How To: Make a new cover page for Avantfax
After much experimentation and searching, I finally found the method to make a custom cover sheet for Avantfax.
This method will make a cover page that Avantfax will use when you fax from the web interface.
Various printer drivers use other methods so this will not necessarily change their cover pages. Many of the other printer drivers utilize the older hylafax style cover sheet. The variable markers are different. Check out the coverpage in /etc/hylafax for an illustration. You can edit that file with notepad++ and change some names etc. Just copy that file to your local machine that will be sending the faxes and point your printer driver to it. I have not yet figured out how to edit that file with a graphic editor.
To change the Avantfax coversheet I utilized the instructions from these three posts:
http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?thread_id=1900254&forum_id=540878
http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?thread_id=1969643&forum_id=540878
http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?thread_id=2009269&forum_id=540878
I also utilized the codes from
http://www.avantfax.com/faxcover.php
1. Download a copy of freehand from adobe. They have a free 30 day trial.
http://www.adobe.com/products/freehand/
2. In Freehand select a postscript printer first and then create a fax cover sheet that you like using your graphics and set up to fit your application.
3. Font selection is critical as you must use a postscript font that is in your printer driver. I Freehand when you have the text selected you can change the font in the box on the right. Look for a font with the printer icon instead of the TT (for TrueType) icon. if you have errors later on it is probably from using the wrong font. I used arial unicode ms and that solved my problems. You place the variable with the XXXX-(code) format.
4. In Freehand make a graphic line (make the font color white so it does not show) that goes from side to side and place it at the bottom of the page. Without that line your text placement will not be accurate when the coverpage is rendered by avantfax.
5. When you are done with your file save it in freehand format.
6. Export your file to encapsulated postscript (.eps) format and select the setup tab and make sure that fonts are embedded and you save it as rgb color.
7. Use winscp or some other program and copy the file to your server in the following directory: /var/www/html/avantfax/images.
8. Rename the file to filename.ps from filename.eps
9. Edit the local_config.php file in /var/www/html/avantfax/includes and find the following (line 246 in my file)
$COVERPAGE_FILE = 'cover.ps'; and change the filename as appropriate.
10. Save your changes in the php file.
11. Send a fax to yourself.
You can download an eps file to edit from megaupload. The link is a couple of post down.
This method worked for me and the credit goes to the original posters on sourceforge's avantfax forums.
It is actually pretty easy when you get the hang of it. Now if I can just find an open source editor that will allow me to make the appropriate eps files I will be quite happy.
Thanks again to Ward, Joe and Tom for making this all possible.
Thanks to Tony for the writeup that brought this great tool to PBXinaFlash.