DesignMerge Server systems are capable of producing automated PDF output for single or multi-record jobs. This article provides information about how to adjust the settings for the PDF output produced by DesignMerge Server.

PDF PRESETS

All DesignMerge Server systems utilize a named Adobe InDesign PDF Preset to produce variable PDF files. The name of the PDF Preset to use is specified as a parameter in the JSON command block that is passed to the system for processing.

If you would like to adjust the settings for your DesignMerge Server PDF output, you need to create or modify an existing PDF Preset.

The easiest way to do this is to create a new PDF Preset using your desktop version of Adobe InDesign. Specify the desired PDF settings, and save them as a named preset. Once the preset has been created, you can transfer it to your InDesign Server system where the new preset will be available for future jobs.

PDF PRESET LOCATION

The PDF Presets are stored in the same location for both Adobe InDesign Server and Desktop. So if you create a PDF Preset on the Desktop, then you can move that preset over to the Server (just place it into the same location).

All PDF presets are stored in separate files that have a .joboptions filename extension. For example, the file High Quality Print.joboptions contains the settings for the [High Quality Print] PDF Preset, which is one of the default presets provided with Adobe InDesign. Here are the locations for Adobe InDesign PDF Preset files.

MACINTOSH LOCATION

Default Location (Available to All Users)
/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PDF/Settings

User-Defined (Available to Single User)
/Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PDF/Settings

WINDOWS LOCATION

Default Location (Available to All Users)
C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Adobe PDF\Settings

User-Defined (Available to Single User)
C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe PDF\Settings

NOTE: We recommend placing any PDF Presets for use with DesignMerge Server into the Default Location, which will make the preset available to all users of the system.

PDF Presets are a standard feature of Adobe InDesign, and there are plenty of resources available online that show you how to adjust and mange them. For example, click here to view a YouTube video that shows How to Import and Export Custom PDF Presets.

So in summary, you basically want to create a PDF Preset using your Desktop Adobe InDesign software, and then copy that PDF Preset over to your InDesign Server system and place it into the default location. Then simply reference the name of your new PDF Preset in the API calls to DesignMerge Server.