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Generating a Printed Program Guide / Printed Auction Catalog

The Bidsheet Pro™ and Mobile Pro™ packages automatically generate a descriptive list of your auction items that, in turn, can be printed directly from a browser, or opened in Word, Pages, Google Docs (or any word processor program) for use as a printed program guide. This list can be sorted in a variety of ways before being generated. Formatting the resulting document is up to the individual. These instructions provide the basics of how to generate the list, save it as a file, and open it in Word.

Printing a condensed program guide as a supplement to the online program guide is less costly (and less wasteful) than reproducing the whole list of silent auction items. A printed guide should simply outline the event, highlight live auction items, acknowledge donors and sponsors, and include sponsor discount coupons or advertising. You should be cautious about including too much material and printing the guide too far in advance of the event so that you can accommodate last-minute changes.

To view the list of auction items for your printed program guide

  1. Click the Auction Catalog & Items menu item and choose the Printed Auction Materials menu option.
  2. Scroll down through the list of printable documents and locate the Printable Program Guide row.
  3. Select the appropriate sort order in the drop-down list and click the View button.
The list of auction items opens in a new window.

Printing the auction list within a browser window does not always produce clean page breaks. Follow the procedure below to save the file and open it in a word processor for editing, formatting, and full control over page breaks.

To save and open the auction item list in MS Word
  1. While viewing the auction item list, click File > Save as... (or right-click and select Save as...) to save the file to your local drive as Webpage complete HTML file (.htm or .html) or a Web Archive File (.mht). Note the file location when you save the file. To view the File menu in Internet Explorer you may need to strike the <Alt> key.
  2. Launch Word and from the menu, select File > Open... and browse to the location of the saved program guide file.
  3. Select the file name and click Open.

With the auction item list generated and saved in Word (or another word processing program), you can now edit, format, and save the information as a native Word document.

As an alternative to printing a program guide, consider using the Event Display Features found under the Communication Tools menu option. Project or cast this display on a large screen in your event venue to showcase your auction without the cost of printed programs.