JDF file and Create Resource Rule

[dreimer]

Can I build my template with a Create Resource Rule and output to a JDF file or do I need to have the rule built as a switch and specify the PDF?

[Dan Korn]

I don't understand the question. You can use any kinds of rules you want in a job which is creating a JDF file. Just check the "Make JDF/JMF File" box on the JDF tab of the Composition Settings dialog. The job composes exactly the same whether this box is checked or not; it just does an extra post-processing step at the end to create a JDF file which references the main output file (and then also submits the JDF if you have the "Submit to Device" box checked).

[dreimer]

I'm trying to create a template that I can send straight to my Indigo. If I compose to PDF it takes way to long to rip so I was hoping to do it a different way and don't know much about it.


Also, my job is a variable two page PDF that the background switches based on the data. I thought I had a rule to assign pages as well but my overflow isn't working correct. Is there an easy way to pull in both pages of the PDF without splitting the all the PDF's into two pages?

Thanks for any help.

[Dan Korn]

Originally Posted by dreimer

I'm trying to create a template that I can send straight to my Indigo. If I compose to PDF it takes way to long to rip so I was hoping to do it a different way and don't know much about it.

JDF probably won't help. Remember that JDF isn't really a different output format. You're still composing to PDF or PostScript or whatever format you select on the Output tab. JDF is just a job submission workflow which wraps the output in a JMF file and, well, submits it. (It also allows some finishing options to be specified.) The RIP still has to process the output file in whatever format you select.

If you really want the job to rip faster, I would try composing to an output format that's optimized for VDP, or to one which is natively supported by your press. In the case of Indigo, JLYT is the native format.

Originally Posted by dreimer

Also, my job is a variable two page PDF that the background switches based on the data. I thought I had a rule to assign pages as well but my overflow isn't working correct. Is there an easy way to pull in both pages of the PDF without splitting the all the PDF's into two pages?

This is a completely different question which has nothing to do with JDF at all. I would ask that in a different thread. But generally, if you have a two-page PDF you need to bring in, you don't need Overflow pages. You just need two Body pages with graphic frames, and two graphic rules, each of which calls Resource or CreateResource, and one of which sets the page number to two, like so:

var r = CreateResource("filename");
r.pagenumber = 2; // <- only do this for the second page
return r;