Batch Process to Rasterize PDFs from one folder to another with unique names

[EdwardCPI]

I have a folder of 194 PDFs that won't go through our prepress systems because the fonts are not embedded (the PDFs were exported from PageMaker 6.5 on a 20+ year old Mac if that tells you anything). I am trying to rasterize the files and then import them into InDesign for output. Everything works fine if I do this one by one: open in Photoshop at 600 dpi, grayscale, etc. flatten the image, save as Photoshop PDF, close. 

I figured I could save a lot of time if I created an action and then did a batch process on the whole folder. However, the problem I am running into is that when the batch process saves the file into the new folder, it saves each file over the top of the previous saved file with the same name. So my 194 files from the one folder becomes 1 file in the new folder, with the file name that was used when I set up the action. If I add a serial number or something to make the filenames in the new folder unique, I just get Foreword1.pdf, Foreword2.pdf, Foreword3.pdf instead of the original files' names. How can I have the batch process open the files from one folder, process the action, then save WITH THE SAME FILENAME to another folder? Seems like this should be really easy but I've been working on this for several hours and still can't get the desired result. It's really critical that the filenames of the processed files are exactly the same as the original files, so that I end up with two folders of files: Folder1 with the original files, Folder2 with the exact same files, the only difference being the files on Folder2 have all been rasterized. 

If there is a way to do this in Acrobat DC, I would welcome information about that. Just desperate to get this done at this point.

Any and all help GREATLY APPRECIATED!

[Stephen Marsh]

Are these single page PDF files?

You should batch using the override action save as command checkbox ticked.

Or try this script:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Paul-Riggott/PS-Scripts/master/PDF%20ProcessorII.jsx

https://prepression.blogspot.com/2017/11/downloading-and-installing-adobe-scripts.html

P.S. Rasterizing a PDF is such a sad thing, even as a last resort (Acrobat Pro and or PitStop Pro/Server could hopefully fully embed/subset the fonts)...

https://prepression.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-ten-commandments-of-pdf.html

[EdwardCPI]

Yes, someone sent me the whole insides of a book where each page is a single PDF file.

I ended up using Photoshop's Image Processor script to convert all the PDFs to grayscale JPEGs. I then batch-changed the file extensions in Explorer from .jpg to .pdf (using a command prompt) and then relinked the files in InDesign. It worked OK. Each page ended up looking like the printout they sent with the job and the text was all rasterized at 600dpi.

Thank you for your suggestions. I will probably have to revisit this forum thread next year when the same people send the same job (it's a catalog for an annual horse sale).

[jane-e]

"when the same people send the same job (it's a catalog for an annual horse sale)."

To clarify: are you saying they are still working in PM on a 20-year-old Mac? If so, maybe you can convince them to use this year to update the file to InDesign. There is a feature in PageMaker to export all text to one file. As I recall, you can omit text of a certain number of characters — I think the default is 20 characters or fewer will be excluded. Then place that text file into InDesign and format it. They should do this before the Mac or the file crashes.

[EdwardCPI]

Yes, they are working in PM 6.5 on a very old Mac (one that predates OSX). This is an older person who, at this point, is probably not willing to learn a new program, update her computer, and invest in subscription-based software. She is aware of InDesign because she offered to send me the PageMaker file and informed me I could open it in InDesign. I told her I thought that capability was removed from recent versions of InDesign.

[Bojan Živković]

If I can understand your problem then you have recorded step to save file with hard coded file name in action step. 

Hopefully you understand what Stephen_A_Marsh is suggesting above my comment: "You should batch using the override action save as command checkbox ticked."

Another possible solution can be Image Processor Pro which offers Photoshop PDF as saving file format. You may not need action for Image Processor Pro, it will do everything on its own using built in functions.

"How can I have the batch process open the files from one folder, process the action, then save WITH THE SAME FILENAME to another folder?"

Do not touch filename in Save As dialogue when recording action to not record file name in action step. See step below to save as PDF and compare to your. Can you notice that I have saving location recorded but not file name?

[EdwardCPI]

@Bojan_Živković

I believe I followed your instructions. When doing "Save As" during recording the action I did nothing in the Save As dialog--but of course the name of the file I opened is there in the filename field (should I have backspaced it out--you said "do not touch filename). Attached are screenshots of my Photoshop action and the batch process dialog. I'd like to get this figured out for the next time I get a job like this.

What results when I process the folder of PDFs with this action and batch process is one file in the Test Dest folder with the filename of the file I opened as the first step of the action.

[willcampbell7]

Not sure if you've already solved the problem, and not sure if this will help, but it's worth having a look. This script I created I use often for challenges similar to what you describe. Also regularly to convert PDF pages to images, or suck out all the images from a PDF and make RGB and pixels limited for web use. Be sure to read the docs (on web page and txt file in download) about how to configure vector input for PDF. This script does name identical to input but in a different folder (name of your choice). Reply or email if any questions (I am the author). https://www.marspremedia.com/software/photoshop/batch-multi-save

[EdwardCPI]

Thanks, William. I think your script, for my purposes, is the same as Photoshop's Image Processor, which was what I ended up using. Since I already had the PDFs placed in InDesign, I was really looking for a script that would open a PDF, rasterize it, then save it out as a PDF with the same file name as the original. That way, I would have ended up with a folder of PDFs that I would relink in InDesign with a few clicks (i.e. rename the folder containing the linked PDFs, causing InDesign to lose track of it, then telling it to look at the folder with the rasterized PDFs). Your script, like Image Processor, doesn't allow saving as PDF. After processing with Image Processor, I ended up with a folder full of JPEGs and then batch-changed the file extensions in Explorer from .jpg to .pdf (using a command prompt) and then relinked the files in InDesign (using the method above). InDesign didn't seem to know I cheated (it thought the JPEGs were PDFs).

[willcampbell7]

Why not use "Relink to Folder..." or "Relink File Extension..." ? Both in Links panel fly-out menu. Both allow re-linking to same file name but different extension.

[EdwardCPI]

I didn't know about that. Great tip! Thanks!

[Brad @ Roaring Mouse]

Here's a wild idea: Another thing that might help is to use Acrobat to Combine all 194 files into one PDF. Then do an Export > Image from that PDF at 600 dpi (or higher, if you like). Each page's image file will be numbered. You should be able to submit those to prepress without even using InDesign. If not, Create a new PDF by Combining the image files, then submit that!