PDF Splitter

PDF Splitter Action tasks are used to split emulated PDF data files into multiple data files that are passed to subsequent tasks in the process.

When using a PlanetPress Design document, the PDF Splitter will do the job quicker than the Metadata Sequencer task that can also be used to split PDFs. However, when using a PDF as input, the Metadata Sequencer might perform better. For more information and some test results, see this How-to: Performance testing grounds.

In the case of Connect Print output, using Print Presets to separate the output is preferable to using the PDF Splitter. How to separate Print output in Connect is explained in the Connect Online Help: How to split print output into multiple files.

Input

A PDF data file (see PDF emulation).

Processing

The file is separated into multiple chunks according to the rules set in the task's properties.

Output

Multiple data files, sent one after the other to the rest of the tasks in the process. Metadata, job infos and user variables are not modified by this task.

Note: The Metadata is not reset at the time the next data file is sent to the rest of the process. See also: Output issues caused by Metadata, and how to avoid them.

Task properties

General Tab

  • Split on page: Select to split the data file based on pages (rather than on a word found within the PDF data) and to activate the option from this group, which is used to tailor exactly how you want the page based splitting process to take place.
    • Page(s) per output: Enter the number of pages to include in the file generated by the splitter in this edit box below or use the spin buttons.
  • Split PDF file on a word: Select to split the data file whenever a given region is found within the PDF data file (rather than on based on pages), or whenever the region found at a given location changes, and to activate the options from this group, which are used to tailor exactly how you want the region based splitting process to take place.
    • On region content change: Select if you want the data file to be split when the word found at a given location changes.
    • Get button: Click to go to the Data Selector and select the location associated with the On region change option.
    • Specific word: Enter the word to use as the splitting criteria. In this variable property box, you may enter static characters, variables, job information elements or any combination of these. You may also use the Get Data button to get a static string of characters from the sample data file. If you use this option, the coordinates of the data you will select will be added to the Left, Right, Top and Bottom boxes below.
    • Left: Enter a value corresponding to the left coordinate on which the splitter must start searching for the region.
    • Right: Enter a value corresponding to the right coordinate on which the splitter must start searching for the region.
    • Top: Enter a value corresponding to the top coordinate on which the splitter must start searching for the region.
    • Bottom: Enter a value corresponding to the bottom coordinate on which the splitter must start searching for the region.
    • Match case: Select to force the splitter to match the character casing. Note that this setting applies both to the On region change and Specific word options. If this option is selected, “DAY” and “Day” will not be considered as matching the search string “day”.
    • Trim selection: Select to force the splitter to strip empty trailing characters. When this option is not selected, blank trailing characters, if any, are considered in the matching process, so the word “DAY” will not be considered as matching the word “DAY”. Note that this setting applies only to the On region change option.
    • Where to split: By default, the task splits the file at the beginning of the line on which the condition is met (the default value is 0). If you want the task to split the file a certain number of lines before or after that line, enter a value other than 0 in this box. Enter 1, for example, to split the file at the beginning of the line that precedes the line on which the condition is met.
    • Before: If you entered a value other than 0 in the Where to split box, select this option if you want to split the file a given number of lines before the line on which the condition is met.
    • After: If you entered a value other than 0 in the Where to split box, select this option if you want to split the file a given number of lines after the line on which the condition is met.
    • When condition is found: By default, the task splits the file every time the condition is met (the default value is 1). If you want the task to split the file only when the condition has been met twice, for example, enter the number 2 in this box.
  • Split PDF file based on Metadata group:
    • Metadata Level: Determines on which level of the Metadata the split occurs. This can be Group, Document to Data page.
    • Sequencing based on:
      • The following number of occurrences of the level: Determine a sequence based on the number of instances found for the Metadata level currently processed. For example, if the Metadata level is set to Group, and this value is set to 3, each sequence contains 3 groups (except, possibly, the last one, depending on the number of groups left in the last sequence). The next loop starts with the next group after this sequence.
      • The following number of sequences in the job: Divides the Metadata into a set number of sequences and equally distributes the number of levels between the sequences. For example, it the Metadata level is set to Document, and this value is set to 5, a 100 document job file will be divided into 5 sequences of 20 documents each.
      • The following rule: Determine if a new sequence starts or if the current one ends. For each Metadata level, the current value of the specified Metadata attribute / field is compared with the one in memory. If they are different, either a new sequence starts or the current sequence is ended. The next sequence starts with the next Metadata level being processed. For details see the Rule Interface.
  • Optimize resulting PDF: Select to specify whether the resulting PDF should be optimized. Optimization can lead to a significant reduction in the size of the PDF, but it may also add a certain amount of time to the process. This option should only be unchecked if the timing of the process is critical and needs to be done quickly, but keep in mind that the resulting PDF may be much larger than it should be and may even be too large for PReS Workflow to handle.
  • Reset Metadata according to new PDF: Metadata will be recreated according to the new PDF that was created, including page numbering, etc.

On Error Tab

For a description of the options on the On Error tab see Using the On Error tab.

Miscellaneous Tab

The Miscellaneous tab is common to all tasks.

It contains a text area (Task comments) that lets you write comments about the task. These comments are saved when the dialog is closed with the OK button and are displayed in The Task Comments Pane.

Check the option Use as step description to display the text next to the icon of the plugin in the Process area.

The tab also provides an option to highlight the task in The Process area with the default color, set in the Preferences (see Colors), or the color selected or defined under Highlight color on this tab.
To revert the selected highlight color to the default color, open this tab, turn the Highlight option off and close the dialog with the OK button; then turn highlighting back on.
Highlighting can also be turned on and off via the task's contextual menu and with the Highlight button on the View ribbon.