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Keys in the main HqnLayout configuration

This page applies to Harlequin v13.1r0 and later; both Harlequin Core and Harlequin MultiRIP.

The following are the keys in the main dictionary passed to HqnLayoutInitialize_1:

SetupName

string

Default: None

If present, the pre-defined setup named <SetupName> is loaded first, then any other values in this dictionary and its children are used to override values in that dictionary, before the combined result is processed as it would have been if SetupName were not present.

Should not be present in dictionaries constructed using the RIP GUI.

Schemes: All.

Scheme

name/string enum

Default: Not supplied

(Required if SetupName is not present)

The name of the imposition scheme to use.

Schemes: All.

ImageWidth

number

Default: -2

ImageWidth and ImageHeight define the size of the raster to be created.

All imposition schemes are constructed on the assumption that ImageWidth > ImageHeight. If ImageHeight > ImageWidth, the whole design is rotated. For example, the fold in a saddle-stitch scheme runs left to right instead of top to bottom. Each individual page is also rotated with the design as a whole.

A value of 0 means "unlimited".

If both ImageWidth and ImageHeight are -1, the RIP calculates the raster size from the size of the pages supplied, plus the margins in FrontLeft and so on. This allows the existing page features (such as crop marks and 2-across) to be rolled into using this interface.

If ImageWidth and ImageHeight are -2 (the default), they default to the size of the media loaded, either from a MediaSizes file supplied with a plugin, or from the currently selected cassette.

For "unlimited" devices (including TIFF), the default page size set in the Edit Page Setup / Page Layout dialog is taken as the available media size.

Schemes: All.

ImageHeight

number

Default: -2

See ImageWidth above.

GutterA

number

Default: 0

Optimum gutter between pages. For flatwork this is used as the horizontal gutter; for folded work it is the spine gutter. When there is sufficient space, this value is used; otherwise, the gutter shrinks as necessary, but not to less than MinGutterA .

MinGutterA

number

Default: 0

Minimum horizontal/spine gutter between pages. Used as an end-stop for gutters in saddle stitch for PullIn and CenterLine CreepStyles.

Schemes: All but OneUp*.

GutterB

number

Default: 0

Optimum vertical/non-spine gutter between pages.

Schemes: All but OneUp and SaddleStitch_2 .

MinGutterB

number

Default: 0

Minimum vertical/non-spine gutter between pages. Used as an end-stop for none-spine gutters in saddle stitch S&R for PushOut and CenterLine CreepStyles.

Schemes: All but OneUp and SaddleStitch_2.

PageRotate

name enum

Default: /Rot0

Whether individual pages should be rotated within the layout.

/Rot0

As in the supplied job

/Rot90

Rotated 90 degrees

/Rot180

Rotated 180 degrees

/Rot270

Rotated 270 degrees

/BestFit

Rotated to fit most pages in (NUp , StepRepeat , Cut & Stack only). Is treated as /Rot0 if ImageWidth <= 0

/Portrait

As /Rot90 if the job is supplied as landscape, otherwise /Rot0

/Landscape

As /Rot90 if the job is supplied as portrait, otherwise /Rot0

PageRotate is ignored for bound schemes; the final page rotation is defined by the spine direction, binding edge and geometry.

Schemes: All

NotDivisor

name enum

Default: /Abort

Your options, if the number of pages in the job does not divide exactly by the number of pages required to fill a sheet:

/Abort

Issue a warning and stop without any output

/InsertAtEnd

Add blank pages after the last page

/InsertBeforeEnd

Add blank pages before the last page

/InsertBeforeCover

Add blank pages before the next to last page (that is, before the back cover of a two-sided job)

/SplitBeforeEnd

Depends on number of blank pages:

1—as /InsertBeforeEnd.

even numbers—as /InsertAtEnd (that is, blank pages are added after the last page)

odd numbers and numbers over 1—add one blank before the last page, and the rest after it

/SplitBeforeCover

As /InsertBeforeEnd but inserting before last-but-one page as necessary

Abort, InsertAtEnd, InsertBeforeEnd — All schemes apart from OneUp_1s_1, StepRepeat_1s_1, and NUp *.

InsertBeforeCover —All double-sided schemes except NUp_2s_1.

SplitBeforeEnd —only for CutStack* 

SplitBeforCover — only for CutStack_2s_1

Bleed

number (0 + ve)

Default: 0

Trim page content this far out from the edge of the final, trimmed page. If Bleed extends more than halfway across a gutter, trim at the gutter center.

Schemes: All

TurnTopBottom

Boolean

Default: true

Defines how sheets are turned after front side is printed and before back is printed. Similar to Tumble in the PostScript page device. True equates to flipping on the long edge of the layout.

For more information see Work & turn, work & tumble.

OverSize

name enum

Default: /AbortJob

What to do if the page group cannot fit on the ImageWidth x ImageHeight:

/AbortJob

Issue a warning and halt the job.

/Crop

Crop one or more edges of the raster. The alignment of the page grid in the space available, and therefore the edges that are cropped, is set by HorAlign and VertAlign in the current surface.

BottomLeft, BottomCenter, BottomRight, CenterLeft, CropCenter, CenterRight, TopLeft, TopCenter, TopRight —all crop one or two edges of the raster, manually selecting the reference point that is always retained in the raster area.

/ScaleToFit

Scale the page group in proportion to fit in the space available. Gutters and crop marks are scaled with the pages. Intended for proofing and digital printing; not expected to be used for imaging plates

/Tile

Image the same page grid over several rasters, each with different offsets so that the rasters together may be used to build up the entire image.

Tile may not be used with PostScript language content files, even for the NUp_1s_1 or OneUp_1s_1 schemes. Use of Tile with PagesUp/Across=0 with NUp, S&R, or C&S schemes only ever produce one tile unless a single page does not fit in the image size available.

Schemes: All

MinTileOverlapX

number (0, + ve)

Default: 36

The minimum overlap across the raster when tiling output in response to OverSize=/Tile.

Schemes: All

MinTileOverlapY

number (0, + ve) Default: MinTileOverlapX

The minimum overlap up and down the raster when tiling output in response to

OverSize=/Tile.

Schemes: All

Creep

number Default: 0

The amount of creep to use in spine gutters (GutterA ) between sheets, so the outermost two surfaces would use the same gutter, the next two, that gutter less creep, and so on.

Schemes:

SaddleStitch_* and FourUp_Perfect_2.

CreepStyle

name enum

Default: /PushOut

Whether the Gutter value is the gutter for use on the innermost, outermost, or center sheet.

/PushOut

Gutter is used for the innermost sheet

/PullIn

Gutter is used for the outermost sheet

/CenterLine

Gutter is used to set the mean gutter for all sheets

Gutters are not  reduced by /PullIn and /CenterLine beyond MinAGutter .

Schemes: SaddleStitch_* and FourUp_Perfect_2.

PagesAcross

integer

Default: 1

Number of page columns in the page grid for N-Up schemes.

Note that if both PagesAcross and PagesUp are 0 (zero), the number of pages that fit on the sheet is calculated automatically. If one, but not both, is zero, that is an error condition. If either are negative, that is also an error.

For SaddleStitch_SR_2, this is the number of page pairs across the sheet. Schemes:

NUp* , StepRepeat* , CutStack* and SaddleStitch_SR_2.

PagesUp

integer  Default: 1

Number of page rows in the page grid for N-Up schemes. See notes under PagesAcross for SaddleStitch_SR_2 .

Schemes:

SaddleStitch_SR_2 .

BindingEdge

name enum Default: /Left

Binding edge of the first page of the final printed piece. For saddle-stitch and perfect binding.

/Left

Left edge binding, suitable for most scripts

/Right

Right edge binding, suitable for booklets in Hebrew, Arabic and so on

/TopA

Top edge binding, suitable for pieces such as calendars, that are hung open (with the spine in the center, as viewed)

/TopB

Top edge binding, suitable for pieces such as calendars that are hung closed, from the spine edge

/TopC

Top edge binding with come-and-go page ordering

Schemes: SaddleStitch_* (all values), FourUp_Perfect_2 (Left & Right only)

SpineFold

name enum

Default: scheme dependent

The direction of the fold that becomes the spine (that is, the one with creep, if any):

/Vertical

Vertical

/Horizontal

Horizontal

/Auto

Automatically selects between V and H, based on page size, available space, BindingEdge, and Geometry.

/None

Flatwork

(Must be set to None for flat work so that gutters work correctly.)

Schemes: SaddleStitch_* and FourUp_Perfect_2.

Geometry

name enum

Default: /Head2Head

Whether the gutter other than SpineFold is head-to-head or foot-to-foot.

/Head2Headhead-to-head
/Foot2Footfoot-to-foot
/Left2Rightleft-to-right
/Right2Leftright-to-left
/AutoCan only be used if SpineFold is also /Auto.

Head2Head or Left2Right is automatically selected, depending on the aspect ratios of the pages and the raster available.

Schemes: SaddleStitch_4Up_2 and FourUp_Perfect_2.

WorkTurn

name enum

Default: /None

Produce a work & turn or work & tumble layout, by placing what would have been the front and back of the sheet produced if WorkTurn=/None side-by-side on the sheet. The axis of turn is set by TurnTopBottom. Whether this is work & turn or work & tumble depends on both TurnTopBottom and the orientation at which paper is physically fed through the press. See Work & turn, work & tumble.

/None

No work & turn.

/LeftRight

The front of the sheet is positioned on the left of the raster, the back on the right (or top/bottom if TurnTopBottom is true)

/RightLeft

The inverse of /LeftRight

Schemes: All 2-sided schemes.

WTGutter

number (0, +ve)

Default: 0

The gutter placed between the two “sides” of the layout produced when WorkTurn is not /None.

Schemes: All 2-sided schemes.

WTMinGutter

number (0, +ve)

Default: 0

The minimum gutter between the two “sides” of the layout produced when WorkTurn is not /None. The most common configuration would be to ensure sufficient space for the gripper using Left/Right/Top/Bottom, and then to set a large WTGutter and a relatively small WTMinGutter so that pages are placed close to the gripper, where registration is likely to be held more tightly.

Schemes: All 2-sided schemes.

PageFlipTopBottom

Boolean

Default: False

How the front and back of each page within the sheet are turned relative to each other.

If false, the final trimmed page should be flipped left to right to move from the front to the back.

If true, the final trimmedpage should be flipped top to bottom to move from the front to the back.

Schemes: OneUp_2s_1, NUp_2s_1, StepRepeat_2s_1, CutStack_2s_1.

FileList

Array of dicts and/or strings

If present, FileList defines the set of pages and files to be positioned using Simple imposition. If not present, the current file is assumed to be the only data source. Each entry in the array may be a file name, a string, or may be a dictionary containing the following values:

FileName

A string defining the name of the file to be run. At least one of FileName and FileObject must be supplied.

FileObject

A file object for the file to be used

PageRange

(Optional.) The pages within the file to be used. This is formatted in the same way as the PageRange option to pdfexec. May only be used with PDF files.

FileType

(Name, optional.) The type of the file, as used in ExecFile (HqnControl). To insert blank pages, use the special value of /Pad for FileType.

pages

(Integer, optional.) Ignored unless FileType=/Pad. The number of blank pages to insert. Default = 1 .

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