FF Core adds metadata to the PDF which makes Fiery CWS recognise regular PDF as PDF/VT

[Ken895741-XRXL · Accepted solution]

Attached is a preflight profile that will remove the PDF-VT tags. Simplified workflow. Had to .zip the file to attach it.

[r.blake]

I can confirm that using exiftool via External node works.

This note:

NOTE: When joining PDFX-4 files together inside FreeFlow Core, 
typically the file gets updated to become a PDF/VT file. This can be an unintended 
consequence. As such, you can use the following to remove the PDF/VT metadata.

---

is not entirely correct. You don't need to join any files at all, a single file with 1 page will still be marked as PDF/VT. The only condition is that it must pass the Join node.

Also, is there any way to detect the added PDF/VT metadata entry via preflight, so that only files with it would be sent to the exiftool node, instead of all files?

[Ken895741-XRXL · Accepted solution]

I have one solution for you at this time. It does require the Advanced Automation license in FreeFlow Core so that the 'External' component can be used with some simple scripting.  I 'may' be able to do this with a preflight profile in the future but I have to submit some files to engineering for validation to see why it doesn't work as I think it should...

So attached is a zip file that has a PDF with full directions and a .bat file and a link to a 3rd party application to perform this. Also included is a FFCore version 6.2.5 workflow that can be imported. It will remove ALL PDF XMP data which in turn strips out the PDF/VT information. I have tested this with FFCore 6.2.5. If you have a different version of Core then just follow the directions and use the .bat file.

The 3rd party application is not supported by Xerox and you must validate licensing etc for your own use. The website says 'free' but we cannot and will not take any legal responsiblity for its use.

Please try and it and let me know!

[Ken895741-XRXL]

I have seen this issue in the Fiery as well. I am testing some possible solutions. I hope I might have some feedback for you soon? Once I get it working I will post back here.

Ken

[r.blake]

Any other ideas on how to fix this?

This issue has become more severe lately, more and more files end up with erroneously assigned PDF/VT designation, which needs to be manually removed from each file individually, didn't find any way to automate this process.

I checked preflight fixes, but did not find any that can remove this data.

[r.blake]

Checked it again - "ignorePDFX4forPDFVTcompliance" is set to True.

Just now a file with 2 pages and no variable data was recognised as PDF/VT after passing through FFCore.

[r.blake]

I do have a Join node in the workflow, however this happens to single files, when nothign is being joined.

I do not select "Submit all documents as a job group", since I am using a hotfolder, not web-interface, and only submitting one PDF, not multiple in a Zip.

Changing "ignorePDFX4forPDFVTcompliance" didn't help (I did reboot after the change) - still getting file recognised as PDF/VT after passing through FFCore, and recognised as a normal PDF if I just add it to CWS directly

[PerF-Xerox]

You can change this behavior from the FreeFlow Core configure app on your pc/server wher you have installed FF Core. Start the Core configure and select the Tab "Customer override". Scroll down and look for Key name "ignorePDFX4forPDFVTcompliance". Change this to "true" and do a. reboot. See the screen shot at the bottom.

As David and the Help document says, FF Core will join multiple PDF/-X-4 files to a PDF/VT-file, as default. For this to happen these criterias has to be met:

1. The workflow has to have a Join component.
2. You have to check for "Submit all documents as a job group" or submit multiple files as as Zip-file.
3. The files submitted has to be PDF/X-4 files.

The Fiery will recognize the pdf as a correct PDF/VT file, thus it will only read records not induvidual pages as you you notised.

If you change in the Core configure you will get PDF/X-4 files which will work as you want them to, on the Fiery.

[DavidU54339-XRX]

The problem could be from using PDF/X-4 files and the Join node -- see below from FFCore Help:

While joining PDF/VT and PDF files, the PDF files are joined as a record within a PDF/VT file. Ensure that the PDF file is PDF/X-4 compliant.

The resultant PDF on joining PF/X-4 files is PDF/VT, with each PDF file defined as a record.

[r.blake]

FF Core adds metadata to the PDF which makes Fiery Command Workstation (CWS) recognise regular PDF as PDF/VT.

When this happens, the file cannot be printed properly, since Fiery CWS will not allow you to select individual pages/sheets anymore.

I checked that this is indeed a problem with FF Core - if I just drop a PDF file into CWS directly, it is recognised as a regular PDF. If the exact same file passes through FFCore workflow, it is recognised as PDF/VT, despite not having any variable data.

Here is a screenshot of which metadata FFCore adds to the file

This metadata is not present in the original file.

How do I stop FFCore from doing this?