Actions: Text, Image and PDF Actions

Back to Index

PDF Studio defines the following types of actions:

Text Actions to add headers, footers, page numbers and dates to a document
Image Actions to add images to a document
PDF Actions to set permissions and passwords as well as modify pages in a document
Action Groups to apply multiple actions in a single action

Creating an Action

To create a new action:

1. From the top toolbar, go to Document -> Actions > Manage Actions to show the Action Manager dialog. The Action Manager dialog shows a list of existing actions with an action toolbar to work with the list. The action toolbar has buttons to create new actions, delete existing actions and reorder the actions in the list.
2. click on the new button in the toolbar and choose the type of action from the popup menu. This will create the new action, give it an arbitrary name and display all the options to the right of the action list.
3. Fill in the desired options for the action and the action is ready to use.
   
   New actions are saved as you go, so anytime you close the dialog or the program, all your actions are automatically saved. If you click on the Action button in this dialog, the currently selected action will be applied to the document. Actions are saved as part of the user settings and can thus be accessed next time you launch a new session of PDF Studio.

To create a text action:

1. Click on Document -> Actions > Manage Actions from the top toolbar to open the Manage Actions Dialog.
2. Click on the new icon (the white leaf icon) on the action toolbar under the list of actions.
3. Choose the Text Action option.
4. Enter the options for the new text action (see below).

The options in a text action are as follows:

• Text Actions - Options associated with the action
  • Name - Name of the action. The name is used on the list of actions and in the Actions menu.
  • Layer - Whether to place the text in the foreground or background of the PDF page.
  • Show on Menu - Whether to show this action of the Actions menu in the main menu bar.
    
• Text - Options that control the text
  • Font - Name of the font.
  • Size - Font size in points.
  • Bold / Italic - Use the B and I toggle buttons to make the text bold and/or italic.
  • Justification - Use the justification buttons to make the text left, right or center justified.
  • Content - Enter the text content in the text area.
    
    There are predefined keywords to allow you to refer to the current page, current date, etc...
    • $page - The page number
    • $totalpages - The number of pages in the document
    • $filename - The file name that the document was opened from
    • $filepath - The full file path that the document was opened from
    • $date - The current date formatted as Nov 28, 2007
    • $shortdate - The current date formatted as 11/28/07
    • $time - The current time
    • $day - The day of the month
    • $month - The current month, using two digits
    • $year - The current year, using four digits
    • $shortyear - The current year, using two digits
    • $second - The current second
    • $minute - The current minute
    • $hour - The current hour, 1-12
    • $ampm - AM or PM
    • $longhour - The current hour, 0-23
      
      
• Location

• Units - What units to use when calculation the horizontal and vertical locations, this can be inches, centimeters or points. Points are calculated in the PDF standard, 72 points per inch.
• Horizontal Location - The horizontal location is relative to the left, right or center of the page according to the choice in the dropdown box. The number entered here is interpreted in Units.
• Vertical Location - The vertical location is relative to the top, bottom or center of the page according to the choice in the dropdown box. The number entered here is interpreted in Units.
• Rotate - Rotate the text by the given degrees clockwise.
  
• Pages
  • All - Text will be placed in all pages in the document.
  • First - Text will only be placed in the first page of the document.
  • Last - Text will only be placed in the last page of the document.
  • Range - Text will only be placed in the specified range of pages.
    • From and To - Range of pages where the text will be placed
• Colors
  • Text Color - Color of the text.
  • Background Color - Background color. If there is a color chosen, a box will be drawn behind the text in the specified color.
  • Border - Border of the text. If this is chosen, a box outline will be drawn around the text.

Image actions are used to place images on a PDF document. Images can be placed in any location on any pages in the document.

To create an image action:

1. Click on Document -> Actions > Manage Actions from the top toolbar to open the Manage Actions Dialog.
2. Click on the new icon (the white leaf icon) on the action toolbar under the list of actions.
3. Choose the Image Action option.
4. Enter the options for the new image action (see below).

The options in an image action are as follows:

• Image Action - Options associated with the action
  • Name - Name of the action. The name is used on the list of action and in the Actions menu.
  • Show on Menu - Whether to show this action on the Actions menu in the main menu bar.
    
• Image
  • File - Name of the file to use.
    
• Location
  • Units - What units to use when calculation the horizontal and vertical locations, this can be inches, centimeters or points. Points are calculated in the PDF standard, 72 points per inch.
  • Horizontal Location - The horizontal location is relative to the left, right or center of the page according to the choice in the dropdown box. The number entered here is interpreted in Units.
  • Vertical Location - The vertical location is relative to the top, bottom or center of the page according to the choice in the dropdown box. The number entered here is interpreted in Units.
  • Rotate - Rotate the image by the given degrees clockwise.
    
• Pages
  • All - Text will be placed in all pages in the document.
  • First - Text will only be placed in the first page of the document.
  • Last - Text will only be placed in the last page of the document.
  • Range - Text will only be placed in the specified range of pages.
    • From and To - Range of pages where the text will be placed

PDF actions are used to modify PDF documents. PDF actions allow to add permissions and passwords and manipulate pages in the documents. Pages can be delete from the document as well as inserted from other documents.

To create a PDF action:

1. Click on Document -> Actions > Manage Actions from the top toolbar to open the Manage Actions Dialog.
2. Click on the new icon (the white leaf icon) on the action toolbar under the list of actions.
3. Choose the PDF Action option.
4. Enter the options for the new PDF action (see below).

The options in a pdf action are as follows:

• PDF Action - Options associated with the action
  • Name - Name of the action. The name is used on the list of actions and in the Actions menu.
  • Show on Menu - Whether to show this action on the Actions menu in the main menu bar.
    
    
• Encryption / Permissions
  
  
  • Encrypt File - Check this box to encrypt the file. When this box is checked the password text fields and permissions check boxes are enabled allowing you to update passwords and permissions on the document.
    
    
  • User - Enter the User Password to Open Document - This password will be required when the document is open.
  • Owner - Enter the Password to Change Permissions - This is also known as the permissions password and is the password that will be required when trying to change permissions and passwords on the document.
    
    
  • Permissions - Set specific permissions for the document:
    
    
    • Print High Res - Check this box to allow printing the document at height resolution. When this permission is granted, the following permission Print is automatically granted.
      
      
    • Print - Check this box to allow printing the document.
      
      
    • Copy - Check this box to allow copying or extracting text and graphics from this document. When this permission is granted, the following permission Extraction for Accessibility is automatically granted.
      
      
    • Accessibility - Check this box to allow copying or extracting text and graphics from this document in support of accessibility to disabled or other purposes.
      
      
    • Modify - Check this box to allow changes to this document, for instance by creating form fields.
      • When this permission is granted, the following 3 permissions (Assembly, Annotations and Forms) are also automatically granted.
      • When this permission is not granted, the following 3 permissions (Assembly, Annotations and Forms) can independently be granted
        
        
    • Assembly - Check this box to allow assembling the document: inserting, rotating or deleting pages and creating bookmarks or thumbnail images.
      
      
    • Annotations - Check this box to allow adding or modifying text annotations.
      • If this permission is granted, the following permission Forms is also automatically granted.
      • If this permission is not granted, then the following permission Forms can be granted independently.
      • And if this permission is granted and the Modify permission is also granted, creating or modifying interactive form fields (including signature fields) is allowed.
        
        
    • Forms - Check this box to allow filling in existing interactive form fields including signature fields.
      
      
      
• Insert / Delete Pages
  • Delete Pages - Choose this radio button to delete pages from the document.
    • From / To - Page range to delete.
  • Insert File - Choose this option to insert pages from another document into the current document.
    • File - Name of the file to insert
    • From / To - Range of pages from the source file to insert into this document.
    • Target - The location to insert the pages from the source document.
      • Append - Insert the pages at the end of this document.
      • Prepend - Insert the pages at the beginning of this document.
      • Page - Insert the pages at a specific location in this document.

Action groups are used to group actions together so they can be executed as a single action.

To create a new action group:

1. Click on Document -> Actions > Manage Actions from the top toolbar to open the Manage Action Dialog.
2. Click on the new icon (the white leaf icon) on the action toolbar under the list of actions.
3. Choose the Action Group option.
4. Enter the name of the new action group.
5. To add an action to the new action group, make sure the new action group is selected (the action group icon needs to be highlighted in the actions tree), and follow the steps to add a new action (click on the new icon and choose the desired action option). The new action will be added to the new action group. You can repeat this step to add as many actions as needed.

The options in an action group are as follows:

• Group Action - Options associated with the action group
  • Name - Name of the action group. The name is used on the list of actions and in the Actions menu.
  • Show on Menu - Whether to show this action of the Actions menu in the main menu bar.

Back to Index