E Generating PDF/A and PDF/X Output

This appendix describes how to generate PDF/A and PDF/X output from BI Publisher.

This chapter includes the following topics:

E.1 Generating PDF/A Output

PDF/A is a variation of PDF file format designed for the long-term archiving of electronic documents. Some governments and standards organizations require PDF/A to ensure preservation of documents. A PDF/A file is a PDF file viewable by PDF viewers such as Adobe Reader, but the PDF/A file must follow additional requirements specified in the ISO standard. These requirements specify both required objects and features not supported for long-term archiving. BI Publisher generates the PDF/A-1b variation of the PDF/A standard.

E.1.1 Requirements and Limitations

The following lists limitations of and requirements for generating PDF/A output:

  • Supported template types: The following template types support the generation of PDF/A: RTF, FO, XPT, and XSL. There are no additional template requirements to generate PDF/A.

  • Font requirements: By default, all fonts in the template are replaced with Albany fonts in the output. To use a different font in the output, specify the font mappings in the report configuration. If Albany fonts are not available in the JVM font directory and you have not specified a font mapping, the output will not become a valid PDF/A file. In this case, Helvetica font is used.

  • PDF features not supported in PDF/A documents:

    • All audio and video content, including Flash embedding

    • Transparency (transparent colors render as opaque)

    • Encryption

  • Reprocessing by BI Publisher utilities is not supported: Reprocessing of the PDF/A file using the BI Publisher utilities PDFBookBinder, PDFDocMerger, or PDFSignature (digital signature) is not supported. The reprocessed PDF file may lose conformance to the PDF/A standard.

  • Required report configuration properties: The report run-time properties must be set as shown in Table E-1.

    Table E-1 Required Report Property Settings for PDF/A

    Property Required Setting

    pdf-version

    Must be no higher than 1.4

    Enable PDF Security

    (pdf-security)

    Must be set to false

    Encryption Level

    (pdf-encryption-level)

    Must be set to 0

    pdf-font-embedding

    Must be se to true

    Formatting properties specific to PDF/A output can be set in the Report Properties dialog. For more information, see

E.1.2 Additional Resources

For more information about the PDF/A standard, see the following resources:

E.2 Generating PDF/X output

PDF/X is a collection of ISO standards that defines methods for the exchange of digital graphic data using PDF to ensure predictable and consistent printing in a professional print environment. A PDF/X document is a PDF file viewable by PDF readers such as Adobe Reader, but it follows an additional set of rules defined by the ISO specifications. These rules specify both required objects and features not supported for graphics exchange. The PDF/X standard follows strict rules in color management. BI Publisher supports the PDF/X-1a:2003 variation of the PDF/X standard.

E.2.1 Prerequisites

The generation of PDF/X output requires that you obtain the International Color Consortium (ICC) profile data file and place it under <bi publisher repository>/Admin/Configuration.

The ICC profile is a binary file describing the color characteristics of the intended output device. For production environments, the color profile may be provided by your print vendor or by the printing company that prints the generated PDF/X file. An example of an ICC profile data file is: CoatedFOGRA27.icc.

Profile data is also available from Adobe (http://www.adobe.com/support) or colormanagement.org (http://www.colormanagement.org/).

E.2.2 Requirements and Limitations

The following lists limitations of and requirements for generating PDF/X output:

  • Supported template types: The following template types support the generation of PDF/X: RTF, FO, XPT, and XSL. There are no additional template requirements to generate PDF/X.

  • Color requirements: The color data in the template (text color, images, and SVG) is stored as RGB data, but at the time the PDF/X file is generated, the color data is converted to CMYK using an ICC profile that you must provide to BI Publisher. Specify the ICC profile using the PDF/X ICC Profile Data property. See Table E-2.

  • PDF features not supported in PDF/X documents:

    • Transparency (transparent colors render as opaque)

    • Encryption

  • Font requirements: By default, all fonts are replaced with Albany fonts. To use a different font in the output, specify the font mappings in the report configuration. If Albany fonts are not available in the JVM font directory and you have not specified a font mapping (that is, there is no embeddable font available), the output will not become a valid PDF/X file. In this case, Helvetica font is used.

  • Reprocessing by BI Publisher utilities is not supported: Reprocessing of the PDF/X file using the BI Publisher utilities PDFBookBinder, PDFDocMerger, or PDFSignature is not supported. The reprocessed file becomes a regular PDF file and may lose conformance to the PDF/X standard.

  • Required report configuration properties: The report run-time properties must be set as shown in Table E-1.

    Table E-2 Required PDF Report Property Settings for PDF/X

    Property Required Setting

    pdf-version

    Must be no higher than 1.4.

    Enable PDF Security

    (pdf-security)

    Must be set to false.

    Encryption Level

    (pdf-encryption-level)

    Must be set to 0.

    pdf-font-embedding

    Must be se to true.

    Formatting properties specific to PDF/X output can be set in the Report Properties dialog. Of the formatting properties, the following two are required:

    Table E-3 Required PDF/X Formatting Property Settings

    Property Description Valid Values Default Value

    PDF/X ICC Profile Data

    The name of the ICC profile data file placed under <BI Publisher repository>/Admin/Configuration.

    ICC profile data file name, for example: CoatedFOGRA27.icc

    None

    PDF/X output condition identifier

    The name of one of the standard printing conditions registered with ICC. The list of standard CMYK printing conditions to use with PDF/X-1a is provided on the following ICC website: http://www.color.org/chardata/drsection1.xalter.

    A valid "Reference name," for example: FOGRA43

    None

    For more information, see

E.2.3 Additional Resources

For more information about the PDF/X standard, see the following resources: