Using Imposition Wizard from Command Line

Imposition Wizard can process files without showing up the user interface. This is convenient for batch processing of multiple files or for hot folder imposition. All you need is some terminal/batch experience and this tutorial.

Supported Imposition Features

Imposition Wizard does not support all the imposition options via command line, instead it relies on imposition presets you saved first.

Basically, it can impose a given PDF document using a given imposition preset and save results to the output PDF document. This way you can configure everything with familiar user interface and simply re-use the settings from command line.

Command Line Options

On Windows you can impose a PDF file with a given preset this way:

ImpositionWizard.exe --impose --project="My Preset Name" source.pdf destination.pdf

On Mac it is pretty much the same:

ImpositionWizard --impose --project="My Preset Name" source.pdf destination.pdf

Note that you need to run exactly the Imposition Wizard executable. This means on Windows you may want to run it this way:

"C:\Program Files\Appsforlife\Imposition Wizard\ImpositionWizard.exe"

and on Mac it will look like this:

/Applications/Imposition\ Wizard.app/Contents/MacOS/ImpositionWizard

You can omit the –project= option and Imposition Wizard will use the most recent imposition layout you set.

Also make sure you provided the full paths to both source and destination PDF files, as otherwise Imposition Wizard will not be able to find them.

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.

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

• 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;
• 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.

Advanced

• Translation — translate Imposition Wizard to your language.

Command Line

• Basic Imposition — basic command line imposition example.