Welcome > PDF Creation > About creation methods > Overlaying Files

Overlaying Files

The contents of two or more files can be overlaid.

Overlaying files is only possible if you have more than one file in the file list of Create Assistant, or selected in Windows Explorer.

Create an overlay

  1. Prepare the files to be overlaid. See the examples below.
  2. Proceed with any of the following choices.
    • Go to the Assemble selection box in Create Assistant and select Overlay files as one PDF document.
    • Select Overlay files as one PDF in the shortcut menu in Windows Explorer
    • Select Overlay with existing file in the If File Exists list on the PDF Settings panel of the Kofax PDF Create Properties dialog box.
  3. Change the overlay options according to your preference.
    • In Create Assistant, click Options to display the Overlay Options panel and select positioning.
    • In the PDF Settings panel of the Power PDF Settings dialog box, click Options for detailed positioning and page-repeating settings when Overlay with existing file is selected in the If File Exists list. See Overlay dialog box for details.

Create overlay for a cover page

Note You can get the same result by overlaying three files, if you have the two picture elements in two separate files.

Here you can see an example for a cover page:


Cover page examples

Single page with picture elements

+

First page of a multi-page document

=

Cover page of resulting PDF file

To create an overlay for a cover page proceed with the following steps.

  1. Create a single-page PDF, Word or other file containing the picture elements for the cover.
  2. Create a multi-page document (for example, in Word). Its first page should contain the cover page text.
  3. Drag-and-drop the files to the file list in PDF Create Assistant or use the Add button.
  4. Select Overlay files as one PDF document in the Assemble selection box.
  5. Click Overlay and check the overlay settings in the Overlay panel. Click anywhere outside the panel to close it.
    1. Select Page Center.
    2. Clear Repeat the last page of the shortest document for page overlay.
  6. Click Saving button to define the destination settings.

    By default, the Save As dialog box will appear.

  7. Name your resulting PDF file.
  8. Start PDF Creation icon Click the Start Creation tool.

Place a logo on every page of a document

  1. Create an image or other file containing a logo.
  2. Create a multi-page document.
  3. Drag-and-drop the files to the file list in Create Assistant or use the Add button.
  4. Select Overlay files as one PDF document
  5. Click the Overlay button and check the overlay settings in the Overlay panel. Select a placement location (for example Right-Top Corner).
  6. Select the check box Repeat the last page of the shortest document for page overlay.
  7. Click OK to close the dialog box.
  8. Start PDF Creation icon Click the Start Creation tool.

All pages get the logo in their right-top corner.

Apply multiple cover overlays and a different one for all other pages

First you need to have your overlay document prepared, which will be overlaid on the main document. The overlay document should meet these requirements:

  • It is a multi-page document.

  • Has one or more cover pages with constant cover elements. These cover overlay pages will be overlaid on the pages of the main document in a sequential order, except the last page of the overlay document.

  • The last page of the overlay document should contain constant elements that should be placed on every other page of the resulting PDF.

Table 1. Multi-page cover overlay example
Document Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5

Overlay document

(4 pages)

Overlay for the 1st cover page Overlay for the 2nd cover page Overlay for the 3rd cover page Overlay for the rest of the pages No page
Main document Content for the 1st cover page Content for the 2nd cover page Content for the 3rd cover page Content Content
Resulting PDF 1st page of the main document overlaid with the 1st page of the overlay document 2nd page of the main document overlaid with the 2nd page of the overlay document 3rd page of the main document overlaid with the 3rd page of the overlay document 4th page of the main document overlaid with the last (4th) page of the overlay document 5th page of the main document overlaid with the last (4th) page of the overlay document

Use any of the following tools to create multiple cover overlays and a different one for the rest of the pages.

Apply multiple cover overlays and a different one for all other pages in Create Assistant

See the above requirements.

This task guides you on how to use Create Assistant and have one or more cover overlays, and then a different overlay for all other pages.

  1. Prepare the multi-page overlay document with elements (such as graphics, logos) to overlay.
  2. Prepare the main document that should receive these elements.
  3. Drag both documents into Create Assistant or use the Add (Add icon) button to add them.
  4. Select Overlay files as one PDF document in the Assemble selection box.
  5. In Create Assistant, click Options to display the Overlay Options panel and select positioning.
  6. Be sure that profile and saving settings are in order.
  7. Start PDF Creation icon Click the Start Creation tool.

Apply multiple cover overlays and a different one for all other pages in the Print dialog box

See the above requirements.

This task guides you on how to use the Print dialog box in any capable application to print the main document with one or more cover overlays, and then a different overlay for all other pages.

Proceed with the following steps.

  1. Prepare a overlay document with the constant cover elements on its first pages and with the constant elements for all pages (for example a logo) on its last page.
  2. Copy this file to the name and location to be used for the overlay result, converting it to a PDF if it is not already in that format.
  3. Create the multi-page main document in Word or in another application. The first pages of this document should contain cover page texts suitably arranged to accept the pages from the cover overlay document.
  4. In the application, select File > Print.
  5. In the Print dialog box, select Power PDF as a printer name and click Properties (or Printer Properties).
  6. In the Power PDF Properties dialog box, click the PDF Settings tab.
  7. In the Destination section, select Overlay with existing file in the If File Exists list.
  8. Make sure that Query the file name is selected in the Naming Method selection box.
  9. Click Overlay.

    The Overlay dialog box appears.

  10. In the Overlay dialog box edit settings according to your preference:

    Note See Overlay dialog box for details.

    1. Check the merge rules (page center is recommended for general use).
    2. Select Repeat last page of the shorter document for page overlay.
    3. Click OK.

      The dialog box closes and returns to the Power PDF Properties dialog box.

  11. In the Power PDF Properties dialog box, click OK.

    The dialog box closes and returns to the printing application.

  12. In the Print dialog box, click OK.
  13. In the Save As dialog box, select the overlay document prepared (the PDF file saved in step 2). Check that View Resulting PDF is selected and click Save.