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The Document Settings Dialog

Accessible through [Tools→Editors & Inspectors→Show Document Settings Editor ⌃⌥⌘D]

The document settings dialog allows control over document wide settings for each individual document.

The Info Tab.

Document Settings Info Tab screenshot

The Info Tab allows setting some attributes of the PDF document as created by the export functions.(These attributes are stored in the resulting PDF document's Document Information Dictionary.)

bullet Document Title: Allows setting the PDF Document Title attribute.

bullet Author: Allows setting the Author attribute.

bullet Subject: Allows setting the Subject attribute.

bullet Key Words: Allows setting the Key Words attribute. The + button allows adding keywords. The - button removes selected keywords. Enter on keyword per line.


The Page Tab.

Document Settings Page Tab screenshot

The Page Tab allows control over the sizing of pages and the scaling and alignment of their contents.

bullet Media Box:

    • Original Size makes no adjustments to the pages. They are rendered as they are in the source document.
    • Sheet Size renders pages onto sheets that match the page size chosen in the current Page Setup.
    • Manual Size renders pages onto sheets of a specified fixed size.

bullet Scale Contents: If Media Box settings result in pages being enlarged or reduced, their contents may be scaled. Check the Scaled Contents text box to turn scaling on..

bullet Proportionately: Use this check box to force page contents to be scaled proportionate to their original dimensions.

bullet Align Contents: Resized pages whose contents are not scaled, and resized pages whose contents are scaled proportionately need their contents to be realigned. The most likely value is Center.


The Imposition Tab.

Template List screenshot

The Imposition Tab allows control over certain aspects of imposed layouts (when those aspects are not overridden in the imposition template).

bullet Sheet Dimensions: Controls the size and placement of imposed sheets.

    • Size: Automatic (PDFClerk will choose a sensible size), or Fixed Size. For fixed size sheets enter the desired values in the Hor resp. Ver input fields.
    • Margins For Odd Sheets: The margins to be used on sheets with an odd index in the document (first sheet, thirds sheet, etc).

    • Margins For Even Sheets: The margins to be used on sheets with an even index in the document (second sheet, fourth sheet, etc).
    • Take Margins From Printer: Consults the currently selected printer for the margins to use for even and odd sheets.
    • Add Space For Finishing Marks: Enlarges the margins by a value that ensures that the finishing marks will fit on the page. This amount will even be added to margins that already have enough space for the finishing marks. The amount depends on the current finishing marks settings as set under the Paper tab.
    • Creep: allows setting the amount of creep that will be applied to each page in a signature.

bullet Pages: Controls how page borders will be drawn when that option is activated.

bullet Slots: Controls the appearance of:

    • The appearance of slot borders (when active)
    • The alignment of pages within their slots
    • How pages are fit within their slot. Proportionate is the most likely value.

bullet Finishing Marks: Controls the width of the stroke used for all finishing marks.


The Paper Tab.

Template List screenshot

The Paper Tab allows setting properties that relate to how the printed document will be finished.

bullet Registration Marks: The marks used to help positioning the page correctly on finishing equipment.

    • Required Marks: check each mark that you want to be printed onto each sheet.
    • Fill Inner Circle: check to have the marks printed with a solid black center.
    • Diameter: the diameter fields control the size of the circles of the registration marks.
    • Crosshair Length: controls the size of the crosshairs.
    • Page Gap: the distance the marks will be placed away from the edge of their neighboring page slot.
    • Trim Mark Gap: the distance the marks will be placed away from the closest trim mark.

bullet Tint Bars: The marks used for color proofing. You can set each individual color for each bar (11 for the grayscale bar and 12 for te color bar), as well as define the size of the squares that make up the bars, and how far the bars are placed away from the edge of the page (or slot) alongside which they appear, and by what margins to avoid crop and trim marks.

    • Square size: the size of each square in a tint bar.
    • Mark gap: the distance the tint bar will be placed away from the closest mark.
    • Page Gap: the distance the tint bar will be placed away from the edge of its neighboring page (or slot).

bullet Trim Marks (also called crop marks): The marks that control where the paper will be cut (or folded). These marks will be printed as dotted fold marks where appropriate.

    • Draw In Center: controls whether a line for the mark will be drawn at the middle of each slot's edges.
    • Force Inner Marks: whether to draw marks within gutters that are not strictly large enough to hold the marks.
    • From Page: when set the inset is taken from the inset fields below. When unchecked the inset will be derived from template settings for imposed layouts, or from the relevant display box of each page, if present, for the non-imposed layout.
    • Horizontal Length: the length of the horizontal mark lines.
    • Vertical Length: the length of the vertical mark lines.
    • Horizontal Gap: how far away to place the lines away from the edges of the slots.
    • Vertical Gap: how far away to place the lines away from the edges of the slots.
    • Horizontal Inset: how much to inset the marks from the corners of the slots.
    • Vertical Inset: how much to inset the marks from the corners of the slots.

bullet Bleed Marks: The marks that control how much the page's contents are allowed to bleed.

    • See Trim Marks for explanation of the options.

bullet Colors:

    • Paper Color: if non-white each sheet's backgrounnd will be printed with the color selected here.
    • Trim Mark Color: the color used for the trim marks.
    • Bleed Mark Color: the color used for the bleed marks.
    • Reg. Marks: the color used for the registration marks.


The Page Labels Tab.

Template List screenshot

The Page Labels Tab allows drawing the page labels (which usually have page numbers) onto each page.

bulletDraw Page Labels: controls whether and at what end of the page (top or bottom) the labels will be drawn.

bulletOpacity of label box: the opacity controls how much of the page's contents is allowed to shine through the box. The greater the opacity the less of the page shines through.

bulletJustification: allows setting the horizontal justification of the labels on each page and the distance they are drawn away from the page's edge (= margin). Note that the horizontal margin has no effect if the labels are center justified. The justification is set individually for even and odd pages.

bulletSet Font: allows setting the font used to draw the labels.


The Watermarks Tab.

Watermarks Tab screenshot

You can use the watermarks feature to place recurring patterns of objects on all or selected pages of a PDFClerk document. It is powerful, flexible and straightforward to use, and useful for watermarks, headers, footers, or any other recurring pattern you can think of for placing an object onto multiple pages. The sources for watermarks are imported from external files or the watermark's name can be used as the object to render on the pages. You can import either text (plain text or rich text) or graphics files (like jpg, png, etc.).

bulletSelected Watermark: The popup button at the top is used to choose the watermark to be edited. The + button is used to add a watermark. The - button is used to delete the selected watermark. The + Name button is used to create a watermark whose rendered content is defined by its name.

bulletName: controls the internal name of the watermark. Defaults to the imported file name. For name based watermarks also defines the text to render.

bulletPlace on: controls on which pages the watermark appears.

bulletExclude: controls exclusion from certain pages that belong to the group selected in the Place On setting.

bulletPage List: allows complete ad lib customization of the pages the watermark will appear on.

bulletRotation: the rotation applied to the watermark. For tiled watermarks the rotation label becomes a button that toggles between rotation of each individual tile and rotation of all tiles as a whole. The button only appears if rotation is non-zero and size is set to tile.

bulletOpacity: controls the opacity of the watermark.

bulletAlign: controls the alignment of the watermark on the page.

bulletLayer: If you have multiple, overlapping, watermarks you can control the drawing order by assigning each watermark to a layer. The On Top and Behind options control whether the watermark is draw on top of or behind the page contents. Watermarks that appear behind the page contents are only visible where the page is transparent.

bulletSync To Source: You can dynamically link a watermark to its on-disk source so that, if the source is modified, the watermark will automatically be updated. You don’t need to be running PDFClerk and have the dependent document open when modifying the source.

bulletSet Source: Using the Set Source button you can also change the source of a watermark. This is convenient if you simply want to replace a watermark’s source rather than deleting it and creating a new one where you have to reapply all properties.


The Security Tab.

Security Tab screenshot

The settings under the Security tab control whether exported PDF documents are encrypted and whether some actions are restricted.

bulletRequire password to open document: controls whether a password is needed to open the document. (This is called the user password.)

bulletRequire password to copy/print: controls whether a password is needed to copy content and/or to print the document. (This is called the owner password.)


See also

Layout Topics