Acrobat Plugin Problems

There are two types of plugin-related issues in Imposition Wizard:

• The plugin suddenly disappears or doesn’t start
• The plugin fails to process a specific file

The first problem usually happens after upgrading Acrobat: Imposition Wizard suddenly disappears from the Acrobat menu or doesn’t start. The second usually happens to online-generated PDF files. This page provides instructions to address both types of issues.

The Plugin Disappears or doesn’t Start

First Of All

Before doing anything below make sure you quit Acrobat completely. Not closing all its windows, but closing the app itself. This is especially important on Mac where the app might keep running without windows. Do Acrobat → Quit Acrobat in the menu before you continue.

Plugin Is Not Installed

This is the first thing to check: run Imposition Wizard in standalone mode, click Need Acrobat Plugin button and check that you have the plugin installed.

You should see your Acrobat in the list and the box on the right must be checked. If it is not — check it and update the plugin installation, then quit Imposition Wizard, run Acrobat and see if the plugin is there.

Upgraded with Acrobat in Background

Another common reason of plugin issues is when you update Imposition Wizard while having Acrobat running in background.

When Acrobat is running in background, it prevents the IW installer from updating the plugins. This creates a broken configuration and the plugin don’t start.

The fix is simple: you need to quit Acrobat completely, then re–download and re–install Imposition Wizard from our website. Once done, run Imposition Wizard and install the Acrobat plugin from there.

Now run Acrobat and see if it helps.

Plugin doesn’t Start?

This might happen on Mac: you see the plugin in the menu, but when you are trying to start it, you get the error message with “Unable to start Imposition Wizard” and “The state of the promise has already been set” texts.

The problem is caused by the enhanced security mode recently added to the Mac version of Acrobat.

In order to fix that, open Acrobat’s preferences, navigate to the Security (Enhanced) tab on the left and uncheck the Enable protected mode at startup option there. Finally, restart Acrobat to complete the fix.

Acrobat is Too Old?

Imposition Wizard needs at least Acrobat DC to work. The earlier versions of Acrobat are not supported, as well as Acrobat Reader.

Consider using the latest version of Acrobat and Imposition Wizard for better compatibility and overall experience.

If you have old version of Acrobat, the best option is probably using Imposition Wizard in standalone mode. Otherwise you might try older version of Imposition Wizard from our downloads page, but note that we provide no support for that.

Still Nothing?

In some rare occasions you might need to reinstall Acrobat in order to fix the problem. It might be a good idea to remove the Imposition Wizard plugin before doing that, but there’s no need to uninstall Imposition Wizard itself — the plugin is enough.

Once Acrobat is removed, visit its installation folder and remove all the leftovers (plugin folders, etc).

Then install Acrobat back, run it, make sure it works, then quit Acrobat completely, run Imposition Wizard in standalone mode and install the plugin from there.

Then run Acrobat again and see if it helps.

The Plugin Fails to Process a Specific PDF File

This usually happens to poorly generated PDF files which comes from a famous online service that helps non-professionals making them. We’ll not be calling names here, instead we provide some ideas of what to do.

First of all, it would be nice to contact the author of the file and notify them that the service or software they use produces invalid PDF files that cannot be properly handled by Acrobat. This way there is a chance that something will eventually get changed.

As for the file itself, there is a number of options below, but before you start, note that as the file is likely corrupted, a good post-imposition check is highly recommended.

Your first option is to use Imposition Wizard in Standalone mode. Imposition Wizard uses a different PDF engine when runs standalone and there is a good chance that the file will be processed this way.

If you want to stay in Acrobat, consider trying to convert the file to PDF/X format, as this sometimes helps. You might try PDF/E and PDF/A formats, as well.

The last resort is rasterizing the file. Open Preflight tools in Acrobat, switch to Essentials at the top, then find the PDF Fixups section in the list. There will be two “Convert all pages…” options below, you’ll probably want the CMYK one. You can click the Edit button there to adjust the pixel density, but this goes out of the scope of this tutorial.

Once the document is rasterized it is usually imposed without errors. Note that rasterized documents have limitations when it comes to scaling, so use this option wisely. Usually it is better to process the file in Standalone mode if it works there.

More Imposition Wizard Tutorials

Installation

• Installation — how to install Imposition Wizard;
• License Activation — how to activate Imposition Wizard with a license key;
• Acrobat Plugin Problems — what to do if the plugin doesn’t work.

Basics

• User Interface — how to run Imposition Wizard and make the first steps;
• Pages Grid — how pages are placed across the sheets in Imposition Wizard;
• Presets — how to save and re–use imposition layouts;
• Preflight — how to check for errors before your print.

Layouts

• N–Up — a very simple, yet customizable layout;
• Step and Repeat — perfect layout for business cards;
• Cut Stack — flexible layout with pages flow options;
• Booklet — lots of options for fine–tuning the imposition process;
• Shuffle — manual imposition mode where you control the flow;
• Dutch Cut — save paper by printing more pages on the same sheet.

Imposition Parameters

• Preprocessors — change the document before processing it;
• Source Panel — overriding trim box and bleeds, pages scaling;
• Page Gaps — configuring gaps between pages;
• Sheet Panel — output sheet size, content position and more;
• Duplex Printing — duplex printing support;
• Registration Marks — adding and configuring marks, custom texts etc;
• Flipping Rules — how to flip pages in most layouts.

Registration Marks

• Angle Mark — angle mark for image drift compensation;
• Barcode — encoding job details with barcodes;
• Bull Eye — placing bull eye marks around the pages;
• Color Bar — adding color bars to imposed files;
• Crop Marks — configuring crop marks for easier trimming;
• Custom Mark — adding ad–hoc graphics where needed;
• Custom Text — adding text elements with imposition details;
• Gap Crop Marks — adding crop marks in the middle of the page gaps;
• Folding Marks — marking the middle of booklet spreads;
• Perforation Marks — make complex perforation or folding marks;
• Star Target — placing star target marks around the pages;
• Trim Line — marking page boundaries to simplify trimming;

Automation

• Batch Processing — impose multiple files at once;
• Hot Folders — monitor folders and run imposition on changes.

Command Line

• Basic Imposition — basic command line imposition example.

Advanced

• Custom Sheet Sizes — how to extend the built–in list;
• Translation — translate Imposition Wizard to your language.