Preflight

Imposition Wizard performs a number of checks while you prepare the layout and just before you impose the document.

The goal is to minimize printing errors before you actually print. The tool is called “Preflight” and you will not notice it unless you make a mistake. Let’s give it a try.

Trying Preflight Out

We’ll start with a simple layout with a manual grid:

So far so good, now let’s set the number of columns to 3, to force the pages out of the sheet’s boundaries:

You can see the pages don’t fit into the sheet which is obviously a problem. Imposition Wizard also noticed this and displayed the exclamation mark right next to the Generate PDF button in the toolbar.

Click that button to see the Preflight tool:

The tool is pretty simple: it verifies the layout against some rules and tells you it it fits or not. The green mark means everything is fine, while the red one requires your attention.

The problem is clearly highlighted here as the only red item tells you that some pages don’t fit the sheet.

Let’s close the popup window and try imposing the document anyway. Click Generate PDF button and you’ll see the Preflight tool again:

It looks pretty much the same with two exceptions: that yellow bar at the top and the options buttons at the bottom.

Here’s the idea: you might miss the exclamation mark in the toolbar, but once it comes to imposing, you cannot miss the warning in case of any issues. From there you must decide if you want to continue anyway or step back and fix the problems.

That’s pretty much it: Imposition Wizard checks the layout for errors and warns you if it finds one.

What Is Tested?

Here we briefly cover each indicator in the preflight panel, so you have a better idea of what is exactly tested and why.

Unsupported PDF Elements

Some PDF elements like annotations don’t survive imposition well. Imposition Wizard detects them and warns you, so you can do something about it.

Page Size Validation

Imposition Wizard requires all the source page sizes to be the same. The first page is being used as a reference. If some of the pages are different, they will be shown here.

Sometimes it happens when the pages are rotated. You can fix that with page rotation preprocessor. Otherwise you might try Center and Crop preprocessor that set the same size to all the pages.

Imposition Validation

This indicator checks if all the pages of the grid are withing the sheet’s margins. If something is out — it triggers up and warns you.

The fix is obvious: you need to adjust the grid, so it fits the sheet.

Marks Validation

This checks the custom marks, bull eyes, star targets, pdf color bars and other marks that use external resources. If something is missing — you will be warned.

To fix this warning, visit the Marks panel, locate the problem mark and adjust the PDF file it uses.

PDF Inputs with Strict Formats

This checks if the source PDF has a “strict” format (PDF/A, PDF/X etc) and warns about that. The reason is that Imposition Wizard (especially in standalone mode) cannot save to that formats, so the imposed file will be a normal PDF, not like the source one.

Consider using Imposition Wizard in Acrobat mode to deal with this, as you can re–save to the proper format in Acrobat.

Preprocessor

This indicator reports preprocessors errors. If something is wrong with a preprocessor (bad parameter, problem script, empty output etc) — you’ll see it there.

To fix this problem, visit the preprocessors panel, locate the problem item and adjust its parameters.

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.