Create a text file called "468x315_4up_upright_A5.sheetconfig".

The first line has to define the name. In our example it looks like this:

NAME	468x315,	4up A5,	upright

This file contains the positions (slots) on the press sheet where the PDFs get placed. Each line in this file represents a slot. All entered values have to be Tab-delimited. The sequence of the needed values are described in "Sheet definition (Sheet Setup)" in this section.

We are imposing on a blank sheet. this means we do not need an extra template PDF but we need to define the sheet size. In our example the line looks like this:

SHEET	0mm	0mm	468mm	315mm

Next calculate the positions of the lower left corner of the first trimmed pages on the press sheet.

Since the total width of the 2 A5 landscape pages is 420 mm (2 x 210mm), the first page starts at 24mm from the left page boarder. This is the x-axis (468 - 420 = 48 divided by 2 = 24).

The start on the y-axis is then at 9.5mm = (315-(148+148))/2

If additional cutting gap is needed, it has to add it when calculating the total height or width of the imposed pages. It is recommended to prepare a little drawing with the values on it.

Our first slot on the (first) template sheet starts a 24mm/9.5mm and has a dimension of 210mm/148mm.

If we need bleed around the imposed pages and the current slot is the lower/left slot on our imposed sheet, bleed is only possible on the left and the bottom border. We must not define any bleed on the right and upper border, since it would reach into the trimmed are of the adjacent slot as there is no cutting gap in between.

For the Server/CLI version the folder is

<CLI folder>/var/Actions/Impose 

For the Desktop version and starting pdfToolbox 13, you can edit the sheet configuration directly in the Switchboard Action:

1. The best way is to duplicate an existing configuration and work on that

Up until pdfToolbox 12: 

To use this template in the Desktop version of pdfToolbox, copy the just created settings folder into the following folder inside your user preferences:

callas software/callas pdfToolbox <version>/etc/Actions/Impose 

Now create a 2nd text file with the name "4pages_cutstack.runlist": The first line has to define the name. In our example it looks like this:

Name 4 pages, cut & stack

followed by:

First we define some global settings. This is:

Set	CropMarkLength	"2,0mm"
Set	CropMarkWidth	"0,04mm"
Set	CropMarkGap	"2,5mm"
Set	ShinglingOffset	"0,00mm"
Set	RunListTerminationMode	2
Set	CropMarkColorSpace	"DeviceCMYK"
Set	CropMarkColorValues	"0/0/0/100"

• Note: Do not forget to separate the parameters, the key words and the values using the <Tab>-Key.

RunListTerminationMode is used to make sure the the engine fills each printed sheet, if necessary with blank pages, if there are too little pages in the original PDF file as are needed for imposition.

Since we need a multiple of 4 pages in order to impose the sheet, we have to do some math. This math is also needed, since we do a cut & stack imposition where we need to know the page count difference between the first page and the adjacent imposed page. The following formula is for sin-­gle sided printing. At the end I give an example for work and turn printing.

Set	c	(var('LastPage')%4)

I check to see if the pagecount can be divided by 4.

Set	y	if(var('c'),4-var('c'),0)

Now I fill up to have a "virtual" pagecount that can be divided by 4.

Set	c1	(var('LastPage')+var('y'))/4

Now I calculate the value we need to increment between each facing page on an imposed sheet.

Set	LastPage	var('c1')

This use of LastPage is defined later.

Another method do have the page count as a multiple of 4 is to use the former defined "SheetConfig.runlist" file of the Sheet setup. You get the same result if you enter there the number 4 instead of 1. The downside of that is, that this sheet config is now limited to be used with a minimum of 4 pages and can not be used for example for step & repeat, where 1 page in a PDF file is already enough to fill the press sheet.

Now we have to fill the sheets with content. This is done starting with a loop command using the script language of the runlist.

So the next command is:

Next we need a new press sheet using

NewSheet 

Now we are ready to position a page on the sheet. This is done by:

PositionPage	FirstPage	Slot_3

FirstPage currently refers to the first page of the PDF being processed. This page is placed at Slot 3 of the sheet template as we defined it above (which is the upper left slot)

Since PositionPage only works with any of the three page pointers, which are FirstPage, MidPage and LastPage, we have to set them to the proper values.

In our example I go ahead with MidPage. For that, I define which page should get placed next to the already positioned page. The variable "c1" holds the value that is needed to increment the page pointer.

Set	MidPage	var('FirstPage')+var('c1')

Now position the page in a slot (upper right slot):

PositionPage	MidPage	Slot_4

We have now filled the first row of the press sheet. Now we go ahead with the 2 remaining slots:

Set	MidPage	var('MidPage')+var('c1')	PositionPage	MidPage	Slot_1
Set	MidPage	var('MidPage')+var('c1')	PositionPage	MidPage	Slot_2

At the end we increment FirstPage. This has 2 reasons:

• At every new press sheet, we start by positioning FirstPage. FirstPage therefore has to have the correct page number.
• If FirstPage is higher or equal to LastPage, the process is finished and the imposed sheets are ready.  LastPage is calculated in such a way, that it works for the needed cut & stack imposition schema. This is also the reason why working with MidPage while filling the press sheet. If using FirstPage (LastPage being set to the original LastPage div 4) the engine would stop after the first      press sheet since FirstPage had a value higher than LastPage.

Finally, the content of the "RunList.runlist" file is:

Name	4pages, cut and stack
Set	CropMarkLength	"2,0mm"
Set	CropMarkWith	"0,04mm"
Set	ShinglingOffset	"0,025mm"
Set	RunListTerminationMode	2
Set	CropMarkColorSpace	"DeviceCMYK"
Set	CropMarkColorValues	"0/0/0/100"
Set	c	(var('LastPage')%4)
Set	y	if(var('c'),4-var('c'),0)
Set	c1	(var('LastPage')+var('y'))/4
Set	LastPage	var('c1')
Loop
NewSheet
PositionPage	FirstPage	Slot_3
Set	MidPage	var('FirstPage')+var('c1')
PositionPage	MidPage	Slot_4
Set	MidPage	var('MidPage')+var('c1')
PositionPage	MidPage	Slot_1
Set	MidPage	var('MidPage')+var('c1')
PositionPage	MidPage	Slot_2
Set	FirstPage	var('FirstPage')+1

For the Server/CLI version, the folder is

<CLI folder>/var/Actions/Impose

For the Desktop version and starting pdfToolbox 13, you can edit the runlist configuration directly in the Switchboard Action:

1. The best way is to duplicate an existing configuration and work on that

Up until pdfToolbox 12: To use this template in the Desktop version of pdfToolbox, copy the just created settings folder into the following folder inside your user prefer-­ences:

callas software/callas pdfToolbox <version>/etc/Actions/Impose 

If you now open a PDF, choose the "Impose" Action from pdfToolbox, and you should see the 2 configurations just created.