Specifying PDF Options

If you are sending output to Adobe PDF, you can access PDF options in the Target Editor. These options let you specify the way that images, document properties, PDF tagging, the initial view, and security are handled in the output.

How to Specify PDF Options

  1. Open a target that is using the PDF format.
  2. Select the PDF Options tab.

  3. Complete the options on the tab as necessary.

    Note If you want to insert a variable in a field, you can click Insert Variable button. The variable will appear as syntax in the field, but in the output the variable definition will be shown.

    Image Compression

    • Downsample images above Select this if you want to downsample images and then enter the number of pixels per inch. Downsampling means to reduce the number of pixels in an image, which can significantly reduce the size of the PDF.

    • Compression Select an option for the compression.

      • Automatic This uses Flare's internal lossless compression algorithm on all images. Lossless compression lets you reduce file size without sacrificing image quality. JPEGs remain as they are.

      • JPEG This converts all images to JPEG with some compression.

    • Quality If you select the "JPEG" option, you can also choose an option from this field. Maximum uses the least amount of compression and results in a higher file size.

    Document Properties

    • Title Enter the title for the PDF document. This information is included in the final PDF output (e.g., shown in the file properties). The same is true for the Author, Subject, and Keywords fields.

    • Author Enter the name of the author.

    • Subject Enter the subject of the document.

    • Keywords Enter any keywords for the document.

    • Include non-TOC bookmarks in the bookmarks pane If you have inserted bookmarks randomly in some of your topics, by default these will not appear as links in the output navigation pane. If you want these bookmarks to be shown in the navigation pane (under your table of contents links) you can click this check box.

    • Create named destinations for bookmarks Select this check box if you want to automatically create named destinations everywhere a bookmark exists. This lets you create links from a file to a specific location in a PDF. You can also insert named destinations manually. See Creating Named Destinations.

    • Include Crop and Registration Marks Select this check box if you want to include crop and registration marks in the output. These are elements that are often used when documents are sent to a professional printer.

      • Crop marks These are thin vertical and horizontal lines that show the edges of the page, where it will be trimmed by the printer. The location of crop marks are determined by the page size you specify.

      • Registration marks These are small cross-hair target icons shown next to crop marks. Each color in the final output is printed on its own layer. Therefore, in order to make sure the colors are matched up accurately, printers use registration marks to align plates on the press.

      Example  

      Here is PDF output showing crop and registration marks.

    • Convert RGB Colors to CMYK Select this check box if you have used only RGB colors in your content and want all of those occurrences to be converted to the CMYK model in the output. CYMK is an acronym for the four primary colors used in printing (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key—or black). Whereas CMYK is often the preferred model for print-based output, the RGB (Red, Green, Blue) model is primarily intended for electronic content.

    • Convert spot colors to black and white Select this option to convert spot colors to black and white. Spot colors include things such as font color, background color, and so on (basically, everything except images). This is a quick way to produce a PDF that does not contain color. The alternative is to make sure that you do not have any color settings locally in topics, in your stylesheet (or medium), in page layouts, etc. For example, you might create some PDFs in full color, but you might need to send one to a professional printer to be processed in black and white. So for that target, you select the option to convert spot colors to black and white.

      Note If you also need the PDF to show images in gray scale, you have a couple of options. First, you can insert one image in color and another in gray scale, then apply conditions to them (see Applying Conditions to Content). Second, you can create and insert just one image, but single-source it so that online outputs show it in color but print outputs show it in gray scale (see Creating Single-Source Images).

    Copyright

    You can add copyright metadata to your PDF output, providing information about the document's status (Unknown, Copyrighted, Public Domain), notice text, and a URL for information. However, this information can be accessed only if you are using Adobe Acrobat Pro to view the output (by selecting Properties > Additional Metadata).

    PDF Tagging

    • Generate tagged document for PDF/UA Select this to generate a tagged PDF. This gives the file a structure similar to that of the source XHTML documents. This structure is necessary for certain accessibility applications, including screen readers (see Accessibility and PDF Output). For more information about viewing the tag structure in third-party tools (e.g., Adobe Acrobat Pro), please refer to the documentation provided with that application.

    Initial View

    • Magnification Select the default size for displaying the PDF output when an end user opens it (e.g., actual size, fit page, fit width, a specific percentage).

    • Navigation Select how you want the output to be displayed by default when it comes to navigation features (Page Only, Bookmarks Panel and Page).

    • Page layout You can select any of the following options to set the page layout that the reader initially sees when opening the PDF.

      • (default) Single Page This displays one page at a time, with no portion on other pages visible. When you slide the scroll bar, the current page does not scroll; instead, the next page appears quickly.

      • Single Page Continuous This displays pages in a continuous vertical column that is one page wide. When you slide the scroll bar, the current page scrolls until the next page smoothly comes into view.

      • Two-Up (Facing) This displays each two-page spread with no portion of other pages visible. When you slide the scroll bar, the current pages do not scroll; instead, the next pages appear quickly.

      • Two-Up Continuous (Facing) This displays facing pages side by side in a continuous vertical column. When you slide the scroll bar, the current pages scroll until the next pages smoothly come into view.

      • Two-Up (Cover Page) This displays the first page by itself. After that it displays each two-page spread with no portion of other pages visible. When you slide the scroll bar, the current pages do not scroll; instead, the next pages appear quickly.

      • Two-Up Continuous (Cover Page) This displays the first page by itself. After that it displays each two-page spread with no portion of other pages visible. When you slide the scroll bar, the current pages scroll until the next pages smoothly come into view.

    • Title bar You can select one of the following to determine the text shown in the title bar of the PDF output.

      • File Name This is the text specified in the Output File field on the General tab of the Target Editor.

      • Document Title This is the text specified in the Title field on the PDF Options tab of the Target Editor.

    • Collapsed bookmarks Select this if you want the bookmark folders to be collapsed initially in the bookmark panel of the output.

    • Open in full screen mode Select this if you want the output to be displayed initially in full screen mode, taking over the reader's entire screen.

    Security

    • Require password to open Select this if you want users to be required to enter a password in order to open the document. Then type the password you want to use.

      Specify the amount of security for the document.

      • 40-bit Not as secure, but can be viewed with Adobe Reader 3.0 and higher

      • 128-bit More secure, but can be read only with Adobe Reader 5.0 and higher

    • Restrict permissions Select this if you want to limit what readers of the document can do unless they have the permissions password. Then type the password you want to use. When you set only a permissions password, recipients don’t need a password to open the document. However, they must type the permissions password to set or change the restricted features. This option works with Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 and higher.

      In the Open Permissions section, specify the actions that you want to restrict.

      Note If the PDF is secured with both types of passwords, it can be opened with either password. However, only the permissions password allows the user to change the restricted features. Because of the added security, setting both types of passwords is often beneficial. All Adobe products enforce the restrictions set by the permissions password. However, if third-party products do not support or respect these settings, document recipients are able to bypass some or all of the restrictions you set.

  4. Click Save the active file. to save your work.

Note You can also add metadata to PDF output by creating meta tags. See Meta Tags.

Note File size results with these options may vary.