Output PDF Compatibility

[esmith]

I'm trying to output 1.3 Pdfs (Acrobat 4) as final compositions from Fusion and not having any luck. Fusion is yielding a 1.5 only.

 

I am setting up the Pdf presets out of InDesign (I'm aware that the last used preset for an outright Pdf export is the preset Fusion uses) as 1.3.

 

And choosing the Acrobat 4.0/5.0 compatible choice on the pulldown menu on the Composition Settings/Output Tab in Fusion.

 

Is 1.5 really the lowest Fusion is going to output as?

This thread from last July never really received a definitive answer. I was recently informed that a client would like to receive composed files which are compatible with Acrobat 4/5. Just like Anthony's findings, I am getting 1.5 (Acrobat 6) output from FP. This seems odd since the dropdown in the Output tab of the Compose dialog offers choices of Acrobat 3 or Acrobat 4/5. What is the point of this dropdown if neither choice is honored and an Acrobat 6 file is generated instead? Do I have any options for generating an Acrobat 4 file from FP without having to add a manual conversion step?

[rpaterick]

What is the point of this dropdown if neither choice is honored and an Acrobat 6 file is generated instead?

 

Also, when outputting and selecting the GRAPHICS tab, what is the difference in the three for downsampling when .pdf is the output?

[Dan Korn]

That "Compliance Level" setting on the Output tab of the Composition Settings dialog for PDF and VDX output has nothing to do with the "PDF Version" indicated in the composed output's Document Properties. The output was made with version 6 of the PDF Library, so it will say 1.5, by definition.

 

However, the composition setting does restrict certain things, such as transparency. With the setting set to "Acrobat 3.0 compatible," then images with transparency are masked to white and do not have actual transparency. Other than that, the setting shouldn't have any effect on the output, as far as I know.

 

(Yes, this feature is poorly documented, and we have a case against the doc for it. I apologize for any confusion.)

 

Also, there's no reason why the composed output should not be compatible with Acrobat 4 or 5. Just because we're using a newer version of the PDF Library, that doesn't necessarily mean that the output PDF contains any constructs that an older version of Acrobat or the PDF Library can't handle. Is the client reporting any specific compatibility issues, other than maybe a warning box when they open the document?

 

At any rate, Acrobat 5 is pretty long in the tooth these days. I don't think even Adobe supports it anymore.

[Dan Korn]

Also, when outputting and selecting the GRAPHICS tab, what is the difference in the three for downsampling when .pdf is the output?

Well, "Never" and "Always" should be self-evident. We either downsample all the graphics to 72 DPI or we don't.

 

The one that's not so obvious is "For On Screen Preview." If you select this, then two versions (high-and low-res) of every graphic are embedded in the output PDF: the low-res ones are used for one-screen display in Acrobat and the high-res ones are used for printing.

 

I can hear you asking, "Why in the world would you want that?" Well, as with the "Compliance Level" setting, this "For On Screen Preview" option goes back to the DL Formatter/Acrobat 4 era, and its utility these days is somewhat questionable. We may remove it in FusionPro 7.0.