Metadata in workflows
The metadata of the resulting PDF can be customized in all workflows.
All metadata is applied to the main result document only, and not to embedded files or any other document contained therein.
All runtime options to further customize the metadata must be set at job level, not at document level.
Standard properties
The four standard PDF metadata properties that can be customized are Author, Title, Subject, and Keywords.
A fixed value can be configured in the profile configuration for each of the properties. If no value is configured, the original value is preserved (if available).
The values can also be provided dynamically using the following job options:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
META.AUTHOR | The author of the document |
META.TITLE | The title of the document |
META.SUBJECT | The subject of the document |
META.KEYWORDS | Keywords that apply to the document |
Extended properties
Extended metadata is defined by the XMP standard and the properties are grouped into schemas.
The Conversion Service provides the possibility to set XMP property values from the Dublin Core schema, XMP Basic schema, XMP Rights Management schema, and custom extension schemas.
Dublin Core schema
The Dublin Core schema provides a set of commonly used properties.
The values can be configured statically for each profile in the configurator or dynamically using the following job options:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
META.EXT.DC.CONTRIBUTOR | Contributors to the resource (other than the autors). Note: Although the schema technically supports multiple values, only a single value can be set here. |
META.EXT.DC.COVERAGE | The extent or scope of the resource. |
META.EXT.DC.IDENTIFIER | Unique identifier of the resource. |
META.EXT.DC.RIGHTS | Informal rights statement. |
META.EXT.DC.SOURCE | Unique identifier of the work from which this resource was derived. |
META.EXT.DC.TYPE | A document type. For example, novel, poem, or working paper. Although the schema technically supports multiple values, only a single value can be set here. |
XMP Basic schema
The XMP Basic schema contains properties that provide basic descriptive information.
The values can be configured statically for each profile in the configurator or dynamically using the following job options:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
META.EXT.XMP.NICKNAME | A short informal name for the resource. |
META.EXT.XMP.LABEL | A word or short phrase that identifies a document as a member of a user-defined collection. |
| Used to organize documents in a file browser | |
| ::note | |
| This property is not available in PDF/A-1 | |
| ::: | |
META.EXT.XMP.RATING | A number that indicates a document’s status relative to other documents. |
| Used to organize documents in a file browser. Values are user-defined within an application-defined range. |
This property is not available in PDF/A-1
XMP Rights Management schema
This schema includes properties related to rights management.
The values can be configured statically for each profile in the configurator or dynamically using the following job options:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
META.EXT.XMP-RIGHTS.CERTIFICATE | URL of an online rights management certificate. |
META.EXT.XMP-RIGHTS.MARKED | Indicates that this is a rights-managed resource. |
META.EXT.XMP-RIGHTS.OWNER | The legal owner of a resource. Although the schema technically supports multiple values, only a single value can be set here. |
META.EXT.XMP-RIGHTS.USAGE-TERMS | Text instructions on how a resource can be legally used. |
META.EXT.XMP-RIGHTS.WEB-STATEMENT | The location (URL) of a web page describing the owner and/or rights statement for this resource. |
Custom extension schemas
For metadata properties that are not covered by the predefined schemas, a custom schema can be defined.
The schema definition must be provided statically in the profile configuration.
XMP extension schemas are expected to be stable over time.
Changes to a schema definition should only add new properties and never change the meaning or type of existing properties.
If incompatible changes are necessary, a new schema should be created instead.
The actual property values can be configured statically or provided dynamically using a placeholder and the following custom job option:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
CUSTOM.‹OPTION-NAME› | The value for the placeholder [custom:‹OPTION-NAME›,'Default value'].
|
Advanced usage
For advanced users, the metadata can be customized further using the following job options:
| META.XMP | A complete XMP packet that replaces the metadata of the input document.
This option can be used to set all kind of metadata, including standard properties, extended properties, and custom extension schemas.
Any properties set using the standard mechanisms above are applied to this packet and any values set using the standard mechanisms take precedence over the values provided by this XMP packet. |
When creating a PDF/A document, the XMP metadata must contain a full schema definition for all custom extension schemas. Such a definition can be provided:
- directly in the XMP packet.
- using custom extension schema configuration. In this case, the Force Definition setting in the schema should be enabled.