In this article, you will learn
- which options are available in the Operation,
- for which process steps you can use this Operation, and
- how you can use the Operation efficiently with the help of a use case.
1. Introduction
As described in the article Create a Production Configuration, you can add various Operations to a Production Configuration. This article provides a detailed explanation of the requirements and options for the Split Print Item Operation.
The Split Print Item Operation can be used within Production Configurations that map the entire process, from uploading the print data to the Workflow to output. This results in the following use cases:
- The Operation can be used independently within a Production Configuration to divide multipage Print Items into a defined grid.
- The Operation can be used multiple times within a Production Configuration.
- In principle, the Operation can be used after any other Operation within a Production Configuration, except the following Operations:
- Create Impose
- Create Impose with Auto Nesting
- Create Production Job
- Create Production Job from Imposition
- Send to Printer
The reasons for using the Split Print Item Operation are as follows:
- To split all pages of a multipage Print Item into individual Print Items so that they can then be transferred together into one or more Impositions.
- To transfer the odd and even pages of a multipage Print Item separately into new Print Items.
- To extract a selected page range from a multipage Print Item and then delete all pages that are not contained in the range.
- Split a multipage Print Item into several Print Items with a specified number of pages, e.g. split a 100-page Print Item into 50 Print Items with two pages each.
- Extract the first and last two pages of a multipage Print Item.
- Extract specific individual pages, for example, only the 5th page of a multipage Print Item.
What happens to the split Print Items?
All Print Items split from the multipage Print Item then go through the same production process based on the Operations defined in the Production Configuration.
2. Functionality
The purpose of the Split Print Item Operation is to split multipage Print Items. Single-page Print Items are automatically identified and skipped in the Operation.
2.1. Add Operation
To add the Split Print Item Operation, proceed as follows:
- Open the corresponding Production Configuration in Automation > Production Configurations and switch to the Operations tab.
- Add the Split Print Item Operation. By default, the Operation is added to the end of the existing Operation list.
- Then move the Operation to the desired position in the process. Note the restrictions described above regarding its permissible placement within the Production Configuration.
2.2. Configure Operation
After adding the Split Print Item Operation, define the desired parameters within the Production Configuration.
There are four options available for configuring the Operation, which enable different split options.
2.2.1. Split Print Item – Single Pages
This method converts each page of a multipage Print Item into a separate Print Item. This option is selected by default when you add the Split Print Item Operation to the Production Configuration. In this mode, the Distribute/Use Number of Copies [1] option is available. Here you can specify how the number of copies of the original Print Item should be handled. The following settings are available:
- Use the defined Number of Copies for all Pages – the number defined in number of copies [2] is applied to all split Print Items. If no value is entered, the system automatically uses the number of copies of the original Print Item for all newly created Print Items.
- Distribute number of copies to pages – the total number of copies of the original Print Item is divided by the number of pages in the multipage file. The result is transferred to all split Print Items as the number of copies.
Figure 1: The Add Production Configuration dialog with the selected Operation Split Print Item and the selected option Single Pages
Note regarding non-integer division
If the "Distribute number of copies to pages" option is used, dividing the total number of copies by the number of pages may not result in an integer. In this case, the original number of copies is transferred to all distributed Print Items without being changed.
2.2.2. Split Print Item – Page Range
This method creates a new Print Item that contains only the pages in the specified page range. Depending on your input, this may result in a single-page or multipage Print Item. All pages that are not included in the defined range are removed from the original Print Item.
In this mode, only the Pages [3] input field is available. Refer to the note [4] below the field for the input formats that are permitted. The result of this Operation [5] is a single Print Item that corresponds exactly to the selected page range.
Figure 2: The Add Production Configuration dialog with the selected Operation Split Print Item and the selected Page Range option
2.2.3. Split Print Item – Page Chunks
Depending on the selected method, this method generates one or more Print Items. The result [8], i.e., the number of generated Print Items, is displayed according to the made selection. In this mode, the Chunk Size option [6] is available with four methods [7]:
- Even Pages – extracts all even pages of the Print Item – odd pages are removed. A new Print Item is created.
- Odd Pages – extracts all odd pages of the Print Item – even pages are removed. A new Print Item is created.
- Even/Odd Pages – creates two Print Items: one with all even pages and one with all odd pages.
- Number of Pages – creates multiple Print Items, each containing exactly the number of pages specified in Pages.
Figure 3: The Add Production Configuration dialog with the selected Operation Split Print Item and the selected option Page Chunks
2.2.4. Split Print Item – Expert Mode
In Expert Mode, refer to all split schemes available in pdfToolbox. Regardless of the scheme selected, a single file is always created. Only the Expression [9] option is available in this mode. Enter the desired printout here. To find out which printouts are available and what results they yield, click the callas documentation link [10].
Figure 4: The Add Production Configuration dialog with the selected Operation Split Print Item and the Expert Mode settings area, as well as a callas specific expression
3. Split Print Item – Use Case
This section contains a practical example for experimenting with the Split Print Item operation.
In the following scenario, single-page or multipage Print Items that have already been uploaded as Articles should be transferred to a Production Job and then imposed. To do this, a Production Configuration with two consecutive Operations Split Print Item and Create Production Job is created in the defined order. Proceed as follows:
Use the input file "Split_Input.pdf" and proceed as follows:
- Navigate to Automation > Production Configurations.
- Create a new Production Configuration. For detailed instructions, see the article Create a Production Configuration.
- In the General tab, assign a name for the Production Configuration and then switch to the Operations tab.
- Add Split Print Item to the Production Configuration as the first Operation.
- The Single Pages option is selected by default in the Operation. In Distribute/Use Number of Copies, select the procedure Use the defined Number of Copies for all Pages [12].
- Leave the Copy [13] input field empty so that the number of copies defined for the Article is automatically applied to all split Print Items or Articles.
- Then add the Operation Create Production Job from Imposition [11]. Select the desired output template, define the parameters for the imposition, and assign a name to the Production Job that should be created.
- Save [14] the Production Configuration.
Figure 5: The Edit Production Configuration dialog with the selected Split Print Item Operation
- Navigate to Article > Article.
- Upload the source file "Split_Input.pdf".
- Select the uploaded Article from the article list.
- Click on the Additional functions ... menu [15].
Figure 6: The list of Articles with the selected Article
- Select the command Create Automation Job [16] .
Figure 7: The Additional Functions selection menu with the Create Automation Job option
- In the dialog that opens, select the previously created configuration from the Production Configuration [17] selection menu – in this example, the configuration named "Production Job with Nesting".
- Click Execute [18] to apply the configuration.
Figure 8: The Create Automation Job dialog with the selected Production Configuration
- The process is started by creating an Automation Job that automatically runs through both configured steps.
- You can monitor the progress of processing in Automation > Automation Jobs.
- Click on the first entry Split Print Item [19] in the process bar to open the Process Overview dialog.
Figure 9: The list of Automation Jobs in Automation > Automation Jobs
- By selecting the respective step [20], check which processes were carried out in the respective processing step.
Figure 10: The Process Overview dialog for both Operations in the Production Configuration
Name of the split pages
The name of the split pages consists of the name of the original Print Item [21] and the designation Page_#### [22], where #### represents the respective page number.
- Once processing is complete, the Production Job and Imposition are finished.
- Click on the name of the Production Job [23] (Figure 10) to open the Production Job that was created.
- All Print Items are included in the Production Job in the predefined quantity and have already been imposed. This is indicated by the corresponding Status [24].
Figure 11: The list of Production Jobs with the split Print Items and copies
Artikel update: Workflow Version 1.20.1 – 04/2025