Adding a composite frame and setting your query

To add a composite frame, click on the Add Composite Frame button over the canvas area on the Layout tab.

A blank composite frame will appear, covering your canvas. The composite editor options will appear to the left of your canvas.

If desired, rename the composite frame from Basic group composite to a custom name. This is very useful if your composite will have more than one composite frame. 

Set your query

The query tells the composite frame which category to use in the index filter which portraits are included. The query provides instructions "show only the portraits that match these conditions" within the composite frame.

Click on the V button to pick a category from your Index.

In this example, we will use the Teacher category to make a basic classroom composite. The first instruction is "show only portraits that have information under the category of Teacher."  If a portrait does not have information under this category, it will not be included.

A new dropbox appears as soon as a category is selected, to let you refine your choice.

Make a selection among the following options - All, Intelli-flow, or an individual sub-category.

Show All

Choose All to include every portrait in the category within a single composite frame.

In this example,, every portrait assigned to the category Teacher will appear in a single composite grid. The composite frame has been instructed to show all portraits assigned to the category of Teacher.

The results - a single composite with every portrait in the Teacher category included.

Intelli-Flow (by sub-category)

Choose Intelli-Flow to create individual composites on separate pages for each of the sub-categories.

In this example, each Teacher group (English, Jameson, Weiss) will have a separate page created for them, resulting in three pages of composites. The composite frame has been instructed to make one grid arrangement per sub-category.

The layout will preview the maximum number of images that would appear on any of the generated composites (in this example, the largest classroom).

The results: three pages of composites, one for each of the sub-categories under Teacher.

Show only (a single sub-category)

Choose a single sub-category - a new dropdown may appear allowing you to pick, once again, from All, Intelliflow or an individual portrait assigned to the category.

In this example, ALL has been selected, to add the students assigned to Jameson's classroom. The instructions are now to show all the portraits in the category of Teacher and the sub-category of Jameson.

The results: a single page composite showing only the members of the sub-category.

Single-portrait queries

You can set a query that results in a single portrait appearing in the composite frame.

In this example, the teacher's portrait will appear in a single smaller composite frame beside the large group frame.

To exclude the single portrait from the larger group composite frame, select the single portrait composite frame then turn on the Exclude portrait from composite checkbox.
Specify the name of the larger group composite frame from which the portrait should be removed.

In this example, the composite frame named Teacher's portrait has been set to exclude the teacher from appearing in the Basic composite group. The instruction is to add a single portrait into the small composite frame but don't include this same portrait in the larger composite frame.

The results: a single page composite with the teacher appearing in the focus frame:

Use the Intelli-Flow option to create multiple composites, each with a different focus portrait that is not included in the group composite frame.

The example below will create one composite per student, with a single student portrait in the focus composite frame, but not in the group composite. The instruction is to add a single portrait to one composite frame but exclude this portrait from the other composite frame.

Here are the first five composites generated from this set (one page was created for each portrait) - notice that the focus portrait does not appear in their group grid. Every person in the group has a custom page.