Our PDF .joboptions

We have configured 4 sets of job options to use when creating PDF files to submit to EDC. There are separate Versions of these files for Acrobat v4, 5 and 6.

EDC_Litho - use for creating PDF for litho printing. There are two variants. Litho-C (for use when the finished job will be printed on a Coated stock) and Litho-U (for use with Uncoated Stocks)
EDC_Screen - use for creating PDF for on screen view only
EDC_Digi_BW - use for creating PDF for black & white digital print
EDC_Digi_Col - use for creating PDF for colour digital printing. Again, there are two variants. Colour Standard, and Colour Presentation. Use the Presentation .joboptions when work is to be digitally printed and the content is diagrammatic rather than photographic.

These should reside in a folder something like the following:

Program Files/Adobe/Acrobat X.0/Distillr/Settings

Find a similar directory on your own machine unzip the files and copy the .joboptions files into that directory

Distilling from Postscript

When distilling PostScript files in Distiller, you will then be able to select these job options in the "Job Options" drop down menu.

Printing Directly to Distiller

If printing directly to Distiller from within an application you will be able to select the required "Job Option" from the "printer properties" button in the application's print dialogue box. They are detailed as "Conversion Settings".

Save as PDF

If using save as PDF in MS Word, Excel etc,you must remember that the application will create the .pdf by running your version of Distiller in the background. Therefore you must select the correct .joboption in Distiller before using this option within word. The .joboptions can be selected from the Acrobat Distiller PDF Settings drop down menu.

On the resultant "Settings" tab, select PDF profile from the "Conversion Settings" drop down.

Distiller 'Watched' Folder

If printing to a Distiller watched folder, do exactly the same as if printing to Distiller directly. Once again, remember that the job options must be selected within Distiller on the machine that is performing the distilling task, before your file is moved into the watched folder. Distiller will automatically create a .pdf with whatever .joboption is selected when it is launched.

General

Jobs containing both colour and black and white for digital print, should ideally have each part distilled with the appropriate job option, however,you can use the black and white profile for both parts without affecting quality if the final job is to be printed all in black and white. The down side to this is the resultant files can be far larger than necessary.

Any font errors reported by Distiller can be an indication of specific fonts being used in a document but not available
on the machine initiating the PDF creation process. This error may well result in unpredictable results and is best dealt with by implementing some font management software such as Adobe Type Manager Deluxe. Installing the Adobe
printer driver and PPD only, will not install any fonts, whereas installing the full version of Acrobat will install some
fonts in the Acrobat directory.

Final proofing should be done from the PDF file. The most reliable workflow is to use the Adobe PS driver and Distiller
ppd to create your pdf file, and then either proof the PDF on screen, or use your normal printer driver to produce hard copy. Printing from the originating application using your normal printer driver may produce differing results.

If you are proofing on-screen two things to be aware of is that dependant upon the way you have set your Acrobat application up, what you see on screen MAY NOT always be correct. Firstly; one of the most common problems occurs when fonts on your system override the original fontset of the .pdf you are viewing. One way to ensure this does not happen is to turn off the 'Use Local Fonts' option. In Acrobat 5, this can be found under the View menu, and in Acrobat 6 it can be found under the Advanced option. By doing this, you can ensure that the fonts embedded in the PDF are displayed correctly on your screen, and that you are not using your fonts to render somebody else's .pdf!!

The second thing to be aware of is the way the originating document may have been set to 'overprint'. When looking at a .pdf onscreen it would be best to preview the document with the 'Overprint' option turned on. This way you can see how any overprint or knockouts applied to the document will affect it in the printing. Again, in Acrobat 5 this can be found under the View menu and in Acrobat 6 under the Advanced menu.

Within your originating application, it is essential to ensure the correct PostScript driver is selected at all times in the print
dialogue box, otherwise the job may reflow pagination unexpectedly. If working with Acrobat 5, preferably use the AdobePS Driver with the Distiller ADIST5.ppd. On my machine this is installed in:

c:\winnt\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3

Ensure you de-select "Do not send fonts to Distiller" in the "Print, Properties, Adobe PDF Settings" tab.

Acrobat Troubleshooting

When investigating any errors it is first worth checking the printer set-up options have been followed as detailed in Adobe support document:

Configuring Acrobat Distiller to use AdobePS

Adobe Technical Support recommends using the Adobe PostScript printer driver with Acrobat Distiller. (By default, Acrobat Distiller is configured to use AdobePS during installation.) Also, configure AdobePS to send TrueType fonts
as Type 42 fonts. This configuration preserves the appearance of TrueType fonts and prevents them from being substituted with Type 1 fonts. Note: Type 42 fonts are called Native TrueType fonts in Windows NT and 2000. You should also configure Distiller to Download Truetype fonts as Softfonts.

To configure AdobePS to send TrueType fonts as Type 42 and to Download Truetype's as Softfonts:

-- In Windows XP:
1. Choose Start > Printers and Faxes.
2. Right-click the Acrobat Distiller or Adobe PDF driver (or Watched Folder printer), and then choose Printing Preferences from the pop-up menu.
4. Click the Layout tab, and then click Advanced.
5. Click the plus sign (+) next to Graphic
6. Select the Truetype Font Option and choose Download as Softfont from the pop-up menu.
7. Click the plus sign (+) next to Document Options.
8. Click the plus sign (+) next to PostScript Options.
9. Select the TrueType Font Download Option, and choose Native TrueType from the pop-up menu.

-- In Windows 2000:
1. Choose Start > Settings > Printers.
2. Right-click Acrobat Distiller (or Watched Folder printer), and then choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
3. Click the General tab, and then click Printing Preferences
4. Click the Layout tab, and then click Advanced.
5. Click the plus sign next to PostScript Options.
6. Select the TrueType Font Download Option, and then choose Native TrueType from the pop-up menu.

-- In Windows NT:
1. Choose Start > Settings > Printers.
2. Right-click Acrobat Distiller (or Watched Folder printer), and then choose Document Defaults from the pop-up menu.
3. Click the Advanced tab.
4. Click the plus sign (+) next to Graphic
5. Select the Truetype Font Option and choose Download as Softfont from the pop-up menu.
6. Click the plus sign (+) next to Document Options.
7. Click the plus sign (+) next to PostScript Options.
8. Select the TrueType Font Download Option, and choose Native TrueType from the pop-up menu.

-- In Windows 98 or Windows 95:
1. Choose Start > Settings > Printers.
2. Right-click Acrobat Distiller (or Watched Folder printer), and then choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
3. Click the Fonts tab, then click Send Fonts As.
4. Choose Type 42 from the Send TrueType Fonts As pop-up menu.