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Imposed PDF with InDesign CC

New Here ,
Aug 23, 2013 Aug 23, 2013

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Hi there. Im using InDesign CC on Mac OS 10.8.4.

I'm trying to do something pretty simple, create an imposed pdf using the "Print Booklet" option. Before in InDesign CS6, i would:

1. Go to File >Print Booklet

2. Click on "Print Settings"

3. Adobe PDF would have been selected as the default printer

4. I would add cropmarks and bleed

5. hit ok

6. Select "Preview" to confirm everything looks good to go and hit print.

now, the tricky part in InDesign CC is step 3, since apparently some technical changes to Mac OS since version 10.6, don't allow Adobe PDF printers to be created. My Question is how do i create an imposed pdf to send to the press? Thanks a lot for your help.

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Enthusiast ,
Aug 24, 2013 Aug 24, 2013

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Write Postscript file from printer dialog and then distill to PDF with Adobe Distiller. Distiller is found in the Acrobat folder.

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Aug 24, 2013 Aug 24, 2013

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At Adobe, we would most strongly recommend that you don't use the internal Print Booklet facility at all. Why? Creating PDF in that manner (including the suggestion of “Was DYP”) results in a very poor quality PDF file with no color management and flattened transparency.

The correct way to deal with making booklets or imposition in general is to directly export PDF from InDesign in logical page number order, preferably using the PDF/X-4 settings with any necessary bleed areas specified.

For commercial printing, it is the responsibility of the print service provider to do the imposition of the PDF file in a manner appropriate for the printed piece and for the equipment being used. (For example, often it is much more economical to print multiple pages and spreads per single sheet, requiring more complex imposition that would ever be possible with InDesign's Print Booklet facility!) That is part of the service that you should expect from your print service provider!!!

For your own personal printing on a less sophisticated laser or inkjet printer, for example, you have other choices. For simple booklet printing, let's say two 8.5"x11" pages on an 11"x17" sheet or even two 5.5"x8.5" pages on an 8.5"x11" sheet, you can accomplish this via the booklet printing capability in the Adobe Reader or Acrobat print dialogue. Works perfectly and costs you nothing extra. If you need more complex imposition, there are a number of third party Acrobat plug-ins that do a very professional job of imposition while maintaining color management, live transparency, and even the PDF file's PDF/X status. One such set of Acrobat plug-in products are Quite Imposing and Quite Imposting Plus (available for both MacOS and Windows) from Quite Software http://www.quite.com. Another similar product is PDF Snake (Windows only) available from http://www.pdfsnake.com.

          - Dov

- Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)

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New Here ,
Feb 28, 2014 Feb 28, 2014

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I'm very upset that this feature is no longer available to me in InDesin CC. The licenses for the two pieces of software that you mention above are upwards of $300. When you consider the new 'subscription' plan we users are basically forces into, I find the need to pay so much extra for a function that was included in previous versions is ridiculous. It worked then. How much programming effrot would it really take to make it work now.

I'm not printing through a commercial vendor, rather an on-site copy center that has no pagination capabilites and requires a print-ready pdf. Now I'm on my own for paginating a 100+ page document into printers spreads. What once took the time for the print queue to process will now waste a lot of my valuable time.

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Community Expert ,
Feb 28, 2014 Feb 28, 2014

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Take a look at Overview | IDImposer

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New Here ,
Feb 28, 2014 Feb 28, 2014

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Thank you Peter. $19.95 is so much more reasonable. I'll check it out!

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Explorer ,
Mar 06, 2014 Mar 06, 2014

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This is absurd. How hard can it be to add imposition to the export to PDF functions? This is an essential function for anyone dealing with _normal_ printing services, or creating documents inhouse. And if it's not available for InDesign, then why not with Acrobat? I've been wrestling with this all morning, not for the first time, and I'm ready to chuck the whole Creative Cloud concept out the window and go back to older versions that would actually do what I needed them to do.

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Community Expert ,
Mar 06, 2014 Mar 06, 2014

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You're speaking to the wrong audience. If you would like the feature added to either InDesign or Acrobat, file a feature request that the product managers will see. We're just users here:

Adobe - Feature Request/Bug Report Form

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Explorer ,
Mar 06, 2014 Mar 06, 2014

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I replied to a STAFF post. And I've already done a feature request, with no response.

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Community Expert ,
Mar 06, 2014 Mar 06, 2014

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You'll never get a reply from a feature request. Each product manager considers what features to add from the hundreds and thousands of requests made.

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Explorer ,
Mar 06, 2014 Mar 06, 2014

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You are singularly unhelpful.

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Community Expert ,
Mar 06, 2014 Mar 06, 2014

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I'm just a user like you. I'd personally buy the $19.95 product mentioned in post #4 above.

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Community Expert ,
Mar 06, 2014 Mar 06, 2014

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jmcullinan wrote:

And if it's not available for InDesign, then why not with Acrobat?

But it is a feature of Acrobat.

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Explorer ,
Mar 06, 2014 Mar 06, 2014

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You can PRINT a booklet, like you can in InDesign, but you can't SAVE a PDF version because you can't print to PDF in Acrobat, and there's no option to impose pages and save that to PDF either. Unless you have a workaround?

What I need is an easy way to create a print-ready booklet PDF with imposed pages. Currently I have to buy additional software, impose it manually in InDesign, or go through a postscript file, losing a lot of control over output quality and other options. It would be easiest if the export to PDF function included booklet options.

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Community Expert ,
Mar 06, 2014 Mar 06, 2014

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You can print to PDF.

In Windows, the Acrobat Pro installation includes an Adobe PDF print driver.

On a Mac, if I'm not mistaken, you can have essentailly the same thing, although I believe you have to go get it.

jmcullinan wrote:

What I need is an easy way to create a print-ready booklet PDF with imposed pages.

Why?

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Explorer ,
Mar 06, 2014 Mar 06, 2014

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Why? Because that is what my clients require.

And that print driver sends everything through postscript, which then has to be converted, and loses all quality control in the output, as I said above. And it doesn't work at all in Acrobat.

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Community Expert ,
Mar 07, 2014 Mar 07, 2014

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Okay, while I work on both platforms, admittedly, all my print-to-pdf workflow happens in Windows, which doesn't present any of those pitfalls.

How big are these documents? I know you said you need an easy way, but if I had clients demanding imposed PDF, (I'd have to ask them 'why?' too), and had no other solutions, I'd consider adding more time to the quote and imposing manually. It isn't that hard to do.

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Community Expert ,
Mar 07, 2014 Mar 07, 2014

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John Mensinger wrote:

It isn't that hard to do.

Especially if you use a script, or the inexpensive IDimposer plugin.

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Apr 10, 2014 Apr 10, 2014

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I'm a bit surprised with the information posted here. Firstly, some corrections:

Answer #03: The absence of PDF virtual printer is a Mac OS issue that made Adobe remove this feature since Acrobat X. So, it is not an ID failure.

Answer #05: The feature still works, see bellow.

Answer #12: This is wrong. Acrobat does not do page imposition.

Answer #14: The link points to a PS driver from 1998. Unusable for OS 10.x.

And, more relevant, the solution. It is still perfectly possible to generate PDF files from the Print Booklet command in OS 10.8.x and 10.9.x. Here is how:

1. In ID, go to File > Print Presets and define a new one using the PostScript file as printer and the Generic PostScript as PPD.

2. Adjust the print options accordingly to your needs and save.

3. Go to File > Print Booklet. Chose your new print preset from the Configure drop-down list.

4. Adjust the settings of the booklet and print. InDesign will generate a .ps file.

5. Open this file using Mac Preview and export it as PDF.

As you see, there is no need to have Acrobat or any other app/plug-in in your Mac to get the PDF output. If you have Creative Cloud or Acrobat Pro, you also have access to Distiller and can adjust several options to convert .ps to PDF.

Actually, it is also possible to get the same result just editing the printer settings instead of creating a print preset. But to use presets is a good practice: it saves you time and makes easier to re-use the same definitions in future jobs.

Anyway, this path implies some limitations: the Generic PostScript PPD does work with just a set of predefined paper sizes and uses only PostScript Level 2. But If you need other paper sizes, there is also a solution with no additional cost: CUPS-PDF, a virtual printer available to OS 10.x.

1. Verify instructions, download, and install CUPS-PDF.

2. Add CUPS-PDF as a printer. You can change its name.

3. Create a new print preset in ID using this virtual printer.

4. When editing the print preset, go to Configuration section > Configure page.

5. Choose Manage custom sizes and then insert the measures you work with.

6. Follow the 3-4 steps of the first sequence above. The difference: CUPS-PDF always save files in /users/shared/ folder and generates PDF output directly.

Please note that this solution also faces limitations, as no way to define the PS level.

Regarding the quality problems that Dov Isaacs did mention, I believe this is an issue when printing colorful, high-quality stuff. For most books, ordinary reports or more modest publications the Print Booklet output works quite well. And note that, to some degree, user can control Isaacs' issues through color correction and transparencies options. In other hand, I think it is a shame to hear Adobe saying not to use a tool they are selling and promoting,

If you need more features and high-end imposing, also consider Imposing plug-in for InDesign or Croptima InPlate. Although more expensive than IDImposer, both seems more powerful and polished.

Other possibilities:

For very simple imposition jobs, there is the free Imposition Studio in App Store. You create a regular PDF in InDesign and manage it with this app.

For professional results but still in an affordable range, there is PDF Clerk Pro, an app to edit and impose PDFs with tons of resources. The same developer have other tools available. I use PDF Clerk and can assure its quality, although you need to get familiar with not-so-obvious controls to achieve optimal results.

Igor Freiberger

Porto Alegre, Brazil

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Community Expert ,
Apr 11, 2014 Apr 11, 2014

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Igor.Freiberger wrote:

And, more relevant, the solution. It is still perfectly possible to generate PDF files from the Print Booklet command in OS 10.8.x and 10.9.x. Here is how:

1. In ID, go to File > Print Presets and define a new one using the PostScript file as printer and the Generic PostScript as PPD.

Much better to find and install the ADPDF9.ppd file (which should be in the archive at http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=141, among other places) and use that, rather than the generic postscript.

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Apr 11, 2014 Apr 11, 2014

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Yes, adding the Adobe PDF 9.0 PPD makes possible to choose paper sizes. But I am unsure about the quality one can get with a PPD from 2002 which Adobe decided not to include in their recent releases. Maybe it has some issues with OS X.

To add this PPD, please follow the steps described in this thread. Although the procedure is simple, it is not obvious.

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Community Expert ,
Apr 11, 2014 Apr 11, 2014

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PPD only defines selecatble options and has noting to do with the quality of the print. Age is irrelvant.

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Apr 11, 2014 Apr 11, 2014

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It may enable options not fully compatible with the PS/PDF schema on OS X when some elements are used (as effects or transparencies).

An official statement from Adobe on this would be useful. Do you know if they explained why this PPD was removed?

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Community Expert ,
Apr 11, 2014 Apr 11, 2014

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Just a guess, but I would say since they no longer provide the virtual printer there's neither a need nor a place to include it.

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New Here ,
Apr 29, 2016 Apr 29, 2016

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Why is this not the selected answer for this thread? This answer is exactly how to solve the problem(s) listed in a sea of disinformation. Thank you. edcushwake this is the answer, and apparently people need to see it (21609 Views). If you think this is helpful, please select Igor's answer which is a much better solution that installing a PPD from 2002.

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