11 Export for Imposition with EtherShare OPI
PDF Handshake's "Export for Imposition" feature is integrated into the "PDF Handshake" Acrobat plug-in for Macintosh, and it can also be used by "pdfprint" on the server. "Export for Imposition" only works correctly if you print from your imposition software to an EtherShare OPI printer queue in the end (see paragraph
Features of the exported documents below for more information).
Using the
export option in Acrobat on Macintosh
"Export for Imposition" can be used in either Acrobat Exchange, or Reader. There is a separated export dialog which is very similar to the one used for "PDF Handshake Print".
To open the "Export for Imposition" dialog, select
File and
PDF Handshake Export as shown in Fig.
49.
Fig. 49: Opening the "Export for Imposition" dialog
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Figure
50 shows an example of the export dialog. Note that the dialog - just like the "PDF Handshake Print" dialog - may differ slightly, depending on whether your document is pre-separated or not. Figure
50 shows the dialog as it would appear in a composite PDF document.
Fig. 50: The "Export for Imposition" dialog in a composite file
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The options
Flip Pages,
Input Tray,
Registration Marks,
Use PDF TrimBox/BleedBox and
Negative Print are disabled, because it makes much more sense to set these options in the imposition software later before the whole document is sent to the final output device. Neither
Offset and
Gap for custom page sizes are available.
The
Paper Size pop-up menu contains the entry
(PDF Page Size). This entry can be selected to make sure that the pages in the exported PostScript file are exactly as large as the PDF pages in the document. If you choose
(PDF Page Size), this will disable the
Orientation and
Center/Shrink To Fit options (compare Fig.
51).
For pre-separated files - as shown in Fig.
51 -
Print Separations is switched on automatically.
Convert Spot To Process and
Overprint Black, as well as color matching, are disabled. This is equal to the settings in the "PDF Handshake Print" dialog for pre-separated documents.
Fig. 51: The "Export for Imposition" dialog in a pre-separated file
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The button
Pre-separated pages in the export dialog opens a window that allows you to check the separation plate information of all pages in your document. To manipulate these separation plate information you have to use the "HELIOS Plate Control" tool.
Using the
export option in "pdfprint"
The "pdfprint" command line program can also be used to export files instead of printing them. For that purpose, you have to enter:
pdfprint -E [... other options] <PdfFilename> <PSFilename>
If
<PSFilename> is not specified, the export file will be sent to "stdout".
Some options are only available for printing, but not for export. If you specify one of these options by mistake, they will be ignored by "pdfprint". This applies to the following parameters:
- -o flip=
- -o negativeprint
- -o gap=
- -o offset=
- -o usetrimbox
- -o usebleedbox
- -I (Input Tray)
- -M (Registration Marks)
If you do
not set the
-p parameter, this means that "PDF Page Size" will be applied by default. All pages in the exported PostScript file will then be exactly as large as the pages in the PDF document.
Features of the exported documents
The PostScript files that are generated by "Export for Imposition" only contain references to the PDF document and to optionally selected ICC profiles. In your imposition software, you will at least see a black frame with the file name, page number, and plate name (for pre-separated files only) of the PDF page. If the PDF document has thumbnail images (created by
Document, Create All Thumbnails in Acrobat Exchange), these are also included in the PostScript file.
When the PostScript file or the imposed print job is printed to an EtherShare OPI print spooler later, the original high-resolution pages are inserted. The PDF document and the optional profiles must reside on an EtherShare volume to be found by the OPI system. The usual OPI image search strategies apply.
Imposition software
products
Up to now, the following imposition software packages have been successfully tested with PDF Handshake's "Export for Imposition" feature:
- Imation PressWise
- DK&A INposition for Quark Xpress
- Scenicsoft Preps
- Farrukh Imposition Publisher
- Heidelberger Signa
- STRIP IT
- ULTIMATE Impostrip (with Adobe DSC settings)
