pdfToolbox

Product info

pdfToolbox

The all-in-one desktop PDF production toolkit that’s powerful and easy-to-use

callas pdfToolbox 5 gives working with PDFs a massive boost with a greatly extended feature set to match a diversity of users’ needs.

callas pdfToolbox 5 can:

create localized information or multiple-language versions of files even without the creator document or application
prepare polished PDF presentations
repurpose PDFs in any way you want.

Newest features in version 5.3:

MacOS X Lion support
New check to find ligatures
Japanese language support
Rendering images based on page geometry boxes or custom boxes
Extended fixups
Scale pages with more options
Split PDF: new tokens for file names
Most recent version of Adobe PDF Library 9.1 integrated

For prepress professionals, there’s an updated preflight engine which supports:

the latest ISO standards
advanced color management
imposition of everything from business cards to full N-up impositions
splitting or join-ing of PDF content
controls to resize and reposition PDF content
the ability to embed, subset, replace and convert fonts to outlines.

New in pdfToolbox 5

Convert native documents into print-ready PDFs
- Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Publisher, Visio and Project
- OpenOffice
- Pages and Keynote (Mac OS X only)
- PostScript and EPS
- PNG, JPG and TIFF images
Fix PDF’s that have correct printer marks but without a correct trim or bleed box set
Visually compare PDF’s to accurately see what changes have been done or make sure no unintended changes were introduced
You can create your own quality control rules or you can simply adopt those developed by standards organizations such as the ISO or the GWG. And with full support of the Proof of Preflight standard developed by the GWG, callas pdfToolbox will protect your preflighted files with a digital signature.
Simple imposition tasks such as making booklets or doing a step-and-repeat are done seamlessly by pdfToolbox 5, taking a PDF file generated with spreads and splitting it into single pages for example. More complicated imposition schemes can be created and applied as well and of course they can also be automated using callas pdfToolbox Server.
The neat batch feature lets you run a quality control profile or a PDF fix-up on a whole folder of files - easy to use and lightning quick.

Key features

Powerful Document Manipulation tools for everyone...

Prepares professional looking handouts and presentations for on-screen and printed delivery
Easily creates language or regional versions with extensive support for localization workflows
Imposes anything from simple booklets to fully-fledged brochures and books, as well as N-up and Step&Repeat impositions for digital printing
Options to scale, fit, move, extend, rotate and flip pages and content
Powerful layering features and the ability to slice pages into text and non-text
Easily split multipage PDF documents into page-range fragments and combine them
Selectively remove content and import new content; double burn pages; insert empty pages or duplicate pages
Easy access to frequently needed tools through personal workspaces
Appealing user interface that adds tremendous fun to dealing with PDFs
Ability to contact support from within the user interface and vote on features

...And production tools for the specialists

Easy exporting of ICC profiles embedded in PDFs
Standards supported include PDFX-ready Profiles v1.2 (PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3, PDF/X-4 and PDF/X-4p) based on Ghent PDF Workgroup 1v4 specifications
The PDF Layer Explorer allows you to manage and generate layer views (OCCDs), and includes the first-in-industry ability to generate layers in accordance with PDF/X-4
Font controls include embedding, subsetting already embedded fonts (saving up to 50% space over other subsetting tools); replacing fonts and converting to vector outlines
Advanced font-management keeps font names unique and prevents font caching problems when combining PDFs using subsets of the same font
Produces reports for numerous aspects of your PDF, including font usage or image overviews
Built-in image re-compression allows you to change the compression method of images right inside your PDF files
Prepress Pro Companion can replace an incorrectly defined output intent, modify overprint and knockout for black and white, adjust TVI and more

Professional color management for non-experts

Includes the world’s most powerful color tools: adjust for type of output with a click; conversion to B/W that just works; converts RGB in Office PDFs to printable CMYK; sophisticated spot color handling
Processes all gray elements consistently (whether DeviceGray, DeviceCMYK, DeviceN or Separation), and enables dot-gain compensation (for both process and spot colors)
New advanced color mapping to map between various color spaces including RGB to CMYK or vice versa,
Spot to Spot, Spot to CMYK or RGB, and RGB or CMYK to Spot
Device Link add-on for smooth CMYK to CMYK conversion (payable option). Includes a series of most-used profiles for standard printing processes

Usability to the max!

Completely revamped user interface makes using pdfToolbox 5 a pleasure and a breeze!
Lets you place frequently needed tools, including saved pdfToolbox 5 profiles in your personal work-space
Easily get in touch with callas software support from within the user-interface and submit feature re-quests
Localized versions are available in Spanish and Italian as well as English, German, French
PDF/X-ready profiles translated into 5 languages (English, German, French, Spanish and Italian)
Updated reference manual now has comprehensive information about the creation of imposition con-figuration files and color conversions
Ships with additional pre-configured pdfToolbox 5 profiles to demonstrate the latest checks and fixes with the click of a button
Simplified yet more powerful check enhancement to create preflight rules

Runtime variables for preflight versatility

pdfToolbox 5 includes Dynamic Profiles that allow variable parameters to be defined at runtime. pdfToolbox 5 Dynamic Profiles can be adjusted on the fly and checks and fix-ups can be dynamically switched on or off, creating incredible versatility in your workflow

Get the most out of metadata

Provides convenient browsing of document metadata as well as object-level metadata for images embedded inside the document
Support for all relevant industry metadata standards including Dublin Core, IPTC, PRISM, GWG AdTicket/AdsML, PLUS, EXIF and Camera Raw
Facilitates metadata based researching in Yahoo, Wikipedia, Amazon, Google and AskMetaFilter
Supports GPS data for use with Google Maps, OpenStreetMap and Google Earth
XML export of all document and object level metadata for tracking image use and licenses

PDF2PRINT - Adding value for customers using an automated quality control system built on callas pdfToolbox

“The printing industry has changed radically since we started out but one thing has remained the same – behind every single job is a customer who wants it done right. Soar Printing understands this. It is the heart of our culture. It guides our investment in new technologies and it helps us to continually evolve our business. We need to grow with our customers’ business and be aware of the trends and opportunities they are facing globally. From the smallest print job to the most complex, we want our customers to have the utmost confidence in our company”

Fred Soar – Managing Director Soar Printing, New Zealand

Focus on customers

Soar Printing, an Auckland based company, founded back in 1920 as a family business, is at the forefront of the printing industry in New Zealand. Soar Printing employs over 70 people and offers an extensive range of services, from short run digital printing to long run offset printing and large format poster prints. Within their specific industry segments, the Soar divisions are market leaders utilizing the latest technology to deliver the best possible result. They have grown into that position by constantly evaluating and adapting new technologies to add extra value for their customers. This is especially true with their commitment to environmental issues and the ongoing policy of sourcing the most environmentally friendly processes and products.

Remove costs of quoting, preflight and job creation

Soar Printing mainly focuses on printing for businesses: deliverables include marketing material, business forms, Point of Sale display items and packaging. They count brand names like Nestlé, Estéé Lauder, ASB Bank, Telecom New Zealand, Air New Zealand and Sky City Casino amongst their customers.

“The single biggest change we’ve seen in the last few years,” says Fred Soar “is that print runs are getting shorter, and that printing has been substituted by other means of marketing communications such as social media and online marketing. We at Soar Printing try to adapt to these new trends by making sure we can offer reduced setup costs, taking care of shorter runs and offer more RIP print services.”

Anticipating this new trend in the printing industry and entering a new market, Soar Printing wanted to offer a WEB2PRINT solution for people who know how to use Adobe products and how to create print ready PDFs. Soar Printing was looking for a way to provide instant quoting and inline preflight to customers and at the same time remove the ongoing cost of those activities.

Streamline preflight processes online and in-house

Based on callas pdfToolbox Server, PDF2PRINT was setup by Soar Printing as an independent storefront solution, targeting new customers throughout New Zealand. The ease of setting up standardized quality control using pdfToolbox allowed Soar Printing to not only build the solution into the storefront, but to also use it as a hot folder based application in-house.

The geographical distance between Soar Printing and callas software did not cause any issues. “The fact that callas software is situated in Europe and we in New Zealand created no problems at all. The storefront solution was developed over 6 months; questions were quickly answered and sometimes the time difference even made it easier because the answer or a recommended setup was sent over night. It was an interesting way to work.”

Offer standard and personalized products

PDF2PRINT is a print upload portal built with callas pdfToolbox that allows preflighting and corrections on uploaded PDF files. It is an affordable and fast way to do easy print jobs without sacrificing quality and behind PDF2PRINT the newest digital and offset machines are used to attain the highest quality standards. In order to offer amazingly low prices, Soar Printing has kept a standard range of products that can be ordered through PDF2PRINT, including business cards, flyers, postcards, brochures and posters.

What happens when a customer orders through the PDF2PRINT storefront? The PDF file appears on Soar Printing’s server together with information about the order and the price it was ordered at. The order is then automatically transferred into the MIS system; once this is done, production can be started. In the background, calculations are running to work out where the break is between digital and offset printing for each product and price accordingly. Depending on those calculations, the order is printed either on an HP Indigo 5500 digital printing press or on a Heidelberg Anicolor press.

Eye on the future

The callas pdfToolbox software was installed about a year ago and was launched earlier this year. Upon launch Soar Printing started a marketing campaign including online marketing and direct marketing to attract new businesses. The uptake in traffic and visitors has been significant and the orders are coming in.