Legacy: Fixed Height model (migrate to Simple Letter)

Important: The Fixed Height model is no longer available.

You cannot choose the Fixed Height model when you create a customiser. Use the Simple Letter model. Set Size Strategy to Fixed Height - Width scales dynamically, and set Multi-line height measurement to Letter height. Enter the same height you used for the Fixed Height size, and the sign has the same size. Prices can differ between the two models, so check your prices after you migrate.

If you have a Fixed Height customiser, the Customisers list shows a Migrate badge on it. The customiser page shows Action required: migrate this customiser to the Simple Letter model. Create the customiser again with the Simple Letter model. Do not duplicate it, because a copy of a Fixed Height customiser is also a Fixed Height customiser. For the steps, read Sizes – Simple Letter Model.

A fixed height model is a collection of sizes. Each size has a set height. For example, Small is 10cm, Medium is 20cm and Large is 30cm. This article uses centimetres.

For each size, you can set these parameters:

The height
The minimum number of characters
The maximum number of characters on each line
The number of lines of text that the size allows

In the legacy model, the app scales each size so that its tallest line has the height you set. A single-line sign has one line, so that line is the tallest line.

Illustration: one line with a height of 50cm.

Set up fixed height sizes in the Simple Letter model

Click Customisers and select your customiser. It must use the Simple Letter model.
In the left-hand menu, go to Core Setup → Sizes.
Click Add Size, or select a size to edit it.

The Sizes page in Core Setup for a Simple Letter customiser, showing the Customiser Menu, the Add Size button and a table of sizes with Size Strategy, Min/Max Char and Line Limit columns.

In Size Details, enter a Label for the size, for example Small.
In Size Strategy, choose Fixed Height - Width scales dynamically. A new size starts with Fixed Width - Height scales dynamically, so change it.
Enter the height. The field name is Height per line or Letter height. The name depends on your choice in the next step.
Under Multi-line height measurement, choose Line height or Letter height. The next section explains each choice.
In Maximum lines of text for this size, choose the number of lines that the size allows.
Set Minimum Text Characters and Maximum Text Characters per line.
Click Save.

The New Size form with Size Strategy set to Fixed Height - Width scales dynamically, and the Multi-line height measurement choices Line height and Letter height, with Line height selected.

Multi-line height measurement

A sign with more than one line has space between the lines. Multi-line height measurement sets how the app counts that space.

Line height (default): The height you enter is the full height of each line. The space between lines is inside this height. The total height is the number of lines × the height for each line. Two lines at 50cm measure 100cm.
Letter height: The height you enter is the height of the letters. The app adds the space between lines to the total. With normal line spacing, the total is taller than the number of lines × the letter height, and the sign is also wider.

A single-line sign has no space between lines to add. With one line, Letter height does not make the sign taller than Line height.

When you choose Letter height, the form shows a note. The note says that this choice changes the size that customers see and the size that goes to manufacturing. It can also change area-based shipping prices.

The New Size form with Letter height selected under Multi-line height measurement, and the info note that Letter height changes the size shown to customers and the size sent for manufacturing.

How the legacy Fixed Height model measured a multi-line sign

The overall height of a multi-line sign can change. Three things decide it:

The height that you set for the size
The natural height of the characters
The distance between lines, which depends on the font

Here is an example with the height set to 50cm. The app scales the tallest line, which here is the capital letter M, to this height. The small letter m is shorter than the capital M, so it has only a part of that height. In a multi-line sign, all lines scale from the tallest line.

The figures here are an illustration. They change with the font. In the illustration, the small letter m measures 37.84cm and the space between the two lines is 32.49cm. The total is 120.33cm. This method scales the tallest line to the height you set.

Illustration: a two-line sign (M and m) with the M set to 50cm.

The legacy Fixed Height model always measured signs in this way. In the Simple Letter model, Letter height gives the same sign size when you enter the same height. With Line height, the same two lines at 50cm measure 100cm.

Important points for fixed height sizes

The distance between lines changes with the font. To change it, open the font form. Under Line Height, choose Specific Line Height, then enter a value. For the steps, read Change A Font’s Line Height / Line Spacing.
The sign width changes with the text. The width keeps the proportions of the font, so the letters do not change shape. You cannot change the width by hand.
Each font has its own line height. No single number of characters for each size is correct. You decide the number.