produce-imposition

Last updated on December 29, 2023
•
5 minutes to read

The produce-imposition task arranges images on a sheet based on the layout described in a PSD template. This task takes input files, creates new images of the same size as in the template, and places input images in place of smart objects in the template.

When the input contains a single image, you can copy it to all the placeholders as well as draw a specified number of copies. The VDP scenario is also supported when the input contains different versions of the design. In this case, you can define whether they should be placed on the same or different sheets.

The resulting print file may look as follows:

Print file with imposition.

You can test how imposition works with this template in our demos.

Preparing an imposition template in Photoshop

To provide a template for imposition:

Create a PSD file in Photoshop. Select the sheet size depending on the desired dimensions of the output PDF file, for example, 8.5x11 inches or 12x18 inches.
Add smart objects of the same size as the design and arrange them in a grid with the desired gap.
Do not add other layer types since they will be ignored.

Tip

If you need cropping marks, you can draw them using the task draw-crop-marks before producing the imposition.

For reference, you can download an imposition template for the letter sheet bc-8up-letter.

Parameters

Defining a product template

The template source can be specified in two ways:

Using the impositionTemplateId — the identifier of the PSD template.
Using two parameters:
- impositionTemplateName - The name of the PSD template in the tenant's Image assets.
- impositionTemplateFolder - The folder path containing the PSD template in the tenant's Image assets. The default is "/", which means the Image folder.
Tip

You can parameterize the file name using the interpolation mechanism. This is when your personalization workflow populates a field in a project, say ImpositionTemplate, and then you can refer to it by using the following expression:

"impositionTemplateName": "{{project.items.0.impositionTemplate}}"

Configuring the rendering

Additional parameters for the task:

impositionInputRepeatCount (number) - (optional) Defines how many times the entire list of input images will be repeated. For example, the value 3 for the three images A, B, C will result in the sequence A, B, C, A, B, C, A, B, C. The default value is 1.
impositionRenderSeparateFiles (boolean) - (optional) If true, it renders pages of a multipage result into separate files. Possible values are true and false. The default value is false, and the multipage result is output to a single file.
impositionRenderDpi (number) - (optional) The DPI value of the resulting file. The default value is 300.
impositionRenderFormat (string) - (optional) The output file format, one of jpeg | png | tiff | pdf. The default value is pdf.
impositionRenderPdfCompression (string) - The compression method for the resulting file. The method should match the output file format. For more details, refer to the Compression types.
impositionRenderJpegCompressionQuality (number) - (optional) The compression level for the content inside the resulting file. This value applies to the pdf, jpeg, and tiff formats. 100 corresponds to maximum quality and file size, 0 - minimum quality and file size. The default value is 90.
impositionRenderPdfAuthor (string) - (optional) Metadata property "Author" for the PDF format.
impositionRenderPdfCreator (string) - (optional) Metadata property "Creator" for the PDF format.
impositionRenderPdfKeywords (string) - (optional) Metadata property "Keywords" for the PDF format.
impositionRenderPdfSubject (string) - (optional) Metadata property "Subject" for the PDF format.
impositionRenderPdfTitle (string) - (optional) Metadata property "Title" for the PDF format.
impositionOutputArchiveType (string) - (optional) If specified, the rendering result will be packed into an archive. Possible values are Zip | SevenZip. By default, it is not specified.
impositionsOutputArchiveCompressionType (string) - (optional) Supported types are none | copy | default | deflate | deflate64 | lzma | lzma2. The default value is default.

Input

Images in PDF, JPEG, PNG, and TIFF formats can be submitted to the input. It can be a single image or a multi-page file, packed into an archive or not. The task will insert these images as is, saving vector data and the color space.

When you have a single file or a multi-page file at the input, specify a single input artifact.

{
  "inputArtifacts": [ "design" ]
}

To provide many files to the input, list them separated by commas or add an asterisk to the artifact name.

{
  "inputArtifacts": [ "design*" ]
}

By default, the impositionInputRepeatCount parameter is 1. This means that the task will insert input images into placeholders in a single copy, leaving the rest of placeholders blank. If you have a single image at the input, it will populate all the placeholders.

For multiple input images, you need to control the number of these images and placeholders. For example, for two images and eight placeholders, set impositionInputRepeatCount to 4.

{
    "parameters": { 
        "impositionInputRepeatCount": 4 
    },
    "inputArtifacts": [ "design-1", "design-2" ]
}

Output

When you have a single image at the input, the task will create a single file with imposition. In this case, specify a single output artifact.

{
  "outputArtifacts": [ "imposition-result" ]
}

If there are many file copies at the input or a multi-page PDF, and if images remain after filling in all placeholders, the task creates the next page and so on until all images run out.

At the same time, you have several options to configure the output files:

Set impositionRenderSeparateFiles to false and get a single multi-page PDF.

{
    "parameters": { 
        "impositionRenderSeparateFiles": false 
    },
    "outputArtifacts": [ "imposition-result" ]
}

Create several single-page files and pack them to a single archive.

{
    "parameters": { 
        "impositionRenderSeparateFiles": true, 
        "impositionOutputArchiveType": "SevenZip",
        "impositionsOutputArchiveCompressionType": "lzma"
    },
    "outputArtifacts": [ "imposition-result" ]
}

Send each page to a separate file and get many files at the output. If needed, they can also be archived, but a separate archive will be created for each file:

{
    "parameters": { 
        "impositionRenderSeparateFiles": true, 
        "impositionOutputArchiveType": "SevenZip",
        "impositionsOutputArchiveCompressionType": "lzma"
    },
    "outputArtifacts": [ "imposition-result*" ]
}

Example

{
    "description": "Imposition",
    "name": "produce-imposition",
    "type": "produce-imposition",
    "inputArtifacts": [
        "hires-design"
    ],
    "parameters": {
        "impositionTemplateId": "b3c3112f-baff-4994-b477-6ba232361611",
        "impositionRenderDpi": 200,
        "impositionRenderFormat": "png",
        "impositionRenderSeparateFiles": true,
        "impositionRenderJpegCompressionQuality": 50
    },
    "outputArtifacts": [
        "result*"
    ]
}

You can find a complete example in the Imposition topic.