--- title: "How to create pipelines | Customer's Canvas Hub" canonical: "https://customerscanvas.com/docs/hub/printer-guide/pipelines/creating-pipelines/" --- # How to create pipelines > Learn how to build and assign a rendering pipeline with extract, render, email, and finalize tasks. This tutorial walks you through building a pipeline that renders the ordered product and sends an email with links to the resulting print files. By the end, you'll have a working pipeline assigned to a PIM product. The pipeline consists of the following operations: ```mermaid flowchart TB t1(Getting a design) t2(Rendering the design) t3(Sending email) t4(Finalizing) t1--design-->t2 t2--print file-->t3 t3-->t4 ``` These operations are performed using the following tasks: - [`extract-project-design`](https://customerscanvas.com/docs/hub/printer-guide/pipelines/tasks/extract-project-design.md) - [`render-hires`](https://customerscanvas.com/docs/hub/printer-guide/pipelines/tasks/render-hires.md) - [`send-email`](https://customerscanvas.com/docs/hub/printer-guide/pipelines/tasks/send-email.md) - [`finalize`](https://customerscanvas.com/docs/hub/printer-guide/pipelines/tasks/finalize.md) ## Prerequisites - A Customer's Canvas account with the PIM module enabled - An online store connected to Customer's Canvas If **Pipelines** is missing in the lower-left corner of BackOffice, [contact our support team](https://customerscanvas.com/company/contact). ## Create a pipeline file 1. Select **Pipelines** in the lower-left corner, and then select **Create new**. 2. In the **Create new pipeline** dialog box, select **New blank pipeline**. 3. In the editor, enter the pipeline name, for example, **Email notification**. 4. Switch to the code field and add a `tasks` array. ![Creating processing pipelines from scratch](./images/create-blank-pipeline.gif) ## Add tasks As soon as an order is made in your online store, a project is created in BackOffice. Add the following tasks to the pipeline one by one. 1. Add the `extract-project-design` task to get the personalized design from the project. Copy the following code and paste it into the pipeline file. ```json { "description": "Extract design from project", "name": "extract", "type": "extract-project-design", "parameters": {}, "outputArtifacts": [ "design" ] } ``` This task does not require `parameters` or `inputArtifacts`. The result is passed to the next task as `outputArtifacts`. 2. Add the `render-hires` task to render the print files. Copy the following code and paste it into the pipeline file. ```json { "description": "Render design", "name": "render-hires", "type": "render-hires", "inputArtifacts": [ "design" ], "parameters": { "hiResOutputDpi": 300, "hiResOutputFileFormat": "pdf", "hiResOutputColorSpace": "cmyk", "hiResOutputToSeparateFiles": false, "hiResOutputChannelContainersToSeparateFiles": false, "hiResOutputChannelContainersRenderEmptyPage": true, "hiResOutputCompression": "Jpeg", "hiResOutputJpegCompressionQuality": 90 }, "outputArtifacts": [ "result" ] } ``` The task takes the `design` artifact as input and uses `parameters` to configure the rendering. The print file name is defined in `outputArtifacts`: `"result"` generates a single file, and `"result*"` generates a set of files. For details about the rendering parameters, refer to the [Rendering print files](https://customerscanvas.com/docs/hub/printer-guide/pipelines/tasks/render-hires.md) task. 3. Add the `send-email` task to send a notification with links to the print files. Specify the output artifact of the `render-hires` task in `inputArtifacts`, and define an email template, recipients, and SMTP settings in `parameters`. Copy the following code, paste it into the pipeline file, and replace the `host`, `port`, `account`, `username`, `password`, and `recipients` values with your own. ```json { "description": "Send link to print file by email", "name": "send-email", "type": "send-email", "inputArtifacts": ["result"], "parameters": { "host": "your-company-smtp-server.com", "port": 587, "account": "noreply@your-company.com", "username": "noreply@your-company.com", "password": "your-secret-password", "useSsl": true, "recipients": "first@example.com, another@example.com", "subject": "Your print file {{project.items.@.fields.customName?}} is ready", "body": "Greetings {{project.customerName}}.
You can download a print file for your personalized product here:
$$links$$
", "useHtmlBody" : true, "bodyLinksItemTemplate" : "• $$name$$
", "bodyLinksItemNamePlaceholder" : "$$name$$", "bodyLinksItemUrlPlaceholder" : "$$url$$", "bodyLinksPlaceholder" : "$$links$$" } } ``` This example overrides the SMTP settings with constant values. The `subject` contains an interpolation placeholder `{{project.items.@.fields.customName?}}`, which takes its value from the order's field `customName`, if any. The `{{project.customerName}}` placeholder takes its value from the corresponding [project field](https://customerscanvas.com/docs/hub/printer-guide/pipelines/concepts/interpolation.md#interpolating-project-data). For more details about the parameters, see the [reference](https://customerscanvas.com/docs/hub/printer-guide/pipelines/tasks/send-email.md). To learn how to pass custom fields when placing orders, refer to the [Order](https://customerscanvas.com/docs/hub/admin-guide/workflows/ui-framework/widgets/order.md#props) widget. 4. Add the `finalize` task to assign the print files to `finalArtifacts` and remove temporary files from the pipeline. Copy the following code and paste it into the pipeline file. ```json { "description": "Finalize", "name": "finalize", "type": "finalize", "finalArtifacts": [ "result" ] } ``` ## Resulting pipeline file After adding these tasks, save the pipeline file. The resulting pipeline file looks like this: ```json { "tasks": [ { "description": "Extract design from project", "name": "extract", "type": "extract-project-design", "parameters": {}, "outputArtifacts": [ "design" ] }, { "description": "Render design", "name": "render-hires", "type": "render-hires", "inputArtifacts": [ "design" ], "parameters": { "hiResOutputDpi": 300, "hiResOutputFileFormat": "pdf", "hiResOutputColorSpace": "cmyk", "hiResOutputToSeparateFiles": false, "hiResOutputChannelContainersToSeparateFiles": false, "hiResOutputChannelContainersRenderEmptyPage": true, "hiResOutputCompression": "Jpeg", "hiResOutputJpegCompressionQuality": 90 }, "outputArtifacts": [ "result" ] }, { "description": "Send link to print file by email", "name": "send-email", "type": "send-email", "inputArtifacts": [ "result" ], "parameters": { "host": "your-company-smtp-server.com", "port": 587, "account": "noreply@your-company.com", "username": "noreply@your-company.com", "password": "your-secret-password", "useSsl": true, "recipients": "first@example.com, another@example.com", "subject": "Your print file {{project.items.@.fields.customName?}} is ready", "body": "Greetings {{project.customerName}}.
You can download a print file for your personalized product here:
$$links$$
", "useHtmlBody" : true, "bodyLinksItemTemplate" : "• $$name$$
", "bodyLinksItemNamePlaceholder" : "$$name$$", "bodyLinksItemUrlPlaceholder" : "$$url$$", "bodyLinksPlaceholder" : "$$links$$" } }, { "description": "Finalize", "name": "finalize", "type": "finalize", "finalArtifacts": [ "result" ] } ] } ``` ## Assign the pipeline to a product Assign this pipeline to a PIM product. If you don't have any products yet, refer to the [Creating products](https://customerscanvas.com/docs/hub/admin-guide/pim/creating-products.md) tutorial. 1. Select **Products** in the menu. 2. In the product row, select the ellipsis, and then select **Edit**. 3. On the **General** tab, expand the **Processing pipeline** drop-down list and select **Email notification**. ![The Pipelines in PIM](./images/pim.png) To verify how the pipeline works, order this product in your online store and check your mail.