Using Switch to redistill

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strido527
Newbie
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2020 4:53 pm

Using Switch to redistill

Post by strido527 »

I'm a new switch user, using Switch 2020 and I've also got PitStop Server.

I have a client that is sending PDFs with internal rotation issues (created from a scanner) - to fix this I need to resdistil the PDFs and then send them through the workflow again using PDF x/ 2001 as a job setting. These arrive in zipped folders along with an xml file.

So I'm trying to see if I can help them out. I would like to know if it's possible for the combination of Switch and PitStop Server to:

1) Unzip the PDFs
2) Save as postscript and redistill
3) Re-Zip them along with the XML file and send them to the input folder of the original workflow (Not Switch but probably will be in the future)

Any insight would be very helpful. Thanks!
jan_suhr
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 1:12 pm
Location: Nyköping, Sweden

Re: Using Switch to redistill

Post by jan_suhr »

You shouldn't need to re-distill. With PitStop server you can make an Action that rotate the pages to the correct orientation and just save the PDF as that. A lot quicker process and not harmfull to the PDF.
Jan Suhr
Color Consult AB
Sweden
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strido527
Newbie
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2020 4:53 pm

Re: Using Switch to redistill

Post by strido527 »

Sorry, I wasn't exactly clear. I'm probably not using "internal rotation" correctly.


When you open up the PDF, it's displayed as portrait. However, when we send it through the workflow (Not Switch), that program overlays a barcode on the PDF. That overlay page winds up being landscape because that's how that program reads the pages inside the PDF.

Because of the internal rotation of the original PDF as landscape, the barcode is actually outside the printing area.

When I redistill the original PDF the rotation issues get fixed and the barcode appears as it should. So that's why I'm wondering if I can automate the redistill process. I'd have the result of the redistill sent to the input folder of the other workflow.

Ultimately I'd probably create a new workflow in Switch to have everything in one place but that's for later....
jan_suhr
Advanced member
Posts: 586
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 1:12 pm
Location: Nyköping, Sweden

Re: Using Switch to redistill

Post by jan_suhr »

Well even though you solve it by re-distilling it I don't think you need to do that. PitStop can fix such problems for you a lot simpler and quicker.

In Action Lists you have a few things that I would start with to see what your PDF have.

"Check if page rotation angle is..."

"Check media box origin"

"Apply page rotation"

Try them and see what you get.
Jan Suhr
Color Consult AB
Sweden
=============
Check out my apps
strido527
Newbie
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2020 4:53 pm

Re: Using Switch to redistill

Post by strido527 »

Wow. Been a while.
I never did figure this out, so I'm still unclear on a few things.

I have a zipped file, 12345.zip. This has PDFs and an XML in it. Since SWITCH isn't the final destination for these files they have to be re-zipped with the same name as when it came in. Is there a method to store that filename and then use it as your output zipped file?

Basically the workflow has to look like:
> Unzip PDFs and XML
> PDFs get redistilled
> Resulting PDFs get re-zipped along with the XML file that was in the original input, with the same filename as it was when the flow started.
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