The Overlays presets section allows you to manage the existing default presets or add new ones. PDF documents overlay (could also be called PDF stitching), means that you can insert the content of a PDF file in another PDF document (either in front of the existing content or as the background for the existing one) and create a single PDF file containing the merged information. For example, if you have a PDF template branded with your company information (that shows in the header/footer) and you received other PDF documents that need to use the same template, you can overlay the new document with the existing template and create a single merged branded PDF. A preset can be used by multiple printing profiles and whenever a preset is updated, it will be modified automatically in all profiles that use it.
Manage presets
New
This will create a new preset based on the default one. You can change its settings and use the Save button to record your changes and create the preset. It is created only after you click on the Save button, if you click on Cancel or select a different preset the current one will be discarded.
Copy
This allows you to duplicate an existing preset. To do so, just select an existing preset and click on Copy. Unlike the New option, when you copy an existing preset the duplicate is automatically saved with a different name (original name of the preset plus the word Copy ). Removing the original preset doesn't affect in any way the existing copy of it.
Delete
Deletes the preset selected from the list of presets. You cannot delete the default presets that are included in the application.
Browse
You can use the left/right arrows in the top-right section of the window to navigate back to the profile manager page or forward to the preset window. You can also access quickly the presets by clicking on the Profile text next to the navigational arrows and selecting the preset section you want to read more about.
Presets List
When the novaPDF is installed, a default set of presets is included for each section that uses presets. These presets have predetermined unchangeable settings that are taken into consideration when creating the PDF files.
However you can create custom presets based on the default ones that when used, will create PDFs using the options you've chosen. In novaPDF there are two types of presets, private and public:
- Private presets. A private preset is visible only to the current user. By default new presets are created as private and only the users from the computer where it was created will be able to see it and use that preset in their profiles.
- Public presets. Public presets are visible from all client computers (or other users on the same computer) that connect to and print via the computer where they are defined (the printer server). When a public preset will be used, all the settings from that preset will be propagated to the client computers.
This list shows the presets (both private and public) that were defined. The icon on the right of the preset name shows what type of it is (public or private). You can filter the shown profiles by starting to type in the search field and also use the Public/Private checkboxes to filter them by type.
Default Presets
The default overlays presets are automatically included in the application and available right after installation. These are presets created based on the most used scenarios for this section.
Invoice
When this preset is used, the content from the original document will be overlayed with a generic invoice PDF. This is meant for test purposes to see how this feature could be used, as the invoice details cannot be changed in the default preset. The layout of the overlay can be modified from the Profile Manager -> Layout section.
Letterhead
When this preset is used, the content from the original document will be overlayed with a generic letterhead PDF. This is meant for test purposes to see how this feature could be used to brand the PDFs, as the letterhead details cannot be changed in the default preset. The layout of the overlay can be modified from the Profile Manager -> Layout section.
Overlays
Name
You can type a name for the default preset you are editing/creating.
Description
Add a description for the default preset you are creating/editing.
Author
Optionally you can set the author for this default preset.
Private preset
When the novaPDF is installed, a default preset is created. This preset uses its own default printing settings to create the PDF files. However you can change those settings and create a custom preset, that when used, will create PDFs using the options you've chosen. For each newly defined preset you can choose to have it as Private or Public by checking or unchecking the Private checkbox.
If shorter overlay file, repeat
If the PDF file you selected to overlay with has less pages than the file you are printing, you have the option to chose how the content of the resulting PDF will look like.
Nothing
This is the default selection. If the PDF file you selected to overlay with has less pages than the file you are printing and None is selected, the resulting PDF file will use as background/foreground the content of the overlayed PDF until it reaches the last page of the overlayed PDF, after that continuing without adding content from the overlayed PDF. Example: you have a document that has 5 pages and you want to overlay it with a PDF document that has 2 pages (called let's say overlay.pdf). The resulting PDF file will have 5 pages, and on the first two the content of the overlay.pdf document will be included, on the last 3 pages the content of overlay.pdf not being included at all.
Last page
If the PDF file you selected to overlay with has less pages than the file you are printing and Last Page is selected, the resulting PDF file will use as background/foreground the content of the overlayed PDF until it reaches the last page of the overlayed PDF, after that continuing to add the content from the last page of the overlayed PDF only. Example: you have a document that has 5 pages and you want to overlay it with a PDF document that has 2 pages (called let's say overlay.pdf). The resulting PDF file will have 5 pages. On the first page, it will include the content of page 1 from overlay.pdf, on the second page it will include the content of page 2 from overlay.pdf and for the last 3 pages it will continue to include the content from page 2 of overlay.pdf (because it is the last page).
Continuous
If the PDF file you selected to overlay with has less pages than the file you are printing and Continuous is selected, the resulting PDF file will add continuously as background/foreground the content of the overlayed PDF until it reaches the end of the resulting pdf. Example: you have a document that has 5 pages and you want to overlay it with a PDF document that has 2 pages (called overlay.pdf). The resulting PDF file will have 5 pages. On the first page, it will include the content of page 1 from overlay.pdf, on the second page it will include the content of page 2 from overlay.pdf, on the third page it will include the content of page 1 from overlay.pdf, on the fourth page it will include page 2 from overlay.pdf and on the last page it will include page 1 from overlay.pdf (overlay.pdf is added continuously always starting with the first page).
Overlay file
File Name
Use the Browse button to find and select an existing PDF document. This document will be used to overlay its content with the content of other documents you'll print to PDF from. This information is mandatory if Overlay is enabled (and you can only select PDF files to overlay with).
You can also enter network paths (UNC) in the File Name field in case the PDF you want to use is not on the local computer. Only a full path is allowed. For example, suppose \\PDF_Server\PC1 is mapped on your workstation as drive X, then the following paths are both valid and indicate the same folder: \\PDF_Server\PC1\PDF or X:\PDF. If the network file requires authentication (different from your user login) you have to enter the username/password.
Optionally you can add macro names for the file name that will be generated (i.e. add the conversion date to the file name).
PDF Password
If the PDF document you selected in the File Name section to overlay with is password protected, you will need to add in here the password needed to open that document. If the PDF you want to overlay with is not password protected, you can leave this field empty.
Note: Some of the features mentioned on this page might not be available in your edition. The Professional edition includes all the features, while Standard and Lite have limited functionality.