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Quick Documents

Quick PDF · Quick Word · Quick HTML

Productivity ⚡ tab → Review group

Quickly generate PDF, Word, or HTML output from the current topic or snippet for fast review and sharing, without building entire targets.

Quick PDF​

Create a PDF from the current topic or snippet:

  1. Open a topic or snippet in Flare.
  2. Click Quick PDF in the Review group.
  3. The plugin builds a PDF using a target named KaizenTarget (or creates one if it doesn't exist).
  4. The PDF opens automatically.

Snippet Support: When you use Quick PDF with a snippet, the plugin automatically creates a temporary wrapper topic, builds the PDF, then cleans up the temporary file. This allows you to quickly preview how your snippet will appear in PDF output.

Quick Word​

Create a Word document from the current topic or snippet:

  1. Open a topic or snippet in Flare.
  2. Click Quick Word in the Review group.
  3. The plugin builds a Word file using a target named KaizenWordTarget (or creates one if it doesn't exist).
  4. The Word document opens automatically.

Snippet Support: When you use Quick Word with a snippet, the plugin automatically creates a temporary wrapper topic, builds the Word document, then cleans up the temporary file. This allows you to quickly preview how your snippet will appear in Word output.

Quick HTML​

Create a clean XHTML file from the current topic or snippet:

  1. Open a topic or snippet in Flare.
  2. Click Quick HTML in the Review group.
  3. The plugin generates a clean XHTML file using a custom target.
  4. The HTML file opens in your default browser.

Snippet Support: When you use Quick HTML with a snippet, the plugin automatically creates a temporary wrapper topic, builds the HTML file, then cleans up the temporary file. This allows you to quickly preview how your snippet will appear in HTML output.

Required Setup​

The plugin uses special target files for quick builds:

  • KaizenTarget for PDF output
  • KaizenWordTarget for Word output
  • KaizenCleanHtmlTarget for HTML output

If these don't exist, the plugin will create them automatically.

Multiple Named Targets​

You can keep several preconfigured Quick targets in one project — for example different page layouts or variable sets per writer or team. Copy the default target in Project/Targets and give the copy a name that starts with the base name:

  • KaizenTarget.Blue.fltar, KaizenTarget-Ariane.fltar, ... for Quick PDF
  • KaizenWordTarget.Print.fltar, ... for Quick Word
  • KaizenCleanHtmlTarget.Simple.fltar, ... for Quick HTML

When more than one matching target exists, the plugin shows a small picker so you can choose which target to build with. Check Remember my choice for this project to skip the picker next time (the choice is stored per project in Documents\KaizenPlugin\QuickTargetSettings.xml — delete the entry there to be asked again).

Only the target's TOC reference is rewritten on each run, so any layout or variable customizations you make to a named target survive. In git-bound projects, giving each writer their own named target also avoids merge conflicts on a single shared KaizenTarget.fltar.

Custom Output Folder and File​

You can set a specific OutputFolder and/or OutputFile on the Kaizen targets (in Flare's target editor or by editing the .fltar). The plugin finds and opens the generated document wherever the target sends it. Absolute paths, project-relative paths, and the $(ProjectDirectory) / $(OutputDirectory) path variables are supported.

Annotations in Quick PDF​

To include review annotations (comments) in the Quick PDF output, enable Include annotations (review comments) in Quick PDF output under Feature Options in the Plugin Settings window. The option is off by default. When enabled, the Quick PDF target is built with tracked-changes/annotation preservation turned on; when disabled, the annotation settings are removed from the target again.

Use Cases​

  • Quick review copies for SMEs
  • Fast PDF previews without full builds
  • Share individual topics or snippets via email
  • Review formatting and layout quickly
  • Generate samples for stakeholder approval
  • Preview snippet rendering in PDF, Word, or HTML format

Tips​

  • Much faster than building entire targets
  • Useful during iterative writing and review
  • Great for spot-checking formatting
  • Ideal for single-topic deliverables
  • Works with both topics and snippets - snippets are automatically wrapped in a temporary topic for generation

Still stuck? Contact support