Quack! Quack! (Was: Driver & Distiller Settings Phor Phun & Prophet!)

[Dov Isaacs <isaacs@xxxxxxxxx>]

And for those of you who "think different" on a platform that "thinks incompatible" ...

Entries marked with (*) apply to ALL PostScript driver instances, not just
the Acrobat Distiller driver instance. Entries marked (**) apply to ALL
PostScript driver instances except those going to network print queues.

The following applies to MacOS 8.x and 9.x in conjunction with Acrobat 5. 
These settings apply for all applications:

The Macintosh has considerably fewer places that need to be "set" than
Windows. In some cases this is good, in others a liability. Settings are
normally done via the print dialog.


Create Adobe PDF desktop printer - print dialog:


	PDF Settings pane:

		Job Options:		Select your job options.

		After PDF Creation:	Choose either "Launch Adobe Acrobat" or
					"Launch Adobe Acrobat Reader" to view
					PDF file after it is created.

		Click "Save Settings" to make these settings stick with the printer.


	Printer Specific Options pane:

		Resolution:		No less than 600 should be used here.
					Why? This has no real effect on your output.

		Click "Save Settings" to make these settings stick with the printer.


	PostScript Settings pane:

		Format:			"PostScript Job" Why? Because that is what 
					Distiller (and PostScript printers process)

		PostScript Level:	"Level 3 Only"  Why? Distiller is a PostScript 3
					device; take advantage of it!

		Data Format:		"Binary"  Why? Much more compact and efficient
					PostScript stream. Smaller size, less time to
					create and subsequently process by Distiller.

		Font Inclusion:		"None"  Why? Best choice for making sure that 
					the correct fonts are embedded properly in the
					PDF file.

					Note that this gets around a nasty bug in the
					Macintosh "PrintingLib" module (supplied by
					Apple and for which Apple will not provide
					any further fixes) in which all TrueType fonts
					are put into the PostScript stream as Type 1
					unhinted outlines as opposed to Type 42 Native
					TrueType fonts. By having the Distiller get the
					fonts, this problem is totally eliminated!

		Click "Save Settings" to make these settings stick with the printer.


	Background Printing pane:

		Print in:		Background. Why? This function designed to
					print via spooling.

		Click "Save Settings" to make these settings stick with the printer.



Note that if you need to produce PostScript for purposes of manually distilling
into PDF, you need to use the "Virtual Printer" desktop printer.


Virtual Printer desktop printer - page setup dialog:

	Select PPD:			Select the Acrobat Distiller PPD from
					the Xtras subfolder of the Distiller
					subfolder of the Acrobat 5.0 folder.


Virtual Printer desktop printer - print dialog:


	Printer Specific Options pane:

		Resolution:		No less than 600 should be used here.
					Why? This has no real effect on your output.

		Click "Save Settings" to make these settings stick with the printer.


	PostScript Settings pane:

		Format:			"PostScript Job" Why? Because that is what 
					Distiller (and PostScript printers process)

		PostScript Level:	"Level 3 Only"  Why? Distiller is a PostScript 3
					device; take advantage of it!

		Data Format:		"Binary"  Why? Much more compact and efficient
					PostScript stream. Smaller size, less time to
					create and subsequently process by Distiller.

		Font Inclusion:		"None"  Why? Best choice for making sure that 
					the correct fonts are embedded properly in the
					PDF file.

					Note that this gets around a nasty bug in the
					Macintosh "PrintingLib" module (supplied by
					Apple and for which Apple will not provide
					any further fixes) in which all TrueType fonts
					are put into the PostScript stream as Type 1
					unhinted outlines as opposed to Type 42 Native
					TrueType fonts. By having the Distiller get the
					fonts, this problem is totally eliminated!

					The only exception to font inclusion is if you
					need/want to distill on some other system, in 
					which case you should specify "All". However,
					you will be subject to this bug related to use
					of TrueType fonts.

		Click "Save Settings" to make these settings stick with the printer.


	Background Printing pane:

		Print in:		Background. Why? This function designed to
					print via spooling.

		Click "Save Settings" to make these settings stick with the printer.


Distiller Job Options

Fonts:

	Select "Embed All Fonts".

	Why? Forces all fonts to be embedded.

	Select "Subset embedded fonts when percent of characters used is
	less than" and enter "100%"

	Why? Forces all fonts to be subsetted. Note that in most cases with
	TrueType and OpenType fonts, you get subsets anyway, regardless of
	this option. Contrary to popular misconception, subsetting or not
	subsetting a font has no bearing on whether you can or cannot use
	"text touchup" on the text later in the workflow in Acrobat itself.
	This feature requires the font to be installed on the system anyway,
	so whether it is embedded subsetted or not is totally irrelevant!

	Select "When Embedding Fails: Cancel Job"

	Why? You don't like nasty surprises later on.

	Make sure there are no fonts in the "always embed" and "never embed"
	lists. However, if you put fonts in the "never embed" list, that list
	overrides "embed all fonts" for the fonts named in that list.


Remember, that with FrameMaker 7 (available sooner than you might think!!!!), 
"Save as PDF" works and some of this will be a little obsolete. More then!


Notes on PDF creation under MacOS X:

(1)	The "plumbing" for use of the Create Adobe PDF printer does not
	work in "classic mode" under MacOS X. This is not a FrameMaker
	issue and not an Adobe driver issue. Apple just didn't implement
	all that was needed under "classic mode" for the desktop printer
	mechanisms to work.

(2)	"Save as PDF" in FrameMaker 7 will NOT work in "classic mode" of
	MacOS X for the same exact reason.

(3)	To get direct PDF creation to work correctly with FrameMaker (any 
	version, including "save as PDF" under FrameMaker 7) on a system with
	MacOS X, we recommend initially booting your System into MacOS 9.x
	and running your workflow from there. Unfortunately, this advice 
	stands until such time as a version of FrameMaker that runs natively
	under MacOS X may be available. (This is not an announcement!)


Questions? I'll be glad to answer them in person at the FrameUsers seminar
in Durham, NC this September 24 - 27 and at the 2002 PDF Conference East in
Bethesda, MD this June 3 - 5.

	- Dov ("time to duck and cover ... again!")

PS: There will not be one of these tomes (at least from me) with regards
to FrameMaker under various flavours of UNIX.


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