How to use test mode

Test mode can be started from the Process Plan, Profile, Fixup or Check editor and various other editors in pdfToolbox Desktop. Open any of these editors and:

Click on the button labelled "Test".

Desktop

This immediately opens the test mode for the item you are editing.

These are the main features of the test mode window:

Desktop
  1. By default, test mode creates a copy of the document you had open in pdfToolbox, runs the object you are editing on that copy and then displays the result in the left hand side part of the test mode window. This allows you to instantly see what the result is of processing, but without having to choose a destination for the modified PDF file or having to be afraid your original document will be overwritten.
    You can switch between Original, Result and a Diff of the two.
  2. On the right hand side, the test mode window shows the execution log as you would normally see it in the Profiles window when you run for example your Process Plan. This part allows you to see whether processing was succesfull, what the result were and so on.
  3. If you want to test on different PDF documents, the pull- down menu shows all PDF documents open in pdfToolbox Desktop, a list of previously used PDF documents and allows you to open a completely different PDF document. When selecting a new PDF document here, the Process Plan you're editing is immediately run on the new document.
  4. By checking the "Log Profile Execution" check box, you can save the intermediate processing results. Especially useful for Process Plans that run through many steps.
    If you are using Log Profile Execution you may create additional images that further demonstrate internal processing by checking "Sifter diagnostics" and/or "Ink coverage" (if you are using one of these).
  5. You may create additional previews for Shapes, OCR, Bleed (for irregular shapes) and searched text (in the text replace features). They will show up as additional panes on the left hand side.
  6. In "Snap view" you will see any hit that is selected on the right hand side.
  7. "Preflight only pages" limits the number of pages.
  8. "Fast VDP mode" and "Short overview (faster)" allow for faster processing. "Fast VDP mode" speeds up processing for variable data files as explained here. With "Short overview (faster)" the result window will only show sparse information in the Overview section (because the time was saved to gather it).
  9. The "Test" button re-runs the operation. In other words, it creates a fresh copy of the test PDF, runs the Process Plan (or other item you're editing) on it, and displays the results. Note that this is especially useful for things that are based on Place Content, as it allows you to edit the place content template used in an external editor, save your changes in the external editor, return to pdfToolbox's test mode window and press "Test" to run the changes in your template.
  10. The "OK" button ends the test session.