User Manual

Release – 1.9

Updated on

Release Date: 06-30-2024

Find out in this article which

  • new features are available,
  • improvements for users have been implemented and which
  • bugs were fixed in version 1.9 of the PDF Editor.

1. Overview

With version 1.9.15, users can take advantage of a number of new features in the area of image optimization and the editing of PDF files. In addition, improvements have been made to the user interface and the access to objects was simplified.

1.1. New Features

Carry out the following new features with this release:

  • Close or open paths: From this version on, it is possible to close open paths. This is particularly necessary when a path should subsequently be transformed for further processing or defined as a cutting path. [PPDPDF-1140]
  • Open the PDF Editor from the Workflow: You can now open files directly from the Workflow, edit them in the PDF Editor and then save i.e. upload them again. [PPDPDF-921]
  • Crop overlapping images: Crop image data that lies outside the clipping path to the visible area. This saves unnecessary data waste and contributes to faster processing times. [PPDPDF-1129]
  • Fit images: Fit images that extend beyond the clipping path to the width or height or stretch the image to fit it into the image frame. [PPDPDF-1001]
  • Open 7C-combined TIFF files: TIFF files consisting of CMYK and OVG color components can now be opened in the PDF Editor. [PPDPDF-837]

Underlying MAKO version

Version 1.9.15 of the PDF Editor uses MAKO 7.3.0.

1.2. Improved User Guidance

The following improvements were made to simplify the user guidance:

  • Display of color values with decimal places: In the Object Inspector and in tooltips, color values are now displayed with two decimal places.
  • Improved display of combined Blend Modes: When an object is influenced by several Blend Modes, the "Combined Blend Mode" mode is  displayed. (PPDPDF-1106)
  • Highlight non-embedded fonts: For texts in a PDF that do not use embedded glyphs, these texts can now be highlighted for easier identification. [PPDPDF-1027]
  • Special Colors "Registration Marks" and "None": These two special colors are now displayed and handled separately from the other Spot Colors. [PPDPDF-630]
  • Improved selection in the "Analysis" tab: Press the cmd/Ctrl key and double-click on a desired label in the "Analysis" tab, to select all objects belonging to this category. [PPDPDF-885]
  • Clipping masks are taken into account when setting PageBoxes: When setting PageBoxes on selected objects, clipping masks are now also taken into account. Thereby, boxes are always and only set to the area that is actually visible.  [PPDPDF-791]
  • Improved handling of clipping masks: Clipping masks are now handled independently of their parent elements. This makes it possible to cut, move and insert individual, nested clipping masks. [PPDPDF-1092]

1.3. Bug Fixes

The following bugs were fixed:

  • Rotation of texts: If rotated texts were edited, then the rotation was not adjusted in the editing field. This error has been fixed. [PPDPDF-1166]
  • Bug fixes for complex files: For complex files, weak points have been identified and fixed in the areas of transforming and editing objects. [PPDPDF-1105] [PPDPDF-1121]
  • White overprinting objects with activated color management: As soon as color management was activated in the PDF Editor's preferences, white overprinting objects were not handled correctly by the "Highlight Overprinted White Objects" option. This bug has been fixed. [PPDPDF-822]
  • Files loaded from Workflow could not be saved locally: This bug has been fixed [PPDPDF-1067]
  • PDF with SVG fonts were not displayed correctly: SVG descriptions are converted into vector objects and can therefore be displayed but not edited as text. [PPDPDF-995]
  • PDF created with OpenType Font Variations: When OpenType Font Variations were used in the creation program to create a text, these glyphs were not displayed correctly in the PDF Editor. The error has been fixed. [PPDPDF-764]

Find a detailed description of all changes for New Features and Improvements below.

2. New Features

Version 1.9 offers a number of new features.

2.1. Open Print Items directly from the Workflow in the PDF Editor

With Workflow version 1.18.0 in combination with PDF Editor version 1.9, an even deeper integration was accomplished and implemented. On the locally installed PDF Editor it is now possible to easily open files from the Workflow, edit them manually and save i.e. upload them again to the Workflow. The following steps are necessary for this:

  1. Open the Print Data tab for a Print Item in the new user interface of the Workflow.
  2. Click on the Open PDF in PDF Editor [1] button.
  3. Allow to open the desktop application [2] from the browser. Please note that this dialog only appears if you have installed a PDF Editor on your local computer.

Figure 1: Print Item view in the Workflow with the dialog Open PDF in PDF Editor

  1. Log in to the Workflow with your user and password and enter the IP address and port number.
  2. Confirm the entry with OK.

Figure 2: The dialog Connect to Workflow

  1. The Print Item is opened in the PDF Editor and now editable.
  2. Once you have finished editing, press Ctrl/cmd + S to save the file and start the upload process.
  3. The Print Item is saved back into the Workflow i.e. uploaded as a new version.

2.2. Fit or Crop Overlapping Images

With version 1.9.15 of the PDF Editor, the Images tab offers cropping and fitting options for images within a clipping path.

Proceed as follows to crop or fit images:

  1. Open the PDF in the PDF Editor and switch to the View and Analyze [3] tab.
  2. In the Options settings area activate the options Show Clipping Paths [4] and Show Image Frames [5]. This allows you to immediately recognize whether there are overlapping images (cyan frames) to the existing clipping path (magenta frames).

Figure 3: The settings area Options of the View and Analyze tab

  1. Switch to the Images tab [6]. Here all images with the corresponding detailed information for the current page are listed.
  2. Select the object in the artwork by either by using the Selection Tool or by clicking on it in the list of the Images tab. In both cases, the entry in the list of images is highlighted.

Figure 4: The Images tab with the list of all images of the current page

  1. Right-click on the selected image to open the context menu with the commands for editing the selected image.
  2. Select the desired command to crop or fit the overlapping image.

Figure 5: The context menu for editing an image in the Images tab

The following new commands are available for editing images from version 1.9.15:

  • Remove Overlapping Images [10] - Image material can extend beyond the limits of the visible image frame. This leads to unnecessarily large files and data waste. With this option, remove all image data that extends beyond the image frame for all images and for selected images.
  • Fit images - If the image material is larger than the image frame, it is now possible to fit the image material by using the following methods:
    • Fit to Width - keep proportions [7] - The image is proportionally fitted to the width of the clipping path. As a result, the image can either overlap the clipping path in height or create a white space.
    • Fit to Height - keep proportions [9] - The image is proportionally fitted to the height of the clipping path. This allows the width of the image to either overlap the clipping path or create a white space.
    • Fit Image - stretching [8] - The image is fitted in height and width so that the entire frame is filled. In most cases, this results in a distorted i.e. stretched image. This is ultimately visible in the different DPI resolutions for horizontal and vertical.

2.3. Open or Close Path

When you select a vector object with the Selection Tool in the artwork, immediately inspect in the Edit [11] tab whether the path is closed [12] or open.

Closing paths is necessary when the path in question should be further processed, transformed, or defined as a cutting path.

Figure 6: The Edit tab of the PDF Editor

3. Improvements

In addition to the major new features, further improvements have also been implemented in version 1.9.

3.1. Combined Blend Modes

A special display is now available when objects combine different Blend Modes. The determined value is displayed in the Object Inspector tab in the Combined Blend Mode [13] entry.

Figure 7: Snippet from the list of parameters in the Object Inspector tab

3.2. Highlight not Embedded Fonts

In the Options settings area of the View and Analyze tab, the option to Highlight not Embedded Fonts [14] has been available since this version. This allows to quickly identify problematic areas in the PDF.

Figure 8: Information from the Object Inspector tab

3.3. Registration Color and No Color

From this version on, it is possible to assign Fills or Strokes separately to the special colors "Registration Color" and "None" in the Color settings area of the Edit tab in the menu More Commands [15].

These special colors are available for the following applications:

  • Registration - Print objects with every color separation available in the PDF.
  • None - Special objects, such as CAD structures or annotations, should remain in the PDF but not be visible. These objects can be provided with a visible color definition at any time.

Figure 9: The Edit tab with the menu More Commands

3.4. Quick selection in the "Analyze" tab

Users often want to select all objects affected by Process ColorsSpot ColorsColor Spaces, and Page Objects settings areas and select the object itself.

To do this, double-click on an entry while pressing the cmd/Ctrl key. Use option for example to select

  • all objects that use a black separation
  • all objects of a Spot Color
  • all objects of one color mode
  • all text objects

3.5. Clipping Masks and Page Geometry

Clipping masks are one of the most important constructs in PDF files, allowing existing objects to be masked with other objects. However, this can lead to complex PDF constellations. The following new features have therefore been implemented:

  • Set PageBox to selected objects - Clipping masks are now taken into account when setting the PageBox - i.e. only areas that are visible but still exist.
  • Cut/insert clipping masks - Handling complex PDF objects has been improved. It is now possible to cut and reinsert complex file structures.
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