Instant PDF 3.6 review

Instant PDF's name might sound like a basic tool for quickly creating PDF documents, but its aims are far grander.

It promises to create output-ready PDFs for print and web, directly from authoring applications including InDesign CS, QuarkXPress (not version 7) and Adobe Acrobat. What's more, it aims to ensure that those PDFs are both error-free and adhere to your service bureau's specifications.

Instant PDF 3.6 works alongside Acrobat, QuarkXPress or Adobe InDesign to automate the creation of 'certified' PDFs; incrementally saved, preflighted documents that contain information about the modifications performed on them.

Certified PDFs are created through print queues, managed through a window in Instant PDF that displays available queues next to a description and summary of their functions.

It ships with a selection of editable, preconfigured queues for standard weband print use, but you can import third-party queues or download them from an Enfocus-run website, certifiedpdf.net. Usefully, queues that originate from here can be synchronised locally at the click of a button, so service providers can contribute and edit specifications and subscribers can synchronise their local print queue specification to match it instantly. Subscription to the service is free, but contributors are charged an annual fee.

Most users will be happy enough to build their own queues as it's a simple procedure. The queue creation window can be toggled between a standard display, which lists steps clearly and intuitively, or more advanced settings.

The most important step in a queue is the preflight, where the document is compared against one of a series of PDF profiles, which as well as providing a set of output criteria against which the document is matched, can correct basic errors, such as incorrect compression settings. By default Instant PDF ships with a handful of profiles, but disappointingly you can't edit these or create your own - to do this you'll have to rely on Instant PDF's sister application the more expensive PDF authoring tool, Pitstop Professional (Reviews, 1 September 2006, p44).

Other steps in the queue allow you to apply options to the PDF generation process, such as choosing whether to open the file for review before sending, specifying saved file names and location - even allowing you to automatically email or ftp the file to its recipient as soon as it is created.

Using more advanced settings you can add action lists - which can perform common tasks such as adjusting for page creep - to queues, but like profiles, action lists canonly be created and edited in Pitstop Professional.

Instant PDF installs plug-ins for QuarkXPress - it's as yet incompatible with QuarkXPress 7 - InDesign and Acrobat 6 or 7 that add a 'Save as Certified PDF' item to each program's File menu. To create a PDF, you just select this item and in the resulting dialog box, choose one of the PDF queues from the list.

But Instant PDF isn't restricted to those applications. Any PDF queue can be used as a virtual printer, so you can produce - with Distiller's help - preflighted PDFs from any application by simply selecting the queue as the destination printer in the Print dialog box.

Whichever method you choose, a PDF is generated according to the queue's settings and it notes errors, warnings and fixes in a separate PDF-based log file. The process won't correct all faults, however. Although it will make automatic profile or action list corrections, there's no way to manually tweak the resulting PDF, so you'll either have to adjust the original document or use a dedicated PDF editing tool.