Help & user manual

New in versions 1.3–1.4

Cheat-sheet — every feature has its own detailed section below. The fastest path to a result is Work scenarios.

• Two independent export ranges — a source page range (which PDF pages to impose) and an output sheet range (which finished sheets to write — for reprints). See Page & sheet ranges.
• Conformant PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-4 with ICC — the app generates the OutputIntent (PDFX_def) and embeds the chosen profile, so the file passes print-shop validation. See PDF/X & ICC.
• Cutting guide — an optional page at the end of the PDF with a sheet schematic and a numbered table of guillotine cut positions (in mm). See Cutting guide.
• Barcode / QR on the sheet — Code 128 or QR carrying job metadata (job, sheet number, front/back) for scanning in the bindery. See Tracking code.
• Saddle-stitch N-up — stacked copies (cut → fold) and a true 8-page signature 2×2 (double fold). See Saddle layouts.
• Gatefold styles — 3-panel (6 pages) and 4-panel (8 pages) with configurable wing reduction so flaps don't buckle. See Gatefold.
• Creep compensation fix — corrected direction and symmetric shift toward the spine (front and back). See Creep compensation.
• Update integrity — installers fetched via Help → Check for updates are verified against the GitHub SHA-256 digest before launch.

Where to download

The official distribution channel is GitHub Releases. Each release ships a Windows installer plus a changelog.

What is imPRESS Studio?

imPRESS Studio is a professional PDF imposition tool for print shops, prepress departments and DTP studios producing publications for offset, digital or print-on-demand workflows.

The app lays out document pages on press sheets (SRA3, A3, Letter or custom sizes) per chosen binding method, generates printer marks, compensates for creep and exports a final PDF — optionally in PDF/X-4 standard.

Key capabilities

• Roll-fed step-and-repeat (1.2) — sticker and label production on a continuous roll with variable repeat, multi-segment splitting, basic auto-rotation nesting
• Summa OPOS / OPOS-XY plotter markers (1.2) — print&cut workflow with four solid-black markers at the cut group corners
• Logo overlay (1.2) — stamps PNG/JPG/PDF on every output sheet (once per sheet or once per item, 9 anchor positions)
• Saddle stitch, perfect bound, folding (Z-fold, accordion), roll-fed
• Interactive sheet preview with thumbnails, navigation and rotation
• Printer marks: crop, registration, CMYK color bars, fold marks
• Automatic creep compensation for saddle stitch
• Overprint simulation (multiply blend)
• Job statistics and cost estimation
• Native PDF/X-1a, X-3 and X-4 export with an ICC profile — in-house engine, no Ghostscript
• Batch CLI mode for automation

Five steps to your first imposition

1. Pick or create a template — click Template in the top bar or Manage templates in the left panel. Choose a preset (e.g. "A5 booklet — saddle stitch") or define your own.
2. Load a PDF — click + Add files… or drag & drop a PDF onto the window. If you add multiple files, check them and click Load selected to merge.
3. Plan imposition — press Ctrl+P or Plan. The app lays out pages per template.
4. Review preview — browse sheets with ← →, zoom with mouse wheel, toggle marks, swap front/back or spread view.
5. Export — press Ctrl+E. Pick sheet range, PDF standard and (optionally) PDF/X-4 conversion. Choose output path and you're done.

Ready-made recipes — from file to print

Six common jobs, step by step. Each scenario tells you which settings to pick and which section to read for detail.

Main window overview

The window has three columns plus a header and status bar:

• Header — logo, buttons Template, Export options, Help, License, About, plus Plan and Export.
• Left panel — tabs: Template, Source PDF files, Output file, Actions, Document (page/sheet/signature counts).
• Center panel — interactive sheet preview with toolbar (zoom, navigation, options) and sheet thumbnails.
• Right panel — job statistics: sheets, signatures, paper usage, cost estimate, binding info.
• Status bar — current operation status and preview tips.

What an imposition template defines

A template is a complete imposition recipe. It captures every parameter needed to lay out pages on sheets:

• Binding — saddle stitch, perfect bound, folding (Z-fold / accordion)
• Sheet size — SRA3, A3, Letter or custom
• Trim size — final page dimensions of the publication
• N-Up layout — how many pages per sheet side, e.g. 2×1 for typical A5 booklet on SRA3
• Pages per signature — typically 8 or 16 for saddle stitch
• Margins — bleed, safe zone, gutter, spine, sheet margin
• Printer marks — crop, registration, color bars, fold marks
• Creep compensation — for saddle stitch
• Folding options — number of panels (Z-fold: 3, accordion: 4+)

Template suggestion from PDF

When a client hands you a PDF and you don't know which template fits — let the app propose. The Template Suggestion Engine analyses page size, page count, proportions and common print formats, and returns the best-fitting presets ranked by confidence (0–100%).

How to use

1. Load the PDF (left panel, + Add files…).
2. Menu Tools → Suggest template from PDF…
3. A dialog opens with 1–5 suggestions sorted by confidence (descending).
4. Click a card — the template is loaded into the app, you can press Plan immediately.

25 presets recognised by the engine

• Business cards 85×55, 90×50 mm
• Postcards A6, DL, square 148×148
• Leaflets A6, A5, A4, DL trifold, A4 trifold accordion, A4 Z-fold
• Posters A3, A2, B2
• Roll-fed stickers 50×50, 70×100, round Ø50, round Ø80 (with OPOS-XY)
• Hangtags 60×90, 70×120 with hole
• CD/DVD covers + 120×120 booklet
• Tickets 200×80 perforated, numbered (variable data ready)
• Maps/plans A2 folded to A5

What the engine considers

• Page size (TrimBox or MediaBox). Tolerance ±2 mm — minor deviations don't disqualify a match.
• Side ratios (e.g. 1.41:1 → A-format, 1:1 → square).
• Page count. 1 page → step-and-repeat or single. Multiple of 4 → saddle stitch. >40 → perfect bound. 3 pages → trifold.
• Bleed presence (BleedBox > TrimBox) — presets with matching bleed are preferred.
• DriverColor / spot channels — sticker presets with white/varnish overlay get a boost.

N-up layout optimizer

When laying out rectangular items (cards, stickers, labels) on a larger sheet, manually trying every N-up + orientation combo is tedious. The Layout Optimizer does it for you: for a given item size, sheet size and margins, it tries both portrait and landscape and picks whichever fits more pieces per sheet.

How to use

1. Open the Template editor (button Template in the header).
2. Edit an existing template or create a new one.
3. Set: sheet size, item trim size, bleed, sheet margins, gutter.
4. Click Optimize N-up — columns / rows / orientation auto-fill with the highest-density packing values.

What it computes

For each orientation it calculates:

cols = floor((sheet_w - 2·margin) / (item_w + gutter))
rows = floor((sheet_h - 2·margin) / (item_h + gutter))
N    = cols × rows

The larger N wins. Ties go to portrait (lower risk of the long side overlapping the gripper).

Example

Business card 85×55 mm on SRA3 (450×320 mm), 8 mm sheet margin, 3 mm gutter:

• Portrait (85×55): cols=floor(434/88)=4, rows=floor(304/58)=5, N=20
• Landscape (55×85): cols=floor(434/58)=7, rows=floor(304/88)=3, N=21 ← picked

Working with PDFs

The left panel Source PDF files tab lets you manage input documents:

• + Add files… (Ctrl+O) — opens a standard file picker. Multi-select supported.
• Drag & drop — drop PDFs anywhere on the window.
• Checkboxes — pick which files to load. Multiple checked → merged in list order.
• ▲▼ arrows — reorder files before merge.
• Info — details for selected PDF: page count, sizes, trim, metadata, fonts, transparency, encryption, tagging, OCG layers.
• ✕ — remove file.

Sheet navigation

• Mouse wheel — cursor-anchored zoom
• Click & drag — pan
• ← / → — previous / next sheet
• Bottom thumbnails — jump to any sheet
• Ctrl+0 or F — fit to window
• R — rotate view 90°
• Ctrl + + / Ctrl + - — keyboard zoom
• Quick zoom buttons: 50%, Fit, 200%

What you can visualize

• Front / Back — toggle sheet sides. 1.2.3: the toggle now also works in spread view — it auto-exits the spread, shows the picked side and stays.
• Spread — front and back side-by-side for register check. Disabled by design for roll-fed binding (a roll is not a booklet).
• Printer marks — crop, registration, CMYK bars, fold marks. 1.2.3: CMYK bars are now placed at the top-center inside the paper (not outside) so they stay visible in the preview.
• Trim/Bleed guides ★ (new in 1.2.3) — independent toolbar toggle. Around every placement it draws:
  • ━━━ cyan dashed → TrimBox (post-cut line)
  • ··· magenta dotted → BleedBox (bleed extent)
  Off by default to keep the view clean — turn on when you want to verify bleed and trim alignment.
• Creep — orange dashed lines showing compensation per signature
• Overprint — multiply-blend simulation for ink darkening
• View rotation — 90° rotate to verify press orientation
• Overview mode — below 25% zoom (threshold lowered from 50% in 1.2.3) the canvas draws page-number placeholders instead of rendering bitmaps — lets you scroll a 1000+ slot roll-up instantly.

Joining methods

Saddle stitch

Folded sheets stapled at the spine. Typically 8 or 16 pages per signature. Ideal for short publications (up to ~60 pages). Requires creep compensation at higher page counts.

Perfect bound

Each signature is glued separately at the spine. For thicker books (50+ pages). Requires spine width driven by total book thickness.

Folding

Sheet folded without cutting. Used in flyers, brochures, maps:

• Z-fold — 3 panels in Z shape
• Accordion — 4+ panels alternating

Duplex pairing in roll-fed / N-up

In 1.2.0–1.2.2, laying out a 2-page PDF with 12-up + duplex produced two separate single-sided sheets. In 1.2.3 the GangingStrategy does what production expects: 1 sheet with 12 fronts on the front side and 12 backs on the back side.

What exactly changed

• For each N-up, the engine pairs pages in sequence (1+2, 3+4, 5+6, …). Odd page goes to front, even page to the back of the same slot.
• If page count is odd, the last page gets a blank back — no extra empty sheet is generated.
• Works for both classic N-up (cards, labels) and roll-fed step-and-repeat with duplex.
• The stats panel correctly reports 1 physical sheet with 24 impressions (12+12), not 2 sheets.

When you DON'T want pairing

If every page is supposed to be on a separate sheet (e.g. a series of different business-card designs printed separately), use step-and-repeat per page in the Roll-fed section, not duplex.

Margins and marks

Bleed

Artwork extending beyond trim — typically 3 mm. Prevents white edges from imprecise cutting.

Safe zone

Minimum distance for text and key elements from trim — typically 5 mm.

Gutter

Space between adjacent pages on a sheet. Allows clean cutting after print.

Sheet margin

Distance from sheet edge to first page. Required by press grippers.

Spine

Spine width for perfect-bound. Calculated from paper thickness × page count.

Crop marks

Thin lines at corners marking the cut location.

Registration marks

Crosshairs used to align CMYK separations.

Color bars

CMYK control bars to measure ink density on press.

Fold marks

Dotted lines indicating folding location.

Creep compensation

In saddle stitching, all signatures nest into each other. Inner pages "stick out" beyond the outer pages by the thickness of preceding sheets. After trimming the outer edge, inner-page margins become narrower — by several millimeters in thicker pubs.

Creep compensation shifts inner-page content toward the spine so that, after trimming, all pages have identical margins. The outermost sheet is the reference (no shift); each sheet further into the section moves by one paper thickness. The shift applies to both leaves of a sheet — on the front and the back alike.

How to enable

1. Open the template manager
2. In the Creep tab check Enable compensation
3. Enter paper thickness — typically 0.1 mm for 80 g/m², 0.13 mm for 115 g/m²
4. Toggle Creep in the preview to see the compensation lines

Preflight v2 — Smart Summary & content-based bleed

The classic preflight in 1.0–1.2.2 returned a flat list of 30+ issues with no prioritisation — easy to miss the one thing actually blocking print. Preflight v2 in 1.2.3 ships a colored summary panel above the list plus content-based bleed detection: the app inspects where content actually ends, not just the declared PDF boxes.

Smart Preflight Summary panel

Above the issue list, a colored panel adopts one of four moods:

• ✓ Passing (green) — no issues. Ready to print.
• i InfoOnly (cyan) — informational notes only. Can ship, worth reading.
• ⚠ WarningsOnly (amber) — warnings, no blockers. Print will go through, quality may differ from expectations.
• ✕ Critical (red) — errors that may stop the RIP or produce wrong output. Fix before export.

Below the mood, you get Top-5 prioritized actions in imperative form (e.g. "Add 3 mm bleed to source file", "Embed font OpenSans-Bold", "Convert RGB JPEG to CMYK"). Clicking an action jumps to the matching issue on the list.

Content-based bleed detection

A new PdfContentExtentWalker walks renderable objects (images + text glyphs), computes real extent and compares it to the declared TrimBox / BleedBox. Two new issue codes:

• BLEED_CONTENT_UNUSED — BleedBox is larger than TrimBox, but content stops at the trim. No actual bleed — print shop will reject. Action: extend artwork 3 mm beyond the cut line.
• BLEED_CONTENT_OVERFLOWS_BLEEDBOX — content extends past BleedBox. RIP may clip — either BleedBox is wrong, or the element needs to be shrunk. Action: fix BleedBox or move the object.

Running preflight manually

1. Load the PDF.
2. Menu Tools → Preflight (or the Preflight button in the left panel).
3. A window opens with the summary panel (top) and issue list grouped by severity.
4. Click actions in the panel or issues in the list — some come with an in-place Fix button.

Preflight during export

In the export dialog, tick Strict preflight — export will halt if there is even one Critical issue. Without strict mode, export continues but issues are written to the log.

Export step by step

After hitting Export (Ctrl+E) the app runs the full pipeline:

1. Source analysis — pages, fonts, images, transparency
2. Preflight — validation (optional strict mode)
3. Composition — layout per template, marks rendering
4. Optional: PDF/X — all three standards (X-1a, X-3, X-4) packaged natively by the imPRESS Export Engine with an ICC profile
5. File save — final PDF at the output path

Export options

• PDF/X-4 — ISO 15930-7 (PDF 1.6, transparency allowed), packaged natively. PDF/X-1a (ISO 15930-4, CMYK only) and PDF/X-3 (ISO 15930-6) are native too; both are defined on PDF 1.4, so they need a file free of live transparency — inert constructs are removed by the engine itself.
• ICC profile — e.g. ISOcoated_v2_eci for offset coated paper.
• Strict preflight — abort on warnings.
• Source page range & output sheet range — two independent fields, see Page & sheet ranges.
• Append cutting guide — see Cutting guide.

Converting to print standard (PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-4)

PDF/X-4 (ISO 15930-7) supports transparency, layers and ICC profiles — the recommended default. PDF/X-1a (CMYK, no transparency, PDF 1.4) is sometimes required by older offset workflows. Both are chosen in the Export options dialog.

Requirements

• Ghostscript — entirely optional: no PDF/X standard requires it. It helps when a file destined for X-1a / X-3 carries transparency that actually paints and has to be flattened. You install it separately; the app then detects it automatically (PATH / Program Files), and the path can also be set manually.
• ICC profile — .icc/.icm file. Profiles are bundled; import your own with Import profile… (stored under %APPDATA%\imPRESS Studio\icc).

Conformant OutputIntent

The app generates a PDFX_def control file carrying an OutputIntent and embeds the chosen ICC profile as the DestOutputProfile. That makes the output conformant PDF/X that passes print-shop validation (plain -dPDFX with no OutputIntent produced files that were rejected). If you don't pick a profile, a standard printing-condition identifier (CGATS TR 001) is used — but always prefer a real profile.

Common profiles

• PSOcoated_v3.icc / ISOcoated_v2_eci.icc — offset, coated paper
• PSOuncoated_v3_FOGRA52.icc — offset, uncoated paper
• eciRGB_v2.icc — RGB working space

Source page range and output sheet range

The Export options dialog has two independent range fields — they do different things and are easy to confuse (hover the ⓘ icon next to each for a tooltip):

Source page range

Picks which pages of the source PDF get imposed — before layout. Format: 1-2, 1,3,5-8. Most useful for N-up / ganging / wiro (e.g. "impose only pages 1–4 of a 40-page file").

Output sheet range

Picks which finished sheets are written — after imposition. Sheet numbers match the preview. Typical use: reprinting a single damaged sheet without exporting the whole run. Sheet numbers in the marks stay original (a reprint of sheet 7 is still "7").

Guillotine cutting guide

Tick Append cutting guide in the export dialog to add an extra A4 page at the end of the PDF with a sheet schematic and a cut-position table in millimetres.

• Vertical cuts measured from the left sheet edge (V1, V2…), horizontal from the top (H1, H2…) — the way a guillotine is dialled in.
• Sheets with an identical layout share one guide; a job with differing layouts (e.g. a shorter final roll segment) gets one page per layout.
• Shared edges (zero gutter) collapse into one cut; edges on the sheet boundary are dropped.

Barcode / QR on the sheet

In the marks profile (marks profile editor) enable the Tracking code section to print a job-identifying code on each sheet corner — for scanning at the cutter, folder or stitcher.

• Type: QR (2D) or Code 128 (1D, with optional human-readable text under the bars).
• Content: the same placeholders as the slug — {jobid}, {sheet}, {sheets}, {side} (front/back), {filename}, {date}. Default {jobid}|{sheet}/{sheets}|{side}.
• Position: corner choice + edge offset; quiet zones are standards-compliant.
• The code is drawn as vectors (crisp at any resolution) and is also visible in the sheet preview.

Saddle-stitch sheet layouts

In the template editor, under Saddle stitch — sheet layout, pick one of three layouts:

• TwoUp — classic 2-up: one spread per sheet (e.g. an A5 booklet on A4/A3).
• StackedCopies — N identical copies of the spread in rows on a larger sheet. The sheet is cut into strips and each strip folded separately — N identical booklets per press pass (typical digital). Set Copies per sheet.
• EightPageSignature — a true 8-page 2×2 form: the top row rotated 180° (heads together), the sheet folded twice on a right-angle folder with no cutting. Requires pages-per-signature divisible by 8; for 16 pages the sheets nest correctly (outer 1–4 + 13–16, inner 5–12).

Gatefold — panel styles and fold reduction

For the Gatefold binding, under Gatefold — panel layout, choose a style:

• ThreePanel (6 pages) — a centre panel plus two wings folding inward.
• FourPanel (8 pages) — two "doors" folding over a two-panel centre spread, meeting at the centre.

Fold reduction (mm) narrows the wings/doors at their meeting edge so they don't collide or buckle at the spine when folded. Typically 1–3 mm; 0 disables it.

Job statistics panel

After planning, the right panel shows detailed job stats:

• Sheet and signature counts
• Filled / empty slots per sheet
• Paper area — gross and net (post-trim) in m²
• Estimated weight — based on grammage
• Paper utilization — % ending up in the final publication
• Waste — % trimmed off
• Estimated cost — derived from per-sheet price
• Binding info — type, signature, bleed, gutter

Adding a custom paper size

1. Open the template manager
2. In the Sheet size section choose Custom or click Add size
3. Enter name (e.g. "Banner 520×720"), width and height in mm
4. Click Add — the size joins the predefined list

Command-line mode — automation

Run imPRESS Studio from the command line for batch jobs (hot folder, scripts, MIS/ERP integration):

"imPRESS Studio.exe" impose ^
    --source input.pdf ^
    --output output.pdf ^
    --template template.json ^
    --pdfx4

Options for impose

• --source — input PDF path (required)
• --output — output PDF path (required)
• --template — JSON template file (required)
• --pdfx4 — package as PDF/X-4 (natively; X-1a and X-3 need no Ghostscript either)
• --gs — Ghostscript path (optional; only when you deliberately select that engine)

License tooling

"imPRESS Studio.exe" license fingerprint
"imPRESS Studio.exe" license info
"imPRESS Studio.exe" license activate --key BASE64_KEY

Hot folder commands

"imPRESS Studio.exe" hotfolder list
"imPRESS Studio.exe" hotfolder run                  # foreground daemon
"imPRESS Studio.exe" hotfolder start <GUID>
"imPRESS Studio.exe" hotfolder stop  <GUID>
"imPRESS Studio.exe" hotfolder reload               # reload hotfolders.json

Hot folders — automatic imposition for production workflows

A hot folder is a watched directory: the application detects every PDF dropped into it, applies the chosen template, and writes the imposed sheet to the output folder. Built for "operator drops a PDF, ripper picks up the imposed sheet" workflows. Introduced in version 1.1.

Opening the hot folder manager

Menu Tools → Hot Folders…. By design there is no extra button on the main toolbar — this is a production feature, accessed from the tools menu.

Adding a hot folder — step by step

1. In the manager window click Add
2. Enter a Name (e.g. "Saddle A4 → 4-up") and check that Hot folder enabled is on
3. Pick the Input folder (where the operator/DTP drops PDFs) — the Browse… button opens the system folder picker
4. Pick the Output folder (where the app writes imposed sheets)
5. Work / Archive / Error folders can be left blank — they will be auto-created as .work, .archive, .error inside the input folder. Below each blank field you see exactly which path will be created
6. Pick the Template file (.json) — the imposition template applied to every dropped PDF
7. On success: Move original to archive (default), Delete original, or Do nothing
8. On failure: Move to error folder (default) or Leave in work folder
9. Optionally set the PDF/X mode — X-1a, X-3 and X-4 are all packaged by the native engine
10. Click Save — disabled until the form is valid (realtime per-field validation)

JDF / XJDF job tickets 1.6.0

A hot folder can accept .jdf and .xjdf files — the CIP4 job tickets an MIS uses to describe work. Switch on Accept JDF / XJDF job tickets in the filters section. It is off by default, because it changes what a dropped file means.

A ticket is not the work — it describes the work and names the file that is. The application reads the finished size, press sheet, binding and sidedness from it, then imposes the PDF the ticket points at. Both generations are handled: JDF 1.x (values in Actual/Preferred span sub-elements as well as written straight onto the intent) and XJDF 2.x.

• The folder's template stays. A ticket overrides only what it actually states — finished size, press sheet, binding, one- or two-sided. Bleed, gutter, sheet margin, marks and creep remain as the folder was set up. Every override is written to the job log with the value before and after.
• The page count comes from the PDF, not the ticket. A disagreement is reported; the file decides.
• A binding this application does not impose (Ring, Tape, thread sewing) is not sent to the nearest neighbour — the template's binding is kept and the ticket's word is noted in the log. Ring binding imposed as saddle stitch is a scrapped run.
• Drop order: PDF first, ticket last. The application waits for the artwork if the ticket lands first, but the ticket as the "go" signal is the convention every MIS follows.
• Afterwards the ticket and its artwork travel together — both to the archive, or both to the error folder.

Hot folders as a Windows service 1.6.0

Run from the application window, a hot folder stops the moment the operator logs off. Installed as a service it keeps going — across reboots and with nobody logged in.

The easiest route is the hot folder manager: the Windows service row at the bottom shows the state and offers Install service, Start, Stop and Remove service. Registering a service needs administrator rights, so a UAC prompt appears — the application otherwise runs without them, and should keep doing so.

The same from the command line, in a console started as administrator:

"imPRESS Studio.exe" hotfolder service install
"imPRESS Studio.exe" hotfolder service start
"imPRESS Studio.exe" hotfolder service status
"imPRESS Studio.exe" hotfolder service stop
"imPRESS Studio.exe" hotfolder service uninstall

• The data directory is captured at install time. Hot folder configuration, the licence and templates live in the profile of whoever set them up, and the service does not run as that person. The installer writes that path into the service command (--data-dir), which is what makes the service watch the folders you actually configured.
• Service account. LocalSystem by default. If your hot folders sit on a network share, give it a domain account — LocalSystem authenticates as the machine and a file server usually refuses it:
  hotfolder service install --account DOMAIN\user --password ***
• Restart on failure is configured automatically: three attempts a minute apart.
• The licence is checked on every job, exactly as in the desktop mode.
• Where to find it in Windows: the Services window lists it as imPRESS Studio Hot Folders; scripts and sc / net start commands use the key ImpressStudioHotFolders.

Choosing a template for a hot folder 1.6.0

There are three ways to point a hot folder at a template, easiest first:

1. From the list of saved templates — the same ones the template manager shows.
2. From a built-in starting point — the application's presets (A4 booklet, business-card ganging, Z-fold leaflet and the rest). The preset is saved as an ordinary template in the templates directory, so it appears immediately in the list above and in the manager, where you can adjust it. An existing file of the same name is left alone — if you had already tuned that preset, your settings stay.
3. By pointing at a .json file with From file…, or by typing the path. Useful when templates live on a shared volume.

Controlling a hot folder

• Start — begins watching. Status flips to Running within 1-2 seconds
• Stop — halts watching (in-flight jobs finish normally)
• Restart — stop + start, useful after editing the template
• Edit — modify the selected hot folder; on Save the manager diffs old vs new config and only restarts the runner if something material changed
• Remove — deletes the hot folder from configuration; files in the folders are left intact
• Open input / output / logs — quick shortcuts that open the folders in Explorer

What you see in the manager

• Status: Idle / Starting / Running / Stopping / Stopped / Error / Disabled. Auto-refreshes every 1.5 seconds
• Counters: OK (success), Failed, Queue (jobs waiting to be processed)
• Last error: a red strip appears only when the selected hot folder has an error — operator sees what happened without diving into logs
• License banner: red ⚠ at the top when the license is invalid — with an Open License Manager button
• Recovery banner: blue ↻ informs you when the app, after start, recovered interrupted jobs from the previous session

Production-grade resilience

Hot folders are designed for 24/7 print-shop production:

• File-stability detection — multi-stage probe (size + mtime + exclusive lock test). Eliminates the race where a 200 MB PDF copy over SMB is still in progress while Windows already raised Created. Tolerates Defender holding an exclusive lock for 2-5 seconds
• Polling fallback for SMB/DFS — when FileSystemWatcher lies on network shares, a second mechanism does snapshot diff every N seconds. Both sources active in parallel, deduplicator removes duplicates
• Anti-duplicate based on a fingerprint (SHA-256 of the first 1 MB of the file + size + mtime). Re-export of the same file after edit = different fingerprint = new job. Same file dropped twice unchanged = skipped
• Crash recovery — when the app crashes mid-export, the SQLite ledger holds a "reserved" record. On next start, files in .work return to input and are reprocessed. A UI banner reports how many jobs were recovered
• Polly v8 retry with exponential backoff and jitter — separate policies for I/O (5×, 200ms base), export (3×, 2s base) and ledger (8×, 50ms — guards against SQLITE_BUSY)
• Process-wide Ghostscript ceiling — without it, N hot folders × M jobs × ~500 MB RAM gs killed the machine. Default cap: 2 gs processes concurrently
• License check per job + periodic — host re-validates the license at start and every 60 minutes. Each export validates one more time. Expiry during 24/7 work stops runners with a clear message

Where the configuration lives

• Configuration: %APPDATA%\imPRESS Studio\hotfolders.json (atomic write, hand-editable, validated on every load, broken file rotated to .broken-{timestamp})
• SQLite ledger: %LocalAppData%\imPRESS Studio\state\hotfolder.db (WAL mode, auto-prune of entries older than 30 days)
• Logs: %LocalAppData%\imPRESS Studio\logs\imposition-YYYYMMDD.log (rolling daily, 14-day retention)

Daemon mode (CLI)

The hot folder host can run from the command line without a window:

"imPRESS Studio.exe" hotfolder run

The daemon lives until Ctrl+C. This is the natural step toward running as a Windows Service in a future release.

Application updates

imPRESS Studio checks for new releases automatically at startup (once per day, silent background check) and pulls the installer from GitHub Releases. If you'd rather control timing, you can force a manual check.

Manual update check

1. Menu Help → Check for updates…
2. The app queries the GitHub API for the latest release in repo dnblsr-lab/imPRESS-Studio.
3. You get one of three results:
   • Update available — with a link to the changelog and a Download & install button.
   • You're on the latest version — nothing else to do.
   • Check failed — no internet, GitHub down, or rate-limited. Try again later.

How install works

After clicking Download & install, the app fetches imPRESS_Studio-Setup.exe, verifies the SHA-256 against GitHub, closes the window and launches the Inno Setup installer. Once done, the installer starts the new version — your templates, license, hot folders and settings carry over.

Disabling auto-check

Menu File → Settings → Updates — uncheck Check automatically. The manual check option remains available.

Activation & status

imPRESS Studio uses a machine-bound license. The activation window opens on first launch:

1. Copy the machine ID — a unique hash of your computer
2. Send it to impress_studio@proton.me with your order
3. You receive an activation key (Base64) or a license file (.json)
4. Paste the key in the activation window and click Activate — or load the license file

License tiers

• Trial — 30 days, full functionality
• Full — 6-month, annual or perpetual

Keyboard & mouse shortcuts

Ctrl+O

Load PDF

Ctrl+P

Plan imposition

Ctrl+E

Export to PDF

Ctrl++ / Ctrl+-

Zoom in / out

Ctrl+0 / F

Fit to window

R

Rotate view 90°

← / →

Previous / next sheet

F1

Open in-app help

T

Toggle Trim/Bleed guides in preview (new in 1.2.3)

Mouse wheel

Cursor-anchored zoom

Click & drag

Pan

Drag & drop PDF

Load file by dropping on window

Imposition & print terminology

Imposition

Arranging document pages on press sheets so that, after printing, folding and trimming, the result is a publication with correct pagination.

Signature

A group of pages printed on a single sheet. Typically 4, 8 or 16.

N-Up

Number of publication pages on one sheet side. X×Y = X horizontal × Y vertical.

Bleed

Artwork extending beyond trim.

Trim

Final page size after cutting.

Creep

The phenomenon where inner pages of a saddle-stitched book stick out past outer pages due to paper thickness.

PDF/X-4

ISO 15930-7 standard for print-ready PDFs — supports transparency, layers and ICC.

Preflight

Automatic validation of a PDF for print readiness.

Registration marks

Crosshairs on the sheet for precise CMYK alignment.

OCG (Optional Content Groups)

PDF layers that can be toggled on and off.

Hot folder

A folder watched by software — every dropped file is processed automatically.

Common problems

"No active license"

Open License in the header and paste the activation key or load the .json license file.

PDF/X-4 export does not work

PDF/X-4 is packaged by the native engine and needs nothing extra — if it fails, read the conformance-gate message (exotic RGB constructs or a raster logo overlay can block the native path). PDF/X-1a and X-3 require Ghostscript: install it from ghostscript.com and add it to PATH, or point at gswin64c.exe in the export options.

Preview shows black pages

Check the file status in Info (left panel). Some restricted PDFs require the protection to be removed first.

Pages overflow the sheet

Trim + bleed + gutter + sheet margin exceed the physical sheet size. Pick a larger sheet or reduce margins.

"File is in use" on export

Close the output file if open in Acrobat, a browser or another program — or pick a different path.

Slow export of large files

Since 1.5.12 every PDF/X standard is packaged natively and quickly. Ghostscript — if it is used at all — is the slowest stage, so reach for it only when a file genuinely needs its transparency flattened.