Sonic Batch Conversion PDF Creation

The Sonic Batch Creator is a powerful tool that allows users to conduct batch conversions using a specially designed, stream-lined interface. Batch creation of PDF documents is ideal for situations where users have numerous files that they wish to convert into PDF format, but do not want to have to convert each file on a case-by-case basis.

To launch Sonic Batch Creator, it can be accessed through the “Start” menu at the bottom left hand corner of the Windows user interface:

Start > All Programs > Sonic PDF

The application can also be found in the “ Investintech .com Inc.” folder under “Program Files”.

Once the application is launched, the following window will appear:

Users can either add files by clicking on the “Add” button, and selecting a file, or by “dragging and dropping” files into Sonic Batch Creator interface. The “drag and drop” method is an effective method of preparing a group of files for batch conversion.

Once a series of files have been added or dropped into the batch creation interface, the files may be reordered, or removed, by using the buttons to the left of the Source File list.

“Add” – clicking on the Add button will allow the user to add another file to the “Source Files” list.

“Remove” – the Remove button will be active when a source file has been selected. Clicking on this button when a file has been selected will result in the file being removed from the Source Files list.

“Clear” – the Clear button will remove all files from the Source Files list.

“Up” – clicking on the Up button will move the selected file up higher on the source file list. This option is only active when a single file has been selected

“Down” – clicking on the Down button will move the selected file down lower on the source file list. This option is only active when a single file has been selected.

The “Source Files” list contains the list of the selected documents and includes the file name, size, file type and location for each file. By double-clicking on one of the files listed under the Source Files list, the selected file will be launched in the applicable application.

The “Options” button launches an options dialog that applies to the Sonic Batch Creator only. It is the same style dialog that is present for the Sonic Print Driver and Sonic PDF Application User Interface.

The changes made to the PDF Options dialog for the Batch Creator will apply to all PDF files converted using the Batch Creator. As such, if unique security passwords are required for each file, then the batch creator is not the appropriate tool to use. However, if the same password is to be set for a series of documents, then adding password information at the Batch level will ensure that all files created will require the same password.

Tip : The Output tab is the same tab used for the Sonic PDF Print Driver. It is highly recommended that users of the Batch Creator use the following configuration for their batch creation – which is intended to minimize the level of required user interaction during the batch creation process (assuming that unique settings for each document are not required):

The default setting is such that the newly created PDF document is not automatically launched in Adobe’s PDF viewer. The “Prompt Save Creation As Dialog” is not checked – otherwise the user would have to confirm the creation of every PDF being created in the batch sequence.

If the user wishes to specify the Output Folder, but does not wish to be prompted with the “Save as” dialog each time a PDF is created, they should:

a) Check the “Prompt Save Creation As Dialog” box

b) Click on the now activated “…” box to select the desired Output Folder

c) Uncheck the “Prompt Save Creation As Dialog” box, so they will not be prompted with the “Save as” style box every time a PDF document is created

The user may also change the defaults for the remaining tabs: Fonts/Colors; Display; Watermark; Word/Excel; Page Setup; and Compression. Descriptions of these items may be found under the “View Menu – Options for Creation…” segment of the Section E of this Help file.

Once the user has confirmed the settings for the “Options” dialog, they can click on the “Next” button to commence the batch conversion of the files listed under the Source Files window.

The files will then be processed and a record of the processing will appear in the “Creation Status” window. The “Output Files” window provides a list of all of the successfully created PDF files:

Once the batch conversion is completed, a message stating “Job done” should appear in the Creation Status window.

The Output Files list provides the File name, size, type, date modified and location of the newly created PDF files. The location should correlate with the folder selected by the user for the Output settings in the Options settings for the Sonic Batch Converter.