In the last issue, the author made a preliminary introduction to Action Lists. To create an Action List from scratch, you don't have to know how to write a computer program. The most important thing is to think logically. (I understand that writing a computer program has some logical thinking. Training, the author of the last period means that this aspect can help us to grasp the Action List skill easily.)
Here is a description of how to use the three logical words (AND, NOT, OR) in Action List selection actions:
1. Actions only change the selected object (such as a font or image), so we must first select the appropriate selection instruction (such as selec by Font Name) to select the object to be modified. If you do not select any object, there are two possibilities. One is that the action will affect all or some kind of object in the PDF file, and the second is that the action does not change any object.
2. After deciding on the object to be changed, one of the three logic words can be selected to include or exclude the just-selected object. The logic word cannot be in the first row nor in between two or more choices, but only after selection, and the logical word only affects the choice in front of it. For example, the action layout of Figure 1 is wrong, and AND cannot be placed on the first line. Figure 2 is the correct action layout. This action list shows that the selected object is the ArialMT font and at the same time belongs to a certain color space (for example, CalibratedRGB), and it is changed to print 100% black in four colors.
3. There must be two lines of selection instructions in front of OR and AND, as shown in Figure 2, which cannot be more or less. If you want to make more than three choices, you can add logical words to connect later choices, as shown in Figure 3. The logical words here are really logical. If the combination is not logical, we cannot successfully establish new actions. For example, if we want to select a font that is either Adobe Type1 or TrueType can be selected, then we should pick the logical OR instead of AND because the font cannot be both Type1 and TrueType. The logic word AND can be applied to the example of Figure 4, because the font format and the font color are independent (without conflict).
4. The logical word NOT differs from OR and AND in that it may have one or more selection instructions in front of it, which excludes the selected object from being affected by the action, just opposite to the meaning of OR. For example, the result of Figure 5 will be in addition to the fonts Helvetica and ArialMT, all other fonts should be changed to ACasionPro-Bold.
The following describes three very useful examples (the demonstration software is Acrobat Professional V7.0 and PitStop Professional V6.53):
Example 1 - Accelerating Display Response (Using Add Alternate Images)
If the PDF file is large due to the inclusion of high-resolution images, this feature can help users to expedite the display reaction of Acrobat and shorten the time for users to wait for Acrobat to refresh the image. I give a real example, a high-resolution PDF file has 233MB, the image takes up 99% of the file space, does not use the accelerated display takes an average of 25 seconds to refresh the screen (refresh), with the accelerated display and 72dpi image display Refreshing the screen in 3 seconds shows an increase in response of more than 8 times (based on Apple System 10.3.8 and PowerPC G4 733MHz).
In previous articles, the author described Prinergy and Apogee systems as having this function. If there is no such system, PitStop can do it? The answer is yes. Methods as below:
i. Open the high resolution file.
Ii. Select Window > Show PitStop Action List Panel.
Iii. Select the Managing column on the left side of the Action List Control Panel window and press New.
Iv. Press Add at the bottom of the pop-up screen.
v. Select the Changes column in the New Action Type window and select Add Alternate Images.
Vi. Press Add and then Close.
Vii. Then consider changing this preset, such as resolution and color, and finally press OK to create this Action.
Viii. Then select the Executing column to determine the scope of the action. Finally, press Execute to start generating the low-resolution image.
To speed up the display of PDF files, first run the Add Alternate Images action (point 8 above), and then press the Speedup Image Display () on the PitStop toolbar to switch to low resolution or normal high-resolution display at any time.
Example 2 - Change Black to Real Black
Sometimes the customer's PDF file has non-printing black, such as RGB black, four-color black (for example, black lines or black words are not pure K100% but K100% mixed with the remaining three colors), and the action "Change Black to Real Black" can be used. Help us quickly change the bad black of the document to a reasonable print black. Because the original setting of this action does not include CalibratedRGB color, some objects in my file (Figure 8) are this color, so I have to edit this action to match the file I want to modify.
i. Select "Change Black to Real Black" from the Managing column in the mobile console.
Ii. Select Edit to modify this action, then select Remap Color on the left.
Iii. Press the lower right button Add, then select the color you want to add and correct, then press OK to return to the home page.
Iv. Finally select the Executing column, determine the scope of the action (eg full file), and press Execute to perform this action.
Figure 8: Calibrated RGB Colors for Files Uncorrected
Example 3 - Remove OPI and Halftone Information
The customer's documents often carry OPI and Halftone information. This information usually compromises prepress output jobs. For example, OPI uses low resolution or wrong path, while Halftone indicates 150 LPI (network cable) but customers actually want to print 175LPI. In fact, the customer file should not contain such information. PitStop's mobile console does not have the action to remove OPI and Halftone information at the same time, but we can easily establish this action.
Figure 10: Simply adding three instructions creates an action that removes both OPI and Halftone information.
i. Select and modify "Remove OPI" in the "Managing" column of the mobile console. It can also be created from scratch.
Ii. Suppose you start from scratch, select NEW.
Iii. Press the lower right button Add, then select selec All in the Selections column.
Iv. Then select Remove OPI and Remove Halftone in the Changes column and press OK to return to the home page.
v. Finally select the Executing column, determine the scope of the action, and press Execute to perform this action.
Reprinted from: Graphic Arts