FLIP2PDF

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Conversion Options

Using FLIP2PDF, you can select the following options for the PDF output in your JSON profile file:

  • Create a PDF, PDF/A, or PDF/X document. PDF/A applies to Office files and PDF/X to PostScript.
  • Select either lossy (JPEG) or lossless (Flate/ZIP) compression for images embedded in PostScript or Microsoft Office files.
  • Downsample images from the input files to a resolution that you select (in dots per inch) or preserve the original resolutions for these images.
  • Create a tagged PDF document for use in providing accessibility to disabled users (Microsoft Office only).

PDF/A and PDF/X

For PostScript files, select either PDF or PDF/X as output in the JSON profile.

For Office files, select either PDF or PDF/A (Archive) as output.  FLIP2PDF will generate PDF/A-1a files.

Lossy or Lossless Compression

Lossy and lossless refer to the approach used for compressing data. For lossless, all of the data in the image is preserved. The quality of the image does not change, and it can be uncompressed to its original state. Lossy compression permanently removes data from the image file, such as pixels, reducing the image resolution. Files reduced using lossy compression will be considerably smaller but will not print or display as well as those compressed using lossless compression.

For lossless compression, you would enter this statement in the JSON profile:

"compression" : "flate"

For lossy, use this value instead:

"compression" : "jpeg"

Downsampling

Downsampling involves reducing the size of a graphic file when generating output.  If you know that you do not need high resolution images embedded in a PDF document, you can downsample these images to a lower resolution to reduce the size of the PDF document itself. The downsampling process involves changing the width and height of an image in pixels to reach a given target resolution that FLIP2PDF allows you to select.  Target options for downsampling images include 75, 150, 300, 600, and 1200 Dots per Inch (DPI).

FLIP2PDF is set up to downsample images by default, and each one to 300 DPI. If you set the downsample option to “off” the process will preserve the original resolution of each image in the PDF output file. Or you can set downsample to “on” and then select your own target resolution, greater or less than 300 DPI. The software preserves any design or size information found in an image.

Tagged PDF Document

A tagged PDF document contains metadata to describe instructions related to headers and other content on a page. Tagging is generally used with a PDF document to meet accessibility requirements. For example, tags in a PDF document might be placed so that text, headings, footnotes and other content in the document can be interpreted by a screen reading software tool. The tool could use this information to read text in the document out loud for a blind person or respond to voice commands for a reader who can’t easily use a mouse or keyboard.