Workspace – Tabs
Introduction
StampPDF DE contains two tabs: Main and Stamp.
Main tab
Use the Main tab to apply a predefined stamp file to selected PDF documents or to remove a stamp file that was applied using StampPDF DE.
The Main tab options
File List field — One or more PDF files to be stamped.
Add File button — Takes you to a dialog box, where you can select a PDF file that you want to stamp.
Add Folder button — Takes you to a dialog box, where you can select a folder containing PDF files that you want to stamp. When you select a folder, all of the PDF files in that folder, and all of its subfolders, are added to the File List section.
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Use the Add Folder button to place all of the PDF files in the folder in the File List section. Then delete the files you don’t want to stamp by selecting them and clicking the Remove button.
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To select a range of files to delete from the File List section, press the Shift key, and then while holding down the Shift key, select the first file in the range and then the last file in the range. Click on the Remove button to remove these files.
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To select multiple files to delete from the File List section that are not in a range, press the Ctrl key, and then while holding down the key, select each file you want to include. Click on the Remove button to remove these files.
Remove button — Removes the selected PDF files from the File List section.
Show File Paths checkbox — Check to show the full path name of each file in the File List section. Clear the check mark to show only the file name.
Remove Old Stamps with Undo Label checkbox — Check to remove one or more stamp items from the File List. Clear the check mark so no stamp items will be removed.
Note: To remove stamps, check this option and enter the name of the Undo Lable in the field to the right of the checkbox. All of the stamp items in the PDF files in the File List section that have that Undo Label will be removed.
Advanced Options button — Takes you to a dialog box, where you can specify an Owner password if the files you are stamping are encrypted, along with advanced output and logging options. See Advanced dialog box.
Encryption Options button — Takes you to a dialog box, where you can specify encryption settings for the stamped output files. See Encryption dialog box.
Stamp File field — The file that contains the stamp(s) you want to apply.
To enter a stamp file name, do one of the following:
- Click the Browse button next to the Stamp File field, select a file, and then click Open.
- Drag and drop a stamp file from your desktop or file navigator.
- Manually enter the full path name. In Windows, separate directories with a back slash. For example: C:\Appligent\StampPDF DE\Output\
Output Path field — The Browse button to the right of the Output Path field takes you to a dialog box, where you can specify a folder in which to place the stamped output files.
Stamp button — Applies the current stamp file to the listed PDF files and saves the results in the specified output directory. The original files are not altered.
Note: The Stamp button is available only when Remove Old Stamps with Undo Label is not checked. When Undo Label is checked, the Stamp button switches to Undo.
Undo button — This button becomes available once “Remove Old Stamps with Undo Label” is checked. When selected, all stamps with the stamp Undo Label in the output directory are removed from the PDF files in the File List section.
Stamp tab
Use the Stamp tab to create a stamp file. A stamp file can contain a combination of text stamp items and/or image stamp items.
The options on the Stamp tab are described in the following section. Unless noted otherwise, the general options apply to the entire stamp file or to any kind of stamp item and are always available. The text options apply only to text stamp items and are only available when you select the Text tab. Likewise, the image options apply only to image stamp items and are only available when you select the Image tab.
General options
The Stamp tab contains the following general options. Unless otherwise noted, the general options pertain to any kind of stamp item or to the stamp file as a whole.
Note: The Stamp tab also contains a Text tab and an Image tab. The Text tab contains options specific to text stamp items, and the Image tab contains options specific to image stamp items. For more information, see Text stamp item options and Image stamp item options.
StampFile name — The name of the current stamp file.
Page Options button — Takes you to the Page Options dialog box, where you can define the margin area in which the stamp can be placed. You can also select an Open Mode and a View Mode for your output files.
Name field — The name of the current stamp item. Names are generated automatically when you click the New button: Stamp Item 0001 for the first stamp item, Stamp Item 0002 for the second stamp item, and so on. To change the name, select the current name in the Stamp Item list, type the new name in the Name field, and then click outside of the Name field.
Tip! Use meaningful names to help you keep track of multiple stamp items. For example, you might want to use the name Company Logo for a stamp item that contains a company logo.
Stamp Item list — The stamp items in the current stamp. A stamp must contain at least one stamp item.
New button — Adds a stamp item to the list and places its default name in the Name field.
Remove button — Removes the selected stamp item from the list.
Undo Label field — A marker that enables you to remove the stamp later. StampPDF DE does not require that you enter an Undo label, but if you don’t, you will not be able to remove the stamp. An Undo Label may be any combination of letters (case-sensitive), numbers, and special characters except: \ / : * ? “ < > | ^ &
Note: PDF image stamping does not currently support Undo labels. If you are creating a PDF image stamp, delete the Undo Label.
To ensure successful stamp removal, remember the name of the Undo Label. It is case-sensitive. You will need to supply the name to remove the stamp.
Note: Do not save a stamped file from the Acrobat Save As dialog box (File > Save As). Acrobat will remove the Undo Label, and you will not be able to remove the stamps at a later time.
Stamp Margins area — Margins that override the page margins for a specific stamp item. Stamp margin usage depends on the type of stamp item you are creating. For information, see Text stamp item options or Image stamp item options.
Placement area — A group of options (Layer, Justification, Position, OffsetX, and OffsetY) that define how the current stamp item is to be placed on the page.
Layer — There are two options for stamp placement in relation to the existing text and graphics in the PDF document:
Overlay: Places the stamp on top of the existing text and graphics.
Underlay: Places the stamp underneath the existing text and graphics.
Examples:
Note: To prevent a text stamp item from obscuring the PDF content, set Mode to Outline or Invisible, decrease the Opacity, or specify a Color that is different from the color of the PDF text. If you apply a stamp that contains an underlaid stamp item and it does not appear in the document as you intended, see Troubleshooting for StampPDF DE section for assistance.
Justification — Horizontal stamp placement. Usage of this option depends on the type of stamp item you are creating. For information, see Text stamp item options or Image stamp item options.
Position — Vertical stamp placement. Usage of this option depends on the type of stamp item you are creating. For information, see Text stamp item options or Image stamp item options.
OffsetX — Horizontal offset for precise stamp placement.
OffsetY — Vertical offset for precise stamp placement.
Pages area — The pages to stamp can be chosen in one of three ways: all pages, a range of pages, or selected pages.
All — Every page will be stamped.
Selected Pages — Only the specified page or pages will be stamped. Page numbers must be separated by commas. To designate the last page of the document, you can use the actual page number or a -1.
Example: 1,3,6,8,-1
Range — A page range specified by Start, End, and Increment values:
Start — The first page to be stamped.
End — The last page to be stamped. To designate the last page of the document, you can use the actual page number or a -1.
Increment — The page increment for stamp placement.
Examples: An Increment of 1 will stamp every page from the Start page to the End page; 2 will stamp every other page, beginning with the Start page; and 5 will stamp every fifth page, beginning with the Start page.
Stamp button — Applies the current stamp file to the files in the File List section and saves the results in the specified output directory. The original PDF files are not altered.
Text stamp item options
The Stamp tab contains the following options, which pertain to text stamp items only:
Text field — The content of the text stamp item. Type text exactly as you want it to appear in the stamp. If you want to start another line, press the Enter key. If you want to include a percent sign (%), page number, date, time, or document information, add it from the Variable list. The Variable list is located immediately below the Text field.
Variable list — A list beneath the Text field, from which you can select dynamic information to include in a text stamp item. The possible values are:
- Various page or Bates numbering, date, and time formats.
- Document information including author, title, subject, keyword, file name, and path name.
- The new line variable (%n), for starting a new line in multi-line stamps.
Note: You can either type %n or press the Enter key to start a new line.
- The percent variable (%%), for inserting a percent sign (%).
Insert button — Adds the selected variable to the content of the text item stamp.
Font — The name of the font to use for the stamp item. The Adobe Acrobat base 14 fonts are always available.
Note: You can optionally add Adobe Postscript Type 1 fonts and CJK fonts to the list. See Working with Fonts for more information.
Font Size — The point-size of the text. Fractional point sizes are allowed, as in 11.5.
Tip! The text in most business documents is between 10 and 12 points. To create a watermark that diagonally fills a letter-size page, select a large point size. “Confidential” stamped in 128 points fills an 8 1/2 x 11 inch page diagonally.
Mode — The mode, or style, of the text. There are three possible values: Solid, Outline, or Invisible.
Examples:
Tip! Invisible text can be a useful aid for searching through a document. Even though you can’t see it and it doesn’t appear in the printed document, Acrobat can find and highlight invisible text.
Opacity — The degree of opacity of the text. Possible values range from 100 (completely opaque) to 0 (completely transparent).
Word Wrap checkbox — Indicates how to handle a text stamp item that is too long to fit between the specified margins. Check the box to continue text on subsequent lines. Clear the box to cut off text at the margin.
Note: Word wrapping does not work for CJK fonts. Use the new line variable to manually insert line breaks.
Color — The color of the text. The three options are Gray, RGB, or CMYK.
Color — A box that provides a visual indicator of the current color selection.
Gray — Lets you specify a shade of gray. When you select Gray, a text entry field and a slider are displayed. To specify a shade, either move the slider or enter a number from 0 to 100 in the field (0 is black and 100 is white).
Examples:
Black — 0
Dark Gray — 25
Light Gray — 75
White — 100
RGB — Lets you specify an RGB “screen” color from a palette. When you select RGB, a Pick Color button and three text entry fields are displayed. Either press the Pick Color button to choose a color from a palette or enter the color’s red, green, and blue values in the text fields. Values must be between 0 and 255, where 0 represents none of the color and 255 represents 100% of the color. For more information about selecting RGB color, see Color dialog box.
Examples:
Red — Red = 255, Green = 0, Blue = 0
Green — Red = 0, Green = 150, Blue = 0
Black — Red = 0, Green = 0, Blue = 0
White — Red = 255, Green = 255, Blue = 255
Note: If you find RGB colors defined as percentages, convert them to the 0–255 range. For example, 25% red is 0.25 x 255 = 64.
CMYK — Lets you specify a CMYK “print” color. When you select CMYK, four text entry boxes are displayed. To specify a color, enter its cyan, magenta, yellow, and black values in the appropriate boxes. Values must be between 0 and 1, where 0 represents none of the color and 1 represents 100% of the color.
Examples:
Purple — Cyan = .63, Magenta = .76, Yellow = 0, Black = 0
Yellow — Cyan = 0, Magenta = 0, Yellow = .5, Black = 0
Black — Cyan = 0, Magenta = 0, Yellow = 0, Black = 1
White — Cyan = 0, Magenta = 0, Yellow = 0, Black = 0
Note: If you find the colors defined as percentages, convert them to decimals. For example, 52% cyan is 0.52.
Stamp Margins area — Margins for the text stamp item that override the page margins. When stamp margins are defined, the Position and Justification options work relative to the stamp margins, rather than the page margins.
Note: If there are page margins you don’t want to override, do not enter values for them here. Only set the margins you want to change.
Stamp margins and page margins are measured differently. Page margins are measured from their respective page edge. Stamp margins are measured from the lower left corner of the page.
Bottom — The number of points from the bottom of the page to the bottom stamp margin.
Left — The number of points from the left edge of the page to the left stamp margin.
Top — The number of points from the bottom of the page to the top stamp margin.
Right — The number of points from the left edge of the page to the right stamp margin.
Example:
Justification — Horizontal alignment of the stamp item with respect to the margins. If stamp margins are defined, they are used as the basis for alignment. Otherwise, page margins are used. There are three options:
Left: Aligned with the left margin.
Right: Aligned with the right margin.
Center: Horizontally centered between the left and right margins.
Note: If you specify Center for a diagonal stamp (Position = Diagonal), it will also be centered vertically in the space between the top and bottom margins.
Examples:
Position — Vertical location and orientation of the stamp item. If stamp margins are defined, they are used as the basis for positioning. Otherwise, page margins are used. There are six options:
Top: Horizontally across the top of the page.
Bottom: Horizontally across the bottom of the page.
Diagonal From Top Left: Diagonally across the page beginning at the top left margin.
Diagonal From Bottom Left: Diagonally across the page beginning at the bottom left margin.
Vertical Center: At the precise vertical center of the document (as defined by the margin settings).
Angle: At an angle. When you select this option, a dialog box opens in which you can specify the angle.
Note: If the Angle field contains a value and you want to change it, you must first select an option from the Position list other than Angle, and then select Angle.
Examples:
OffsetX — The OffsetX parameter allows you to specify a precise horizontal offset for a stamp item. The value of the offset is given in points, and can be positive or negative. A positive value of OffsetX will move the stamp to the right; a negative value will move the stamp to the left.
OffsetY — The OffsetY parameter allows you to specify a precise vertical offset for a stamp item. The value of the offset is given in points, and can be positive or negative. A positive value of OffsetY will move the stamp up; a negative value will move the stamp down.
Image stamp item options
The Stamp tab contains the following options, which pertain to image stamp items only:
Image Type — The type of image you are using for the image stamp item: JPEG, TIFF, or PDF.
Note: PDF image stamping does not currently support Undo labels. If you are creating a PDF image stamp, delete the Undo Label.Image Path field — The name of the image file to be used in the image stamp item. You can drag and drop a file from your desktop or file navigator, click the Browse button to select a file, or enter the file name manually.
To enter an image path name do one of the following:
- Click the Browse button next to the Image Path field, select a file, and then click OK.
- Drag and drop a file from your desktop or file navigator.
- Manually enter the full path name. In Windows, separate directories with a back slash.
Example: C:\Appligent\StampPDF DE\Samples\image_files\sig.jpg
Browse button — Takes you to a dialog box, where you can select an image path.
Image Scale — The size of the image stamp item in relation to the original image size. A scale of 25% makes the image stamp item one-quarter of the original image size, while a scale of 200% doubles the size.
Place Image with Left/Bottom Coordinates checkbox — Indicates the method you want to use to define where the image stamp item will be placed.
Checked: Define placement based on left and bottom page coordinates. You can either position the image on a preview page to specify the coordinates or enter them manually. When this box is checked, the View Image Placement button and the Bottom and Left Stamp Margin fields are displayed. The Justification and Position selection lists are hidden.
Unchecked: Define placement by selecting horizontal and vertical options, such as left and top. When the check mark is cleared, the Justification (horizontal) and Position (vertical) selection lists are displayed. The View Image Placement button is hidden, and the Bottom and Left Stamp Margin boxes appear dimmed and cannot accept input.
View Image Placement button (available only if Place Image with Left/Bottom Coordinates is checked) — Displays the Image Location dialog box, which you can use to define placement of the image stamp item by positioning it on a preview page. For more information, see Image Location dialog box.
Note: To use this option, you must first select an image file (use the Browse button on the Stamp tab’s Image tab) and a PDF file to be stamped (Add File button on the Main tab).
Stamp Margins area (available only if Place Image with Left/Bottom Coordinates is checked) — Margins for the image stamp item that override the page margins. You can either enter the margins manually or let StampPDF DE enter them for you. To have StampPDF DE enter the margins, click the View Image Placement button, position the image on the preview page, and then click OK.
You can also enter the stamp margins manually:
Bottom — The number of points from the bottom of the page to the bottom stamp margin.
Left — The number of points from the left edge of the page to the left stamp margin.
Note: Both the Bottom and Left margins default to 0. If you want to use the bottom or left page margin, and it is a value other than 0, you must enter the value here.
Justification (available only if Place Image with Left/Bottom Coordinates is not checked) — Horizontal alignment of the image stamp item with respect to the left and right page margins. There are three options:
Left: Aligned with the left page margin.
Right: Aligned with the right page margin.
Center: Horizontally centered between the left and right page margins.
Examples:
Position (available only if Place Image with Left/Bottom Coordinates is not checked) — Vertical location and orientation of the image stamp item with respect to the top and bottom page margins. There are four options:
Top: Horizontally along the top page margin.
Bottom: Horizontally along the bottom page margin.
Vertical Center: Vertically centered between the top and bottom page margins.
Angle: At an angle. When you select this option, a dialog box opens in which you can specify the angle.
Examples:
OffsetX — The OffsetX parameter allows you to specify a precise horizontal offset for a stamp item. The value of the offset is given in points, and can be positive or negative. A positive value of OffsetX will move the stamp to the right; a negative value will move the stamp to the left.
OffsetY — The OffsetY parameter allows you to specify a precise vertical offset for a stamp item. The value of the offset is given in points, and can be positive or negative. A positive value of OffsetY will move the stamp up; a negative value will move the stamp down.