Publishing PDF files

PDF files are perfect for web distribution and professional printing.

• For web—PDF files for web use (and other methods of digital distribution) are optimised for screen use, i.e. with downsampled images but without pre-press page marks, bleed, etc. Downsampling images leads to smaller documents for quicker loading.
• For professional printing—PDF files for professional printing are high-quality reproductions of your publication that are passed to a print partner (normally external to your company). You'll typically require a CMYK document, printer marks, bleed, >300dpi images, and PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3 or PDF/X-4 compatibility (for CMYK output).
  
  With PDF/X compatibility, all your publication's colours will be output in the CMYK colour space, and fonts you've used will be embedded. A single PDF/X file will contain all the necessary information (fonts, images, graphics, and text) your print partner requires.

Optionally, a PDF can be protected with two passwords. One for opening the document and another that allows the reader to edit, copy from and print the document.

Common publication practices

When publishing, you may be warned about overflowing text in your publication. To resolve, check your text frames for frame text that extends over the frame end.

All layers and hyperlinks created in Publisher export to PDF. Additionally, if you create a TOC or index and request hyperlinks on export, the TOC or index will be furnished with hyperlinks as appropriate.

The Soft Proof adjustment is an adjustment layer dedicated to soft proofing CMYK PDF output in advance of export. You can use this to create an accurate preview of your publication prior to exporting it.

Password-protected PDFs

When exporting a PDF, you can choose to give it either or both of two types of password: an open password and a permissions password. Exporting with a password encrypts the resulting PDF.

PDF password options are available when the Compatibility option is set to PDF 2.0 (ISO 32000-2), PDF 1.7 (Acrobat 8) or PDF 1.6 (Acrobat 7). All PDF presets provided with Affinity except those for PDF/X output use PDF 1.7 or 1.6 compatibility.

About open passwords

The content of a PDF with an open password can be viewed only by providing the open password or, if one has additionally been set, the PDF's permissions password.

When a PDF has only an open password, there are no restrictions on what people can do with its content. The PDF can be printed or placed in an Affinity document, its content can be modified and selectively copied, and pages can be extracted to create new PDFs.

About permissions passwords

Setting a permissions password limits what people can do with the PDF unless they are able to provide the permissions password.

Optionally, you can choose to allow specific actions to be performed without providing the permissions password. So, you might choose to allow people to freely open and print your PDF, but not modify or selectively copy its content.