The following new features were implemented:

• Visualization of overprinted areas: The option has been added to visualize overprinted areas that lead to a change in the print image. This function shows those areas on the current page of the print file that would lead to a different visual result in the printout, depending on whether overprinting or no overprinting would be rendered. [PPDPDF-1287]
• Providing a measure tool: The option has been created to use this tool to display precise dimensions directly in the document. [PPDPDF-1438]
• Additional Metadata: Display of private Metadata in the User-defined tab of the dialog Document Properties. [PPDPDF-899]
• Manage source profiles for images: Provide the option to assign or remove source profiles for images in the PDF. [PPDPDF-643, PPDPDF-644]
• Extended filter options: Provide the option to search for all print items of an Order or a Production Job with the same External ID. [PPDPDF-1410]
• Quick change of selection mode: Users can change the selection mode by simply pressing the E-key to select specific areas or objects on the page. [PPDPDF-892]  

The following enhancements in the user guidance have been implemented:

• Speed improvements for files with many vector objects: The speed of opening files containing many vector objects has been drastically improved. [PPDPDF-1365]
• Moving on the X/Y axis: Moving objects within a file by holding down the Shift-key locks the selected object in the X or Y axis. This allows the user to move objects in a precise and controlled manner and prevents unwanted position deviations. [PPDPDF-1156]
• Display of Transparency Group XObjects: The number of Transparency Group XObjects is now displayed separately. These XObjects are non-editable objects. [PPDPDF-1446]
• Restructuring of the sidebar and a more organized footer: Some settings areas have been rearranged, optimized and expanded in version 1.11 for greater user-friendliness and clarity. [PPDPDF-1299]

The following bugs have been fixed:

• Program crash when checking in files in the "Workflow" tab: When saving files on the server, the program could terminate under certain circumstances. This bug has been fixed. [PPDPDF-1419] 
• Crash after closing the minimized application: When closing the minimized application, the program crashed in some cases. This bug has been fixed. [PPDPDF-1399] 
• Font embedding when saving: When saving files in which fonts were not embedded, all fonts were embedded automatically if the font was available locally on the system. From now on, fonts will only be embedded at the user's request. [PPDPDF-1413]
• Assign objects to a new Layer: Some objects were not displayed correctly when they were placed on a new Layer. This behavior has been fixed. [PPDPDF-1354]
• Updating the number of objects: After deleting objects, the number of objects in the file remained unchanged. This bug has been fixed and the number is now updated automatically. [PPDPDF-1421]  
• Crash when using the "Back to last version" command: When attempting to reset to the saved version, the program could crash. This bug has been fixed. [PPDPDF-1450]
• Restore after executing an Action: In some cases, undoing and redoing Actions after executing was not possible. This issue has been resolved. [PPDPDF-1409]
• Program crash when using the "Visualize" tab: The program often crashed when opening, closing or changing settings in the "Visualize" tab. This bug has been fixed. [PPDPDF-1486]

Please find below a detailed description of all changes regarding New Features and Improvements.

Version 1.11 of the PDF Editor provides new options for quickly visualizing problems in print data. Version 1.11 offers a new option in the View > Visualize tab to detect Overprinted Areas that lead to undesirable results in print. With the new option, users can now find affected areas on the current page and thereby identify potential problems at an early stage.

In the following, we would like to make a short description this function.

The Highlight Overprinted Objects [3] option has been available in the View and Analyze tab since the PDF Editor was launched. This allowed the user to immediately recognize where Overprinted Objects [1] were located on the page by the shaded red areas. However, the display of Overprinted Objects in this area did not indicate whether there were Overprinted Objects in the background of the red area or whether there where Overprinted Objects in the foreground of the red area.

Whether this affects the print result or not could only be seen by switching the Simulate Overprint [2] option on and off. By switching the option on and off, the display has to be recalculated, which could take a second or two in the case of a more complex PDF. Recognizing the difference between before and after was therefore not always easy, so that users sometimes fail to notice the actual problem.

Figure 1: View > Analyze tab with activated option Highlight Overprinted Objects

To analyze potential problem areas related to overprinting and identify them more quickly, the new Overprinting feature is available starting with version 1.11. Proceed as follows:

1. First switch to the View > Visualize tab. However, you should deactivate the Highlight Overprinted Objects [3] option (Figure 1) beforehand.
2. In the Problem Areas [5] selection menu, choose Overprinting.
3. The areas that would appear visually different in print, depending on whether overprinting objects are honored or ignored, will now be highlighted in red [4].
4. In our example, the text (in red) would disappear in print if overprinting settings were honored. All other overprinting areas – see Figure 1 – would not cause any changes in the print output.

Figure 2: View > Visualize tab with the selected Problem Area Overprinting

The new measure tool enables users to perform precise distance measurements within the PDF file. The distances are displayed in the unit of length selected in the settings.

To measure spacing with the measure tool, you should also know the following:

• Selecting the Measure Tool – selecting the tool by clicking on the measure tool [6] in the toolbar or use the keyboard shortcut M.
• Taking a measurement – after you have selected the measure tool:
  1. position the arrow tip of the tool symbol as precisely as possible on the starting point.
  2. click once at that point – the starting point will snap.
  3. move the cursor towards the target point – holding the Shift key allows measurements using straight lines in 90° increments.
  4. once at the target point – the cursor will snap magnetically to the object's edge – read the measured distance before clicking again, as a new measurement will start with the next click.
• Ending a measurement – Measurements can be ended in the following ways:
  • by clicking again – this will start a new measurement.
  • by pressing the Esc key – this selects the Selection Tool in the toolbar.
  • by pressing another shortcut key to select a different tool from the toolbar – this activates the corresponding tool.
• Display of measurement results – the measurement results are displayed in the unit defined in the Preferences.

Figure 3: Display of a print file in which a measurement was made between Dielines

For users in the Printing Industry, Metadata in a PDF file often serves as a valuable aid. It helps identify the origin and source of the file and provides additional information required for Workflow Automation. With version 1.11 of the PDF Editor, additional Metadata is provided, and the display of Metadata has been restructured.

Metadata can be viewed in the PDF Editor under File > Document Information or by using the shortcuts ctrl + d (Windows) or cmd + d (macOS). The following sections are available:

• General [7] – this tab contains General Document Information, Information on PDF creation and Information on the ISO standard.
  • Title – internal name of the PDF file. This should ideally be the same as the file name.
  • Author – Additional information that improves the discoverability of the PDF file on the internet.
  • Description – Additional information that improves the discoverability of the PDF file on the internet.
  • General – Additional information that improves the discoverability of the PDF file on the internet.
  • Keywords – Additional information that improves the discoverability of the PDF file on the internet.
  • Created – Creation date of the PDF file.
  • Modified – Date of last revision of the PDF file. For PDF/X compliance, this date must be more recent than the creation date.
  • PDF Engine – Information about the library used to create the PDF file. Knowledge of the weak points of certain libraries helps to identify possible errors more quickly.
  • PDF Version – Information on the PDF version. Versions 1.2 to 1.6, as well as 2.0 can be found here. The insights gained from this are highly diverse and therefore of great importance to PDF specialists.
  • ISO Standards – Display of the underlying ISO standard. Standards such as PDF/X, PDF/A, PDF/VT or PDF/UA as well as their sub-versions are common entries here.
  • Optimized for Fast Web View – Indicates whether the Table of Contents of the PDF file is located at the beginning or at the end of the document stream.
  • Tagged PDF – The text structure is tagged, which is mandatory for the PDF/UA standard.
  • Trapped – The PDF file contains so-called "trap" comments, which are used to add traps to objects to avoid "flashes".
  • Print Area – Additional information that can be used for the output.
  • Identifier – Additional information that can be used for the output.
  • Creator – Additional information that can be used for the output.
  • Version – Additional information that can be used for the output.
  • Revision – Additional information that can be used for the output.
  • Author of Description – Author of the description of the Metadata.
  • Copyright Info – Additional information that may contain references to protected content.
  • Protected by Copyright – Additional information on whether the file is protected by copyright.
  • URL for Copyright Info – Additional information that may contain references to protected content.
  • No. of Pages – Number of physical pages in a document.
  • Output Intent – Reference to the ICC Profile to be used for the colorimetric calculation of the data in the output.
  • File – File name of the document.
  • Location – File Location.
  • File Size – File Size in KB or MB for the current file.
• Fonts [8] – This tab displays a list of all fonts and font styles used in the document. Information on which page the font is used and whether the it is embedded, embedded as a subset, or not embedded is also available. This tab also includes the function for embedding fonts.
• User-defined [9] – In this tab, information added to the PDF file in the form of private tags can be viewed. A prominent example is the name – GTS_PDF/XVersion – and value – PDF/X-4 – used to identify PDF/X data.
• Metadata [10] – This tab displays all standardized XMP Metadata, enabling a detailed analysis of embedded Metadata for better management of Document Information.

Figure 4: The dialog Document Properties with the General tab activated

Images in a PDF file can be in Bitmap, Grayscale, RGB, Indexed, CMYK or DeviceN Color Spaces. In particular, images in Grayscale, RGB, or CMYK can also have a source profile. In this case, we speak of an ICC based Color Space. If the images do not have a source profile, they are considered to be in a Device Color Space.

Version 1.11 now offers the option to assign a source profile to images or remove an assigned source profile. This new feature allows users to ensure more precise color control and consistency in documents for output. The following approaches can be used as a recommendation for handling source profiles in practice:

• Device-dependent RGB (DeviceRGB) – ensure that this Color Space is not used for images in a print file. This guarantees that the color calculation in other programs or RIPs do not result in unwanted color results. Solution: Assign a RGB source profile. You can identify the correct one by the corresponding color change in the image.
• ICC based RGB – you should not make any changes to this Color Space, as the basis for correct color calculation is already provided. Assigning a different RGB source profile can change the color perception. If this is the goal, select the source profile that best aligns with your color preferences.
• Device-dependent CMYK (DeviceCMYK) – you should not make any changes for images in this Color Space either, as the images have already been offset to a defined Output Color Space at an earlier point in time and the result was found to be ok. You can still influence the color conversion by assigning a CMYK source profile. However, this is not recommended!
• ICC based CMYK – from a Color Management perspective, you should not make any changes to CMYK images that have a source profile assigned to them. However, based on practical experience, it is recommended to remove CMYK source profiles from images if you want to ensure that no Separation resampling occurs in the Color Output. Resampling this Separation could, under certain circumstances, result in a deliberately chosen short black Separation being recreated from scratch, which could result in a stronger gain in the output in digital printing. Solution: Remove the assigned CMYK source profile.
• Device-dependent Gray (DeviceGray) – you should also not make any changes to images in this Color Space, because the images were already converted to a defined Output Color Space at an earlier stage, and the result was found to be acceptable.
• ICC based Gray – from a Color Management perspective, you should not make any changes to grayscale images that have a source profile assigned to them. However, based on practical experience, it is recommended to remove source profiles from grayscale images if you want to ensure that the Color Output of the Separations is neither lightened of darkened. Solution: Remove source profiles if the change in color appearance is not significant.

As of version 1.11, source profiles for images can be assigned or removed in multiple places in the PDF Editor – in the Lists > Images tab as well as in the Edit > Edit Objects tab.

In the Workflow tab, users can connect to a Workflow directly from the PDF Editor to open print data, make corrections, and then save the updated file back into the Workflow.

To search for files in the connected Workflow, three additional context areas are available in the Workflow tab [22] – Articles [19], Orders [20], and Production Jobs [21] – where the Print Items in the Workflow area are listed. Select the desired subject area, then enter the desired search term in the search bar [25], which will filter the list of Print Items based on the term. The search criteria can be selected in the selection menu from the Search Criteria option menu [23].

With version 1.11 of the PDF Editor, the search criterion External ID [24] has been added, enabling users to search for all External IDs for the respective area as well as for the Print Items themselves. This new criterion simplifies the search for Orders and Production Jobs, saving users valuable time.

Figure 7: The Orders section of the Workflow tab with filtered objects for an order number

In the dialog Preferences of the PDF Editor, the option Mode for selecting objects [26] is available. This allows users to define which objects are selected when a selection frame is drawn. There are two options available:

• All fully or partially captured objects of the selection frame – this option means that all objects touched by the selection frame are included in the selection.
• Only fully captured objects of the selection frame – this option means that only those objects completely enclosed by the selection frame are included in the selection.

Figure 8: The dialog Preferences with the option Mode for selecting objects

By selecting the desired mode in the Preferences settings, you can determine the default behavior for drawing a selection frame, thus adapting the behavior to your working method. However, in practice, users often encounter situations where a different selection mode would be more suitable for the work at hand. From version 1.11 of the PDF Editor, you can now change the selection mode by simply pressing the E key while still holding down the click in order to select specific areas or objects on the page.

The quick change of the selection mode enables users to handle objects within the PDF Editor efficiently and flexibly. The seamless switch to the other selection mode allows users to optimize their Workflows and react faster to different requirements. To access this function, proceed as follows:

1. Select the Selection Tool in the toolbar and mark the desired area in the file by dragging a selection frame.
2. All objects that are affected according to the selected selection mode are selected. In the Figure below, all objects that are affected by the selection frame are selected.

Figure 9: Drawn selection frame with activated selection mode All fully or partially captured objects of the selection frame

3. If this selects objects that you do not want to select – in this case, only the hop buds should be selected – press E on your keyboard, which temporarily changes the selection mode.

Figure 10: Drawn selection frame with activated selection mode Only fully captured objects of the selection frame

4. The currently selected mode is always displayed in the footer [27] of the PDF Editor.

When opening print data, significant delays and waiting times may occur, especially with complex and large files containing many vector objects. Pay attention to the display in the footer [28], where the processing progress is displayed.

With version 1.11, the PDF Editor has now been optimized to load complex files with numerous vector objects significantly faster. Selection speed has been improved through optimized data structures and memory-efficient processing. Users can now open, edit, and navigate large and complex documents much faster, without being interrupted by long loading times.

Figure 11: Display of a complex print file with 60,000 paths in the Outline Preview

The introduction of the "Moving on the X and Y Axis" function in the PDF Editor solves the problem of how precisely and controllably users can position objects within a document.

From version 1.11 of the PDF Editor, the user can move selected objects along the horizontal Axis (X-Axis) and vertical Axis (Y-Axis) by additionally pressing the Shift key.

This function allows the user to quickly identify and display transparent objects within a PDF document. The affected XObjects – which cannot be edited – contain transparent image objects or graphics that are grouped together in a so-called "Transparency Group". For more information on XObjects, refer to the Glossary.

To enable the user to access this function, the following steps are necessary:

1. Open the View tab [29].
2. Select the context area Analyze [30].
3. Under the Options, you will find the entry Highlight XObjects Reference [31]. In the example below, the values (0+12) are displayed, indicating that this file contains 0 normal XObjects and 12 Transparency Group XObjects.
4. By enabling this option, the corresponding XObject References in the selected file will be highlighted. When this option is activated, a checkmark will appear to confirm the selection.

Figure 12: View > Analyze with selected entry Highlight XObjects Reference

In version 1.11 of the PDF Editor, the settings area and footer have been extensively revised to provide more efficient navigation and an improved user experience. The tabs in the settings area have been reorganized for better clarity, and the footer has been restructured for a more organized layout. Users can now work more efficiently and access necessary information more quickly. The most important changes include:

• Optimized layout – tools and functions are now logically grouped, making frequently used options more easily accessible.
• Improved clarity – clear dividing lines and new icons enhance intuitive operation and reduce visual complexity.
• Organized information in the footer – information on the values of the X-Axis and Y-Axis, zoom factor, selection between Print or Outline Preview, selection by enclosing, and details of the Workflow are now available here.