Just wondering if anyone has faced this challenge:
We're going to be getting pdf's in large numbers... we'd like to be able to automate 4 at a time into a template ie. 1,2,3,4 backed up properly. They will not be 4 page pdf's but separate ones. We'd also like to make this available on a PC or MAC upstairs and a PC downstairs. One guy we deal with says this doesn't exist, that all impo needs 4 pages together to work. We don't have time to do it all in preps (training etc) right now.
If this type of thing doesn't exitst, here is a market for someone to write a program and make a lot of cash!! It's way over our heads!
A script to run a batch for joining single PDFs into one? Not sure if it would get the page order right, depending on what their files names are.
:huh:
yeah, it's doable, but as the gnub pointed out, names is the key.
The last time I used preps (about 20 something years ago), you could do auto imposing, but the page files had to have a certain naming convention.
Even with my Esko imposition software, it's pretty much the same.
If you have all the pdfs, why not just use the 'combine' feature, and then order the list to make one pdf, then impo normally?
Quote from: DigiSig on May 27, 2011, 08:59:56 AMIf you have all the pdfs, why not just use the 'combine' feature, and then order the list to make one pdf, then impo normally?
I think he wants to automate something. Like drop 4 PDFs into a hot folder and have Acrobat combine them into one, in the right order.
We can do this with Enfocus Switch and Quite Hot Imposing. Or you can manually combine them and use Quite Hot Imposing. Neither are "cheap"/free but we do it all the time.
quite imposing will do it, that 5th page would have to be in the right spot for backup
assuming 1-4 are the fronts but you can shuffle if not. I have an older version of quite imposing
so the newer one might even have more features. I would check it out, it is costly but worth it.
Preps would be a quick way to go, but I don't output pdfs from preps myself except for dies.
Am guessing Quite Imposing would be a small fraction of the cost of most other high end imposition apps. Hundreds, rather than thousands.
Back in my Quark 3.x glory days we used to do automated imposition with Quark using a little Mac application called QuicKeys. You could program it via common mac commands and macros to do about anything. It was pretty slick.
QuicKeys 4 for Mac (http://startly.com/products/quickeys/mac/4/)
$60.00
oooh, another possibility is in adobe' pdf multi page import for indesign
if you could get the pdf into 4 seperate pdfs in the order needed-
you could import the pdf 4 times in the position needed.
You really need to define "automate". Do you mean selecting 4 PDF files, pressing a hot key and whamo - a merged file in a predetermined location and file name? Since you're manually selecting the files, there is no automation in that.
With a program called Batch PDF Merger, you can simply drag the files into a window, rearrange them and bam - a single PDF File in seconds. Much faster than Acrobat. I think they now have a Mac version.
we ended up just doing it in Acrobat..... it's working ok so it's not a big deal to automate it any further for the time being.