Efficient job processing despite different page sizes: How to master complex PDF files with ColorGATE

Multipage PDF files are a part of everyday life in modern print production. But what do you do when these files not only contain many pages, but also different page sizes? This is exactly where the new functions of the ColorGATE software come in. They enable highly automated, flexible and efficient processing – without any manual preparatory work.

In this blog article, you will learn how to process and organize multipage PDF files with different page sizes easily and efficiently so that you can concentrate on the essentials: the smooth running of your production. Here you will find the following topics:

• Intelligent splitting directly in the workflow
• Splitting jobs in hotfolder
• Container function for a better overview
• Splitting individual jobs at job level
• Conclusion: maximum efficiency, full control

Intelligent Splitting – Directly in the Workflow

The ColorGATE software automatically recognizes different page sizes and offers you several intelligent options for further processing.

Clever splitting into several jobs ensures that the correct print data is generated for each page. This means that even large files or documents with different formats can be processed quickly and easily.

Multipage PDF files – even with different page sizes – can be handled and organized even better directly in the software. By splitting the multipage PDF file into multiple jobs, the software delivers correct print data for all pages within such a file – without needing to prepare the files outside the software. This is because many new options allow you to split PDFs into up to 20 individual jobs based on the number of pages or on the page size, supporting you in further optimizing your production workflow.

Splitting Jobs in Hotfolder

Hotfolders are the heart of automated print data processing in ColorGATE. In the hotfolder settings are many new options for processing multipage PDF files that are automatically applied to newly loaded PDFs: In the following drop-down menu, you define how the software should handle multipage PDFs with different page sizes.

More Control Through Splitting by Page Size

The following options are available on the Rip tab:

• Show warning message: This option issues a warning and scales all pages to the width and height of the first page. The job is displayed with a warning symbol. It can still be ripped and printed. It is automatically ripped and printed if the options RIP automatically and Print automatically are activated in the Workflow tab.
• Abort job processing: This option stops the job processing with an error. The job is displayed with an error symbol next to it. Use this option to avoid unwanted resizing of pages in multipage PDFs. Open the job information to check which pages deviate from the format of the first page.
• From version 25 on, the ColorGATE software offers the new option Split in jobs with all pages of same size. It creates a job with all existing pages of the same size, regardless of whether they are in direct sequence in the original document. The advantage is that individual jobs no longer contain different page sizes. However, the original page sequence is possibly no longer given.
• Split in jobs with consecutive pages of same size: This option is also available with version 25. If this option is selected, individual jobs are only created with consecutive pages of the same size. This means that if a page of a different size follows in the original file, a separate job is created for it. This may result in a larger number of individual jobs, but the pages remain in the same order as in the original document.

You can treat split jobs like any other jobs based on a multipage PDF file.

Splitting by Page Size and With an (Un)Defined Maximum Number of Pages

The Multipage files function is available from version 25 on. In addition to the page size, a defined maximum number of pages can also be used as a criterion for splitting.

• Leave unchanged (default): This option does not specify the number of pages of the split jobs.
• Split in jobs with maximum pages: You can use this function to specify that multipage PDFs are split into individual jobs with a maximum number of pages, whereby the upper page limit is freely definable. This has the advantage, particularly for very large files (or for those with a very large number of pages), that they can be split into several smaller jobs and processed in parallel. This function increases the process speed considerably. If you select Split in jobs with maximum pages, an additional input field is displayed to the right of the drop-down menu in which you can enter values between 1 and 10,000. The default value is 1.

The split jobs inherit the settings of the respective original job, except for the output page range. In the job archive, these jobs inherit the name of the job from which they originated and the page range, e.g., Smartstream_CC_60x40_Test_SplitPages_4-6.

The option Split in jobs with all pages of same size / Split in jobs with consecutive pages of same size can be combined with the option Split in jobs with maximum pages. This way, a PDF file can be split into individual jobs with pages of the same size and with a maximum number of pages.

Note: Please note that the functions Different page sizes and Multipage files on the RIP tab are only available at hotfolder level. You can find these functions for individual jobs under Job settings > Split Multipage Job.... You can find further information on this in the section Splitting individual jobs at job level.

Container Function for a Better Overview

To help you keep track of multiple split jobs, version 25 and later include the function Create container for split jobs on the Container tab in the hotfolder settings. This automatically combines and prints all related jobs in one container. Thus, all related jobs remain logically bundled – either in their original job or printed in a media-saving manner.

Splitting of Individual Jobs at Job Level

Would you like to split a multipage job that has already been loaded? We got you covered.

The same options are available in the context menu or via the menu item Job > Split Multipage Job... as at hotfolder level – but specifically for individual jobs. Here, too, you can split according to page size and maximum number of pages. This allows the print data to be created more quickly through parallel job processing.

How to split a single job:

1. Go to Job or right-click on the Job > Split Multipage Job.... The Split Job dialog opens.
   
2. Select one of the options of the Different page sizes drop-down menu. You can select Split in jobs with all pages of same size or Split in jobs with consecutive pages of same size. These options behave in the same way as at the hotfolder level. Further details can be found in the section More control by splitting by page size. If the multipage file does not contain pages with different sizes, the Different page size drop-down menu is grayed out.
3. Select one of the options from the Multipage files drop-down menu. You can select Leave unchanged or Split into jobs with maximum number of pages. These options also behave in the same way as at the hotfolder level. Further details can be found in the section Splitting by page size and with an (un)defined maximum number of pages.

When splitting individual jobs, you can also combine any of the options from step 2 with Split in jobs with maximum pages. So a PDF file is split into individual jobs with pages of the same size and with a maximum number of pages.

4. Click OK. The split jobs are created as a link in the job archive. Only the first split job is a copy of the original job. The split jobs adopt the name of the job from which they originate and the page range, e.g., Smartstream_CC_60x40_Test_SplitPages_4-6.

Conclusion: Maximum Efficiency, Full Control

With the new functions for splitting multipage PDF files, you can master even complex print jobs effortlessly – whether automatically via hotfolder or manually per job.

Your benefits at a glance:

• Automated job splitting according to page size and maximum number of pages
• Optimized workflow through parallel processing
• Error prevention and time savings
• Full overview thanks to the container function

 If you have any questions or problems, please contact us at contact@colorgate.com.