Documentation [PDF Imposer FREE version] - Meadows Publishing Solutions

DESIGNMERGE PDF IMPOSER – FREE VERSION!

This document describes how to use the FREE version of DesignMerge PDF Imposer to create a multi-up, duplex business card. If you prefer to view the video walk-through for this same example, please click here to visit the Video Training page on our website.

ABOUT PDF IMPOSER

DesignMerge PDF Imposer is a unique and powerful imposition tool that works directly within your Adobe InDesign application, and does not require any third-party applications. The FREE version of PDF Imposer provides a limited yet highly-productive feature set, allowing you to quickly create imposed layouts of graphics, PDF files, and other file types directly in any Adobe InDesign document.

UPGRADE AVAILABLE

Free is great, but if you decide to upgrade to the full, unlimited version of DesignMerge PDF Imposer you will receive access to number of additional and powerful features. The table below lists just a few of the major features that you will receive when you upgrade (click here to see the full list of upgrade features).

Upgrade? Here’s what you get!
Additional Imposition Formats The unlimited version provides support for all of the most common imposition formats, including N-up, Variable Data, and Step and Repeat, plus our unique Label Sort Imposition (for Label Presses and Duplo Cutters), and 2up Saddle Stitch booklets with page shift or scaled Creep support. Even more complex impositions (such as Staggered and Dutch Cut) are a breeze to create as well.
PDF Imposition Engine Although you will still be able to create your impositions in an Adobe InDesign document (like the FREE version), the licensed version also includes access to our PDF Imposition Engine, which works with custom-designed PDF Imposition Templates. The templates are designed with an enhanced version of our Imposition Designer interface, and the imposition process is all PDF-based, very flexible and incredibly FAST!
More Powerful Features Upgrading also provides access to a host of other powerful features such as Slug Line support, Outside Edge Bleed capability and a built-in Batch Processing feature capable of processing hundreds of impositions automatically. Please click here to have a look at ALL of the great features you receive when you upgrade!
DesignMerge Integration (Variable Data) If you would like to add variable data printing (VDP) capability to impositions (such as consecutive numbering, bar coding, or fully personalized addressing and direct mail data), we encourage you to check out our DesignMerge Pro software. The integration of PDF Imposer with DesignMerge Pro allows you to design custom imposition templates that can be utilized during your variable data output session. Please click here to have a look at the training video for this integration.
Automation Anyone? DesignMerge Pro and DesignMerge PDF Imposer software have both been tightly integrated with Enfocus Switch workflow software, allowing for totally automated VDP and imposition processes that require no user intervention. Please click here for more information about the integration with Enfocus Switch.

Upgrade? Here’s what you get!

Additional Imposition Formats

The unlimited version provides support for all of the most common imposition formats, including N-up, Variable Data, and Step and Repeat, plus our unique Label Sort Imposition (for Label Presses and Duplo Cutters), and 2up Saddle Stitch booklets with page shift or scaled Creep support. Even more complex impositions (such as Staggered and Dutch Cut) are a breeze to create as well.

PDF Imposition Engine

Although you will still be able to create your impositions in an Adobe InDesign document (like the FREE version), the licensed version also includes access to our PDF Imposition Engine, which works with custom-designed PDF Imposition Templates. The templates are designed with an enhanced version of our Imposition Designer interface, and the imposition process is all PDF-based, very flexible and incredibly FAST!

More Powerful Features

Upgrading also provides access to a host of other powerful features such as Slug Line support, Outside Edge Bleed capability and a built-in Batch Processing feature capable of processing hundreds of impositions automatically. Please click here to have a look at ALL of the great features you receive when you upgrade!

DesignMerge Integration (Variable Data)

If you would like to add variable data printing (VDP) capability to impositions (such as consecutive numbering, bar coding, or fully personalized addressing and direct mail data), we encourage you to check out our DesignMerge Pro software. The integration of PDF Imposer with DesignMerge Pro allows you to design custom imposition templates that can be utilized during your variable data output session. Please click here to have a look at the training video for this integration.

Automation Anyone?

DesignMerge Pro and DesignMerge PDF Imposer software have both been tightly integrated with Enfocus Switch workflow software, allowing for totally automated VDP and imposition processes that require no user intervention. Please click here for more information about the integration with Enfocus Switch.

GETTING STARTED WITH PDF IMPOSER

Enough about the upgrade version, let’s get you started using your FREE version of PDF Imposer!

Imposition Example Files

The DesignMerge-PDF-Imposer-Training folder contains a set of sample files that will be referenced in this tutorial. If you have not already downloaded the training files, please click here to download the DesignMerge PDF Imposer Training folder.

Using the sample files provided in the Training folder, simply follow the steps below to learn how to impose a 2-page (duplex) Business Card PDF file.

A Step-by-Step Example: Impose a Duplex Business Card

For the example file, we will be imposing a 2-page PDF file, which is a business card designed to be printed with both a front and a back side (duplex). This example file is provided in the following location inside of the Training folder:

PDF Sample Files to Impose
Business Card Example (3.5 x 2 inch with Bleed)
Business-Card-Example.pdf

Below is a picture of the Business Card example:

First Page

Second Page

Please follow the steps below to impose the 2-page Business Card PDF file onto a 2-page InDesign receiving document:

First, create a new 2-page document to receive the imposed content.
The very first thing you do when imposing content is create a new, blank document that represents the overall “sheet size” you wish to print. This document will receive the imposed content that you will select in a later step. We will refer to this blank document as the “receiving document”. For this example, create a new, 2-page, Letter size document with a Portrait orientation and no margin, bleed or slug.

Note: The number of pages supported by the FREE version of PDF Imposer is limited to two pages (the unlimited version has no page count limits). So if you are imposing a single-page PDF or graphic file, start by creating a single-page InDesign document. If the file to be imposed has 2 pages, then start by creating a 2-page InDesign document.

When you impose content from a 2-page PDF document onto a 2-page receiving document (as in the following example), the content on the first page will be imposed on the first page of the InDesign document and the content from the second page of the content file will be imposed on the second page of the InDesign document.
Open the DesignMerge Imposition Designer window.
To impose content onto this receiving document, open the InDesign File menu and choose DesignMerge PDF Imposer > Imposition Designer…, as shown below:

This will open the DesignMerge Imposition Designer window, as shown in the picture below:
In the Job Settings group on the top left, choose to Impose Selected File.
In the Document group of Job Settings, select Impose Selected File from the Action menu, shown in the picture below:
Select a file to impose.
Now you select a PDF file that contains the content you wish to impose. We refer to this file as the “Input File”, or simply the “content”. To select an Input File to impose, click the … button. Then, for this example, select the sample InDesign document file named Business-Card-Example.pdf that is provided inside the Training folder, as mentioned earlier.
Select which Page will receive the imposed content.
Here you specify which page of the receiving document will be populated with the imposed content. The setting Apply to All, Starting On: 1 will be selected automatically. The Document Job Settings for this imposition should now look like those in the picture below:
Select Trim Size and Bleed settings.
The Trim Size settings, including the bleed amount, will be set automatically to match those provided by the file that you selected to impose in the previous step. If you wish, you can modify any of these amounts. For the Width and Height, enter the final trim size. Also enter the amount of Bleed, if any, that you would like to add. For more details, please see the “Best Practices” section of this document for more information about these settings. For this example, keep the Trim Size settings that are set by default for the Business-Card-Example.pdf file, shown in the picture below:
Select Crop Marks settings.
Choose which type of marks, if any, you wish to Place in the document and Where to place the marks. For this example, select the settings shown in the picture below:

Note the Color, Length, Offset, and Weight of the marks are specified in the Imposition Designer Preferences, discussed later in this tutorial.
Adjust the Layout Settings on the right.
The Layout group of settings allows you to indicate an Imposition Layout Type and how may “ups” to create by specifying the maximum number of columns and rows.

Layout Type
The Layout Type is automatically set to Step and Repeat when using the FREE version of PDF Imposer. All other Layout Types are available only in licensed versions of PDF Imposer.

Number of Columns and Rows
For the number of Columns and Rows, specify a number for each of these or choose the Fill Sheet option to apply automatically the maximum number that can fit in the current document. For this example, since the FREE version of PDF Imposer is restricted to producing an imposition that contains 6 or less ups, specify 2 Columns and 3 Rows. Note if you chose Fill Sheet and this would result in placing more than 6 ups on a page, an alert would be displayed to indicate the number of ups will be adjusted automatically.

Horizontal and Vertical Gaps
The gap amounts represent the space to allow between each imposed item, and are originally set to zero. If you prefer to apply a Horizontal or Vertical Gap or both, you can enter a different amount. For this example, please leave the gap amounts at the default of zero.

Rotation
Rotation of the imposed items is not supported in the FREE version of the software, so please leave this set to None for this example. In the licensed version of the software, the rotation value specified in this section will be applied to all of the imposed items placed onto the page.

Duplex Mode
If you are imposing a single-page Input file, then then this setting is ignored. For multiple page Input files (such as the example Business Card), this setting is designed to ensure that the imposed content on the back page is adjusted to “back up” correctly to the corresponding content on the front page when the document is printed duplex.

More specifically, this setting determines the proper rotation (if any) to apply to the content that is imposed on the second (duplex) page, and also determines the correct record order placement for variable data documents (created using DesignMerge Pro or any other VDP software program).

For example, below are pictures of a 2-up, 2-page document showing the results of each available Duplex Mode option. Note: the “sequencing” label at the top of each frame is only applicable for variable data jobs using DesignMerge Pro, but has been provided here to better show the rotation and positioning for each frame.

Duplex Mode: None

Duplex Mode: Normal (no rotation)
Note: For non-variable jobs, this yields the same result as selecting None.

Duplex Mode: Tumble (rotate 180 degrees)
Note: The imposed items on the back page have been rotated 180 degrees.

For this example, please select Tumble (rotate 180 degrees) for the Duplex Mode.

Imposition Settings should now look as shown in the picture below:

Note: Variable Data Imposition Settings are only available when applying Layout Type: N-Up (Variable Data), which is only available when using a Licensed version of the PDF Imposer software with DesignMerge Pro software.

When ready, click the Impose File button.
The imposition process will proceed. First, a set of Imposition Frames™ will be added according to the settings that you specified. Each Imposition Frame indicates where imposed content will be placed on the page. Next, each of these Imposition Frames will be populated with content from the file you chose to impose. Each Imposition Frame will also show a non-printing Frame Label. To hide Imposition Frame Labels, select Preview from the InDesign View > Screen Mode menu, or change Imposition Designer Preferences, discussed later in this tutorial. In this example, the duplex Business Card will be imposed on the two pages of the receiving document, as shown in the pictures below:

First Page

Second Page

Note crop marks have been indented to adjust for the specified bleed value of 0.125 inches (9 points), and all items on the second page have been rotated 180 degrees to account for the selected Duplex Mode.

Note: The selected Duplex Mode was for an example only. Please be sure to select the Duplex Mode that is correct for your printer!

This document is set up and ready to be saved or printed!
The final version of the imposed file is a standard InDesign document. Feel free to save, edit or print this document as you normally would.

IMPORTANT NOTES

Supported File Types: You can select any PDF file or InDesign document that InDesign would allow you to place in a picture frame.

Duplex Options: For a duplex job, if the printer is not properly lining up the content on the back with the content on the front, you can repeat these steps while specifying a different selection for the Duplex Mode option, choosing the mode that is appropriate for your printer.

Content Fitting Options: The software will position the imposed content such that it is centered within the defined area. If you wish to change this option (for example, to scale the imposed item), please see the “Preferences” section, presented near the end of this tutorial.

BEST PRACTICES

Best Practices – Bleed Values

For best results, the Trim Size and Bleed values you enter, added together, should equal the overall dimensions of the image you wish to impose. In such case, each Imposition Frame will be created to match this overall size, and the Bleed value will be used to adjust and “inset” the crop marks.

If the Trim Size + Bleed is *larger* than the actual image dimensions, then white space will be visible around the edges of the imposed graphic.

If the Trim Size + Bleed is *smaller* than the actual image dimensions, then the image will be cropped accordingly.

Note that the manner in which the content is fit into the Imposition Frames depends upon the setting that is selected for the Fitting preference in DesignMerge Imposition Designer Preferences.

Best Practices – Creating PDF Files for Imposition (with or without bleed)

This section talks about best practices for working with PDF files that are intended to be imposed later on.

Scenario 1 – PDF File Indicates a Bleed

When you select a PDF file for an imposition, the Trim Size and Bleed Amount assigned to the PDF file will be read automatically and subsequently displayed for those settings in the DesignMerge Imposition Designer window.

Scenario 2 – PDF File Does Not Indicate a Bleed

If you know that the PDF file you are imposing was designed with bleed that is not indicated when DesignMerge Imposition Designer examines the file, then all you need to do is enter the desired Trim Size and Bleed to use for the job manually in the window. The Trim Size plus Bleed value entered effectively indicate the size of the overall graphic, and the Bleed value indicates how much to “inset” the crop marks from the edges.

Note: If the imposed content ends up being larger than the Imposition Frame that is created, the outside edges will be cropped by the edges of the Imposition Frame because the image will be centered within the frame by default.

PREFERENCES

There are several preferences available for DesignMerge Imposition Designer. To access these preferences, click the Prefs… button that is on the DesignMerge Imposition Designer window. A picture of the Preferences dialog window is shown below:

Preferences for Measurements

Units: Choose whichever unit you prefer to use for settings on the DesignMerge Imposition Designer window.

Preferences for Crop Marks

Color: Choose from the color swatches that are available in the receiving document (the document that is about to receive imposed content). If you do not see a color that you wish to select, close the DesignMerge Imposition Designer window and add a color swatch to this document before you impose content on it.

Length, Offset, Weight: Enter any preferred amounts for these three settings. Note when entering values for various settings on this dialog window, such as Length, it is OK for you to mix and match “units”.

Preferences for Graphic Files

Fitting: This preference dictates how imposed content will be scaled or otherwise positioned within the Imposition Frame. The fitting options are described below:

Fit Graphic Proportionally

Scale the image to fit within the frame, maintaining proportions. Identical scaling is applied to both the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the image. The image will be completely visible within the frame boundaries.

Center Graphic (default)
Place the graphic at 100% scale and center it within the frame. If the graphic is larger than the frame, it will be cropped by the frame edges.

Fill Frame Proportionally
Scale the image to completely fill the frame both horizontally and vertically. Identical scaling is applied to both the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the image. The image may extend beyond the frame boundaries in one or both directions.

Fit Graphic to Frame
Scale the image to completely fill the frame both horizontally and vertically. Different scaling may be applied to both the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the image. The image will be completely visible with the frame boundaries.

INDD Crop: This preference will be applied when you are imposing an InDesign document as content. Select the setting that you prefer for the placement of an InDesign page in a graphic frame. These are the same selections as the “Crop to:” options that InDesign displays if “Show Import Options” has been selected when placing an InDesign document.

PDF Crop: This preference will be applied when you are imposing a PDF file. Select the setting that you prefer for the placement of a PDF page in a graphic frame. These are the same selections as the “Crop to:” options that InDesign displays if “Show Import Options” has been selected when placing a PDF document.

Transparent Background for PDF Files: This preference will be applied when you are imposing a PDF file. Select this option to place the PDF page with a transparent background, which will reveal text or graphics placed beneath the PDF content in the InDesign document. Deselect this option to place the PDF page with an opaque white background, which will conceal text or graphics placed beneath the PDF content in the InDesign document.

Preferences for Imposition Frames™

As described in the first example in this tutorial, the first step that DesignMerge Imposition Designer applies when imposing content is to create a set of Imposition Frames in the receiving document. Then, content from the selected file is placed in these Imposition Frames. The following preferences (selected by default) are provided for Imposition Frames:

Allow marks to be placed in page margin: Determines whether Crop Marks can be placed within the page margins of the receiving document. This can maximize the number of imposed items that will fit on the page.

Create Frames as Nonprinting: Applies the Nonprinting attribute to Imposition Frames, which may be especially helpful if you prefer an imposition not remove these frames. Deselect whenever you prefer to include the Imposition Frame in print output. Note that this is not applicable for the FREE version of the software.

Show preview stroke for Outside Edge bleeds: This preference will draw a preview stroke effect on the Imposition Frames when Outside Edge bleed has been enabled. This helps to identify where the bleed amount will be applied to the imposed items. This preference is not applicable for the FREE version of the software.

Frame Labels: Imposition Frames may display a non-printing label that provides, for example, a sequence number. This preference indicates whether to Hide or Show Frame Labels, including whether to show these at a default size or at a smaller or larger size.

HELP AND SUPPORT

To access the Meadows Online Support Center, select the Online Support Center item available under the File > DesignMerge PDF Imposer menu. This will take you to the Meadows Online Support Center web page, which allows you to open support tickets, view your past and current support tickets, and access a helpful knowledgebase of articles that provide answers to frequently asked questions.

To see which version of the PDF Imposer software is installed on your system, select the About item available under the File > DesignMerge PDF Imposer menu. The PDF Imposer Module window also provides Activation information, such as the Order Code that was used to activate the installation. To see additional License Information, click the License Info button that is on the PDF Imposer Module window. Note the License Info dialog window also provides a feature to Deactivate or to Reactivate a PDF Imposer installation.

To utilize additional PDF Imposer features, such as Export PDF Templates and Impose PDF Files, please contact Meadows Publishing Solutions to upgrade your FREE PDF Imposer installation to a fully Licensed installation:

https://meadowsps.com/contact

Thank you!

Since we started our company in 1991, Meadows Publishing Solutions has been developing software tools and systems for the automated publishing industry. Our well-known and respected software brands include DesignMerge Pro (variable data printing and publishing software), DesignMerge Catalog (catalog and retail software), and of course DesignMerge PDF Imposer. We thank you for supporting our software products, and look forward to providing you with new and even more powerful publishing solutions in the future!