No special prerequisites are required for the fixup to perform as intended.

Figure 1: The dialog for the Create Ellipse/Rectangle as Technical Shape fixup

To create a geometric shape, you can use the following options:

• Templates [1] – settings selected in the dialog can be saved as a template and thus applied to other Articles/Print Items, used within Fixup Chains, as well as in the Apply Fixups and Check Print Item and Apply Fixups operations.
• Skip generation of the Dieline if a Dieline already exists [2] – activating this option prevents a dieline from being created if the print item already contains a dieline with the same name as the one selected in the Technical Color drop-down menu [9].
• Geometric Shape [3] – use the drop-down menu to select which geometric shape should be created. The following options are available:
  • Ellipse – an ellipse or a circle is created, starting from the center point of the print item.
  • Rectangle – a rectangle or a square is created, starting from the center point of the print item.
  • Variable Content [12] – select the desired placeholder here – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the value for the geometric shape should be retrieved. The selected field must contain one of the following values for the shape to be created:
    • Rectangle
    • Circle

Figure 2: Values expected in the selected field for the Geometric Shape option

• Width [4] – enter the width for the geometric shape to be created here. For the Variable Content [5], select the desired placeholder – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the value for the width should be retrieved.
• Height [13] – enter the height for the geometric shape to be created here. For the Variable Content [14], select the desired placeholder – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the value for the height should be retrieved.
• Offset X [6] – enter the offset of the center point on the X axis here. "+" values move the shape to the right, "-" values to the left. For the Variable Content [7], select the desired placeholder – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the value for the X offset should be retrieved.
• Offset Y [15] – enter the offset of the center point on the Y axis here. "+" values move the shape to the top, "-" values to the bottom. For the Variable Content [16], select the desired placeholder – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the value for the Y offset should be retrieved.
• Starting point [8] – use the drop-down menu to select the point that should be used as the reference point for the geometric shape to be created. The following options are available:
  • Page Center – the center point of the page is used as the reference point.
  • Top Center – the center of the top page edge is used as the reference point.
  • Bottom Center – the center of the bottom page edge is used as the reference point.
  • Left Center – the center of the left page edge is used as the reference point.
  • Right Center – the center of the right page edge is used as the reference point.
  • Upper Left Corner – the upper left corner of the page is used as the reference point.
  • Upper Right Corner – the upper right corner of the page is used as the reference point.
  • Lower Left Corner – the lower left corner of the page is used as the reference point.
  • Lower Right Corner – the lower right corner of the page is used as the reference point.
  • Variable Content [17] – select the desired placeholder here – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the value for the starting point should be retrieved. The selected field must contain one of the following values for the shape to be created:
    • Center
    • Top
    • Bottom
    • Left
    • Right
    • UpperLeft
    • UpperRight
    • LowerLeft
    • LowerRight

Figure 3: Values expected in the selected field for the Starting Point option

• Technical Color [9] – use the drop-down menu to select the technical color to be used for the outline. System-wide defined technical colors are available.
• Stroke Width [10] – enter the stroke width of the shape to be created here. For the Variable Content [11], select the desired placeholder – Database Field or User-Defined Field – from which the value for the stroke width should be retrieved.
• Line Shape [18] – use the drop-down menu to select the desired line shape.

To experiment with this function, you can use the sample file "Sample_Rectangle/Ellipse.pdf". The wingspan of the eagle in the print item measures approx. 280 mm.

Using the values from figure 1, the file "Sample_Rectangle/Ellipse_End.pdf" is created, in which a circular dieline has been generated around the eagle, so that the entire wingspan lies within the trim area.

For the TrimBox to align with the dieline after applying this fixup, you still need to apply the "Set TrimBox to the Dieline" fixup to the result.

Figure 4: Left: Original file; Right: Revised file, where a Dieline has been drawn around the print item

Article update: $PRODUCT_NAME_WORKFLOW 2.3.0 – 08/2026