Imposition Settings

Show/hide imposition settings

View properties

The functions shown in the lower part of the dialog are valid for all the tabs:

Pages

This is where you can set the number of master pages to be placed.

AutoApply:

All the imposition settings are shown immediately in the graphic and written to the data if this option is set.

Apply:

You can apply your settings at a period you want with "Apply" (i.e. view them) if "AutoApply" is not set. This setting enhances the performance in documents with large numbers of pages.

Show:

•"Front":
Only the front is displayed.

•"Back":
Only the back is displayed.

•"Front/Back":
Front and back are displayed.

•"Transparency":
The transparency setting is best either with just the "Front" or "Back" view. You can use the slider to simulate on the screen how the other surface shines through. If "Front" is set, you will then see a simulation of the back shining through. If "Back" is set, you will then see a simulation of the front shining through.

"Sheet" tab

Plate Size

The imaging window includes everything that will be imaged, i.e. subject with bleed and marks. You can select:

•User-defined
You can define the size of the imaging window through "Width" and "Height".

•Fit
The size of the imaging window is fit to the size of the printing material.
An offset that was defined for the printing material compared to the imaging window (see X/Y position) is taken into account in "Fit". In other words, the imaging window is then the same size as the printing material plus the material offset.

•QM 46; SM 52; SM 74; SM 102.

Printing material

•You can select a predefined printing material size from the list box.

•"Width" / "Height":
You can type in values for the printing material size in these boxes. "Custom" then displays in the "Format" list box.

•Plus/minus button:
You can save the set width and height under a new name when you click the plus button. You can delete this again with the minus button.

•"X / Y Position":
Offset of the printing material in positive X or Y direction in relation to the imaging window. The imaging window automatically becomes bigger if an offset causes the printing material to jut beyond it.

•"Horizontal center":
You can use this to position the printing material on the imaging window so that it is centered in the X position.

Folding Sheet Position

This is where you position the bottom left corner of the subject in relation to the bottom left corner of the printing material.

•"Mode > Center":
The subject is centered on the printing material.

•"Mode > Custom":
The subject is positioned manually.

•"X Position":
Subject offset in X direction.

•"Y Position":
Subject offset in Y direction.

Placement Rule

•"Perfector":
Two plates are created for printing, one for the front and one for the back. The stack is turned from front to back after printing the front. A perfector in the press very often does this.

•"Sheetwise":
Two plates are created for printing, one for the front and one for the back. The stack is turned from right to left after printing the front.

•"Work-and-turn":
The front and back are located on one plate. (As a result, you do not need a plate for the back.) The stack of paper is turned after printing (from right to left) and printing is now on the reverse side.

•"Work-and-tumble":
The front and back are located on one plate. (As a result, you do not need a plate for the back.) The stack of paper is tumbled after printing (from front to back) and printing is now on the reverse side.

See also View properties.

"Marks" tab

Folding Sheet Cuts, Cut Marks, Folding Marks, Fold Lay Marks

•"Shift":
The mark is moved outwards by this value.

•"Length":
Length of the mark in the set unit of measure.

•" ->I<- ":
Line weight of the mark in the set unit of measure.

Ink pickup bar

This is where you can add as many as four ink pickup bars: C, M, Y, K, X, Z, U, V, S1, S2 or S3 and - (no ink pickup bar).

Color control bar

This is where you can add a color control bar.

The top left corner of the subject is the reference point (zero point) for the color control bar.

By default, the color control bar is always placed at the top left above the subject.

•Use "Offset" to set the vertical position of the color control bar.

Each ink zone is calculated to have 5.5 patches. The following functions run automatically in the background when you display a color control bar:

•One patch per ink zone is always inserted for every process color. The dot percentage is 100%.

•Spot colors are calculated to have 1.5 patches if you have four process colors. The spot color patches are distributed as evenly as possible across the color control bar if you have more than one spot color.

•Empty patches are inserted for process colors that are not used. If the remaining patches should not be needed for spot colors, they are then used to display the used colors with a dot percent­age of 70%.

•A special color control bar with a grayscale displays for pure black-and-white outputs.

•A separate color control bar is generated in each case for front and back if you use the "Work-and-turn" or "Work-and-tumble" work style (see ).

Register marks

This is where you select the position of the register marks, whether they will be "All round", "On side" or "Top/Bottom".

You also select the offset of the register marks from the folding sheet margin in X and Y direction as well as the line width.

To change the size of the register marks, you can enter values between 50% and 200%.

Pull Lay

A pull lay lets you check the side alignment of a sheet.

You can set a pull lay on the left or right on a front or back. You can also define the offset from the lower sheet edge.

Collating mark

•List box:

·"Automatic":
The length of the collating mark is defined automatically. You can type in the line width.

·"User-defined":
You enter the length and width of the collating mark manually.

•"Length" and "Line Width":
Length and line width of the collating mark in the set unit of measure.

See also View properties.

"Master Pages" tab

Master Pages

Lists the master pages found in the PDF. A master page is always assigned to each page placeholder. The "Default" master page is assigned by default to each page placeholder.

The parameters of the master pages include:

Page Size

•You can select predefined sizes for the trimmed size (or page placeholder) in this list box.

The size of the master page is equivalent to the size of the trimmed size on the press sheet.

"From PDF" is the predominant size of all the trim boxes of the PDF document. See also "Boxes" group .

•"Width" / "Height":
You can type in values for the trimmed size in these boxes. "Custom" then displays in the "Stan­dard Sizes" list box.

Orientation

This is where you define whether the master page is portrait or landscape.

Page Policies

Placement rule for the assigned pages. This is where you define how an assigned page will be placed in the page placeholder (e.g. "Center").

•"Center":
The assigned page is centered on the trimmed size. Page content that juts over the trimmed size or bleed is cut off.

•"Lower Left":
The bottom left corner of the assigned page is placed on the bottom left corner of the trimmed size. Page that juts over the trimmed size or bleed is cut off.

•"Scale to Fit":
The assigned page is scaled proportionally to fit exactly into the trimmed size.

•"Unconditional":
The bottom left corner of the assigned page is placed with no constraints on the bottom left cor­ner of the trimmed size. For example, a page that is too big is not scaled and the page content juts over the trimmed size. The projecting part is not cut off.

Trim Allowance for Pages

•"Automatic calculation of Trim Allowance":
When you set this option, the Trim  is calculated so that the folding sheet and printing material are the same size. This saves you cutting along the outer edge.
The folding sheet bounding box is the same size as the printing material if there are several fold­ing sheets on the printing material.

•"Left", "Right", "Top", "Bottom":
These are the page margins for which you can define a trim.

The trim is assigned to the page content. This means that "Top" is always the trim at the head of the page, no matter what orientation the page has.

•"On even Pages" "Swap Left/Right":
This function makes it easy for you to define a back margin. The values for the right and left mar­gin are swapped when this option is set.

•"On even Pages" "Swap Top/Bottom":
This function makes it easy for you to define a back margin for calendars. The values for the top and bottom margin are swapped when this option is set.
The procedure is the same as for "On even Pages" "Swap Left/Right".

•"Bleed":
This is where you define the Bleed.
Bleed is used to specify the maximum amount of page content outside of the Trim Box that is to be printed. If bleed is defined for a PDF page (via PDF BleedBox), but the bleed is smaller than the master page bleed, the printout is limited to the size of the BleedBox.

Tips:

If a bleed unexpectedly does not appear, the following can be the cause:

·No TrimBox is defined in the PDF pages, or BleedBox is smaller than or the same size as TrimBox.

Remedies: Correct the bleed box / trim box or set the correct height and width for your own trim size; in addition, set the page policies to "Centered".

·No trim allowances for the pages are defined in the master page.

Remedy: Define sufficient trim allowance for the pages.

·The limit value for the bleed in the master page is "0".

Remedy: Correct the limit value for the bleed.

Example of How to Define a Back Margin

The following example will be used to illustrate the function:

•Binding is to be on the left side on pages with odd numbers.

•Binding is to be on the right side on pages with even numbers.

Proceed as follows if you wish to set a trim only on the binding edges:

1.Type in the trim you want for your binding edge in "Left".

The trim is shown as a hatched area in the graphics below:

2.Set the "Swap Left/Right" option.

As a result, the values in "Left" and "Right" are swapped for the even pages. In this way, you set the trim only on the binding edges as you wanted.

Trim left/right are swapped!

See also View properties.

"Scheme" tab

In other words, you can create a new scheme or load a predefined one.

Scheme

You can select a predefined scheme in this group.

You cannot overwrite predefined schemes.

•"Columns": Number of columns in the scheme.

•"Rows": Number of rows in the scheme.

Explanation of the Name Used for a Scheme

The elements of scheme "F6-2 3x1P" are explained below:

•"F6-2": Name of the scheme as listed in Heidelberg's fold type catalog

·First digit: Number of pages per folding sheet

·Second digit after the hyphen: Consecutive number

•"3x1": "Number of columns" x "Number of rows"

•"P": Numbering is for a brochure if a "P" is added to the scheme name. This is a scheme for the "Accordion Fold" pagination mode.

This type of pagination only affects single-lined schemes. Viewed from page 1, page numbering is to the right and circular (including the back) and in ascending order. All the pages have the same orientation.

•Numbering is for a calendar if a "C" is added to the scheme name.

Master Pages

This is where you can assign a master page to the selected page placeholder.

Ordinal Number

This is where you can change the ordinal for the selected page placeholder.

To create a blank page, enter "0" as the ordinal. In this case, no page is assigned to this page place­holder.

Orientation

Graphic View

You can view the graphic of the front and back for the scheme in this panel.

The arrows in the page placeholders show the orientation of the pages. The numbers are the page placeholder numbers for the pages.

See also View properties.

Front / Back

•No tick in "Back":
A scheme is edited only for the front.

•Tick in "Back":
A scheme is edited for front and back.

Layout tab

Binding Methods

•"Saddlestitch"

In saddlestitching, the folded press sheets are nested. As a result, the position of a document page on a folding sheet not only depends on the scheme selected, but also on the size of the publication. For this type of binding, the program automatically combines the highest and lowest page to a pair and then calculates the position of each individual page. The scheme is repeated until all the document pages are assigned to a folding sheet. If necessary, blank pages are added to the first folding sheet.

•"Perfect Binding"

In perfect binding, the folded press sheets are placed on top of each other, milled off at the back and glued. The scheme is repeated until all the document pages are assigned to a folding sheet.

"Creeping Value"

You use the creeping value to offset unwanted creeping.

The creeping value that you can define in this box defines creeping between two successive two-page spreads.

A positive value shifts the inner pages inwards (towards the spine). A negative value shifts the inner pages outwards.

The value determines the offset per fold layer.

The page spacing changes if you enter a value for creeping.

Fixed Marks:

If your document has more pages than defined in the scheme, you can use this option to specify whether the folding sheets will be nested (saddlestitch) or stacked one on top of the other (perfect binding), which can lead to different pagination of the folding sheets. Creeping compensates the shift of the inner pages outwards. The setting is taken into account in all cases except when the schema only contains one page. The cut marks are not shifted inwards if "Fixed Marks" is set.

In "Saddlestitch" creeping is calculated for all the pages of the job, even if there are several folding sheets.

In "Perfect Binding", creeping is calculated only for the pages of a single folding sheet, regardless of how many pages the job has as a whole.

Gripper Collator

Normally, a strip of paper/material is used to pull the folding sheets on to the saddle if a sad­dlestitcher is used to collate the sheets. The position of the gripper margin on the sheet depends on the folding sheet scheme. The folding sheet becomes bigger because of the gripper margin. As a result, all the pages are shifted.

Choose between a front fold and rear fold if you need a gripper margin:

•Not Present

•Fold Rear

•Fold Front

"Margin"

Enter the width of the gripper margin of a folding sheet.

"Press Sheet Layout" group

This is where you define how the folding sheets are arranged on the press sheet.

You always start off with one folding sheet per press sheet. In other words, folding sheet 1 is placed on press sheet 1, folding sheet 2 on press sheet 2, etc.

AutoArrange Folding Sheets

The folding sheets are arranged automatically so that the printing material is utilized to its maximum. This means that the maximum values for "Columns" and "Rows" are set automatically.

The folding sheets are duplicated to fill the sheet if "Repeat" is set. If it is not, the folding sheets are not duplicated but arranged consecutively.

Collate, Cut and Stack

You can use "Collate, Cut and Stack" if you placed a number of different folding sheets on a press sheet. The function can be used with perfect binding as well as saddlestitching.

•Function disabled:
Each press sheet is cut separately. The cuts sort out the folding sheets.

•Function enabled:
All the press sheets of a printing unit are first stacked. The number of stacks you will have as a result corresponds to your press run, i.e. one stack of press sheets per printing unit. Then each stack is cut so that you have your folding sheets. As a result, you will have a number of folding sheet stacks that are then stacked or collated in the correct order.
Collating the press sheets and/or folding sheets can be automated depending on the capability of the finishing route.
In contrast to the disabled function, the order/layout of the folding sheets on the press sheets changes.

Rotate Folding Sheets:

This is where you select whether you would like to rotate your folding sheets by 0°, 90°, 180° or 270°.

If you have several folding sheets and you rotate them by 90°, the folding sheets are always arranged head to head in pairs.

Columns / Rows

This is where you define how the folding sheets are arranged on the press sheet.

You always start off with one folding sheet per press sheet. In other words, folding sheet 1 is placed on press sheet 1, folding sheet 2 on press sheet 2, etc.

You can only set the "Repeat" option if a number greater or equal "2" is entered in "Columns" or "Rows".

"Columns" with "Repeat"

The number in "Columns" is greater or equal "2" and "Repeat" is set. In this case, the number in "Col­umns" indicates how often the folding sheets of a press sheet will be duplicated on this press sheet in horizontal direction.

Example: You have folding sheet 1 (pages 1-4) on press sheet 1 and folding sheet 2 (pages 5-8) on press sheet 2 (see graphic below):

Enter a "2" in "Columns".

Then the front of folding sheet 1 will be placed twice side by side on the front of press sheet 1. Match­ing this, the back of folding sheet 1 will be placed twice side by side on the back of press sheet 1.

Do the same with folding sheet 2, see graphic below:

As a result, you can have several press sheets.

"Columns" without "Repeat"

"Columns" displays a number and "Repeat" is not set.

In this case, the number in "Horizontal" indicates how many folding sheets will be placed on a press sheet in horizontal direction. No folding sheet is duplicated. The folding sheets are simply placed side by side.

Example: You have folding sheet 1 (pages 1-4) on press sheet 1 and folding sheet 2 (pages 5-8) on press sheet 2 (see graphic below):

Enter a "2" in "Columns".

Then the fronts of folding sheet 1 and 2 (pages 1, 4, 5, 8) will be placed on the front of press sheet 1. Matching this, the backs of folding sheet 1 and 2 (pages 2, 3, 6, 7) will be placed on the back of press sheet 1. You save one press sheet. See the graphic below:

"Rows" with/without "Repeat"

Like "Columns" with/without "Repeat", only in vertical direction.

Spacing of Folding Sheets

Prerequisite: You have more than one folding sheet in vertical or horizontal direction on a press sheet.

You can then set the vertical or horizontal gaps between the folding sheets.