Post by KarlI'm looking at the possability of embedding some job information into
a PDF (specifically print the pdf in duplex).
Are there any examples that demonstrate the postscript used so that
this ticket information will be embedded into the PDF after ripping in
ghostscript or distilling with adobe's distiller?
Or any other options out there?
You're kind of swimming against the current with this idea.
One of the design principles behind PDF is to be device-independent,
which is a reaction against Postscript, which can include device-
control strings to set things such as duplex, because those strings
can vary from device to device. Print shops got tired of customers
bringing in Postscript files which have embedded device-control
strings for some other printer and which would fail with an error when
they try to print it on their printer. So they started requesting
customers bring in PDF files, then further restricted customer screw-
ups by moving to PDF/X and its many flavors.
So now the idea is to separate the content (PDF) from the print
options (job ticket, e.g. JDF). You should store the duplex setting
separate from the PDF, like in a JDF file. And then you still need to
translate the duplex setting into the appropriate Postscript command
for the target printer; EFI controllers, for example, require a
different command than Adobe controllers. You don't want to restrict
which kind of printer can print your PDF file, do you?
On the other hand, there is such a thing as "Intent" resources in JDF,
which Adobe has supported in the past, although I think some of the
JDF support in Acrobat has been deprecated. In such as resource, you
could indicate you wanted duplex without having to specify the exact
Postscript control string. Then it would be up to the printing system
to read that resource and generate the appropriate command for the
target printer.
If you really want to see the Postscript code that sets duplex, look
in the PPD file for your printer, search for "*OpenUI *Duplex".
-David