Use PDF Rasterizer

Last update: May 3, 2023

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AEM 6.4 has reached the end of extended support and this documentation is no longer updated. For further details, see our technical support periods. Find the supported versions here.

When you upload large, content-intensive PDF or AI files to Adobe Experience Manager Assets, the default library may not generate an accurate output. Adobe’s PDF Rasterizer library can generate a more reliable and accurate output when compared to the output from a default library. Adobe recommends using the PDF Rasterizer library for the following scenarios:

Adobe recommends using the PDF Rasterizer library for the following:

  • Heavy, content intensive AI files or PDF files.
  • AI files and PDF files with thumbnails that are not generated by default.
  • AI files with Pantone Matching System (PMS) colors.

Thumbnails and previews generated using PDF Rasterizer are better in quality compared to out-of-the-box output and, therefore, provide consistent viewing experience across devices. The Adobe PDF Rasterizer library does not support any color space conversion. It always outputs to RGB irrespective of the color space of the source file.

  1. Install the PDF Rasterizer package on your Adobe Experience Manager deployment from Software Distribution.

    NOTE
    The PDF Rasterizer library is available for Windows and Linux only.

  2. Access the Assets workflow console at https://[aem_server]:[port]/workflow. Open DAM Update Asset workflow.

  3. To prevent the thumbnail and web rendition generation for PDF files and AI files using the default methods, follow these steps:

    • Open the Thumbnail Process step, and add application/pdf or application/postscript in the Skip Mime Types field under the Thumbnails tab as necessary.

    skip_mime_types-2

    • In the Web Enabled Image tab, add application/pdf or application/postscript under Skip List depending upon your requirements.

    Configuration to skip thumbnail processing for an image format

  4. Open the Rasterize PDF/AI Image Preview Rendition step, and remove the MIME type for which you want to skip the default generation of preview image renditions. For example, remove the MIME type application/pdf, application/postscript, or application/illustrator from the MIME Types list.

    process_arguments

  5. Drag the PDF Rasterizer Handler step from the side panel to below the Process Thumbnails step.

  6. Configure the following arguments for the PDF Rasterizer Handler step:

    • MIME types: application/pdf or application/postscript
    • Commands: PDFRasterizer -d -s 1280 -t PNG -i ${file}
    • Add Thumbnail sizes: 319:319, 140:100, 48:48. Add custom thumbnail configuration, if necessary.

    The command line arguments for the PDFRasterizer command can include the following:

    • -d: Flag to enable smooth rendering of text, vector artwork, and images. Creates better quality images. However, including this parameter causes the command to run slowly and increase the size of images.

    • -s: Maximum image dimension (height or width). This is converted to DPI for each page. If pages are of different size, each page can potentially scale by different amount. The default is actual page size.

    • -t: Output image type. Valid types are JPEG, PNG, GIF, and BMP. The default value is JPEG.

    • -i: Path for input PDF. It is a mandatory parameter.

    • -h: Help

  7. To delete intermediate renditions, select Delete Generated Rendition.

  8. To let PDF Rasterizer generate web renditions, select Generate Web Rendition.

    generate_web_renditions1

  9. Specify the settings in the Web Enabled Image tab.

    web_enabled_image1

  10. Save the workflow.

  11. To enable PDF Rasterizer to process PDF pages with PDF libraries, open the DAM Process Subasset model from the Workflow console.

  12. From the side panel, drag the PDF Rasterizer Handler step under the Create Web-Enabled Image Rendition step.

  13. Configure the following arguments for the PDF Rasterizer Handler step:

    • MIME types: application/pdf or application/postscript
    • Commands: PDFRasterizer -d -s 1280 -t PNG -i ${file}
    • Add thumbnail sizes: 319:319, 140:100, 48:48. Add custom thumbnail configuration as required.

    The command line arguments for the PDFRasterizer command can include the following:

    • -d: Flag to enable smooth rendering of text, vector artwork, and images. Creates better quality images. However, including this parameter causes the command to run slowly and increase the size of images.

    • -s: Maximum image dimension (height or width). This is converted to DPI for each page. If pages are of different size, each page can potentially scale by different amount. The default is actual page size.

    • -t: Output image type. Valid types are JPEG, PNG, GIF, and BMP. The default value is JPEG.

    • -i: Path for input PDF. It is a mandatory parameter.

    • -h: Help

  14. To delete intermediate renditions, select Delete Generated Rendition.

  15. To let PDF Rasterizer generate web renditions, select Generate Web Rendition.

    generate_web_renditions

  16. Specify the settings in the Web Enabled Image tab.

    web_enabled_image-1

  17. Save the workflow.

  18. Upload a PDF file or an AI file to Experience Manager Assets. PDF Rasterizer generates the thumbnails and web renditions for the file.

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