In this article you will learn
- which requirements must be met for this Fixup and
- how to apply the Fixup.
1. Introduction
The Fixup Set Scale Factor is available in the Workflow. The aim of this Fixup is to scale a Print Item to the final size by setting a scale factor. The scale factor is also called user unit.
2. General
Use this Fixup when scaling a Print Item that has been reduced in the source application by a factor of 1:10, 1:5, etc. to the final size. Due to technical limitations print data must be scaled down in source applications such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, ArtPro, etc. According to this limitation the creator applications are not able to create print data larger than 200 inches (5.08 meters).
Find the Fixup in the footer of the Document Information and User Defined Fields area of an Article, Order or Production Job as a separate Fixup or in the Data Correction tab. In addition, the scaling factor can also be selected in the menu Automation > Force Print and Automation > Hotfolder in the tab Process Parameter of the Hotfolder Setup dialog. If the scaling factor is selected there, the Fixup is applied in the background.
3. Fixup Description
The Fixup scales the content by the chosen scaling factor without recalculating the content - e.g. resolution of the images. Of course, this does not change the file size of the Print Item, since no new content was created.
Note that the scaling factor does not effectively scale the content but merely multiplies the effective size by the scaling factor for the downstream programs such as the Impose Editor or the RIP. For example, if the scaling factor is set to 1:10 for a 4,000 mm wide image with a resolution of 300 dpi, the output image will have a width of 40,000 mm and a resolution of 30 dpi.
3.1. Requirements and Functionality
For this Fixup to do what it promises, no special requirements have to be met. However, you need to know the answer to the following questions:
- How large should the final size of the print file be?
- Does this print file already have a scale factor?
After calling up the Fixup, options are available for scaling the content, depending on the answers to the previously asked question.
Figure 1: The Set Scale Factor dialog
You can choose from the following options:
- Template [1] – settings that are selected in the dialog can be saved as a template and used for other Articles/Print Items.
-
Set Scale Factor [2] - choose the favored factor. You can choose from the following factors:
- 1:10 – 4.000mm become 40.000 mm
- 1:5 – 4.000mm become 20.000 mm
- 1:4 – 4.000mm become 16.000 mm
- 1:2 – 4.000mm become 8.000 mm
-
Variable Content [4] – select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defiined field - from which the scale factor / user unit should be retrieved. The following values must be present in the selected field so that the scaling is carried out
24510
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Deal with an existing Scale Factor [3] - select how to deal with an already existing scaling factor. You can select the following entries:
- Use an already existing Scale Factor - thereby, two conditions can be depicted:
- when a Print Item already has Page Scale Factor, the determined factor will be applied and the existent factor will be overwritten.
- when a Print Item does not have a Page Scale Factor the determined factor will be applied.
- Use an already existing Scale Factor - thereby, two conditions can be depicted:
-
Overwrite an existing Scale Factor - thereby, two conditions can be depicted:
- when a Print Item already has a page Scale Factor the determined factor will be applied, the existent factor will be overwritten
- when a Print Item does not have a Page Scale Factor the determined factor will be applied.
-
Multiply with an existing Scale Factor - thereby two conditions can be depicted:
- when a Print Item already has a Page Scale Factor, the determined factor will be multiplied with the existent factor.
- when a Print Item does not have a Page Scale Factor the determined factor will be applied.
Figure 2: Values in the selected field for the option Set Scale Factor
3.2. Before / After
To experiment with this function, you can refer to the sample file "Sample_Scale_Factor.pdf" . The sample file has a size of 1.700 x 1.400 mm and a resolution of 350 dpi.
After applying the Fixup, the file "Sample_Scaling_Factor_End.pdf" is created, where a scaling factor of 1:10 has been applied. The dimensions of the image have changed to 16,999,99 x 14,000,01 mm and the resolution has been reduced to 35 dpi.
Figure 3: Left: initial file; Right: edited file with a scale factor of 1:10
Article update: Version 1.17.1 - 04/2024