Prepress
CALLAS SOFTWARE LAUNCHES PDFTOOLBOX 5
Thursday 14. April 2011 - Focus on production efficiency, speed and reliability
callas software, leader in PDF technology for publishing, print production and document archiving, announces the launch of the new callas pdfToolbox 5. The new version includes significant performance improvements and full 64-bit support, introduces a new batch feature to easily process complete folders of files, allows visually comparing PDF files to find differences or processing problems and converts a wide range of file formats (including PostScript and EPS) directly into production-ready PDF.
Spot the differences with Visual Compare
callas pdfToolbox 5 has a visual compare feature that makes file comparisons very easy. The differences between two PDF files are highlighted in red in pdfToolbox Desktop for visual identification, but can also be found automatically by pdfToolbox Server. This new feature can used to compare different versions of a single file, but also to ensure the file didnt visually change in a production workflow.
Desktop automation
In some cases processing files one-by-one is too tedious, but using pdfToolbox Server for fully hands-off processing is not an option. For those times the new batch feature in pdfToolbox 5 Desktop offers the perfect solution. Using the batch feature it is possible to run a quality control profile or a single fix-up on a whole folder of files.
Simply select the folder and pdfToolbox Desktop processes all of the files in the folder. The results are dropped in a neatly ordered sub-folder structure that is automatically created.
Extended document conversion
Next to the already existing support to directly convert OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files into good, printable PDF files, callas pdfToolbox 5 can now also handle Microsoft Publisher, Project, Visio as well as Apple Keynote and Pages files.
The most common image formats (JPEG, PNG and TIFF) can also be directly converted into PDF and even conversion of PostScript and EPS files is supported using the built-in Adobe distiller engine (without requiring Adobe Distiller to be installed).
In pdfToolbox Desktop this direct conversion works by simply dragging the original files onto the pdfToolbox window. In pdfToolbox Server, files can be dropped into any of the watched folders for hands-off processing.
Support for ISO PDF/VT and GWG Proof of Preflight
With its investment in standards organizations, callas software has always been at the forefront in implementing quality control solutions for standard PDF versions. This is reinforced by pdfToolbox 5 and its full support for the newly developed ISO 16612-2 standard for variable and transactional workflows: PDF/VT.
Additionally callas has integrated another breakthrough technology in pdfToolbox 5: the GWG Proof of Preflight standard. Proof of Preflight provides a way to protect preflighted PDF files with a digital signature, providing proof of when the file was preflighted, with which profile and with which result. Because a digital signature is applied, later changes to the PDF can easily be detected, making it clear where the responsibilities lie if something goes wrong in the workflow.
Fix intelligently
pdfToolbox contains a complete range of intelligent fixes, from color conversion of office documents, over high-duty device-link conversion, to creation of booklets and more advanced imposition.
pdfToolbox 5 adds a very important new fix with the ability to automatically detect printer marks and set a correct trimbox and bleedbox based on those printer marks. A one-click solution for what otherwise would be a lengthy manual fix.
Prices and availability
callas pdfToolbox 5 is available as of April 12, 2011 and comes in two flavors:
pdfToolbox Desktop for manual processing as a plug-in within Adobe Acrobat or standalone. Starts at
499 EUR.
pdfToolbox Server for fully automated, hands-off processing. Starts at 3999 EUR.