PDF Background

The generated PDF can be created on top of an existing PDF file. This is particular useful if you have an existing PDF with your letter head or another kind of printing form.

A background PDF is specified in the printing options dialog or in the ini files using the Superimpose setting. Up until version 3.0.0.301 this setting pointed to a simple PDF file name. With introduction of version 3.0.0.301 this setting can now contain multiple file names. This allows you to specify different a background PDF for different pages of the document. Using the new feature you could set one background for the first page in the document and another for the last page. You can also specify a range of pages or a single page with a page number relative to either the beginning or the end of the entire document. Should you wish to apply different backgrounds to odd and even pages then that is also supported.

Specifying different backgrounds requires a special syntax. Traditionally the syntax for the background PDF was a simple file name. In the ini file it looked like this:

superimpose=mybackground.pdf

This is still valid with the new syntax. However, it is now possible to specify multiple file names and apply a code after each file name. Codes will control where the specified background is used.

superimpose=mybackground.pdf<F1>

The syntax above tells the printer to only apply the background to the first page. All available codes are listed in the table below.

Code	Meaning
F	First pages
L	Last pages
O	Odd page numbers
E	Even page numbers

Each of these codes can be followed by a page number or a range of page numbers. The backgrounds are applied to the resulting document in the order they appear. This means that if you specify the first page and the last page in a document of only one page, the result will have background you specified as the last one. In effect, you should begin with specifying the last page before the first page if you want the first page to have precedence over the last page.

Example:	Use A as background on all pages.
Value:	A.PDF
Page No.:	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Background:	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A

Example:	Use A as background on the first page.
Value:	A.PDF<F1>
Page No.:	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Background:	A

Example:	Use A as background on the first page and B on the last page.
Value:	A.PDF<F1>B.PDF<L1>
Page No.:	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Background:	A								B

Example:	Use A as background on the first page and B on the rest.
Value:	A.PDF<F1>B.PDF<F2->
Page No.:	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Background:	A	B	B	B	B	B	B	B	B

Example:	Use A as background on page 2 through 7.
Value:	A.PDF<F2-7>
Page No.:	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Background:		A	A	A	A	A	A

Example:	Use A as background on odd page numbers.
Value:	A.PDF<O>
Page No.:	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Background:	A		A		A		A		A

Example:	Use A as background on first 8 pages and B on the 5 last pages.
Value:	A.PDF<F1-8>B.PDF<L1-5>
Page No.:	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Background:	A	A	A	A	B	B	B	B	B

Example:	Use A as background on first page and B on the last page.
Value:	A.PDF<F1>B.PDF<L1>
Page No.:	1
Background:	B

Example:	Use A as background on first page and B on the last page. This time the first page has priority over the last.
Value:	B.PDF<L1>A.PDF<F1>
Page No.:	1
Background:	A

Example:	Use A as background on first page, B on the 2 last pages, and C on the rest of the even page numbers.
Value:	C.PDF<E>B.PDF<L1-2>A.PDF<F1>
Page No.:	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Background:	A	C		C		C		B	B

Technical Note

Please specify the full path of every PDF in these settings. The examples above only show the file name for simplicity reasons. Your configuration files or settings made through the API should always use the full path of files containing the backgrounds.

More Information

For more information and tips on how to improve the PDF background quality you can see our PDF Background Tips.