This article explains how to specify which page of a multi-page PDF file will be imported into a AccurioPro variable picture frame. The article also explains the use of the Set PDF Page Number to Import action, which can be used to conditionally control PDF page imports.

MULTI-PAGE PDF FILE IMPORT

There are several scenarios that require the user to specify and control which pages of a multi-page PDF file will get placed into a variable picture frame. Each scenario is described below, along with specific setup instructions.

SET PDF IMPORT OPTIONS FOR EACH FRAME

When you have a multi-page PDF file that you would like to merge into multiple variable picture frames, in this scenario you simply wish to control which page gets merged into which frame (and optionally, which import settings to use for the import). To do so, you can assign a special attribute to the picture frame using the built-in AccurioPro utility, as described below.

1. Click to select the variable picture frame using the Selection (pointer) tool.
2. Select AccurioPro > Utilities > Set PDF Import Options...
3. In the PDF Page to Import section, enter the page number you wish to import for the selected frame.
   
4. If you wish to choose a specific Crop to: and Transparent Background setting, you may adjust those settings at the same time.

   If the Use Default setting is selected, the PDF will be imported using the settings that were last used by InDesign to place a PDF manually.

5. Click OK to store your settings. The picture frame is now set up to import the specified PDF page using the specified import options.

If tagged correctly, you should see a visual indicator that shows the PDF page number assigned to the frame (visible when in Normal view mode, as shown below).

With this change, when a variable PDF file is merged into the frame, only the specified page number of the PDF will be imported into this frame (in the above screen shot, only page 2 of the PDF will be imported).

In addition, if you specified a Crop to: setting other than the Use Default option, the variable PDF files will always be placed into the frame using those specific settings.

SET PDF PAGE NUMBER VIA FRAME RULE

Another scenario is to automatically adjust the PDF page number to import into a variable picture frame during the merge. This can be accomplished by using the Set PDF Page Number to Import Action. This Frame Rule Action allows the user to conditionally specify which page of a variable PDF to import during the merge session.

NOTE: This Frame Rule Action sets only the PDF Page number value. It does not modify the Crop to: or the Transparent Background settings for the import. If those values have already been applied to the frame (as described in the previous section), then they will be used for the import. If the frame has not been tagged with specific import settings, the default settings for PDF placement will be.

1. Create a new Frame Rule, and specify the criteria you wish to evaluate.
2. Select the Set PDF Page Number to Import Action, and enter the page number to import.
3. Save the Frame Rule, and apply it to the variable picture frame (using the Rules Panel).

During the merge, your Frame Rule will be evaluated, and the page number of the PDF file being imported will be set automatically.

SET PDF PAGE NUMBER VIA DATA FILE FIELD

This scenario is similar to the previous because here we will also use a Frame Rule to apply the Set PDF Page Number to Import Action. However, the difference with this approach is that we will pull the actual page number to import from a data field rather than entering it explicitly in the Rule. This is accomplished by use of the AccurioPro Embedded Link feature.

This scenario assumes that a field of your data file contains the page number to import. The correct value would be an integer ('1', '5', '17', etc.) that represents the page number to import. To set this up, follow the steps below.

1. Create a new Frame Rule (no need to specify any criteria).
2. Select the Set PDF Page Number to Import Action.
3. Enter the following text for the page number field: "<$PageNumLink>"
   In the above example, the text "<$PageNumLink>" is referred to as an Embedded Link. This format references the name of a Variable Link that will import the page number to be merged. For your own job, please replace the text "PageNumLink" with the name of the Variable Link for your job.
4. Save the Frame Rule, and apply it to the variable picture frame (using the Rules Panel).

During the merge, the Frame Rule will automatically set the page number of the PDF to be merged by pulling the page number from the data field being processed.

More on Embedded Links

The Embedded Link feature can be used for a number of other AccurioPro actions, and provides a great way to easily incorporate data values from multiple fields at the same time. For more information about the use of Embedded Links, please click here to view the Embedded Link article.