Sheet Setup
Sheets are form, letter and label templates that can be customized for your practice and used to gather and send information electronically. Within a sheet you can include text, input/output fields, checkboxes, radio buttons, images, signature boxes and freehand drawings. When completing a sheet, a stylus or mouse can be used to check boxes on a form, circle teeth, sign, etc.
Sheets are used for Labels, Referral Slips, written Prescriptions, Consent Forms, Patient Letters, Referral Letters, Routing Slips, Patient Forms (e.g. registration form, HIPAA, financial agreements), Medical Histories, Lab Slips, Exam Sheets, and Deposit Slips.
In the Main Menu, click Setup, Sheets.
Open Dental has several internal sheets that are a good starting point. These original sheets cannot be modified. Instead, you must copy an internal sheet, then make changes. Before using an internal sheet for a patient, verify that it contains information relevant to your practice.
Internal: The original sheet templates that come with EZ 2000.
Custom: Sheet templates that have been customized or created by your office.
Copy: Copy an Internal sheet to the Copy column, then customize it for your office.
Import/Export: Import or export a sheet .xml file from/to another EZ 2000 database. In order for an .xml import to work correctly, the format must match sheet requirements. These buttons only benefit those who use EZ 2000. You will never export a sheets .xml file for import into another program.
Export: Export the selected sheet as an .xml file.
New: Create a new blank sheet.
Duplicate: Create a copy of the selected Custom sheet. It will appear in the list with a sequential number.
Close: Close the window.
The Export and Import buttons solely benefit dentists using Open Dental. A user will never export the Sheets .xml file for import into another program outside of EZ 2000.
To view a sheet, double click on it.
Sheets can be a combination of background images, text, input/output fields, lines, rectangles, checkboxes/radio buttons, freehand drawings and Digital Signature boxes. For more information about each type, see Sheet Fields. Sheet layout displayed onscreen will match what is printed.
In the internal sheet above, a background image was used to display the static text (black). Input fields and checkboxes (blue) have been superimposed on the image to indicate entry areas. These fields correspond to fields in the database, so if the form is completed electronically, the data can be Imported into the database.
Preview the Sheet
On the left you can preview the fields and images currently on the sheet and their location on the page.
- To select multiple fields, press Ctrl while clicking.
- To move fields, drag them with the mouse, or use the arrows on the keyboard.
- To move the fields in large increments, press Shift while pressing the arrows
- To edit a field, double click on it.
- To edit an image or line, double click on the item in the Fields list in the edit panel.
Edit Panel
Use the area on the right to add fields to the sheet, edit properties, and use formatting tools.
Edit Properties: Set the sheet's general properties.
- Description: Label that will identify the sheet when selecting it for a patient.
- Sheet Type: Determines where the sheet will be available. Once a type is assigned it cannot be changed. (e.g. sheets with a PatientForm and MedicalHistory type are available when you click Forms.)
- Default Font name and size: The default font properties used when you create fields.
- Width/Height: The width and height of the entire sheet. These values should not be larger than the size of the paper that the sheet will be printed on. A standard letter sized sheet is 850w x 1100h.
- Landscape: When checked, sets the page orientation to landscape. When unchecked, sets the orientation to Portrait.
If the sheet needs to span multiple pages, create a new sheet for each page and label them in the Description as page 2, page 3, etc.
Add New: Click to add a field type to a sheet. See Sheet Field Types for more details.
- Output Text: Fields that will be pulled from the database so information doesn't need to be entered manually.
- Static Text: Textual information such as labels and large paragraphs.
- Input Field: Fields that expect the user to input data; data can be Imported into the database.
- Line, Rectangle: Fixed lines or rectangles for the background. Used to create the actual box for a checkbox/radiobutton.
- Checkbox: A defined area where the user can click to toggle an X on and off. Can allow multiple choices, or be set as radio buttons that require users to select one option out of many.
- StaticImage: Import large or small images.
- Signature: Insert a Digital Signature box. Signatures are tied to other sheet data (except images) and will be invalidated if information changes.
- PatImage: Add a patient image.
If using Web Forms, each page must contain input fields for first name (FName), last name (LName), and Birthdate.
Fields: As you add fields, objects or images, the items will show in the Fields list. Double click a field to edit or delete.
Tools: Tools only affect the selected element.
- Align Left/Align Top: Align all selected elements with the left-most or top-most selected element respectively. This is useful for aligning columns or rows of checkboxes or text fields.
- Copy/Paste: Copy or paste the selected element. Pasted elements appear in the upper left corner of the preview panel.
- Tab Order: Define the order followed when users fill out the form and press Tab. The window will switch to a special tab order mode. Click on each field to assign its tab order. The corresponding order number will appear on the field, and in the Fields list. To remove a tab order, click on the field again (it will change to zero). To exit tab order mode, click Tab Order again.
Hints
Freehand Drawing: A user filling out a form can arbitrarily freehand draw anywhere on the sheet with a stylus or mouse. Because of limitations in Windows, the drawings (as well as any lines and rectangles) are presented to the user as a layer on top of an image. To enable freehand drawing on the sheet, it must have a large enough image covering the entire drawing area. If you do not insert any images, then Open Dental automatically adds an invisible white dummy image that is used for drawing. If you insert an image, it must be large enough to cover the entire background, or you must insert a second image that does. If you do not, you may inadvertently disable drawing on the rest of the sheet.
Tips: Hotkeys are supported when editing sheets. Click the tips link in the lower right corner to see the supported hotkeys:
Ctrl C: Copy
Ctrl V: Paste
Alt Click: 'Rubber Stamp' paste to the cursor position.
Click Drag: Click on a blank space then drag to group select.
CTRL Click Drag: Select multiple fields, then move as a group.
Delete or Backspace: Delete current selection.
Do not overlap fields: Overlapping fields will cause annoying problems. There is no way to set which fields draw first, so if you try to put a checkbox on top of a paragraph of text, for example, then the checkbox could easily be hidden under the white background of the text box. Some exceptions: Any field may be placed on top of a background image; a checkbox can be placed on top of a rectangle.
Design Services
If you have existing forms you would like to convert to sheets, but don't have the time or expertise to set them up, we can help. We charge a simple rate of $45/hr for this service, which usually amounts to a few hundred dollars a page. At this time, we do not have a library of forms to pick from, so you will need to supply the wording. Usually the entire original paper form is enough. The process may involve converting backgrounds to an image. If you can supply a native program file (e.g. a Word document or PDF, not a scanned image), the setup cost may be reduced.
Filling Out Sheets
See Filling Out Sheets.
