

5.8.1 Top pane

The Top pane contains the Floor plan, Table plan, Schematic, Table

chart, Guest chart , Stationery and Statistics panes. These are all

different views of your plan.

If View>User interface>Expert is selected you can hide this pane by clicking on

the button at top-right of the pane or using View> Top pane or the equivalent

Main tool bar button.

You can resize this pane using the splitter between it and the Left pane and the

splitter between it and the Bottom pane.

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5.8.2 Floor plan pane

The Floor Plan pane shows an 'aerial' view of your table plan. You can only

select one seat or table at a time in this pane.

Appearance

Clicking on the and buttons zooms in and out. Clicking on the button

zooms and scrolls (pans) the display to show all the tables in your plan. When you

are zoomed in you can move around by clicking on the scroll bars or by dragging

the background (the cursor will change to a hand).

By default the inside of the floor plan is shown in white and the outside of the

floor plan is shown in grey.

You can change the floor plan dimensions and units by clicking on the button.

You can also set whether a grid is drawn (and what size) and whether tables,

shapes and text are snapped to a grid (and what size).

Click the Insert text button to add text to the floor plan (e.g. a title). We would

really appreciate a mention of www.perfecttableplan.com in the footer!

Click the Insert shape button to add shapes to the floor plan (e.g. to represent

dance floors or stages).

Click the Rotate button to rotate the selected table, shape or text item 45

degrees clockwise. For finer control use the Angle field in the Table properties

window.

Click the Move to back button to move the selected item behind (under) others

in the vertical stacking order.

Click the button to change the fonts and colours. The table colour will be

overridden by colours set for individual tables through the Table properties

window.

Hint If you want to seamlessly join two tables set the inner and outer colours of

the table to be the same.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 69

Click on the button to show additional options.

Select from the Seats drop-down list according to how you want seats to be

displayed.

Select from the Guests drop-down list to change the text that is displayed for

assigned seats.

Select from the Tables drop-down list according to what text you want displayed

for the table. If you show unassigned seats any unassigned seats may also be

highlighted with a red cross, depending on the setting for Seats.

Note The name of a row of seats is not displayed in the Floor plan pane.

Changing the Floor plan

New tables are inserted in a vacant space near the current centre of the pane.

Once a table has been placed you can drag it to any location inside the floor plan.

Guests can be dragged between seats or from the Guests pane or Groups pane

(set the Left pane Mode to drag & drop). Drop a guest away from a seat or table

to unassign them.

Note If you drag a guest on to a seat where another guest is already assigned the

guests will swap seats with the guest being dragged.

Double-click on a table or guest to show the Properties window.

Ctrl+click on a table or seat to display actions in a pop-up menu.

Assessing your plan

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When you hover the mouse cursor over a table or assigned seat a tool tip window

with summary information will appear. You can turn these tool tips on/off in the

Preferences window.

Hold down the button to show all guests that should be sitting next to each

other.

Hold down the button to show all guests that should be sitting near to each

other.

Hold down the button to show all guests that should not be sitting next to each

other.

Hold down the button to show all guests that should be not be sitting near to

each other.

Hold down the button to show all guest proximities.

Hold down the button to show all non-optimal seating arrangements, e.g. guests

that should be sitting next to each other that aren't.

Depress the button to show the gender of guests (blue for male, pink for

female).

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 71

Hint It is easier to see proximities if the button is not depressed.

Depress the button to show the age of guests (large circle for adult, small circle

for child).

Depress the button to show which groups guests belong to. The seats are colour

coded for up to 100 groups (and then repeat the colour sequence).

Depress the button to show colour-coded meal choices. Each meal is displayed

in a different colour (up to 10 colours). If you have more than one course (e.g.

“soup,fish,ice cream”) the courses will be displayed as concentric rings: outer

ring=first course, second ring=second course etc.

Note The colours for the groups and meals visualisations are chosen automatically -

you can't change them. We have chosen the colours to be easily distinguishable,

even for people with most types of colour blindness.

Depress the button to show VIP guests and VIP tables.

Depress the button to show guests with special needs.

Depress the button to show guest RSVP status.

Depress the button to show locked guests.

Check tableware to display place settings for each seat at a table.

Hint Some of the above will be easier to see if you use simple (e.g. default )

colours in the Floor plan pane.

Mouse wheel

If you mouse has a mouse wheel you can use it to scroll or zoom, depending on the

settings in the Preferences window. If you have set the mouse wheel to scroll

vertically hold down the Shift key to zoom, and vice versa. If you have set the

mouse wheel to scroll vertically, hold down the key to scroll horizontally.

Keyboard accelerators

You can change the selected table or seat using Alt+Left arrow and Alt+Right

PerfectTablePlan72

arrow (change table) and Alt+Up arrow and Alt+Down arrow (change seat).

Printing, copying and exporting

When you are happy with the layout you can print this page with File> Print. You

can also export the image as a PDF, PNG, BMP or JPEG file using File> Export or

copy it to the clipboard using Edit> Copy.

5.8.3 Table plan pane

The Table Plan pane shows a single table, with an optional legend (text). You

can only select a single seat or table in this pane. The legend cannot be selected.

Appearance

Clicking on the and buttons zooms in and out. Clicking on the button

zooms and pans the display to show all the contents. When you are zoomed in you

can move around by clicking on the scroll bars or by dragging the background (the

cursor will change to a hand).

Click the button to change the fonts and colours. The table colour will be

overridden by colours set for individual tables through the Table properties

window.

Click on the buttons to display the first, previous, next or last table.

Click on the button to show additional options.

Select from the Arrow to drop-down list to display a directional arrow. This arrow

can point up, right, down, left or to any table. Note the arrow will not be

displayed when it is pointing to the current table.

Select from the Seats drop-down list according to how you want seats to be

displayed.

Change the Guests drop-down to change the text that is displayed for assigned

seats.

Check the legend check box to show the text legend. Check the header, seat

numbers, VIP, gender, age, meal, special or notes check boxes to show the

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 73

corresponding information in the legend.

Note The Event: entry in the legend is set in the Information window.

Changing the Table plan

Guests can be dragged between seats or from the Guests pane or Groups pane

(set the Left pane Mode to drag & drop). Drop a guest away from a seat or table

to unassign them.

Note If you drag a guest on to a seat where another guest is already assigned the

guests will swap seats with the guest being dragged.

Double-click on a table or guest to show the Properties window.

Ctrl+click on a table or seat to display actions in a pop-up menu.

Assessing your plan

When you hover the mouse cursor over a table or assigned seat a tool tip window

with useful information will appear. You can turn these tool tips on/off in the

Preferences window.

Hold down the button to show all guests that should be sitting next to each

other.

Hold down the button to show all guests that should be sitting near to each

other.

Hold down the button to show all guests that should not be sitting next to each

other.

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Hold down the button to show all guests that should be not be sitting near to

each other.

Hold down the button to show all guest proximities.

Hold down the button to show all non-optimal seating arrangements, e.g. guests

that should be sitting next to each other that aren't.

Note Only the proximities for guests on the current table are shown.

Depress the button to show the gender of guests (blue for male, pink for

female).

Hint It is easier to see proximities if the button is not depressed.

Depress the button to show the age of guests (large for adult, small for child).

Depress the button to show which groups guests belong to.

Depress the button to show colour-coded meal choices. Each meal is displayed

in a different colour (up to 10 colours). If you have more than one course (e.g.

“soup,fish,ice cream”) the courses will be displayed as concentric rings: outer

ring=first course, second ring=second course etc.

Note The colours for the groups and meals visualisations are chosen automatically -

you can't change them. We have chosen the colours to be easily distinguishable,

even for people with most types of colour blindness.

Depress the button to show VIP guests.

Depress the button to show guests with special needs.

Depress the button to show guest RSVP status.

Depress the button to show locked guests.

Check tableware to display place settings for each seat at a table.

Hint Some of the above will be easier to see if you use simple (e.g. default )

colours in the Table plan pane.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 75

Mouse wheel

If you mouse has a mouse wheel you can use it to scroll or zoom, depending on the

settings in the Preferences window. If you have set the mouse wheel to scroll

vertically hold down the Shift key to zoom, and vice versa. If you have set the

mouse wheel to scroll vertically, hold down the key to scroll horizontally.

Keyboard accelerators

You can change the selected table or seat using Alt+Left arrow and Alt+Right

arrow (change table) and Alt+Up arrow and Alt+Down arrow (change seat).

Printing, copying and exporting

When you are happy with the layout you can print this page with File> Print. You

can also export the image as a PDF, PNG, BMP,JPEG file using File> Export or

copy it to the clipboard using Edit> Copy.

5.8.4 Schematic pane

The Schematic pane shows the table plan in an abstract form that is convenient

for browsing. It also optionally shows the assignment scoring.

Guests who have declined or cancelled are shown with strikethrough text. Guests

who are locked are shown with underlined text.

Select from the Mode drop-down list to change the behaviour of the pane (see

below).

Change the Display drop-down list to change the way in which the names of

assigned guests are displayed.

The order of the tables can be changed by clicking on Table order button to

display the Table order window.

Type text in the Search field to hide non-matching table names. Guest names

are not searched. E.g. if you type

head

it will hide all tables without

head

in their

name (case is ignored). Click the cancel icon to clear the field.

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Click on the button to show additional options.

New tables are added are the bottom of the pane. You can change the position of

a table in the order by dragging it. Alternative, select the table and use the and

buttons at the top of the pane to move the table up or down the order.

Check the show scores check box to show the assignment scores.

Click Expand all or Collapse all to expand/collapse all the tables.

Mode

Drag and drop

Drag one or more guests to a seat or table within in the Schematic pane to re-

assign their seat. Hold down the Shift key to also drag all the other members of

their group. You can also drag guests from the Guests pane or Groups pane to

the Schematic pane.

Note If you drag a guest on to a seat where another guest is already assigned the

guests will swap seats.

Drag a table within the Schematic pane to change the order in which it is

displayed here and in the Table chart pane.

Edit guest or table properties by double-clicking on them or Ctrl+click and select

Properties from the pop-up menu.

Ctrl+click on a guest or table to display actions in a pop-up menu.

Double-click on a guest or table to display the Properties window.

Select more than one guest or table by using Shift+click or +Click. Use +A to

select everything in this pane.

Edit

Click on a guest locked column or table name to edit it.

Use the Enter, Tab or +arrow keys to change row or column. Use the Space or

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 77

arrow down keys to edit a drop-down list.

5.8.5 Table chart pane

The Table chart pane shows a seating chart, ordered by table. This can be very

useful for displaying at the entrance to an event. Tables with no guests assigned

are omitted. It is not possible to change the plan from this pane.

Use the By drop-down list to display a line per Guest or a line per Group.

Use the Display drop-down list to change how guest/group names are displayed.

Use the Sort by drop-down list to change the way how guests/groups are ordered

on each table.

You can also change the number of Columns in the chart and control the font and

colours by clicking on the button.

Click on the button to show additional options.

You can optionally show the seat, notes, meal choice, special requirements, RSVP

status and group. The meal choice and special requirements can be very useful for

caterers.

Click on the Title or Footer button to add/edit a title or footer for this pane. The

Chart title/footer window will be displayed. We would really appreciate a mention

of www.perfecttableplan.com in the footer!

The order of the tables can be changed by clicking on Table order button to

display the Table order window. Alternatively, you can change the order in the

Schematic pane. Tables are laid out left to right and then top to bottom.

You can copy the contents of the whole pane to the clipboard as plain text and

HTML using Edit> Copy. Use right click and Copy to copy selected text to the

clipboard.

When you are happy with the layout you can print this page with File> Print.

You can export the pane as an Excel CSV, plain text or HTML file using File>

Export and selecting table chart to text/CSV/HTML file. Select Excel CSV file,

Text file or HTML file from the Save as type drop-down in the Export window.

PerfectTablePlan78

Plain text may be useful for emailing to your stationary supplier. HTML preserves

the layout and is useful for web pages and other HTML-aware applications, such as

Microsoft Word. CSV files can be opened as Excel spreadsheets.

Hint Use +A to select everything in this pane.

5.8.6 Guest chart pane

The Guest chart pane shows a chart, ordered by guest name (alphabetically by

last name then first name). This allows guests to find their table quickly and can

be very useful for displaying at the entrance to an event. You can also print off a

full guest list. It is not possible to change the plan from this pane.

Use the By drop-down list to display a line per Guest or a line per Group.

Use the Display drop-down list to change how guest/group names are displayed.

Using the Show drop-down list you can display:

guests who have (or haven't) been assigned to seats; or

guests by RSVP status; or

all guests; or

selected guests

You can also change the number of Columns in the chart and control the font and

colours by clicking on the button.

Click on the button to show additional options.

You can optionally show the headers, table, seat, notes, meal choice, special

requirements, RSVP status and group. The meal choice and special requirements

can be very useful for caterers.

Click on the Title or Footer button to add/edit a title or footer for this pane. The

Chart title/footer window will be displayed. We would really appreciate a mention

of www.perfecttableplan.com in the footer!

You can copy the contents of the pane to the clipboard as plain text and HTML

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 79

using Edit> Copy. Use right click and Copy to copy selected text to the

clipboard.

When you are happy with the layout you can print this page with File> Print.

You can export the pane as an Excel CSV, plain text or HTML file using File>

Export and selecting guest chart to text/CSV/HTML file. Select Excel CSV file,

Text file or HTML file from the Save as type drop-down in the Export window.

Plain text may be useful for emailing to your stationary supplier. HTML preserves

the layout and is useful for web pages and other HTML-aware applications, such as

Microsoft Word. CSV files can be opened as Excel spreadsheets.

Hint Use +A to select everything in this pane.

5.8.7 Stationery pane

The Stationery pane allows you to design and print items of stationery and easily

merge in details of your guests and their seating arrangements from your

PerfectTablePlan data. Each page can contain a single stationery item (e.g. an A4

invitation letter) or multiple items (e.g. 3x6 address labels).

You design a master for your stationery items in the Design tab and preview it in

the Preview tab.

Note You can order place cards from our website.

Top controls

Click on the Open stationery button to load a stationery design. A few samples

are included with PerfectTablePlan. You can also save your own designs to use

later or send to other PerfectTablePlan users.

Click on the Stationery layout button to change the layout of the existing

design. For example to change the page size or the number and dimensions of

items on the page.

Click on the Save stationery button to save the current stationery design to a

file. You will be able to load this design back into this plan, or another plan, at a

later date.

Select from the Item per drop-down list to create a stationery item for each guest,

PerfectTablePlan80

each group or each table.

Select from the Show drop-down list to choose which guests/groups you wish to

create stationery items for.

For example, if you are printing place cards, you probably want to select Item per

to Guest and Show to Assigned. If you are printing invitations you probably want

to select Item per to Group and Show to All. If you want to reprint an individual

place card you probably want to select Item per to Guest and Show to

Selected....

Select from the Sort by drop-down list to determine the order in which stationery

items are ordered. This feature should make it easier to set up place cards if you

have hundreds of guests. It is only available for Item per=Guest .

Click on the button to show additional options.

Select from the Fold drop-down list to a horizontal or vertical fold. This can be

useful for designing and printing tent fold cards. Folds are displayed in printouts.

Set the Border thickness greater than 0 to add a border to each stationery item.

Click on the Border colour button to change the colour of the border around each

item. This has no effect if the Border thickness is 0.

Click on the Background colour button to change the background colour of each

item.

Design tab

To add text to your design:

1. click on the Insert text button

2. click on the area of the design you wish to add the text

3. type in the text you wish to add

4. add substitution fields by selecting from the Insert substitution text drop-down

list

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 81

Click on the Horizontal centre or Vertical centre buttons to horizontally/

vertically centre the currently selected text.

Click on the Rotate button to rotate the selected text 90 degrees.

Click on the Move to back button to move the selected text behind any other

text.

To delete text click select the text and click the Delete button.

Change the value of Guides to the number of guidelines you wish to add to the

design. These can be useful for aligning text neatly. They are not shown in

printouts.

Click on the Font button to change the font of the selected text. Alternatively you

can use the Font size spin box or the Italic, Bold and Underline buttons.

Click on the Colour button to change the colour of the selected text.

Click on the Left align, Centre align or Right align buttons to change the

alignment of the selected text.

Drag the splitter a the top of the text edit box to increase or decrease the size of

the text edit area.

Preview tab

Select Display to show either a full page of items or a single item (e.g. 3x6 address

labels or a single address label) and the number of the page/item to display.

Set Start position to position on the page where you wish the first item to be

printed.

Check cut marks if you would like cut marks to be printed on the page. This can

be useful if you are using a guillotine to cut the page.

Substitution text

If you use the following text in your design it will be substituted by the appropriate

data from your plan.

PerfectTablePlan82

In alphabetical order:

Substitution text

Substituted by

Example

Available for 'Item

per'

{event_date}

event date from

Information

window

31/1/2007

Guest, group or

Table

{event_name}

event name

from

Information

window

Gala dinner

Guest, group or

Table

{event_notes}

event notes

from

Information

window

Guest, group or

Table

{event_venue}

event venue

from

Information

window

The Crown hotel

Guest, group or

Table

{group_address}

the address of

the group

1 The Street

The Town

Nowhereshire

NW1 123

England

Guest or Group

{group_address1}

line 1 of the

group address

1 The Street

Guest or Group

{group_address2}

line 2 of the

group address

Guest or Group

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 83

{group_country}

the address

country

England

Guest or Group

{group_contact}

full contact

details of group

(address +

contact

numbers)

1 The Street

The Town

Nowhereshire

NW1 123

England

111-1111-1111

[email protected]

Guest or Group

{group_email}

email address

[email protected]

Guest or Group

{group_home_phon

home phone

number

111-111-1111

Guest or Group

{group_meals}

meals of group

members

fish + beef

Guest or Group

{group_members_

multi_line}

list of group

members, one

per line

Mr J Smith

Mrs K Smith

Guest or Group

{group_members}

list of group

members on one

line

Mr & Mrs J Smith

Guest or Group

{group_mobile}

mobile phone

number

111-111-1111

Guest or Group

{group_name}

group name

Smith family

Guest or Group

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{group_notes}

notes for the

group

Guest or Group

{group_special_req

special

requirements of

group members

wheelchair

Guest or Group

{group_state_count

the address

state/county

Nowhereshire

Guest or Group

{group_tables}

the table(s) the

group is assigned

table 1

Guest or group

{group_town_city}

the address

town/city

The Town

Guest or Group

{group_work_phon

work phone

number

111-111-1111

Guest or Group

{group_zip_postcod

the address zip/

postcode

NW1 123

Guest or Group

{guest_age}

guest age

adult

Guest

{guest_display_nam

guest display

name

Mr John Smith

Master of

Ceremonies

Guest

{guest_display_nam

e**1}

guest display

name before **

Mr John

Smith**Master of

Ceremonies -> Mr

John Smith

Guest

{guest_display_nam

e**1}

guest display

name after **

Mr John

Smith**Master of

Ceremonies ->

Master of

Guest

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 85

Ceremonies

{guest_first_name}

guest first name

John

Guest

{guest_gender}

guest gender

male

Guest

{guest_last_name}

guest last name

Smith

Guest

{guest_meal}

guest meal

fish

Guest

{guest_notes}

notes for the

guest

Guest

{guest_rsvp}

guest RSVP

status

Accepted

Guest

{guest_seat}

seat guest

assigned to

Guest

{guest_special_req}

guest special

requirements

visually impaired

Guest

{guest_table}

table guest

assigned to

Table 3

Guest

{guest_title}

guest title

Guest

{guest_vip}

guest VIP status

VIP

Guest

{table_groups_mult

i_line}

list of groups at

table, one group

per line

Smith family

Jones family

Table

{table_groups}

list of groups at

table on one line

Smith family &

Jones family

Table

{table_guests_multi

list of guests at

Mr J Smith

Table

PerfectTablePlan86

_line}

table, one guest

per line

Mrs K Smith

{table_guests}

list of guests at

table on one line

Mr & Mrs J Smith

Table

{table_name}

the name of the

table

Table 1

Table

{table_name**1}

table name

before **

Table1**HeadTable -

> Table1

Table

{table_name**2}

table name after

Table1**HeadTable -

> Head table

Table

{table_notes}

notes for the

table

Table

Note Text will only be substituted if Item per is set to the correct value, e.g.

{guest_title}

will not be substituted if you are display Item per to Table.

Exporting

You can export your stationery to a PDF file by selecting File> Export and

selecting stationery to PDF file.

See also:

Print stationery tutorial

5.8.8 Statistics pane

The Statistics pane shows simple summary statistics for your plan. It is not

possible to make changes to the plan from this pane.

You can copy the contents of the whole pane to the clipboard as plain text and

HTML using Edit> Copy. Use right click and Copy to copy selected text to the

clipboard.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 87

When you are happy with the layout you can print this page with File> Print.

You can export the pane as an Excel CSV, plain text or HTML file using File>

Export... and selecting statistics to text/CSV/HTML file. Select Excel CSV file,

Text file or HTML file from the Save as type drop-down in the Export window.

Plain text may be useful for emailing to your caterer. HTML preserves the layout

and is useful for web pages and other HTML-aware applications, such as Microsoft

Word. CSV files can be opened as Excel spreadsheets.

5.9 Bottom pane

5.9.1 Bottom pane

The Bottom pane contains the Proximity pane.

If View>User interface>Expert is selected you can hide this pane by clicking on

the button at top-right of the pane or using View> Bottom pane or the

equivalent Main tool bar button.

You can resize this pane using the splitter between it and the Left pane and the

splitter between it and the Top pane.

5.9.2 Proximity pane

The Proximity pane shows an abstract view of who should be placed near whom.

Note The table is symmetric, if you change the proximity for column A and row B,

the proximity for row B and column A will change automatically.

You can move around the table and change values using the Arrow keys, Space bar

and Return key.

Select from Display to change how the guest names are displayed.

Type text in the Search row and Search column fields to hide non-matching

guest names. E.g. if you type

in the Search row field it will hide all rows for

guests without

in their name (case is ignored). Click the cancel icon to clear

the field.

Default proximity values are set automatically for guests when they are added as a

couple, family or group, but you can add to or override as you wish. For example,

if you add Mr & Mrs A as a couple they will be automatically assigned proximity

PerfectTablePlan88

Next to (a will appear in the cells where the columns and rows for Mr A and Mrs

A intersect). The automatic assignment will then try to put them next to each

other. To change this proximity to Not next to (perhaps they have had an

argument!) click on the cell and select from the drop-down list.

Click on the button to show additional options.

Select from Show:

all: all guests

by group: guests in the selected group

by group+: guests in the selected group and all guests with non-neutral

proximity to members of this group

Select from the drop-down list or click on the and buttons to change the

selected group.

Check assignable guests only to show only guests who can be assigned to seats

(due to their locked + RSVP status and settings in the Preferences window).

Hint If you want to change the proximity for everyone in a group it may be easier

to select a group (in the Groups pane) or more than one guest (in the Guests

pane or Groups pane) and then select Edit>Proximity. You can set the proximity

for everyone on a table by selecting the table and then Edit>Proximity. This can

be useful for arranging multiple seatings.

5.10 Windows

5.10.1 Windows

Help on the following windows is available:

About window

Change group window

Chart title/footer window

Dimensions window

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 89

Export window

Export data window

Export PDF window

Export vCard window

Fonts and colours window

Group properties window

Guest properties window

Import window

Import data window

Information window

Insert couple window

Insert family window

Insert group window

Insert guest window

Insert guests scratch-pad window

Insert shape window

Insert table window

Insert text window

Licence window

Main window

Most recently accessed window

PerfectTablePlan90

Numbers and budget window

Preferences window

Print window

Print setup window

Save stationery layout window

Select gradient window

Select groups window

Select guests window

Shape properties window

Stationery layout window

Table order window

Table properties window

Text properties window

5.10.2 About window

The About window tells you which version of PerfectTablePlan you are using. To

display this window select select PerfectTablePlan>About PerfectTablePlan.

Click on Credits to see the credits list.

Click on Close to close the window.

5.10.3 Change group window

The Change group window allows you to move one or more guests from one

group to another. To display this window select one or more guests and then

select Edit>Change group....

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 91

Move guest(s) displays the guests that will be moved.

Select the group you want to move the guests to in To group and click OK.

Note You can also change the group of a guest by dragging and dropping them from

one group to another in the Groups pane.

5.10.4 Chart title/footer window

The Chart title/footer window allows you to change the title or footer displayed in

the Table chart or Guest chart pane. To display this window click the Title or

Footer button at the top of the appropriate pane. Click on the button to reveal

the button.

Type the text of the title or footer in the Text edit.

Set the size of the text relative to the rest of the text in the pane using the

Relative size drop down list.

is the largest text and

-4

is the smallest text.

Click on the Colour button to change the colour of the title or footer.

Check bold, italic and underline to set whether the text attributes of the title or

footer.

Click OK to accept the changes. Click Cancel to discard the changes. Any changes

you make to dimensions only apply to the current plan.

We would really appreciate a mention of www.perfecttableplan.com in the footer!

5.10.5 Dimensions window

The Dimensions window allows you to change the dimensions of the floor plan.

To display this window click the button at the top of the Floor plan pane.

Units allows you to choose metres or feet, as you prefer.

Depth (Y) is the depth of the floor plan in metres/feet (top to bottom on the

screen).

Breadth (X) is the breadth of the floor plan in metres/feet (left to right on the

screen).

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Area is Depth x Breadth, in m

or ft

(depending on your choice of units).

Area per guest is the amount of area per guest, in m

or ft

(depending on your

choice of units).

Area per accepted guest is the amount of area per guest who has accepted, in

m2 or ft2 (depending on your choice of units). As a rough guideline:

seating type

comfortable space per guest

minimum space per guest

all standing

0.7

0.5

all seated,

rectangular

tables

0.7

all seated,

circular tables

1.3

Note Local fire regulations may specify limits on the number of guests for a venue.

Seat width is the number of metres/feet between the centre of one seat and the

next (including elbow room). Automatic table size is calculated from seat width, so

increasing/decreasing seat size may increase/decrease table sizes.

Check Draw grid if you would like a visible grid to be drawn in the Floor plan

pane. If checked you can set the drawn grid Size in the chosen units. The grid is

not shown in print outs or export files.

Check Snap to grid if you would like the centres of items in the Floor plan pane

to be constrained to a grid. If checked you can set the snap grid Size in the chosen

units. If you turn Snap to grid on or change the snap grid Size, you will be given

the option to snap all tables, shapes and text to the new grid.

Note The drawn grid and the snap grid are independent of each other.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 93

Click OK to accept the changes. Click Cancel to discard the changes. Any changes

you make to dimensions only apply to the current plan.

5.10.6 Export window

The Export window allows you to choose a type of file to export. To display this

window select File> Export or the equivalent Main tool bar button. You cannot

export data if your plan is empty.

5.10.7 Export data window

The Export data window allows you to export guest and seat assignment data from

your plan to use in other applications, for example to import into spreadsheets to

create customised reports. To display this window select File> Export, select

guest and seating data to CSV/text file in the Export window and click OK. You

cannot export data if your plan has no guests.

Set the Export a record per drop-down to guest or group, depending on whether

you want to export a record (line) for each guest or a record for each group of

guests. For example:

If you want a complete list of guests to send to your stationery supplier, you

should select guest.

If you want to create a mail merge you will probably only want to send one letter

to each group, so you should select group.

Select a from the Filter drop-down menu depending on which guests you wish to

export.

Check Output header record if you want to add a record with the field headings

at the top of the export file.

Click on the button to show more options.

Select the appropriate Fields check boxes, depending on what information you

want to export to the file. Use the Select all, Unselect all and Invert selection

buttons to save time changing your selection.

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Use the Format drop-down list to choose whether the exported file is in CSV

format or a custom delimited format (e.g. fields separated by Tab characters). If

you are using a custom format, set Field separator and Record separator to the

field and record separators you want in the export file.

Note Excel and many other types of application can open/import CSV files.

Preview shows you what the export file will look like. It shows the effect of

changes made to Export a record per, Output header record etc. If there are

more than 20 records to export, it only shows the first 20.

Set Export file to the location of the file you wish to create. You will be prompted

if there is already a file at this location. Click on the Browse... button to browse

to a location.

Click Apply to export the data. Click OK to export the data and close the window.

Click Cancel to discard the changes.

See also:

Export formats

5.10.8 Export PDF window

The Export PDF window allows you to set the paper size and orientation of the

PDF document you are about to create. To display this window export a file in PDF

format.

Choose the page size from the Size drop-down list.

Choose the page orientation from the Orientation drop-down list.

For a custom page size select <Custom> from the Size drop-down list and set

Width, Height and Units appropriately.

Click OK to create the PDF document and close the window. Click Cancel to cancel

the export process.

See also:

Export formats

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 95

5.10.9 Export vCard window

The Export vCard window allows you to export guest data from your plan in vCard

format to use in other applications, for example to import into address books of

other applications. To display this window select File> Export, select guest data

to vCard file in the Export window and click OK. You cannot export data if your

plan has no guests.

Select from the Export drop-down list whether you wish to export all guests in the

plan or just those currently selected in the front tab of the Left pane (all members

of any group selected will be exported).

Select from the to drop-down list whether you wish to export all guests to a single

vCard file or a separate vCard file for each guest.

Set Location to the folder you wish to create the export file(s) in. You will be

prompted if there is already a file with the same name. Click on the Browse...

button to browse to a location.

Click OK to export the data and close the window. Click Cancel to discard the

changes.

See also:

Export formats

5.10.10 Fonts and colours window

The Fonts and colours window allows you to change fonts and colours/gradients

in the Floor plan, Table plan, Table chart and Guest chart panes. To

display this window click the button at the top of the appropriate pane. The

exact appearance of the window depends on the which pane is at the front. Use

'themes' to load and save groups of font and colour choices.

Select coloured buttons to set the colours/gradients for the appropriate text,

tables, seats and backgrounds. Some of these button may give you choice of a

single colour or a gradient.

Click Font... to set the appropriate font.

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Click on the button to load the selected theme from the Themes list.

Click on the button to save the existing colours and fonts into the Themes list

for future use.

Click on the button to delete the selected theme from the Themes list.

Click More fonts to go to the PerfectTablePlan fonts web page.

Click Default to set all colours and fonts back to their original settings.

The effects of changes are shown in the Preview.

Click OK to accept the changes and close the window. Click Apply to apply the

changes without closing the window. Click Cancel to discard the changes and close

the window.

Once a theme has been created it will be available for other plans.

5.10.11 Group properties window

The Group properties window allows you to show/edit group properties. To

display this window select a single group in the Group pane and select Edit>

Properties or the equivalent Main tool bar button.

Group

Name is the name of the group. PerfectTablePlan will attempt to guess a

reasonable name from the names of the members when the group is created, but

you can change this at any time.

Notes is for any general notes relevant to everyone in the group. Click on Stamp

>> to add a time and date stamped comment to the top of the Notes.

Contact

These fields store contact information for everyone in the group. This can be

useful for creating address labels.

Buttons

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Click on the buttons to display the properties of the first, previous,

next or last group. The groups are ordered alphabetically.

Click OK to accept the changes and close the window. Click Apply to apply the

changes without closing the window. Click Cancel to discard the changes.

5.10.12 Guest properties window

The Guest properties window allows you to show/edit guest properties. To

display this window select a single guest in the Guests, Groups, Floor plan,

Table plan or Schematic panes and select Edit> Properties or the

equivalent Main tool bar button or double-click on the guest.

Guest

Title is the guest's title. You can type the title or select it from existing choices in

the drop-down list. Once you have typed it in once, it will be available to select

next time you create a guest in this plan. Titles can also be configured in the

Preferences window.

First name is the guest's first (given) name(s).

Last name is the guest's last (family) name(s).

Note The Title, First name and Last name will be automatically capitalised (e.g.

mr john smith

converted to

Mr John Smith

) unless you have disabled this

option in the Preferences window.

Display name is a name that can include the guests' qualification, rank, post-

nominal titles and/or role, e.g.

Mr John Smith Phd, Master of

Ceremonies

. See names and titles for more details.

Gender is the gender of the guest. This can be useful information when doing the

assignments. The automatic assignment will endeavour to alternate men and

women where it can (unless you have disabled this in the Preferences window).

PerfectTablePlan will try to set the Gender from the Title, but you can change

this at any time.

Age is the age of the guest, adult or child. Typically a child is anyone under the

age of 16. This can be useful information when doing the seat assignments.

PerfectTablePlan will try to set the age from the Title where it can, but you can

PerfectTablePlan98

change this at any time.

Meal is the meal choice for this guest. You can type the meal or select it from

existing choices in the drop-down list. Once you have typed it in once, it will be

available to select next time. If you have a choice of more than one course you

should enter the courses separated by commas, e.g. soup,fish,flan, the Statistics

pane will then total each course separately.

Special req. is any special requirements the guest has, for example: nut allergy,

elderly or in a wheel chair. If there is more than one special requirement they

should be separated by commas, the Statistics pane will then total each special

requirement separately.

Notes is for any general notes relevant to the guest. This can be used to store any

information not stored elsewhere, for example whether the guest has paid. Click

on Stamp >> to add a time and date stamped comment to the top of the Notes.

Check VIP if the guest is an important guest, for example a guest of honour or a

member of a wedding party. The automatic assignment will take special care

assigning their seat, trying to assign them to a VIP table if there is one.

Check Locked to lock the guest to their current seat (or no seat). You will have to

unlock them to reassign their seat. This is particularly useful for stopping the

automatic assignment from moving them.

Select the RSVP status according to whether an invite has been sent, accepted,

declined or cancelled. Note that you may not be able to assign guests who have

not Accepted, depending on your settings in the Preferences window.

Assigned shows which seat the guest has been assigned to (if any).

All fields are optional, except that a guest must have at least a First name or a

Last name.

Note You can also edit many of these properties directly in the Guests pane and

Groups pane.

Group

Name is the name of the group. PerfectTablePlan will attempt to guess a

reasonable name from the names of the members when the group is created, but

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you can change this at any time.

Notes is for any general notes relevant to everyone in the group. Click on Stamp

>> to add a time and date stamped comment to the top of the Notes.

Note You can easily change the group of a guest by dragging them from one group

to another in the Groups pane.

Contact

These fields store contact information for everyone in the group. This can be

useful for creating stationery, such as address labels.

Buttons

Click on the buttons to display the properties of the first, previous,

next or last guest. The guests are ordered alphabetically.

Click OK to accept the changes and close the window. Click Apply to apply the

changes without closing the window. Click Cancel to discard the changes and close

the window. You will be warned if you the guest has been edited to have the same

First Name, Last name and Title as an existing guest (unless you have disabled this

warning).

See also:

Add or remove dots at the end of titles

5.10.13 Import window

The Import window allows you to choose a type of file to import. To display this

window select File> Import or the equivalent Main tool bar button.

See also:

Importing

Import data window

PerfectTablePlan100

5.10.14 Import data window

The Import data window allows you to import data into your plan from other

applications, for example from an CSV or text file. This can save you a lot of

typing. To display this window select File> Import... or the equivalent Main tool

bar button. The Import window will be displayed. Select CSV/text file and click

OK. An Open window will be displayed. Select the file you wish to import. The

Import data window will be displayed.

Note PerfectTablePlan cannot read Excel files on MacOSX. If you have an Excel file

you must open it in Excel and save it as a CSV (.csv) file. Renaming the file from .

xls to .csv will not work.

Mapping imported columns to guest properties

Setting up common titles will often help PerfectTablePlan to make better sense of

the data you are importing. Click on the Titles button to set your title

preferences.

Select File type to import a pre-defined file type. Select custom to define your

own. Click on the button to show more options.

Map imported columns to guest properties shows you how the file data will be

imported, including the effects of various options described below.

If you have selected the File type as custom you need to tell PerfectTablePlan

which columns in the import file correspond to which guest properties. Select from

the drop-down lists at the top of each column to do this. For example the column

1 might correspond to the guest title, column 2 column to the guest last name and

the column 4 column to the guest meal choice. Leave the drop-down list as

<ignore> to ignore the contents of a column.

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Empty lines in your import file are ignored.

If you have multiple guests in one row or the title, first name or last name are not

in separate columns, PerfectTablePlan will do it's best to unravel them. For

example it can handle all the following:

If title is imported, but not gender or age, the import will attempt to guess the

gender or age from the title using the titles set in the Preferences window.

Note You can edit information in the table. This will change the information

imported, but not affect the contents of the file you are importing. Make sure you

press Enter to confirm any edits before clicking on Apply or OK.

Text is imported directly except for Gender, Age, VIP and RSVP, which are based

on the values below:

Column

Values

Gender

Text must start with:

'F' or 'f' for a female

'M' or 'm' for male

otherwise the guest is imported with unknown gender

Age

Text must start with:

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'C' or 'c' for a child

otherwise the guest is imported as an adult

VIP

Text must start with:

'V', 'v', 'Y' or 'y' for a VIP

otherwise the guest is imported as an non-VIP

RSVP

Text must start with:

'S' or 's' for sent

'A', 'a', 'Y' or 'y' for accepted

'C' or 'c' for cancelled

'D', 'd', 'N' or 'n' for declined

Or be:

'Delivered' for sent, case unimportant (for integration with

pingg.com)

otherwise the RSVP status is unset.

You can easily edit any of these properties at a later point.

Importing groups

If you wish to import guests as couples, families and/or group you need to:

1. have a groups column in your input data

2. use the same name in the group column for each person in the couple, family or

group

3. make this column the group field during import

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If no group is set then consecutive guests with the same surname will be added to

the same group. You can choose the proximity to use for members of the same

group from the Proximity for guests in the same group drop-down list.

The Num. guests field is the number of additional guests to be added for a given

guest in the same group. It can be from 0 to 999. For example if the guest is "John

Smith" and Num. guests field is 2 the guests "John Smith", "guest 1 of John Smith"

and "guest 2 of John Smith" will be added (all in the same group).

You can easily change the grouping of guests later by dragging them to another

group in the Groups pane.

Further options

Location shows the location of the import file. Click on the Browse... button to

change the file you wish to import.

Use Ignore first if you wish to ignore one or more rows in the file. Often the first

row is a header and you won't want to import it.

Use the Format drop-down list to choose whether the imported file is in CSV

format or a custom format (e.g. columns separated by Tab characters). If you are

using a custom format, set Column separator and Row separator to the field and

record separators in the import file.

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Click on Add row to add an additional row to be input. This is useful if you want to

type in the data for additional guests. If a row is selected the new row will be

added below, otherwise it will be added to the end.

Click on Delete row to delete the currently selected row.

Click on Add column to add an additional column to be input. This is useful if you

want to type in some additional data for each guest, e.g. their gender or group. If

a column is selected the new row will be added to the right, otherwise it will be

added to the end.

Click on Delete column to delete the currently selected column.

Buttons

Click Apply to import the data. Click OK to import the data and close the window.

Click Cancel to discard the changes.

See also:

Importing

Insert guests scratch-pad window

Importing guests from Excel files

Importing guests from text and CSV files

Importing guests from vCards

5.10.15 Information window

The Information window allows you to show/edit general properties of the plan.

To display this window select File> Information or the equivalent Main tool bar

button.

Event allows you to enter a brief description of the event.

Venue allows you to enter a brief description of the event location.

Date allows you to enter the date of the event. The date format conforms to your

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 105

system locale. For example if you have set your locale to the USA you should see

MM/DD/YYYY format dates and if you have set your local to the UK you should see

DD/MM/YYYY format dates. You can change your locale through the operating

system. You need to restart PerfectTablePlan after changing the locale to see the

effect.

Days remaining shows the number of days remaining until the event.

Notes is for general notes on the vent.

Click OK to accept the changes and close the window. Click Cancel to discard the

changes.

5.10.16 Insert couple window

The Insert couple window allows you to enter details for a couple. To display

this window select Insert> Guest couple or the equivalent Insert tool bar button.

Note Guests added as a couple will share the same contact details. If this isn't

appropriate add them as individual guests with Insert> Single guest instead.

Guests

Title is the guest's title. You can type the title or select it from existing choices in

the drop-down list. Once you have typed it in once, it will be available to select

next time you create a guest in this plan. You can also add standard titles in the

Preferences window.

First name is the guest's first (given) name. You can also add middle names here.

Last name is the guest's last (family) name. For convenience, the last name of the

second guest is set to the same as the last name of the first guest, but you can

change this at any time.

Note The Title, First name and Last name will be automatically capitalised (e.g.

mr john smith

converted to

Mr John Smith

) unless you have disabled this

option in the Preferences window.

Display name is a name that can be used in various views. This could include the

guests' qualification, rank, post-nominal titles and/or role, e.g.

Mr John Smith

Phd, Master of Ceremonies

. PerfectTablePlan will try to construct a sensible

PerfectTablePlan106

display name from the Title, First name and Last name, but you can change this

at any time.

Gender is the gender of the guest. This can be useful information when assigning

seats. The automatic assignment will endeavour to alternate men and women

where it can (unless you have disabled this in the Preferences window).

PerfectTablePlan will try to set the gender from the Title where it can, but you

can change this at any time.

Age is the age of the guest, adult or child. Typically a child is anyone under the

age of 16. This can be useful information when assigning seats. PerfectTablePlan

will try to set the age from the Title where it can, but you can change this at any

time.

Meal is the meal choice for a guest. You can type the meal choice or select it from

existing choices in the drop-down list. Once you have typed it in once, it will be

available to select next time. If you have a choice of more than one course you

should enter the courses separated by commas, e.g. soup,fish,flan, the Statistics

pane will then show a total for each course separately.

Special req. is any special requirements the guest has, for example: nut allergy,

elderly or in a wheel chair. Once you have typed it in once, it will be available to

select next time. If there is more than one special requirement they should be

separated by commas, the Statistics pane will then total each separately.

Notes is for any general notes relevant to the guest. This can be used to store

information any other relevant information. Click on Stamp >> to add a time and

date stamped comment to the top of the Notes.

Check VIP if the guest is an important guest, for example a guest of honour or a

member of a wedding party. The automatic assignment will take special care

assigning their seat, trying to assign them to a VIP table if there is one.

Select the RSVP status according to whether an invite has been sent, accepted,

declined or cancelled.

Note You need to scroll down using the scroll bar to fill out all the details for the

other guest in the couple.

All fields are optional, except that each guest must have either a First name or a

Last name.

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A couple will automatically be given proximity Next to. You can change this at

any time in the Proximity pane.

Group

Select create new if you wish these guests to be the only member of a new group.

Select add to existing and select a group if you wish these guests to be added to

an existing group.

Name is the name of the group. PerfectTablePlan will try to construct a display

name from the names of the couple, but you can change this at any time.

Notes is for any general notes relevant to the group. This is shared by all member

of the group. Click on Stamp >> to add a time and date stamped comment to the

top of the Notes.

Note You can easily change the group membership of a guest later by dragging

them from one group to another in the Groups pane.

Contact

This tab contains contact details for all members of the group. This information is

optional.

Contact data is shared by all members of the group.

Buttons

Click Add to accept the changes and close the window. You will be warned if you

are adding a guest with the same First Name, Last name and Title as an existing

guest (unless you have disabled this warning). Click Cancel to discard the changes.

5.10.17 Insert family window

The Insert family window allows you to enter details for a family with two or

more members. To display this window select Insert> Guest family or the

equivalent Insert tool bar button.

Note Guests added as a family will share the same group notes and contact details.

If this isn't appropriate add them as individual guests with Insert> Single guest

PerfectTablePlan108

instead.

Guests

Members is the number of members in the family. You can set this to 0 to create

an empty group.

Title is the guest's title. You can type the title or select it from existing choices in

the drop-down list. Once you have typed it in once, it will be available to select

next time you create a guest in this plan. Titles can also be configured in the

Preferences window.

First name is the guest's first (given) name(s).

Last name is the guest's last (family) name(s).

Note The Title, First name and Last name will be automatically capitalised (e.g.

mr john smith

converted to

Mr John Smith

) unless you have disabled this

option in the Preferences window.

Display name is a name that can include the guests' qualification, rank, post-

nominal titles and/or role, e.g.

Mr John Smith Phd, Master of

Ceremonies

See names and titles for more details.

Gender is the gender of the guest. This can be useful information when assigning

seats. The automatic assignment will endeavour to alternate men and women

where it can (unless you have disabled this in the Preferences window).

PerfectTablePlan will try to guess the gender from the Title where it can, but you

can change this at any time.

Age is the age of the guest, adult or child. Typically a child is anyone under the

age of 16. This can be useful information when assigning seats. PerfectTablePlan

will try to set the age from the Title where it can, but you can change this at any

time.

Meal is the meal choice for a guest. You can type the meal choice or select it from

existing choices in the drop-down list. Once you have typed it in once, it will be

available to select next time. If you have a choice of more than one course you

should enter the courses separated by commas, e.g.

soup,fish,flan

, the

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 109

Statistics pane will then show a total for each course separately.

Special req. is any special requirements the guest has, for example: nut allergy,

elderly or in a wheel chair. Once you have typed it in once, it will be available to

select next time. If there is more than one special requirement they should be

separated by commas, the Statistics pane will then total each separately.

Notes is for any general notes relevant to the guest. This can be used to store

information any other relevant information. Click on Stamp >> to add a time and

date stamped comment to the top of the Notes.

Check VIP if the guest is an important guest, for example a guest of honour or a

member of a wedding party. The automatic assignment will take special care

assigning their seat, trying to assign them to a VIP table if there is one.

Select the RSVP status according to whether an invite has been sent, accepted,

declined or cancelled.

Note You need to scroll down using the scroll bar to fill out all the details for the

other guests in the family.

All fields are optional, except that each guest must have either a First name or a

Last name.

If the first two guests in a family are adults of opposite gender they will

automatically be given proximity Next to each other. The rest of the members

of the family with be given proximity Near to each other. You can change this at

any time in the Proximity pane.

Group

Select create new if you wish these guests to be the only member of a new group.

Select add to existing and select a group if you wish these guests to be added to

an existing group.

Name is the name of the family group. PerfectTablePlan will try to construct a

display name from the names of the family, but you can change this at any time.

Notes is for any general notes relevant to the family group. This is shared by all

member of the family group. Click on Stamp >> to add a time and date stamped

PerfectTablePlan110

comment to the top of the Notes.

Note You can easily change the group membership of a guest later by dragging

them from one group to another in the Groups pane.

Contact

This tab contains contact details for all members of the family group. This

information is optional.

Contact data is shared by all members of the group.

Buttons

Click Insert guest to add another guest. Click Delete guest to delete the last

guest.

Click Add to accept the changes and close the window. You will be warned if you

are adding a guest with the same First Name, Last name and Title as an existing

guest (unless you have disabled this warning). Click Cancel to discard the changes

and close the window.

5.10.18 Insert group window

The Insert group window allows you to enter details for a group with two or

more members. This is useful for quickly adding a group of friends or work

colleagues. To display this window select Insert> Guest group or the equivalent

Insert tool bar button.

Note Guests added as a group will share the same group notes and contact details.

If this isn't appropriate add them as individual guests with Insert> Single guest

instead.

Guests

Members is the number of members in the group. You can set this to 0 to create

an empty group.

Title is the guest's title. You can type the title or select it from existing choices in

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 111

the drop-down list. Once you have typed it in once, it will be available to select

next time you create a guest in this plan. Titles can also be configured in the

Preferences window.

First name is the guest's first (given) name(s).

Last name is the guest's last (family) name(s).

Note The Title, First name and Last name will be automatically capitalised (e.g.

mr john smith converted to Mr John Smith) unless you have disabled this option in

the Preferences window.

Display name is a name that can include the guests' qualification, rank, post-

nominal titles and/or role, e.g.

Mr John Smith Phd, Master of

Ceremonies

See names and titles for more details.

Gender is the gender of the guest. This can be useful information when assigning

seats. The automatic assignment will endeavour to alternate men and women

where it can (unless you have disabled this in the Preferences window).

PerfectTablePlan will try to guess the gender from the Title where it can, but you

can change this at any time.

Age is the age of the guest, adult or child. Typically a child is anyone under the

age of 16. This can be useful information when assigning seats. PerfectTablePlan

will try to set the age from the Title where it can, but you can change this at any

time.

Meal is the meal choice for a guest. You can type the meal choice or select it from

existing choices in the drop-down list. Once you have typed it in once, it will be

available to select next time. If you have a choice of more than one course you

should enter the courses separated by commas, e.g. soup,fish,flan, the Statistics

pane will then show a total for each course separately.

Special req. is any special requirements the guest has, for example: nut allergy,

elderly or in a wheel chair. Once you have typed it in once, it will be available to

select next time. If there is more than one special requirement they should be

separated by commas, the Statistics pane will then total each separately.

Notes is for any general notes relevant to the guest. This can be used to store

PerfectTablePlan112

information any other relevant information. Click on Stamp >> to add a time and

date stamped comment to the top of the Notes.

Check VIP if the guest is an important guest, for example a guest of honour or a

member of a wedding party. The automatic assignment will take special care

assigning their seat, trying to assign them to a VIP table if there is one.

Check Accepted invite if the guest has responded to say that they will definitely

be attending. Leave it unchecked if you aren't sure.

Note You need to scroll down using the scroll bar to fill out all the details for the

other guests in the group.

All fields are optional, except that each guest must have either a First name or a

Last name.

All the members of the group with be given proximity Near to each other. You

can change this at any time in the Proximity pane.

Group

Select create new if you wish these guests to be the only member of a new group.

Select add to existing and select a group if you wish these guests to be added to

an existing group.

Name is the name of the group. PerfectTablePlan will try to construct a display

name from the members of the group, but you can change this at any time.

Notes is for any general notes relevant to the group. This is shared by all members

of the group. Click on Stamp >> to add a time and date stamped comment to the

top of the Notes.

Note You can easily change the group membership of a guest later by dragging

them from one group to another in the Groups pane.

Contact

This tab contains contact details for all members of the group. This information is

optional.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 113

Contact data is shared by all members of the group.

Buttons

Click Insert guest to add another guest. Click Delete guest to delete the last

guest.

Click Add to accept the changes and close the window. You will be warned if you

are adding a guest with the same First Name, Last name and Title as an existing

guest. Click Cancel to discard the changes and close the window.

5.10.19 Insert guest window

The Insert guest window allows you to enter details for a single guest. To display

this window select Insert> Single guest or the equivalent Insert tool bar button.

Note A single guest is created as the only member of their own group. To add a

guest to an existing group select add to existing in the Group tab.

Guest

Title is the guest's title. You can type the title or select it from existing choices in

the drop-down list. Once you have typed it in once, it will be available to select

next time you create a guest in this plan. Titles can also be configured in the

Preferences window.

First name is the guest's first (given) name(s).

Last name is the guest's last (family) name(s).

Note The Title, First name and Last name will be automatically capitalised (e.g.

mr john smith

converted to

Mr John Smith

) unless you have disabled this

option in the Preferences window.

Display name is a name that can include the guests' qualification, rank, post-

nominal titles and/or role, e.g.

Mr John Smith Phd, Master of

Ceremonies

See names and titles for more details.

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Gender is the gender of the guest. This can be useful information when assigning

seats. The automatic assignment will endeavour to alternate men and women

where it can (unless you have disabled this in the Preferences window).

PerfectTablePlan will try to guess the gender from the Title where it can, but you

can change this at any time.

Age is the age of the guest, adult or child. Typically a child is anyone under the

age of 16. This can be useful information when assigning seats. PerfectTablePlan

will try to set the age from the Title where it can, but you can change this at any

time.

Meal is the meal choice for a guest. You can type the meal choice or select it from

existing choices in the drop-down list. Once you have typed it in once, it will be

available to select next time. If you have a choice of more than one course you

should enter the courses separated by commas, e.g.

soup,fish,flan

, the

Statistics pane will then show a total for each course separately.

Special req. is any special requirements the guest has, for example: nut allergy,

elderly or in a wheel chair. Once you have typed it in once, it will be available to

select next time. If there is more than one special requirement they should be

separated by commas, the Statistics pane will then total each separately.

Notes is for any general notes relevant to the guest. This can be used to store

information any other relevant information. Click on Stamp >> to add a time and

date stamped comment to the top of the Notes.

Check VIP if the guest is an important guest, for example a guest of honour or a

member of a wedding party. The automatic assignment will take special care

assigning their seat, trying to assign them to a VIP table if there is one.

Select the RSVP status according to whether an invite has been sent, accepted,

declined or cancelled.

All fields are optional, except that a guest must have either a First name or a Last

name.

Group

Select create new if you wish this guest to be the only member of a new group.

Select add to existing and select a group if you wish this guest to be added to an

existing group.

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Name is the name of the group. The software will try to construct a display name

from the name of the guest, but you can change this at any time.

Notes is for any general notes relevant to the group. This is shared by all member

of the group. Click on Stamp >> to add a time and date stamped comment to the

top of the Notes.

Note You can easily change the group membership of a guest later by dragging

them from one group to another in the Groups pane.

Contact

This tab contains contact details for the guest. This information is optional.

Buttons

Click Add to accept the changes and close the window. You will be warned if you

are adding a guest with the same First Name, Last name and Title as an existing

guest (unless you have disabled this warning). Click Cancel to discard the changes.

5.10.20 Insert guests scratch-pad

The Insert guests scratch-pad window allows to quickly enter guest names in

free text. To display this window select Insert> Guests scratch-pad or the

equivalent Insert tool bar button.

Click on the Titles... button to set-up standard titles in the Preferences window

. This will help PerfectTablePlan make better guesses about how to split the text

correctly into titles, first names and last names and to guess gender.

Enter the names, one guest/couple/family/group per line and click Next. Some

examples of allowed formats are shown in the window.

Click Back to go back and make corrections to the text.

Click OK to add the guests to your plan.

Click Cancel to discard your changes.

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5.10.21 Insert shape window

The Insert shape window allows you to add shapes to the Floor plan pane.

These shapes can be useful for representing dance floors, stages, walls and other

floor plan features. To display this window click the Insert shape button at the

top of the Floor plan pane.

Name is the name of the shape (optional).

Click the Font... button to set the font for the name.

Click the Name colour button to set the colour for the shape name text.

Set the Shape drop down list to the desired shape.

Set Angle to the rotation angle of the shape.

Use the Inside colour drop-down list and colour button to set a single colour or

colour gradient for the inside of the shape.

Use the Outside colour button to set a colour for the outside of the shape.

Set the Size field(s) to the dimensions of the shape.

Set the Units drop-down list to your preferred units.

Notes can be used to store any relevant notes for the shape. Click on Stamp >> to

add a time and date stamped comment to the top of the Notes.

Click Add to accept the changes and close the window. Click Cancel to discard the

changes.

Note The new shape will be placed automatically in the Floor plan pane. It will

attempt to place it in a space near the centre of the room. You can then drag it to

the appropriate position.

You can change any of the shape properties (including the name and shape type)

at a later point using the Shape properties window.

5.10.22 Insert table window

The Insert table window allows you to create one or more tables. To display this

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window select Insert> Rectangular table, Insert> Banquet table, Insert>

Head table, Insert> Custom table, Insert> Circular table, Insert>

Semi-circular table, Insert> Oval table, Insert> Row seats or the equivalent

Insert tool bar button.

Name is the name of the table. The software will choose a unique name for you,

but the names don't have to be unique and can be blank. To display the table

name as 2 lines, with the second line in italics use a ** separator, for example:

Select colour or gradient and click the colour/gradient button to choose the

colour/gradient of the table in the Floor plan and Table plan panes. This

overrides any table colour set for the pane.

Shape is the shape of the table. The available shapes of table are:

Table

Icon

Meaning

Rectangular

a rectangular or square

table with seats on four

sides

Banquet

a long table with seats on

two sides

Head

a long table with seats on

only one side, for

example a head (top)

table at a wedding or

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banquet

Custom

a rectangular or square

table with potentially

different numbers of

seats on each of the 4

sides

Circular

a circular table with seats

all around it

Semi-circular

a semi-circular table with

seats around the straight

side and/or curved sides

Oval

an elliptical table with

seats all around it

Row of seats

a row of seats (no table)

Seats is the number of seats. For a circular, oval or head table or a row of seats

you specify the total number of seats. For a banquet table you specify the number

of seats across. For a rectangular table you specify the number of seats across and

the number of seats down. For a semi-circular table you specify the number of

seats across and around. For a custom table you specify the number of seats on

each of the 4 sides.

Note For a square table create a rectangular table and set the number of seats

across and down the same. You can specify a table with no seats for a cake, gift

or serving table - it will not be shown in the Table chart pane.

Size is the size of the table. Check the auto check box to automatically size the

table according to the number of seats and the seat size (as set in the

Dimensions window). Uncheck the auto check box to set your own table size.

VIP is used to designate tables for VIPs to sit at. The automatic assignment will

attempt to seat VIPs on VIP tables.

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Notes can be used to store any relevant notes for the table, e.g. details of table

decorations. Click on Stamp >> to add a time and date stamped comment to the

top of the Notes.

Create can be used to create more than one table at a time. The text alongside

tells you how many seats will be available after the new tables have been created.

Click Add to accept the changes and close the window. Click Cancel to discard the

changes.

Note The new table(s) will be placed automatically in the Floor plan pane. It

will attempt to place them in spaces near the centre of the room. You can then

drag them to the appropriate position.

You can change any of the table properties (including the name and shape) at a

later point using the Table properties window.

5.10.23 Insert text window

The Insert text window allows you to add text to the Floor plan pane. This

text can be used for titles, headers, footer and captions. To display this window

click the Insert text button at the top of the Floor plan pane.

Text is the content of the text.

Set Angle to the rotation angle of the text.

Click the Font... button to set the font for the text.

Use the Colour button to set a colour for the text.

Click Add to accept the changes and close the window. Click Cancel to discard the

changes.

Note The new text will be placed automatically in the Floor plan pane. It will

attempt to place it in a space near the centre of the room. You can then drag it to

the appropriate position.

You can change any of the text properties at a later point using the Text

properties window.

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5.10.24 Licence window

The Licence window allows you to enter your licence key. To display this

window select Licensing>Licence.

Your licence status is displayed. If the software is unlicensed you will only be able

to save, export or print plans with 30 or less guests.

If you have a licence key type or paste +V it into the Key field. The key will only

be comprised of the number characters 0-9 and the alphabetic characters a-f.

Dash (-) and space characters are optional and are ignored.

Click Purchase licence key to purchase a licence key on-line (an Internet

connection is required).

Click Upgrade V3 to V4 if you have a version 3 key and wish to upgrade to version

Click Subscribe to newsletter to go to a web page where you can subscribe to our

occasional newsletter. The newsletter includes details of new releases of

PerfectTablePlan.

Click troubleshoot licence problems to go to our Frequently Asked Questions web

page.

Click resend licence key to go to our key retrieval page.

Click more details on licensing to go to our licensing web page.

Click OK to enter the licence key. If you have entered a new key you will be

notified of whether the key is valid or not.

Click Cancel to discard the changes.

See also:

Licensing

5.10.25 Most recently accessed window

The Most recently accessed window is a convenient way to open plans that you

have been recently opened or saved, rather than having to search your computer

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for them. To display this window select File> Open recent... or click on the

equivalent Main tool bar button.

Plan files are shown in the order they were last opened/saved (most recent at the

top).

To display this window every time PerfectTablePlan select Show this window from

the At start-up drop-down list. It will only be displayed at start-up if there is at

least one file in the list and a file has not already been loaded (e.g. by double

clicking on a plan file to start PerfectTablePlan).

To open a plan file select it in the list and click the OK button or double click on

the plan file. To close the window without opening a plan click the Cancel button.

5.10.26 Numbers and budget window

The Numbers and budget window allows you to estimate approximate number

of guests attending and costs. To display this window select File>Numbers and

budget or the equivalent Main tool bar button.

Fixed allows you to enter the fixed cost of the event, regardless of the number of

guests, e.g. venue and band hire cost.

Per child allows you to enter the cost of the event per child, e.g. the food and

drink cost per child.

Per adult allows you to enter the cost of the event per adult, e.g. the food and

drink per adult.

Set the Chance of attending to values that you feel reflect the probability of

guests attending, depending on their RSVP status. For example, set Accepted to

95% if you think guests who have accepted their invitation are 95% likely to attend.

The Guests column shows the number of guests for each RSVP status.

The Sub total column shows the estimated number of guests attending for each

RSVP status.

Estimated guests is an estimate of the number of guests attending (rounded to the

nearest whole number). For example, if you have 10 guests 0% likely to attend, 10

guests 10% likely to attend, 10 guests 95% likely to attend and 5 guests 100%

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likely to attend the estimated number of guests is 16 ( 10 x 0% + 10 x 10% + 10 x

95% + 5 x 100%). Due to rounding the total number of guests may not be the same

as estimated adults + estimated children.

Estimated cost is derived from the cost data provides and the estimated number

of guests.

Obviously the results are only as good as the data you provide.

Note You can easily change guest RSVP status in the Guests pane.

Click OK to accept the changes and close the window. Click Cancel to discard the

changes.

5.10.27 Preferences window

The Preferences window allows you to change the behaviour of the software

according to your preferences. Changes apply to all plans edited by the current

user henceforth, not just the current plan. To display this window select

PerfectTablePlan>Preferences.

General

Check automatically capitalise names to automatically capitalise guests titles,

first names and last names as they are typed (e.g. convert

mr john smith

automatically to

Mr John Smith

Check show tool tips to display helpful tool tips when you hover the mouse over

controls and over tables and seats in the Floor plan pane and Table plan pane

Check large toolbar icons to display tool bar icons as 32x32 pixels, otherwise they

will be displayed 24x24 pixels.

Check tool bar text to show text under each tool bar icon.

Check hide new/open/recent/save tool bar icons to hide the tool bar buttons for

basic actions. Even if this box is unchecked the buttons will only be shown in some

contexts, depending on the View>User interface and Task bar settings.

Check export image as large as possible to make Floor plan or Table plan

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images created by exporting as large as possible (each seat up to 400 pixels across,

depending on the amount of memory available). If this box is unchecked images

will be exported/copied as standard size (each seat up to 100 pixels across,

depending on the amount of memory available).

The At start-up drop-down list allows you to choose how to open plan files at

start-up. If you wish to open the most recently accessed plan each time you start

PerfectTablePlan, select Open last plan. If you wish to show the Most recently

accessed window each time you start PerfectTablePlan, select Open 'Most recent'

window. If you wish to start with a new empty plan, select Don't open anything.

Select User interface style according to whether you want to use the newer

'unified' style, with a merged toolbar and titlebar for the Main window. The

'unified' style is only available for MacOSX 10.4 and later.

Standard style

Unified style

Set New table name format according to how you would like new tables to be

named. See below for examples. You can rename the tables at any point using the

Table properties window.

Example table name format

Example table names

Table {next_table_num}

“Table 1”, “Table 2”, “Table 3”

{next_table_num}

“1”, “2” , “3”

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table

“table” , “table”

Use New seat row name format to set the default name for rows of seats. Similar

to above, but using

{next_row_num}

to substitute in the number of the next

row.

Set Export/copy image margin to the % margin you want around Floor plan or

Table plan images created by exporting or copying to the clipboard.

Select Floor/Table Plan pane mouse wheel behaviour according to whether you

want the mouse wheel to zoom in, zoom out or scroll down when you move the

mouse wheel backwards in the Floor plan pane and Table plan pane . Hold

down the key while moving the mouse wheel to get the opposite (zoom->scroll,

scroll->zoom) behaviour.

Select Allow seat assignment with RSVP according to which RSVP statuses you

wish to allow guests to be assigned with. Changing this the selection can cause

guests to be unassigned from their seats if their RSVP status is incompatible with

the new setting.

Select Automatically check for software updates depending on how frequently

you wish to check online for updates to PerfectTablePlan.

Auto assignment

Select according to guest proximity if you want to the auto seating to assign

guests according to the proximities set in the Proximity pane. Select randomly

to assign guests to seats completely randomly (this may be useful for some types of

events).

Select seconds if you wish the automatic assignment to stop after the specified

number of seconds. We recommend at least 30 seconds. If you have a lot of guests

or a very slow PC you may have to increase this time considerably.

Select attempts without improvement if you wish the automatic assignment to

stop after a specified number of attempts without improvement. We recommend

you allow at least 10 attempts. If you set this number very high and have a lot of

guests or a very slow PC the automatic assignment may run for a long time.

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Select whichever happens first to stop when either of the above criteria is met,

e.g. the automatic assignment has run for x seconds or y attempts without an

improvement.

Note You can stop the automatic assignment at any time by pressing the Stop

button or the Esc key. This will keep the best assignment so far.

See automatic assignment for a discussion of automatic assignment times.

Check alternate males and females if you want the automatic assignment to try to

alternate males and females around each table (e.g. M-F-M-F-M-F...).

Titles

Titles that you add here will be available in the guest Title field for all plans. Add

titles appropriate to your usage, for example military ranks, Masonic ranks or non-

English titles.

Note This is intended for titles that come before the name, e.g. Dr, Herr, Colonel

etc. It is not intended for titles that come after the name (post-nominal). These

are best handled by adding them individually to the Display name field in the

Guest properties window.

You can also specify a default gender, age and VIP status. This is used when

inserting new guests. It is also used when importing to set guest gender, age and

VIP status (if not supplied) from their title.

Click Add to add a new title.

Click Delete to delete the selected title(s).

Click Up to move the selected title(s) up one row.

Click Down to move the selected title(s) down one row.

Click Sort to sort the titles alphabetically.

Click Import from plan to import titles from the current plan into the preferences.

Set Default couple to the titles you wish to use as the default when adding a

couple or family.

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Back-ups

Check when saved to create a back-up file each time you save a plan.

Check on auto-assignment to create a back-up file each time you run an auto-

assignment.

Check automatically every to create a back-up file at the specified time interval.

The plan will only be backed-up if it has been changed during this time.

Warnings

Check warn on delete guest or group to confirm each guest or group deletion.

Check warn on delete table to confirm each table deletion.

Check warn if auto assignment will re-assign guests to confirm each time the

automatic assignment will re-assign unlocked guests to new seats.

Check warn if guests have duplicate names to confirm adding a guest with the

same title, first name and last name as an existing guest.

Check warn if printing stationery to wrong page & size/orientation to warn when

printing stationery if the stationery page size or orientation does not match the

printer settings.

Buttons

Click OK to accept the changes. Click Cancel to discard the changes. Changes to

this window affect all plans.

5.10.28 Print window

The Print window is displayed when you print the front pane in the Top pane.

To display this window select File> Print or the equivalent Main tool bar button.

You can only print the Floor plan, Table plan, Table chart, Guest chart,

Stationery and Statistics panes. The exact controls visible in the window will

depend on the type of pane being printed.

Change the Size spin box to change the size of the print out.

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Click Fit to page to set the print size to fit on a single page.

Check Centre to centre the print on the page(s).

If you are printing across more than one page the Page control will be displayed.

Click on a page or one of the arrows to change the previewed page.

The page navigation control

Click on the button to show additional controls.

Change Horizontal fine adjust and Vertical fine adjust to make small adjustments

to the position of the printout on the page. This can be useful to ensure that

multi-page prints are correctly paginated (e.g. a line of text does not get split by a

page boundary).

Select landscape or portrait to change the orientation of the print out.

Setup shows the current printer settings. Click the Setup button to select a

different printer, page size or set-up using the Print setup window. You can also

change the number of pages to be printed through the Setup button, e.g. just

print the first 2 pages of 10.

See also:

Print to poster size

Export to PDF format

5.10.29 Print setup window

The Print setup window allows you to change printer settings. To display the Print

setup window click the Setup... button in the Print window.

Select a printer from the Printer drop-down menu.

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Select a preset printer settings from the Presets drop-down menu.

Use Copies to set the number of copies you want to print.

Select Preview to change other printer settings, such as the page orientation.

Click on the Print button to return to confirm the change to printer settings and

Cancel to abandon the changes (this button should be named OK, but it is a system

window and we are unable to change it).

See also:

Export to PDF format

5.10.30 Save stationery layout window

The Save stationery layout window allows you to save the layout of stationery

so you can use it again. It appears when you change the stationery layout in the

Stationery Layout window.

Name is the name of the new stationery, e.g. "My address labels".

Manufacturer is the manufacturer of the stationery, e.g. "Office Depot". You can

type or select from the list.

Type is the type of stationery, e.g. "Tent card". You can type or select from the

list.

You need to supply a Name, Manufacturer and Type before you can save the

layout.

Click OK to save the stationery layout and close the window. You will be prompted

before overwriting an existing layout. Click Cancel to discard any changes and

close the window.

5.10.31 Select gradient window

The Select gradient window allows you to define a simple linear gradient (a

smooth transition from one colour to another). The window appears when you edit

a gradient or change from a colour to a gradient.

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The Preview shows the gradient as currently selected.

The gradient transitions linearly from Gradient colour 1 to Gradient colour 2 in

the direction set by the Gradient direction dial.

Click OK to accept the changes and close the window. Click Cancel to discard the

changes.

5.10.32 Select groups window

The Select groups window allows you select as many groups as you like. It is

displayed when you set the Show drop-down list to Selected... in the Guest

chart or Stationery panes.

Unselected groups are shown in the left list. Selected groups are show in the right

list.

Click Add> to add the group(s) currently selected in the left list to your selection.

Click Add all>> to add all group(s) to your selection.

Click <Remove to add the group(s) currently selected in the left list to your

selection.

Click <<Remove all to add all groups(s) to your selection.

You Ctrl+click and/or Shift+click to select multiple groups. You can also double

click a group to move it from one list to another.

Click OK to accept the changes and close the window.

Click Cancel to discard the changes.

5.10.33 Select guests window

The Select guests window allows you select as many guests as you like. It is

displayed when you set the Show drop-down list to Selected... in the Guest

chart or Stationery panes or the Filter drop-down list in the Export data

window.

Unselected guests are shown in the left list. Selected guests are show in the right

PerfectTablePlan130

list.

Click Add> to add the guest(s) currently selected in the left list to your selection.

Click Add all>> to add all guest(s) to your selection.

Click <Remove to add the guest(s) currently selected in the left list to your

selection.

Click <<Remove all to add all guests(s) to your selection.

You Ctrl+click and/or Shift+click to select multiple guests. You can also double

click a guest to move it from one list to another.

Click OK to accept the changes and close the window.

Click Cancel to discard the changes.

5.10.34 Shape properties window

The Shape properties window allows you to show/edit shape properties. To

display this window select a single shape in the Floor plan pane and select Edit>

Properties or the equivalent Main tool bar button.

Name is the name of the shape (optional). You can change it to anything you like.

Click the Name colour button to set the colour for the shape name text.

Change the Shape drop-down list to change the shape.

Set Angle to the rotation angle of the shape.

Use the Inside colour drop-down list and colour button to set a single colour or

colour gradient for the inside of the shape.

Use the Outside colour button to set a colour for the outside of the shape.

Set the Size field(s) to the dimensions of the shape.

Set the Units drop-down list to your preferred units.

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Notes can be used to store any relevant notes for the shape. Click on Stamp >> to

add a time and date stamped comment to the top of the Notes.

Click OK to accept the changes and close the window. Click Apply to apply the

changes without closing the window. Click Cancel to discard the changes.

5.10.35 Stationery layout window

The Stationery layout window allows you to change the size of a page and the

items on the page. To display this window click the Stationery layout button in

the Stationery pane.

The Preview tab shows the shape of the page and the size and position of the

stationery items.

The Nomenclature tab shows the meaning of the dimension fields in this window

(shown a bit larger below).

Change Units to change between mm and inches.

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Click on a Pre-defined stationery type to set the layout accordingly. Type a text

into the Search field to hide non-matching stationery types, e.g. type

J8161

find Avery J8161 address labels. Use the Manufacturers, Types and Paper sizes

drop-down lists to filter which pre-defined stationery are listed.

Change the Orientation between Portrait and Landscape, depending on how you

wish to print the stationery.

Click Centre items to centre the items in the page (i.e. Left margin to Right

margin and Top margin to Bottom margin).

If you create your own layout you will be prompted to save it by the Save

stationery layout window.

Note Right margin and Bottom margin are set automatically based on the other

dimensions.

Click OK accept the changes and close the window. Click Cancel to discard any

changes and close the window.

5.10.36 Table order window

The Table order window allows you to change the order of tables, as they are

displayed in the Table chart pane and Schematic pane. To display this window

click the Table order... button at the top of the Table chart pane.

Select a table and use the Up and Down buttons to change its order.

Click on the Sort button to order tables. The sort is basically alphabetic, but is

intelligent enough to order "table 10" after "table 2". The sort is not case sensitive.

Note You can also change the table order in the Schematic pane by dragging and

dropping tables or by using the buttons at the top of the pane.

5.10.37 Table properties window

The Table properties window allows you to show/edit table properties. To display

this window select a single table in the Floor plan , Table plan or

Schematic panes and select Edit> Properties or the equivalent Main tool bar

button.

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Name is the name of the table. You an change this to anything you like. The name

doesn't have to be unique and can be blank. To display the table name as 2 lines,

with the second line in italics use a ** separator, for example:

Set Angle to the desired angle of the table in the Floor plan and Table plan

panes.

Select colour or gradient and click the colour/gradient button to choose the

colour/gradient of the table in the Floor plan and Table plan panes. This

overrides any table colour set for the pane.

Shape is the shape of the table. The available shapes of table are:

Table

Icon

Meaning

Rectangular

a rectangular or square

table with seats on four

sides

Banquet

a long table with seats on

two sides

Head

a long table with seats on

only one side, for

example a head (top)

table at a wedding or

banquet

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Custom

a rectangular or square

table with potentially

different numbers of

seats on each of the 4

sides

Circular

a circular table with seats

all around it

Semi-circular

a semi-circular table with

seats around the straight

side and/or curved sides

Oval

an elliptical table with

seats all around it

Row of seats

a row of seats (no table)

Seats is the number of seats. For a circular or head table you specify the total

number of seats. For a banquet table you specify the number of seats across. For a

rectangular table you specify the number of seats across and the number of seats

down. For a custom table you specify the number of seats on each of the 4 sides.

Note For a square table create a rectangular table and set the number of seats

across and down the same. You can specify a table with no seats for a cake, gift

or serving table - it will not be shown in the Table chart pane.

Size is the size of the table. Check the auto check box to automatically size the

table according to the number of seats and the seat size (as set in the

Dimensions window). Uncheck the auto check box to set your own table size.

VIP is used to designate tables for VIPs to sit at. The automatic assignment will

attempt to seat VIPs on VIP tables.

Notes can be used to store any relevant notes for the table, e.g. details of table

decorations. Click on Stamp >> to add a time and date stamped comment to the

top of the Notes.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 135

Click on the buttons to display the properties of the first, previous,

next or last table. The tables are ordered in the same sequence as they are in the

Schematic pane.

Click OK to accept the changes and close the window. Click Apply to apply the

changes without closing the window. Click Cancel to discard the changes.

5.10.38 Text properties window

The Text properties window allows you to show/edit text properties. To display

this window select a single text item in the Floor plan pane and select Edit>

Properties or the equivalent Main tool bar button.

Text is the content of the text.

Set Angle to the rotation angle of the text.

Click the Font... button to set the font for the text.

Use the Colour button to set a colour for the text.

Click OK to accept the changes and close the window. Click Apply to apply the

changes without closing the window. Click Cancel to discard the changes.

5.11 Drag and drop

The following drag and drop operations are supported:

Item

Modifier key

From

Result

group(s) or

guest(s)

none

Guests pane,

Groups pane,

Schematic

pane, Floor

Plan pane or

Table Plan

pane

seat, table or

background in

Floor plan

pane, Table

Plan pane or

Schematic

pane

guest(s) (re)

assigned/

unassigned

guest(s)

Shift

Guests pane,

seat, table or

all members of

PerfectTablePlan136

Groups pane,

Schematic

pane, Floor

plan pane or

Table plan

pane

background in

Floor plan

pane, Table

plan pane or

Schematic

pane

group(s) (re)

assigned/

unassigned

group(s) or

guest(s)

none

Groups pane

group

membership

changed

background

none

Floor plan

pane or

Table plan

pane

different

position

scrolls

table

none

Floor plan

pane

Floor plan

pane

table moved

table

none

Schematic

pane

Schematic

pane

table order

changed

plan (.tp)

file

none

operating

system

Guests or

Groups pane

open plan

vCard (.vcf)

file

none

operating

system

Guests or

Groups pane

import vCard

CSV/text

file

none

operating

system

Guests or

Groups pane

import text/

CSV file

group(s) or

guest(s)

none

Guests pane,

Groups pane,

Schematic

pane, Floor

plan pane or

Table plan

operating

system or other

application

export vCard

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 137

pane

5.12 Keyboard accelerators

Using keyboard accelerators can greatly improve your productivity. If you are using

PerfectTablePlan a lot we suggest you find the time to learn at least some of

them. The following keyboard accelerators are available for the MacOSX version of

PerfectTablePlan:

Key

Accelerator

Action

Add guests task

Proximity task

Add tables task

Assign seats task

Print task

Select all

Numbers and budget

Copy

Collapse all in Groups pane or Schematic

pane

Export

F/ F

Find in Guests, Groups or Proximity pane

Insert single guest

PerfectTablePlan138

Insert guest couple

Insert guest family

Insert guest group

Hide PerfectTablePlan

Hide others

Import

Information

Guests scratch pad

toggle locked

Auto assign seats

Insert custom table

New plan

Open plan

Open recent

Quit PerfectTablePlan

Insert rectangular table

Insert banquet table

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 139

Insert head table

Save plan

Save plan as

Insert circular table

Insert semi-circular table

Insert oval table

Insert row of seats

Unassign guest

Paste

Close window

Cut

Expand all in Groups pane or Schematic pane

Undo

Redo

What's this help

^F2

Move focus to menu bar

Close window

Refresh

PerfectTablePlan140

F12

Credits

Asterisk

RSVP declined

Backspace

Delete

Bracket

[/ ]

Previous/next table, guest, group in the Floor

plan pane, Table plan pane, Proximity pane,

Table properties window, Guest properties

window or Group properties window

Comma

Preferences

Del

Delete

Enter

Properties

Escape

Close window

Left/Right

Left arrow/

Right arrow

Start/end of line

Left arrow/

Right arrow

Select next/previous table in Floor plan or

Table plan pane

Period

Globally add/remove "." from titles e.g. "Mr"

<-> "Mr."

Plus/Minus

+/ -

Zoom in/zoom out

Question mark

Context sensitive help

Slash

RSVP accepted

Tab

Tab/ Tab

Next field/previous field

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 141

Up/Down

Up arrow/

Down arrow

Select next/previous seat in Floor plan or

Table plan pane

6 Importing

6.1 Importing

If you already have guest details (for example in an email or organiser address

book, spreadsheet or text file) you can import the data directly into

PerfectTablePlan, rather than re-typing it.

PerfectTablePlan can import information in 3 major formats:

CSV (Comma Separated Value ) - A text file that can be produced by Excel

(select File>Save as and choose .csv as the file type) and many other types of

applications. Columns and rows are delimited by commas and carriage returns,

respectively. " and , characters are quoted.

Delimited text data - A text file with the user's choice of delimiters (separators).

Many applications can produce data in this form. Excel CSV is a special form of

delimited text data.

vCard file - vCard files be exported from most applications with address books,

including Outlook, Palm Pilot desktop and Apple Address Book.

As a simpler alternative to importing you can also use the Insert guests scratch-

pad window.

Note PerfectTablePlan cannot import table, seating or proximity data, as there is

no established format for such data.

See also:

Import window

Importing guests from Excel files

Importing guests from text and CSV files

PerfectTablePlan142

Importing guests from vCard files

Import guests tutorial

6.2 Importing guests from Excel files

PerfectTablePlan is only able to import from Excel on Windows. On MacOSX you

need to export to a .csv file before you can import.

Import guests tutorial

6.3 Importing guests from text and CSV files

Many types of application can export data as text files, for example Excel™ can

export CSV (comma separated value) files. PerfectTablePlan can import guest and

group information from these files.

To import a text/CSV file either:

drag the file onto the Guests pane or Groups pane; or

select File> Import, choose CSV/text file, click OK and select a file to import

The Import data window will appear. For more information see Import data

window and the Import guests tutorial.

See also:

Importing guests from Excel files

Insert guests scratch-pad window

Import guests tutorial

6.4 Importing guests from vCard files

PerfectTablePlan can import guest information from vCard files. Many types of

application can export contact information in vCard format, including personal

organiser and email packages such as Apple AddressBook.

To import guest information from a vCard file:

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 143

drag the vCard(s) files (extension .vcf) onto the Guests pane or Groups pane

; or

select File> Import, choose vCard file and click OK. Select the vCard file to

import and click Open

In some application you can even drag vCards direct from the application into the

Guests or Groups pane.

PerfectTablePlan will attempt to preserve groups defined in the vCard. Guests in

the same group will have their proximity set to 'near to'.

To change the group and proximity of imported guests:

1. bring the Groups pane to the front

2. drag and drop couples/families/groups into the same group (you can rename the

group if required)

3. right click on each group and set the appropriate proximity

4. delete the empty groups

See also:

Importing guests from Excel files

Importing guests from text and CSV files

Import guest details from the Apple Address Book

7 Names and titles

7.1 Names and titles

Title is the guest's title (e.g.

) or rank (e.g.

Captain

). You can configure titles

in the Preferences window - this can be particularly useful for military ranks,

Masonic titles etc.

First name is the guest's first (given) name. You can also add middle names here or

use initials, if you prefer.

PerfectTablePlan144

Last name is the guest's last (family) name. If you don't know the name of your

guest you can give them a generic name, e.g. set Last name to 'guest of John

Smith' or 'Acme Ltd employee' and then fill the name in when you know it.

Note The Title, First name and Last name will be automatically capitalised (e.g.

mr john smith

converted to

Mr John Smith

) unless you have disabled this

option in the Preferences window.

Display name can include the guests' qualification, rank, post-nominal titles and/

or role, e.g.

Mr John Smith Phd, Master of Ceremonies

. PerfectTablePlan

will try to construct a sensible display name from the Title, First name and Last

name, but you can change this at any time.

A standard convention for displaying names is to display the guests's name and title

on the first line, followed by their role in italics on the second line. You can do

this in PerfectTablePlan by using ** in the Display name field to separate the two

lines. For example:

The substitution fields

{guest_display_name**1}

and

{guest_display_name**2}

can be used to display the parts of the Display

name field before and after the ** separately in the Stationery pane.

8 Groups

8.1 Groups

Every guest belongs to a group, even if they are the only member of the group,

and each group has a single set of contact details. We therefore recommend that

guests are grouped according to their address, e.g. by family or work-place. You

can easily reassign guests between groups by dragging them to another group in

the Groups pane or using Edit>Change group....

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 145

You can drag a whole group to the Floor plan, Table plan or Schematic

panes by either:

dragging a group from the Groups pane; or

holding down the Shift key and dragging a guest from that group from the

Guests, Groups, Floor plan, Table plan or Schematic panes

Whether guests should sit together is determined by the proximities set in the

Proximity pane and not by group. This gives you the flexibility to use the

automatic assignment to separate members of a group (e.g. if you don't want to sit

couples and work colleagues next to each other). However couples, families and

groups are set to sit next to or near to each other by default.

You can easily see where different members of a group are sat by click on the

Groups button in the Floor plan pane.

Different groups are shown in different colours for up to 100 groups - the colours

are selected automatically.

9 RSVP status

9.1 RSVP status

RSVP stands for "Répondez s'il vous plaît", French for "Respond please".

PerfectTablePlan allows you to track RSVP status for each guest.

RSVP status

Description

Unset

No RSVP status has been

set.

PerfectTablePlan146

Sent

An RSVP has been sent, a

reply is awaited.

Accepted

The guest has accepted

their invitation and will

attend.

Declined

The guest has declined

their invitation and will

not attend.

Cancelled

The guest originally

accepted and later

declined.

You can (re)set the RSVP status in a number of ways, including selecting one or

more guests or groups in the Guests or Groups pane and selecting Edit>RSVP.

Whether you can assign a guest to a seat depends on their RSVP status and the

settings in the Preferences window.

You can show the RSVP status of guests in most panes, for example by clicking on

the button at the top of the Floor plan pane.

You can see a summary of the RSVPs in the Statistics pane. You can estimate

guest number and budget from RSVP status in the Numbers and budget window.

10 Seat assignment

10.1 Seat assignment

Guests can be assigned to seats by:

automatic seat assignment; and/or

dragging and dropping guests or groups onto seats

The automatic seat assignment takes account of any proximities you have set to

create a harmonious seating plan (unless you have set it to random in the

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 147

Preferences window). To get the best results it is usually advisable to use the

automatic seat assignment and then fine-tune with drag and drop.

Note If you drop a guest onto a seat that is already assigned to a guest, the seats

of the two guests will be swapped.

Locking guests

If you wish to lock a guest to a seat, so they can't be re-assigned by drag and

drop or automatic seat assignment:

select the guest(s)/group(s)/table(s)

select Edit>Locked

Toggle the lock off in the same way.

Note You can lock a guest who has no seat assigned.

RSVP status and assigning

Generally you won't want guests who have cancelled or declined their invitations

to be assigned a seat. You can control which RSVP status guests are allowed to be

assigned to seats in the Preferences window.

Assigning to tables (not seats)

If you wish to assign guests to tables, rather than seats, you should still assign still

assign seats but not include seat numbers in your final table chart, guest chart or

stationery.

Unassigning

To unassign guests from seats:

select the guest(s)/group(s)

select Edit>Unassign

You can also drag a guest from their seat and drop them on the Floor plan or

PerfectTablePlan148

Table plan pane background to unassign them.

10.2 Automatic seat assignment

PerfectTablePlan will do an automatic seat assignment if you select File> Auto

assign seats or the equivalent Main tool bar button.

Unless you have set it to assign seats randomly (in the Preferences window) the

automatic assignment will attempt to:

put people near to or not near to each other, according to your settings in the

Proximity pane

not leave people on their own

alternate males and females (unless you have unselected this in the

Preferences window )

assign VIP guests to VIP tables

prioritise VIP guests

Note The automatic assignment may try to put 2 'near to' proximity guests next to

each other if no 'next to' proximity guests are available.

It does this by assigning a score to each plan and using a genetic algorithm to try

to find the highest scoring plan. you can check you have enough seats by looking at

the Status bar.

You can run File> Auto assign seats as often as you like. Click on the Stop button

at any time during calculation to keep the best (highest scoring) plan so far.

Select Edit> Undo to go back to the previous plan.

Note Guests who have been locked by you will not be (re)assigned by the

automatic assignment.

Scoring

A plan is scored as follows:

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 149

Criterion

Score

Next to proximity guests next to each

other

+20

Near to proximity guests next to each

other

Not next to proximity guests next to

each other

-10

Not near to proximity guests next to

each other

-40

Next to proximity guests on same

table

+10

Near to proximity guests on same

table

Not next to proximity guests on same

table

-5

Not near to proximity guests on same

table

-20

Male next to female

+2 (0 if you have disabled this in the

Preferences window)

VIP guest assigned to VIP table

+10

VIP guest not assigned to VIP table (if

there is one)

-10

Guest with no-one sat next to them

-9

PerfectTablePlan150

Guest not assigned a seat when (apart

from locked guests and guests who

aren't seated due to their RSVP status)

-100

In addition VIP scores are multiplied by 3.

The scoring simply takes account of whether guests are sat next to or on the same

table as other guests. It doesn't allow for whether the guests might be able to see

each other or be within talking distance. This simplification allows the genetic

algorithm to search the vast space of possible solutions reasonably quickly. You

may have to tweak the automatic assignment a little 'by hand' to get the best

possible result. For example you might have to move/rotate tables so that people

who don't like each other aren't sat back to back. However you should find that the

automatic assignment will be quite close to ideal, and this will save you a great

deal of time.

Time

You can set the stopping criteria for the automatic assignment in the

Preferences window. The automatic assignment time goes up rapidly with the

number of guests. This is in the nature of combinatorial problems.

The longer the automatic assignment is run, generally the better it will be. Select

Edit> Preferences and on the Auto assignment tab click on seconds and set an

appropriate number of seconds (1 hour = 3600 seconds). Then select File> Auto

assign seats.

Note if you have a single core/processor PC you won't be able to do much else on

your computer while the automatic assignment is running, as it will try to use all

the power of the processor.

10.3 Genetic algorithm

You don't need to know how a genetic algorithm works to use PerfectTablePlan.

This section is just included in case you are interested.

It isn't possible to try every combination of guests and seats, because there are so

many. Even just 25 guests can be assigned to 25 seats in a staggering

15,511,210,043,330,985,984,000,000 different ways. So we have to find an

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 151

efficient way to search though the possible assignments to find a good one in a

reasonable time. PerfectTablePlan does this using a 'genetic algorithm'.

A genetic algorithm works my mimicking the Darwinian process of natural selection

over successive generations:

1. An initial population of assignments is created using various rules of thumb

('heuristics').

2. The assignments are randomly mutated and spliced to produce new layouts.

3. Weak assignments (those with low scores) are eliminated from the population.

4. If the best assignment isn't satisfactory go to step 2.

Because of the way a genetic algorithm works, it cannot be guaranteed to give a

mathematically optimal answer - sometimes you can spot ways to improve the

assignment score with simple drag and drop. But if we were to use an approach

that was guaranteed to give a mathematically optimal answer, it might take years

to run! The PerfectTablePlan genetic algorithm will usually get close to an optimal

solution in a reasonable time.

Problem size

The number of combinations for seating n guests in n seats is n! ( n factorial). 3! is

3x2x1. 10! is 10x9x8x7x6x5x4x3x2x1. This means that the difficulty of the problem

rises very rapidly with the number of guests. For example:

25! = 15511210043330985984000000

50! = 30414093201713378043612608166064768844377641568960512000000000000

100! =

933262154439441526816992388562667004907159682643816214685929638952175999

932299156089414639761565182862536979208272237582511852109168640000000000

00000000000000

200! =

788657867364790503552363213932185062295135977687173263294742533244359449

963403342920304284011984623904177212138919638830257642790242637105061926

624952829931113462857270763317237396988943922445621451664240254033291864

PerfectTablePlan152

131227428294853277524242407573903240321257405579568660226031904170324062

351700858796178922222789623703897374720000000000000000000000000000000000

000000000000000

So don't be surprised if PerfectTablePlan takes a while to do an automatic

assignment for 1000+ guests.

11 Copying to the clipboard

11.1 Copying to the clipboard

You can copy the contents of the Floor plan, Table plan, Table chart,

Guest chart and Statistics panes to the clipboard for pasting into other

applications (such as Microsoft Excel). Bring the appropriate pane to the front of

the Top pane and select Edit> Copy or the equivalent Main tool bar button.

The Floor plan and Table plan will be copied to the clipboard as an image.

The Table chart, Guest chart and Statistics panes will be copied to the

clipboard as both plain text (no formatting) and HTML (some formatting). Which

one is used will depend on the capabilities of the application you paste into, for

example Word will use HTML and Notepad will use plain text.

Note that font size is not preserved when you copy a Table chart or Guest

chart as HTML, as there is no reliable way to map between point size and HTML

font size. You should be able to reset the font size easily enough in the other

application. The chart layout can look cramped if the chart is too big for the page

you paste it into. You may be able to fix this by reducing the font size, changing

the page orientation to landscape and/or reducing the number of columns in the

chart.

You can also use File> Export to transfer data to other applications via a file.

See also:

Exporting

12 Printing

12.1 Printing

You can print the contents of the Floor plan, Table plan, Table chart,

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 153

Guest chart, Stationery and Statistics panes. Bring the appropriate pane to

the front of the Top pane and select File> Print or the equivalent Main tool bar

button. The Print window will appear.

The controls displayed will depend on the pane that you are printing.

If you only have a standard size (e.g. A4) printer you might find that text on the

Floor plan pane isn't very legible when printed to a single A4 sheet. You may have

to span multiple sheets or print it on a larger format printer. See printing legible

plans on a small format printer.

You can also copy or export your floor plan, table chart or guest chart to other

PerfectTablePlan154

applications, and print them from there, by using Edit> Copy or File> Export.

See also:

Print to poster size

Print window

Print setup window

12.2 Stationery

In addition to floor plans, table charts and guest charts PerfectTablePlan can print

various types of stationery, including:

save the date cards

invitations

address labels

place cards

table cards

escort cards

badges

personalised wine bottle labels and menus

thank you cards

You can easily personalise the stationery for each guest, group or table using

substitution text. For example, if you wish to add the display name and seat

number of each guest to a place card you just add the substitution text

{guest_display_name}

and

{guest_seat}

to your design. This text will then

be replaced by the appropriate values for each guest.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 155

See also:

Ordering place cards

Stationery pane

Print stationery tutorial

13 Emailing

13.1 Emailing

This feature is not available on the MacOSX as there is no standard programmatic

way of creating an email with an attachment.

14 Exporting

14.1 Exporting

Data in PerfectTablePlan can be exported in a variety of formats for use in other

applications, such as image editors, spreadsheets and wordprocessors.

Select File> Export... to display the Export window.

data

Select guest and seating data to CSV/text file to export data in a flexible, text

form for import by other applications, such as spreadsheets. The Export data

window will appear. This window allows you to specify which guest properties to

export and what file format to use. For export to a spreadsheet or database you

would typically export an Excel CSV file. See the Export data window page for

more details.

vCard file

Select guest data to vCard file to export guest data in a form that can be

imported into most applications with address books, including Outlook, Palm Pilot

desktop and Apple Address Book. The Export vCard window will appear. This

window allows you to specify which guests to export and whether to export each

guest to a separate vCard file. See the Export vCard window page for more

details.

PerfectTablePlan156

image

Select a pane to export to PDF to create a vector image file. Select a pane to

export to PNG, JPG or BMP format to create a raster image file.

PDF format gives the best quality when you need to enlarge an image. PNG is a

good compromise between size and quality. JPEG files are small, but are of low

quality. BMP files can be very large and are not usually recommended. To export a

BMP, JPEG or PNG image as large as possible check export image as large as

possible in the Preferences window.

Usage

Recommended format

Large and/or high quality prints

PDF

Outputting to an image for modification

in Photoshop/PaintShop/Paint

PNG

Small file size/low quality images

JPEG

text

Select a pane to export to CSV, text or HTML to export the appropriate pane as

text.

HTML retains some of the formatting, but not the font size as there is no direct

way to translate point size into HTML. You should be able to reset the font size

easily enough in the other application. Also the chart layout can look cramped if

the chart is too big for the other application. You may be able to fix this by

reducing the font size, changing the page orientation to landscape and/or reducing

the number of columns in the chart.

See also:

Export formats

Export window

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 157

Export data window

Export vCard window

Export to PDF format

Copying to the clipboard

14.2 Export formats

PerfectTablePlan exports information in 7 major forms:

CSV (Comma Separated Value ) - A text file readable by Microsoft Excel. Columns

and rows are delimited (separated) by commas and carriage returns,

respectively. " and , characters are quoted.

Delimited text data - A text file with the user's choice of delimiters. Useful for

importing into a wide range of applications. Excel CSV is a special form of

delimited text data.

vCard file - vCard files be imported into most applications with address books,

including Outlook, Palm Pilot desktop and Apple Address Book.

Raster image (e.g. .PNG, .JPG and .BMP) - An image described as a 2 dimension

array of coloured cells (pixels) that can be read by many graphics packages, such

as Photoshop and Microsoft Paint.

Vector image (e.g. PDF) - An image described in terms of primitive shapes, e.g.

a circle of a given radius and position, that can be read by some drawing

packages such as Adobe Acrobat.

HTML text (e.g. .HTML) - A textual representation with layout and formatting

that can be read into a web browser, such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firebird

or Safari. Many wordprocessors, such as Microsoft Word, can also read HTML.

plain text (e.g. .TXT) - A textual representation without layout and formatting

that can be read into a wide range of applications.

Different formats are useful for different things. However there are important

things to bear in mind when deciding whether to use raster or vector images:

PerfectTablePlan158

Raster images can degrade when resized, for example when printed to poster

size. Vector images can normally be resized without problems.

Raster images are much harder to edit than vector images, because a table is

drawn as an array of many separate cells rather than a circle or a rectangle.

Vector image formats are less widely supported than raster formats and can

therefore be harder to print or modify.

15 Back-up files

15.1 Back-up files

There are many ways you can lose your work on a computer including: power

outages; hardware failure; human error; and software errors. To guard against this

PerfectTablePlan can create back-ups of your plan files. This saves you from

continually saving to a new name file, e.g. plan1.tp, plan2.tp etc.

Depending on the choices in the Preferences window the software can create

automatic back-ups of the software:

every time you File> Save the plan

every time you do an auto-assignment

every n minutes (assuming the plan has been changed in that n minutes)

Note Plans with more than 30 guests will only be backed up if you have purchased

a licence key.

Backup files are created in a 'backup' folder in your plans folder. These back-ups

are created with the extension .tpb (Table Plan Backup) and include a time and

date stamp. For example, if you save myplan.tp at 17:42:05 on 11th February 2005

it will create a backup file

myplan_2005-02-11T17-42-05.tpb

. If some

problem occurs with

myplan.tp

(or you just want to compare it with the older

version) you can open

myplan_2005-02-11T17-42-05.tpb

and File>Save as it

as a new .tp file.

To open a back-up file:

select File> Open or the equivalent Main tool bar button, the Open window

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 159

will appear

select Table planner backup Table planner backup in the Enable drop-down.

navigate to the folder containing the backup files, usually:

~\Documents\tableplans\backups

select the back-up file you want and click the Open button

Note Any number of back-up files on your harddisk will be useless if your harddisk

dies. Make sure you back up to separate storage devices.

16 Creating a good table plan

16.1 Creating a good table plan

For an up-to-date list of tips on how to create a good table plan see our tips web

page.

17 Multiple user access

17.1 Mutliple user access

If you are using PerfectTablePlan across a network (e.g. 2 or more users accessing

the same file on a shared disk) you need to be careful that users don't overwrite

each other's changes.

File locking is not available on MacOSX.

18 Frequently asked questions

18.1 Frequently asked questions

For an up-to-date list of frequently asked questions see our wwww.

perfecttableplan.com FAQ page.

PerfectTablePlan160

19 Integrating with PerfectTablePlan

19.1 Integrating with PerfectTablePlan

You may wish to use PerfectTablePlan to create a table plan from data produced

by another software package, for example an event registration system. There are

two ways you can do this.

Integrate via text/CSV file

If your software package can create a delimited text file (e.g. CSV file) you can

output this and import it into PerfectTablePlan. If you are able to script/program

the package you can get it to start PerfectTablePlan with the input file from the

command line.

For example to start up importing the file export.csv using the predefine 'theknot.

com' mapping :

/Applications/PerfectTablePlan.app/Contents/MacOS/

PerfectTablePlan -import export.csv -import_type theknot

Please email [email protected] if you are interested in us adding a

mapping for your import file format.

Integrate via XML file

The above approach is sufficient for most needs, however it only allows you to

supply guest details, not details of tables or seating. If you need to do this you can

generate your own PerfectTablePlan plan file and start PerfectTablePlan to open

it.

For example to start up PerfectTablePlan and open a myplan.tp file:

/Applications/PerfectTablePlan.app/Contents/MacOS/

PerfectTablePlan myplan.tp

PerfectTablePlan plan (.tp) files are in a simple text/XML format. Please email

[email protected] if you need help with the format.

19.2 Command line arguments

PerfectTablePlan recognises the following command line syntax:

argument

Comments

Example

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 161

The location of the .tp file

to load at start-up.

myplan.tp

-import <import file>

The location of the data

file to import on start-up.

-import import.csv

-import_type <import

type>

A pre-defined import file

type. PerfectTablePlan

will look through the list

of pre-defined types until

it finds one that contains

the string passed in. For

example

-import_type

evite

will match the

pre-define type "evite.

com export". This

argument is ignored if

import

is not specified.

-import_type evite

See also:

Integrating PerfectTablePlan

19.3 PerfectTablePlan file format

PerfectTablePlan plan (.tp) files are stored as text in an XML format.

The format is fairly straightforward and you should be able to work out most of the

details by creating a few .tp files from PerfectTablePlan and examining them. A

few important points are noted below.

Indexing

Where different records in the XML reference each other they do so by numerical

indexes starting from 0.

For PerfectTablePlan v4.0.0 or later you should set the version to 7, e.g.:

PerfectTablePlan162

This section contains details of all the guests.

The guest group attribute is the index of the corresponding group record.

The meaning of the accepted attribute is given below:

Accepted attribute

Meaning

Unset

Accepted

Sent

Declined

Cancelled

This section contains details of all the groups.

This section contains details of all the tables.

The meaning of the shape attribute is given below:

Shape attribute

Meaning

Circular

Rectangular

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2-5

no longer used

Custom

Head

Banquet

Semi-circular

Oval

Row of seats

The position of the centre of a table is recorded in metres using attributes

"X_metres" and "Y_metres". For backward compatibility for you can also set the

position of a table in pixels using attributes "X" and "Y", where there are 167 pixels

to a metre. The use of pixel measurements is deprecated and may not be

supported in future versions.

The table assigned attribute is a url encoded list of guests assigned to the seats of

the table, e.g. an unencoded attribute "9,0,-1" means:

seat 0 contains the guest with index 9

seat 1 contains the guest with index 0

seat 2 contains no guest

<floorplan_shapes>..</floorplan_shapes>

This section contains details of the shapes added to the floor plan.

The meaning of the shape attribute is given below:

Shape attribute

Meaning

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Circle

Ellipse

Square

Rectangle

<floorplan_text>.. </floorplan_text>

This section contains details of the shapes added to the floor plan.

This section contains details of all the guest proximities (who should sit next to

who).

The affinity guest1 and guest2 attributes correspond to the 2 guests who the

affinity is set for. If no affinity is set, neutral is assumed.

The meaning of the affinity value attribute is given below:

Value attribute

Meaning

Next to

Near to

Neutral

Not next to

Not near to

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This section contains details of the current stationery design.

<selection_filters>..</selection_filters>

This section contains the indexes of guests and groups currently included in the

Selected... list in The Guest chart pane, Stationery pane and Export data

window.

20 How do I?

20.1 How do I?

This section covers common tasks that you might want to achieve. If you can't find

the answer to your question here or in the rest of the Help try the

PerfectTablePlan FAQ page . Most of these topics are available in a context-

sensitive form from the How do I? button in the main tool bar.

Add a chart title/footer

Add a dance floor, stage etc to the floor plan

Add a graphic or logo

Add a new stationery layout

Add a title or text into the floor plan

Add or remove dots at the end of titles

Arrange multiple seatings for an event

Assign guests to seats

Change fonts and/or colours

Change how guest names are displayed in the floor plan

Change proximity for multiple guests

Change table size or shape

PerfectTablePlan166

Change the print pagination

Change the size of the room

Change the table order

Choose a format to export to

Copy guests from one plan to another

Create a non-rectangular room

Create a template floor plan

Create an E-shaped table

Customise standard guest titles

Email my plan

Estimate numbers and budget

Export a chart to Excel/Word

Export guest and seating data to Excel

Export to PDF format

Handle guests with unknown names

Handle post-nominal titles

Import guest details from Apple Address Book

Import guest details from Excel spreadsheets

Import guest details from Outlook

Import guest details from Outlook Express

Import guests in couples/families/groups

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 167

Insert a new guest into an existing group

Liaise with caterers

Load sample stationery

Lock guests to seats

Move guests from one group to another

Only assign guests who have accepted

Order place cards

Print a guest list

Print invitations, place cards, badges, labels etc

Print legible plans on a small format printer

Print to poster size

Remove stationery border or fold line

Rename a table

Retrieve old versions of the plan

Select multiple items

Set the RSVP status for multiple guests

Show gender in the floor plan

Show groups in the floor plan

Show the proximity for one group at a time

Show unassigned seats

Track details of non-seated guests

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Turn off guest name capitalisation

Turn the floor plan grid on/off

Zoom in/out of the floor plan

20.2 Add a chart title/footer

To add a title/header/footer to the Table chart or Guest chart pane:

1. click on the button at the top of the pane.

2. Click on the Title or Footer button.

3. Set the title/footer text, size and colour.

4. Click OK.

20.3 Add a dance floor, stage etc to the floorplan

You can use rectangular, square, elliptical or circular shapes to represent floor

plan features such as dance floors, stages and walls. Click on the Shape button

at the top of the Floor plan pane to add a shape to the floor plan.

20.4 Add a graphic or logo

At present you can't add graphics or logos to PerfectTablePlan. As a workaround

you can always pass the plan/chart/stationery through a printer twice and use

another package to add the graphics/logo on the second pass.

20.5 Add a new stationery layout

PerfectTablePlan comes with a comprehensive library of stationery templates. This

includes many sizes of labels and cards from leading stationery manufacturers. If

we don't provide a template for the type of stationery you want to use:

1. At the top of the Stationery pane click the Stationery layout button. The

Stationery layout window will appear.

2. Set the various fields to the appropriate dimensions. You can choose mm or

inches. Click on the Nomenclature tab for a visual representation of the various

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parameters. The layout is shown in the Preview tab.

3. Click OK. The Save stationery layout window will appear.

4. Complete the details for the new layout and click OK if you want it to be saved

into the stationery database for next time.

20.6 Add a title or text into the floor plan

To add a title or text into the floor plan:

1. Click the Insert text button at the top of the Floor plan pane. The Insert

text window will appear.

2. Set the text, angle, font and colour.

3. Click OK. The new text item will be added.

4. Drag the new text item to the appropriate position.

Double click on the text item if you wish to edit it later.

20.7 Add or remove dots at the end of titles

“Mr” (without a dot) is standard in the UK and “Mr.” (with a period) is standard in

the USA (ref: Longman Guide to English Usage 1988). In the interests of

international relations you can toggle between the two by using the +period (in

the Main window hold down the key and press the '.' (period) key). If you don’t

like the results you can undo them.

If you want to use “Mr.” (with a period) as standard you should edit the titles

available in the Titles tab of the Preferences window.

20.8 Arrange multiple seatings for an event

If you have an event that includes several meals you might wish to have each

person sit with different people at each meal. PerfectTablePlan can help you

achieve this.

1. Do the first seating plan as usual and save the plan.

PerfectTablePlan170

2. Right click on each table and set the proximity to Not near to.

3. Select File> Auto assign seats.

4. Use drag and drop to fine-tune the seating plan as required.

5. Select File>Save as... to save the plan to a new file.

6. If another seating is required go to 2.

Note If you have guests you don't want moved you can lock them to their seat.

20.9 Assign guests to seats

You can assign guests to seats by drag and drop, automatic seat assignment or a

combination of both.

For more details see seat assignment.

20.10 Change fonts and/or colours

In the Floor plan, Table plan, Table chart or Guest chart pane click on

the Colours and fonts button at the top of the pane.

In the Stationery pane select the appropriate text and click on the Font and

Colour buttons at the bottom of the Design tab

20.11 Change how guest names are displayed in the floor plan

To change how the name of a guest is displayed in the floor plan:

1. Click the button at the top right of the Floor plan pane.

2. Select the appropriate entry from the Seats drop-down list

20.12 Change proximity for multiple guests

To set the proximity for all the guests in a group (e.g. to set all the guests in a

group to 'near to' each other):

1. Right click on the group in the Groups pane.

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2. Select the proximity from the pop-up menu.

To set the proximity for multiple guests (e.g. to set 5 guests to have proximity

'near to' each other):

1. Use click/ +click/Shift+click to select the appropriate guests in the Guests

pane.

2. Right click.

3. Select the proximity from the pop-up menu.

20.13 Change table size or shape

To change the size (dimension or number of seats) or shape of a table:

Double-click on the table in the Floor plan, Table plan or Schematic

pane.

Change the size or shape properties, as required.

Click OK.

20.14 Change the print pagination

Use the fine adjust controls in the Print window. Click on the button to show

them.

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20.15 Change the size of the room

To change the size of the floor plan:

1. Click on the Dimensions button at the top of the Floor plan pane.

2. Set the Depth and Breadth of the room in the appropriate Units.

3. Click OK.

20.16 Change the table order

The Table chart and Schematic panes show tables in a certain order. By

default this is the order in which the tables were created, but you can change it by

either:

clicking on the Table order... button in the Table chart or Schematic pane;

dragging a table up or down the order in the Schematic pane; or

selecting a table and using the up and down arrows at the top of the

Schematic pane to change its position in the table order

To sort the tables in alphanumeric order:

1. Go to the Table chart or Schematic pane (click on the button at the

top-right of the Table chart pane).

2. Click on the Table order... button.

4. Click the Sort button.

5. Click OK.

20.17 Choose a format to export to

To create a high quality image suitable for printing to large sizes, choose PDF.

To create a medium quality image suitable for printing to smaller sizes, choose

PNG.

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To create a low quality image suitable for emailing, choose JPG.

To import into Word or create a web page, choose HTML.

To import into Excel, a database or other application, choose CSV.

For more details see exporting.

20.18 Copy guests from one plan to another

Just drag the guests from one plan to the other:

1. Start 2 instances of PerfectTablePlan. You may have to duplicate the

PerfectTablePlan.app

file before you can do this.

2. Select the guests you want to copy from the Guests or Groups pane of the first

instance of PerfectTablePlan ( +A to select all).

3. Drag the guests/groups to the Guests pane of the second instance of

PerfectTablePlan.

You can also export the guest data to a .csv file and re-import it, but drag and

drop is easier.

Note You may not be able to drag guests between 2 instances of PerfectTablePlan

in MacOSX 10.5. You can work around this by:

1. Dragging the guests from the Guests or Groups pane to the desktop (or any

other folder), which creates vCard files.

2. Dragging the vCard files to the Guests pane of the new plan.

See also:

Create a re-useable floor plan template

20.19 Create a non-rectangular room

To create a non-rectangular room (e.g. 'T' shaped or 'L' shaped):

1. Click the Dimensions icon at the top of the Floor plan pane.

PerfectTablePlan174

2. Set Depth and Breadth to the maximum dimensions of the room and click OK.

3. Click the Insert shape icon at the top of the Floor plan pane.

4. Create a shape equal to the same size as an unusable area of the room, set it to

the same colour as the outside of the floor plan and click OK.

5. Drag the shape to the appropriate position.

6. Repeat 3, 4 and 5 as necessary.

20.20 Create a re-useable floor plan template

To Create a floor plan template that you can re-use for similar events:

1. Create a new plan with a standard table layout.

2. File>Save as to a new file, e.g. 'template.tp'.

Each time you need to create a new plan based on the template:

1. File>Open the template plan you created.

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2. File>Save as to a new plan file, e.g. ‘event.tp’

3. Add guests.

See also:

Copy guests from one plan to another

20.21 Create an E-shaped table

You can create an E-shaped table (and other complex tables types) by composing it

from basic tables shapes.

Typically you will use a head table plus a banquet table for each 'sprig'. If you need

to add guests at the end of the banquet tables you can use custom tables instead.

See the Masonic sample table plan shipped with PerfectTablePlan for an example

of an E-shaped table plan.

Hints:

PerfectTablePlan176

Set the Inside and Outside colours of the tables the same in the Fonts and

colours window so that you won't see where the tables overlap.

Set the Seats drop-down list at the top of the Floor plan pane to Name only

banquet for a name layout that is easy to read and makes good use of space.

20.22 Customise standard guest titles

You can add your own custom titles to PerfectTablePlan. These could be military

or Masonic titles or foreign language equivalents of Mr/Mrs/Master/Miss. These

custom titles can have default gender, age and VIP status, which is particularly

useful when you are importing guests with known titles.

To add custom titles:

1. Open the Preferences window.

2. Select the Titles tab.

3. Click on Add.

4. Type a name and select a default gender, age and VIP status.

5. Click OK.

Titles in your current plan can be imported by clicking on Import from current

plan.

You may also wish to set the Default couple titles.

20.23 Email my plan

To email a copy of your plan to someone with PerfectTablePlan:

1. File> Save your plan.

2. Compose an email in your standard email package and attach the saved plan (.

tp) file.

Note If they don't need to save, print or export your plan they can download and

use the free trial version of PerfectTablePlan.

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To email a copy of your plan to someone without PerfectTablePlan:

1. Export your plan into the appropriate format.

2. Compose an email and add the exported file as an attachment.

20.24 Estimate numbers and budget

Select File> Numbers and budget... and use the Numbers and budget window

to estimate guest numbers and help keep track of your budget.

20.25 Export a chart to Excel/Word

To export the contents of the Guest chart, Table chart or Statistics pane to

Microsoft Excel or Word:

1. Bring the Guest chart , Table chart or Statistics pane to the front.

2. Select Edit> Copy from the menu bar (not +C, this only copies selected

text).

3. Start Excel/Word.

4. Select Edit>Paste in Excel/Word.

20.26 Export guest and seating data to Excel

To export guest and seating data into a form that it can be used in Excel:

1. Select File> Export. The Export window will appear.

2. Select guest and seating data to text/CSV file and click OK. The Export data

window will appear.

3. Select whether you want to export a record per guest or per group and check/

uncheck the appropriate check boxes. Leave the format as Excel CSV.

4. Edit the Export file field or click on the Browse button to set the output file.

PerfectTablePlan178

5. Click OK.

The CSV file created should be readable by Excel.

20.27 Export to PDF format

PDF is a vector image format popularised by Adobe Acrobat. Many print shops will

prefer PDF format if you want to print the Floor Plan, Table Chart , Guest

Chart or Stationery pane to poster size. For example, to export the Floor

Plan pane as a PDF:

1. Select File> Export, the Export window will appear.

2. Select floor plan to PDF/PNG/JPG/BMP image file.

3. Click OK, the Export Floor plan window will appear.

4. select the file type as PDF, choose a file name and location and click Save, the

Export PDF window will appear.

5. Select the appropriate Size and Orientation for the PDF and click OK.

If you have problems with built-in PDF export you can also export PDFs indirectly,

as described below.

Creating PDFs indirectly on Macintosh

The ability to print straight to a PDF document is built into MacOSX, you don’t

need to install any additional software.

Select File> Print, the PerfectTablePlan Print window will appear.

Click the Setup... button, the MacOSX Print window will appear.

Drag the PDF button down to Save as PDF....

Choose a location for the file in the Save window and click Save, the Page Setup

window will appear.

Choose the page setup and click OK.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 179

Click OK on the PerfectTablePlan Print window.

A PDF format document should now have been created.

Checking the output

You can check that the PDF output is acceptable using the free Adobe Acrobat

reader. Many web browsers can also read PDF files.

20.28 Handle guests with unknown names

Give them last names such as "guest of John Smith 1", "guest of John Smith 2" and

then replace this with their proper name when you know it.

20.29 Handle post-nominal titles

Most titles come before the name, e.g. Dr, Herr, Colonel etc. These are handled

by the Title field in the Guest properties window. You can configure the titles

available by default in the Preferences window.

However some titles come after the name, e.g. PhD or MBE (post-nominals). These

are best handled by adding them individually to the Display name field in the

Guest properties window. For example you might have:

Field

Example

Title

Sir

First name

John

Last name

Smith

Display name

Sir John Smith MBE

See also:

Order place cards

Printing stationery

20.44 Print legible plans on a small format printer

If you only have access to a standard format (e.g. A4 or letter) printer it can be

difficult to print a legible floor plan on a single sheet. Here are some suggestions:

Print the Floor Plan pane on multiple sheets of paper and join them together.

Print each table on a separate page from the Table plan pane.

Set the Floor Plan pane to display seat numbers, instead of names, by

selecting Seat reference from the Display drop-down. Set the Table chart

pane to display seat numbers as well as names. Print out both Floor plan and

Table chart panes. The floor plan can then be cross-referenced against the

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 185

table chart.

Select Name only (radial) or Name only (banquet) from the Seats drop-down list

at the top of the Floor Plan pane.

Move the tables closer together in the Floor Plan pane. This will make them

appear bigger when scaled to fit the page (but may stop the floor plan being to

scale).

Increase the size of the fonts in the Floor Plan pane by clicking on the

button. The size of table and seat fonts can be set separately.

Alternatively:

Export the floor plan as a PDF and send it to someone with a larger format (e.g.

A3 or A2) printer.

Order a digital poster print from one of our partners.

20.45 Print to poster size

To print a plan or chart to poster size:

Print across multiple sheets of A4/Letter paper and join them together; or

Export to PDF format and take it to your local print shop, e.g. a Fedex Kinko (

raster image formats such as PNG and JPG can degrade significantly when

enlarged); or

Get it delivered to your door as an inexpensive digital poster print.

20.46 Remove stationery border or foldline

Click on the button at the top-right of the pane.

To remove the border from stationery set the Border thickness to 0.

To remove the fold lines from stationery set Fold to No.

PerfectTablePlan186

20.47 Rename a table

To rename a table:

1. Select the table in the Floor plan, Table plan or Schematic pane

2. Select Edit> Properties from the menu bar.

3. Change the name.

4. Click OK.

You can also display the Properties window by double-clicking on the table or

selecting Properties from the right-click menu.

To rename large numbers of tables:

1. Go to the Schematic pane

2. Select Edit from the Mode drop-down list at the top of the pane

3. Retype the table names

20.48 Retrieve old versions of the plan

You may be able to access old versions of your plan from automatic back-up files

made by PerfectTablePlan.

20.49 Select multiple items

To select multiple items in the Guests, Groups or Schematic pane:

To select multiple individual items +click on each item.

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To select a group of items click on the first item and Shift+click on the last item.

To select multiple groups of items +click on the first item in each group and

Shift+ +click

To select all items use +A.

20.50 Set the RSVP status for multiple guests

To change the RSVP status of multiple guests:

1. Select multiple guests in the Guests or Groups pane using +click/Shift

+click.

2. Right-click and select the appropriate RSVP status from the pop-up menu.

You can also right-click on a group to set the RSVP status of everyone in the group

20.51 Show gender in the floor plan

To show gender in the Floor plan or Table plan pane:

1. Click on the button at the top-right of the pane.

2. Click on the Gender button. Males will be shown in blue and females in pink.

Note This option is only available if you are displaying circular seats.

See also:

Floor plan pane

20.52 Show groups in the floor plan

To show groups in the Floor plan or Table plan pane:

1. Click on the button at the top-right of the pane.

2. Click on the Groups button. Each group will be shown in a different colour (or

combination of colours). You cannot change the colours.

PerfectTablePlan188

Note This option is only available if you are displaying circular seats.

See also:

Floor plan pane

20.53 Show the proximity for one group at a time

To show the proximities for one group at a time in the Proximity pane:

1. Click on the button at the top-right of the pane.

2. Set the Shown drop-down list to by group. Use the and buttons or the drop-

down list to change group.

See also:

Proximity pane

20.54 Show unassigned seats

To show unassigned seats in the Floor plan or Table plan pane:

1. Click on the button at the top-right of the pane.

2. Set the Tables drop-down list to Name+unassigned. The number of unassigned

seats will be shown in the centre of each table and unassigned seats will be

shown with a red cross.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 189

See also:

Floor plan pane

20.55 Track details of non-seated guests

You may have guests that are attending your event, but won’t require a seat at

the dinner. We recommend that you track their RSVPs as normal but lock them

with no seat assigned to ensure they won’t be inadvertently assigned a seat. You

might also want to add a reminder in their Notes field, e.g. “evening only guest”.

20.56 Turn off guest name capitalisation

By default the first letter of each guest names is capitalised. To turn this off

uncheck automatically capitalise names in the General tab of the Preferences

window.

20.57 Turn the floor plan grid on/off

The floor plan has 2 separate grids - a drawn grid (for display only) and a snap grid

(which 'snaps' the centres of items to a discrete position). To turn these grids on/

off:

1. Click the Dimensions button at the top of the Floor plan pane. The

Dimensions window will be displayed.

PerfectTablePlan190

2. Check/uncheck the Draw grid check box to turn the drawn grid on/off.

3. Check/uncheck the Snap to grid check box to turn the snap grid on/off.

4. Change the Units drop-down list or Size fields to change the grid sizes.

5. Click OK.

See also:

Dimensions window

20.58 Zoom in/out of the floor/table plan

To zoom so all items are visible click the Zoom all button at the top of the pane.

To zoom in click the Zoom in button at the top of the pane.

To zoom out click the Zoom out button at the top of the pane.

You can pan from side to side while zoomed in by left-clicking on the Floor plan

pane background and dragging it.

You can also zoom and pan using the wheel on your mouse (if you have one)

depending on the Floor/Table Plan pane mouse wheel behaviour settings in the

Preferences window.

See also:

Floor plan pane

21 Licensing

21.1 Licensing

In order to use this software fully you will need a valid licence key. Without a

licence key you can only save, export or print plans with 30 or fewer guests.

To purchase a licence key go to www.perfecttableplan.com .

To fully activate the software select Licensing>Licence and enter the key into

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 191

the Licence window.

If you purchased the software electronically off the Internet, the key will have

been emailed to you.

If you purchased the software as a CD, the licence key will either be printed inside

the box or will have been emailed to you.

To retrieve a licence you have previously purchased from www.perfecttableplan.

com select Licensing>Retrieve key.

Note A standard licence entitles one named person to use this software on any

number of computers. If you have more than one person using the software you

should purchase a licence key for each user. However, we have no objection to a

couple sharing a licence when planning their wedding. You can also purchase an

organizational licence.

The same licence key will work on both Windows and Macintosh.

Version 3 licence keys are not valid for version 4. You can upgrade from version 3

to version 4 for a small free.

22 Support

22.1 Contact support

If you are having problems with the software please check if your question has

already been answered in this documentation or on the www.perfecttableplan.

com FAQ page. If you can't find an answer here or on the web site then email us

at [email protected] . We will reply as quickly as we can.

22.2 Report a bug

We take every effort to deliver high quality software. However, the sheer

complexity of software and the number of platforms and configurations we have to

support means that we can't guarantee our software is completely bug free. Please

report any bugs you find to [email protected] and we will attempt to fix

them. Please include:

a description of the bug

PerfectTablePlan192

your operating system (e.g. MacOSX 10.5)

the version of PerfectTablePlan (from the About window)

a step-by-step description of how we can reproduce the problem

The step-by-step description is particularly important - if we can't reproduce your

problem, then we probably won't be able to fix it.

To assist us in fixing bugs we have added email-based error reporting. When

PerfectTablePlan detects that something has gone horribly wrong it will try to

email a report to [email protected] (with your permission). Please send

the email and add any relevant details.

22.3 Request an enhancement

We are always very interested to hear your suggestions on how the software can be

improved. Please email us at [email protected] .

23 Updates

23.1 Updates

From time to time we release new versions of the software with new features and/

or bug fixes. Minor updates are available for no charge (e.g. v4.0.0 and v4.1.1 will

both work with a v3 licence key). Major updates require a licence key upgrade (e.

g. a v3 licence key will not work with version 4.0.0). If you purchased a licence key

close to a major upgrade you may get a free upgrade licence key. See our licensing

page for details of our upgrade policy.

To check which version of the software you are running look in the About window.

To check if you are running the latest version select Help>Check for updates. This

requires an Internet connection.

PerfectTablePlan will also check for software updates automatically. You can set it

to check for updates monthly, weekly or never in the Preferences window (the

default is weekly). It will only advise the availability of updates, you still have to

download and install the update from a web page.

You can also subscribe to our email newsletter for update information.

PerfectTablePlan 4.0.2 193

23.2 Newsletter

If you subscribe to our newsletter you will receive occasional email newsletters

telling you when new releases of this software become available, and other useful

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24 Uninstalling

24.1 Uninstalling

To uninstall PerfectTablePlan drag the PerfectTablePlan application from

Applications

(or wherever you installed) to the waste bin.

Note You may also wish to delete any table plan files from the

Documents

folder.

PerfectTablePlan194

Index

- A -

About window 90

accelerators 137

accepted 97

assessing your plan 68

assigning seats 146

automatic seat assignment 148

- B -

back-up files 158

BMP format 155

Bottom pane 87

budget 177

bugs 191

- C -

capitalise names automatically 122

caterers 181

Change group window 90

Chart title/footer window 91

clipboard 152

colour system requirements 7

colours 95

changing colours 170

command line arguments 160

context sensitive help 7

conventions in this document 6

copy to clipboard 152

creating a good table plan 159

CSV file export 157

CSV file import 142

custom table 116

- D -

demonstration movies 19

Dimensions window 91

display name 143

drag and drop 135

- E -

emailing a plan file 155

enhancements 192

E-shaped tables 175

Estimating guest numbers 121

etiquette for table plans 159

Excel 180

export chart to Excel 177

export guest and seating data to Excel 177

Export data window 93

export formats 157

Export PDF window 94

Export vCard window 95

Export window 93

exporting 155

- F -

FAQ 159

floor plan features (dance floors, stages etc) 168

Floor plan pane 68

grid 189

show gender 187

show groups 187

show unassigned seats 188

fonts 95

changing font 170

Fonts and colours window 95

footer 91

frequently asked questions 159

- G -

genetic algorithm 150

gradient 128

graphics 168

Group properties window 96

groups 144

displaying in the floor plan 187

inserting guests into existing groups 181

moving guests between groups 182

Groups pane 65

Guest chart pane 78

guest list 63

guest list printing 183

Index

195

Guest properties window 97

Guests pane 63

- H -

head table 116

help system 7

hide seats in floor plan 68

How do I 165

- I -

Import data window 100

Import window 99

importing 141

Apple AddressBook 180

CSV/text files 142

Excel 180

Outlook 180

Outlook Express 180

tutorial 49

vCard files 142

Information window 104

Insert couple window 105

Insert family window 107

Insert group window 110

Insert guest window 113

Insert Guests scratch-pad window 115

Insert shape window 116

Insert table window 116

Insert text window 119

Insert tool bar 61

integrating PerfectTablePlan 160

introduction 6

invitation 184

- J -

JPEG format 155

- K -

keyboard accelerators 137

- L -

labels 184

Left pane 63

letters 184

Licence window 120

licensing 190

locking a guest 146

logos 168

- M -

mail merge 79

Main tool bar 59

memory 7

Menu bar 58

Microsoft Excel 180

Microsoft Outlook 180

Microsoft Outlook Express 180

Most recently access window 120

movies 19

multiple seatings 169

multi-user access 159

- N -

name badges 154

newsletter 193

non-seated guests 179, 189

Numbers and budget window 121

- O -

operating system 7

Outlook 180

Outlook Express 180

- P -

panes 56

Bottom pane 87

Floor plan pane 68

Groups pane 65

Guest chart pane 78

Guests pane 63

PerfectTablePlan196

panes 56

Left pane 63

Proximity pane 87

Schematic pane 75

Stationery pane 79

Statistics pane 86

Table chart pane 77

Table plan pane 72

Top pane 67

PDF format 178

PerfectTablePlan file format 161

place cards 154

PNG format 157

post nominal titles 143

poster sized prints 185

post-nominal titles 179

Preferences window 122

Print setup window 127

Print window 126

printing

guest list 183

on a small printer 184

poster size 152, 185

Proximity pane 87

- Q -

quick start guide 9

- R -

read-only access 159

renaming tables 186

re-ordering tables 172

report a bug 191

room shapes, non-rectangular 173

RSVP status 145

- S -

Save stationery layout window 128

Schematic pane 75

scoring 148

screen resolution 7

in Groups pane 65

in Guests pane 63

in Proximity pane 87

seat assignment 146

Select gradient window 128

Select groups window 129

Select guests window 129

Shape properties window 130

snap to grid 189

stationery

tutorial 43, 154

Stationery layout window 131

Stationery pane 79

stationery samples 182

Statistics pane 86

Status bar 62

Substitution text 79

support 191

system requirements 7

- T -

Table chart pane 77

table order 172

Table order window 132

Table plan pane 72

Table properties window 132

template floor plan 174

Text properties window 135

themes 95

title

customising 176

in Guest chart or Table chart pane 91

in Guest properties window 97

in Preferences window 122

names and titles 143

post-nominal 179

title/footer for chart 168

tool bars 56

Insert 61

Main 59

Task 58

Top pane 67

tutorial 19

- U -

uninstalling 193

updates 192

Index

197

- V -

vCard export 155

vCard import 142

vector formats 157

version of PerfectTablePlan 90

versions of the plan 186

VIP 97

- W -

web pages 7

What's this help 7

Windows

About window 90

Change group window 90

Chart title/footer window 91

Dimensions window 91

Export data window 93

Export PDF window 94

Export VCard window 95

Export window 93

Fonts and colours window 95

Group properties window 96

Guest properties window 97

Import data window 100

Import window 99

Information window 104

Insert couple window 105

Insert family window 107

Insert group window 110

Insert guest window 113

Insert guests scratch-pad 115

Insert shape window 116

Insert table window 116

Insert text window 119

Licence window 120

Main window 56

Most recently accessed window 120

Numbers and budget window 121

Preferences window 122

Print setup window 127

Print window 126

Save stationery layout window 128

Select gradient window 56, 88, 90, 91, 93, 94,

95, 96, 97, 99, 100, 104, 105, 107, 110, 113, 115,

116, 119, 120, 121, 122, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130,

131, 132, 135

Select groups window 56, 88, 90, 91, 93, 94,

95, 96, 97, 99, 100, 104, 105, 107, 110, 113, 115,

116, 119, 120, 121, 122, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130,

131, 132, 135

Select guests window 56, 88, 90, 91, 93, 94,

95, 96, 97, 99, 100, 104, 105, 107, 110, 113, 115,

116, 119, 120, 121, 122, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130,

131, 132, 135

Shape properties window 130

Stationery layout window 131

Table order window 132

Table properties window 132

Text properties window 135

- Z -

zooming in/out 190