Creating Banners

Banners are text headers you place between strips on a board. They help you organize sections of your schedule at a glance, for example to mark a location move, a new week, a unit change or a note for the crew. This article explains how to create a banner and set it up.

Creating a Banner

To create a new banner:

1. Navigate to your schedule
2. On the board, select the strip you want the banner to appear after. If you have several strips selected, the banner is placed after the last one.
3. Click the “Add Banner” button in the board pane’s menu bar, or press Alt + Ctrl/Cmd + S (Option + Cmd + S on a Mac)

The new banner appears on the board with the text “Banner” and is selected automatically. In the breakdown pane, the Banner Text field is already highlighted, so you can just start typing to replace the default text.

You can also add a banner from the “Breakdowns” menu in the schedule menu bar by choosing “Add Banner”.

Note: You need to select a strip first so Think Crew knows where to put the banner. If nothing is selected on the board, no banner will be created. You also need permission to edit the schedule. If you don’t have it, the Add Banner button is grayed out.

Editing Banner Text

When a banner is selected, the breakdown pane shows these fields at the top:

• Banner Text: The text that shows on the banner. Changes are saved automatically.
• City Name: An optional location for the banner, used by the sunrise and sunset variables (see below)

If you select more than one banner, any text you enter is applied to all of the selected banners at once.

Using Variables in Banners

Banners can show information that Think Crew fills in for you. Click the info icon next to the Banner Text field to see a list of the available variables along with their current values. Click the copy icon next to a variable and paste it into your banner text.

Some useful variables include:

• {board_name}: The name of the board
• {schedule_name}: The name of the schedule
• {schedule_misc_1} to {schedule_misc_4}: Custom values you enter in your schedule settings
• {board_total_days}: The total number of shoot days on the board
• {board_total_pages}: The total page count on the board
• {sunrise}, {sunset}, {dawn}, {dusk}: Sun times for the banner’s shoot date

For example, a banner that reads “Sunrise {sunrise} / Sunset {sunset}” will show the actual times for that day. Sun times are based on the banner’s City Name. If you leave the City Name empty, Think Crew uses your own location instead.

For the full list of variables and how each one works, see Using Variables.

Changing a Banner’s Appearance

Banners use the banner strip from your current design, and their color comes from the design’s palette. To give a single banner its own color, select it and use the Color field in the breakdown pane, just as you would for a strip. See Manually Setting a Strip’s Color for details.

You can also change the font size for the banner by selecting the Font Size field in the Breakdowns pane.

Banners When Sorting and Printing

Keep a few things in mind as you work with banners:

• Sort & Add Days: The “Remove any existing banners from current board” cleanup option deletes every banner on the board before sorting. Leave it unchecked if you want to keep your banners.
• Printing boards: The “Banners” option in the print settings lets you print banners normally, force them to white or black, or hide them.
• Printing reports: Turn on “Exclude Banners & Days” to leave banners and day breaks out of your report.

Like any strip, a banner can be moved with drag and drop or sent to the recycle bin.

Banners are a simple way to make your board easier to read, giving everyone on your team a clear picture of how the schedule is structured.