For this Fixup to do what it promises, the following requirements must be met:

• A TrimBox exists in the Print Item. The MediaBox exists in every PDF file anyway.
• The BleedBox can be present.

Figure 1: The dialog of the Fixup Scale Page Content Absolute

The following options can be selected to scale the page content absolute:

• Scale Method [1] – select which scaling option should be used in the selection menu. The following options are available:
  • Fit from inside (Scale page edges proportionally) – scales the image area to the specified size. As the proportions are maintained, only the resolution of the images is adjusted accordingly to the enlargement or reduction. The short side of the target size is used for the calculation. Please note that only the value entered for the short side is retained. The long side is adjusted proportionally.
  • Variable Content [4] – select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the value for the selected scale method should be retrieved. The following value must be found in the selected field so that the scale method Fit from inside (Scale page edges proportionally) is executed:
  • FitFromInside

Figure 2: Left: initial file with a size of 600 x 800 mm; Right: initial file proportionally scaled to 100 mm (adjusted to the short edge) while applying the scale method Fit from inside (Scale page edges proportionally)

• Fit from inside (Add white space) –with this scale option, the user can enter the value for the short side and the value for the long side independently of each other. This means that the aspect ratio usually no longer remains proportional to the original size. Therefore, the image area is fitted to the specified short side or long side and provided with a corresponding white space.
• Variable Content [4] – select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the value for the selected scale method should be retrieved. The following value must be found in the selected field so that the scale method Fit from inside (Add white space) is executed:
• FitFromInsideProp

Figure 3: Left: initial file; Right: initial file scaled to 100 x 100 mm with the scale method Fit from inside (Add white space)

• Fit from outside (Cut page) – with this scale option, the user can enter the value for the short edge and the long edge independent of each other. This means that the aspect ratio usually no longer remains proportional to the original size. Therefore, the image area is adjusted to the specified short edge or long edge and the image is trimmed.
• Variable Content [4] – select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the value for the selected scale method should be retrieved. The following value must be found in the selected field so that the scale method Fit from outside (Cut page) is executed:
  • FitFromOutside

Figure 4: Left: initial file; Right: initial file scaled to 100 x 100 mm with the scale method Fit from outside (Cut page)

• Fit from outside (Scale page edges proportionally) – scales the image area from the outside to the specified size. As the proportions are maintained, only the resolution of the images is adjusted according to the increase or decrease. The long edge of the target file is used for the calculation.
• Variable Content [4] – select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the value for the selected scale method should be retrieved. The following value must be found in the selected field so that the scale method Fit from outside (Scale page edges proportionally) is executed:
  • FitFromOutsideProp

Figure 5: Left: initial file; Right: initial file proportionally adjusted with the scaling method fit from outside (scale page edges proportionally) and to the long edge

• Stretch to fill – with this scaling option, the user can enter the value for the short edge and the value for the long edge independently of each other. The ImageBox is filled with the image, even if the image area has to be distorted as a result.
• Variable Content [5] – select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the value for the selected scale method should be retrieved. The following value must be found in the selected field so that the scale method Stretch to fill is executed:
  • StretchToFit

Figure 6: Left: initial file; Right: initial file scaled to 100 x 100 mm with the scale method Stretch to fill

Figure 7: values in the selected field for the option Scale Option

• Long Edge [2] – the target value for the long edge is entered here. For the Variable Content [5], select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the value for the long edge should be retrieved.
• Short Edge [3] – the target value for the short page is entered here. For the Variable Content [6], select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the value for the short page should be retrieved.

To experiment with this function, refer to the sample file "Sample_Scale Page Content Absolute.pdf". The file has a size of 600 x 800 mm. All Page Boxes are at this size. The image should be scaled to a size of 750 x 1000 mm.

After applying the Fixup, the file "Sample_Scale Page Content Absolute_End.pdf" is created. Here the file was scaled to the specified size. The scaling option Fit from inside (Scale page edges proportionally) was used.

Figure 8: Left: initial file; Right: edited file where the image content of the TrimBox was scaled to 750 x 1000 mm

Article update: Workflow 1.17.2 – 08/2024