Document tree

The Document tree pane shows the current structure of your PDF template. Components are displayed hierarchically. Selecting a component in the tree opens its properties in the Properties pane.

pdf designer document tree

The document tree always reflects the current saved state of your template. To see how the template renders, select Activate in the shell bar to update the Preview pane.

Drag and drop

Drag components from the Component library into the document tree to add them to your template. When dragging a component over a potential parent, a color indicator shows whether the placement is valid:

  • Green indicates a valid parent.

  • Red indicates the parent is not valid for that component type.

Dropping onto a position showing a red indicator may still be permitted in some cases. If a component cannot be placed, a notification appears.

Keyboard shortcuts for moving components

You can reposition components in the document tree using keyboard shortcuts without drag and drop.

Shortcut Action

CMD + Up / Down

Moves the selected component up or down within its current parent.

Shift + CMD + Up

Moves the selected component to the top of its current parent.

Shift + CMD + Down

Moves the selected component to the bottom of its current parent.

CMD + Left

Moves the selected component out of its current parent to become a sibling of that parent, if the placement is valid.

CMD + Right

Moves the selected component under the next item in the tree, if the placement is valid.
On Windows, use Ctrl in place of CMD.

Right-click context menu

Right-clicking a component in the document tree opens a context menu with the following options:

Add

Inserts a child component.

Copy

Copies the selected component, including its structure and attributes.

Copy to File

Downloads the selected component as a .planet9copy file.

Paste

Pastes a previously copied component.

Paste from File

Uploads a .planet9copy file and pastes the component into the selected position.

Duplicate

Creates a copy of the selected component in the same parent, preserving all attributes and bindings.

Disable / Enable

Disables or enables the selected component and all its child components.

Disabled components do not appear in the rendered PDF but remain editable in the Designer. Disabled components are shown in red in the document tree.
Rename Object

Renames the selected component.

Delete

Deletes the selected component.

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