Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Overlay PDF files in Acrobat

E

eyeconic

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 8, 2006
4
0
Hi,

I have many clients ask me to create word doc shells of their logo, address details etc. They intend to add their text (often confidential pricing information) - then create a PDF from word. My problem is that doing this nearly always ends up with a less than acceptable end result.

Rasterising their vector brand artwork and optimising for size, then compressing again when word creates the PDF is just awful!

So my question - is there a way to "overlay" 2 PDF pages on top of each other? My thinking is that I provide them with a PDF shell containing the vector art, then they PDF their word doc "content" and overlay in onto the shell. This means that they do not need to send me their confidential business information, but still end up with a professional vector based PDF output...

Any advice much appreciated!!
 
To the best of my (limited!) knowledge, there isn't really any nice way to do this in Acrobat (the closest thing I can think of is trying to use the stamp tool to do this).

You might find the latest version of Word (or some version of Pages) handles PDF relatively well, so the results you get using one of these programs might not be as bad as what you'd get with, say, Word 2004. The new version of Word for Mac handles PDF files natively if you use .docx, so it isn't converted to another format before being embedded. I remember reading a blog post about this somewhere, and as I recall it's a feature unique to Word 2008 (i.e., not even in Word 2007) at this point.
 
I'd sent a word template file with a vector esp file as the background. I don't know what files word support (I using neoffice at the mo).
 
Posted this on another board to see if there was a better solution, got a fairly similar answer;

Why not just place EPS files from Illustraotr as the logos in Word? Creating PDF preserves the quality in word. If you use Hi-Res Jpegs, 300 dpi, for any raster images then it should be fine.


Generally I'd take the heading at the top in my design program and export as .eps. And then the same for the bottom of the letter head, any side bars etc.

Then just import the .eps files and place them as I would in any other program. Going to PDF works fine for me.
​
 
Hi Telecomm, Sorry, forgot to mention that the clients are all windows based!?! I have tried the PDF import option on Mac Word 08 and it imports with vector scalability - but PC Word 07 converts it to raster. So the search continues.... I am starting to think that getting the client set-up with InDesign might be the only way to allow them to create decent quality documents without letting their secrets out!
 
We used to use an application to overlay PDFs for our estimates. We would generate a PDF file with the data on it, and had a separate letterhead PDF. We dropped both into an app called DocuCom PDF Driver, and presto!

Good luck!
 
Combining files into a PDF Portfolio

A PDF Portfolio contains multiple files assembled into an integrated PDF unit. The files in a PDF Portfolio can be in different formats and created in different applications. For example, suppose you have a project that includes text documents, email messages, spreadsheets, CAD drawings, and Microsoft PowerPoint presentations. You could combine all of these documents into a PDF Portfolio. The original files retain their individual identities, but are still part of the one PDF Portfolio file. Each component file can be opened, read, edited, and formatted independently of the other component files in the PDF Portfolio.
 
jerryrock said:
Combining files into a PDF Portfolio

<advertisement for PDF Portfolios, AKA PDF Packages>
Click to expand...

So you're suggesting that the OP should include a blank PDF file with a vector header and footer, followed by a Word doc with pricing info, then maybe followed by a PowerPoint presentation explaining to people that they're supposed to imagine the first two documents combined into one?

That'll work! :D
 
telecomm said:
So you're suggesting that the OP should include a blank PDF file with a vector header and footer, followed by a Word doc with pricing info, then maybe followed by a PowerPoint presentation explaining to people that they're supposed to imagine the first two documents combined into one?

That'll work! :D
Click to expand...

...and your solution was? Oh, that's right, have all the clients update their programs to Word 2008.
 
Have you tried Document - Background - Add / Replace in Acrobat. Unless I'm missing something it seems to do what you're describing:

Picture 15.png
 
Panoz7, cannot believe that I missed this!! Exactly what I was looking for! And no need for extra software. Thanks a lot.......:)
 
In response to Document>Background>Add/Replace in Acrobat.

I'm using Acrobat 7.0 Professional. I cannot see Background under Documents. Am I missing something?
 
What about Header & Footer (which I suppose could also be used to address the OP's request?)

The first three options in the Document drop-down menu on Pro 8 (and Pro 9) are:
Header & Footer
Background
Watermark

Maybe the first two were new in version 8?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back