How do I customize a stamp?

Dear Lori,

I've read your tip on “Creating a Custom Dynamic Stamp” but I still have some questions:

1. Where is the stamp stored on a Mac?
2. I love this technology, but how do I ensure the stamp will print? What if my customer turns off printing of comments?

Download

Lori responds,

Great questions. Let me address each one:

1. As I mentioned in the tip, the stamp can be stored in one of two locations – the user’s local data folder, and in the Acrobat or Reader install directory. I’ll update this information to include both Macintosh & Windows paths:

Local directory:
PC: [user directory]\Application Data\Adobe\Acrobat\[version]\Stamps
MAC: Home > Library > Acrobat User Data > 7.0 > Stamps 

Install directory:
PC: [install directory]\plug_ins\Annotations\Stamps\[language]
MAC: [application package]> Contents > Plug-ins > Comments.acroplugin > Stamps > [language]

2: As you may be aware, when you select File > Print, your options are Document, Document and Markups, Document and Stamps, or Form Fields Only (see Figure 1). To ensure that stamps appear when your customer prints, there are a couple options:

• Add a line of JavaScript code to your document that will flatten the page when it is printed (see Figure 2).
• Add a new menu item to Acrobat that would allow your user to permanently flatten the document (see related tip below).

Figure 1: Print Menu Options

Figure 2: Add JavaScript Code

Select Advanced > JavaScript > Set Document Actions.  Add the following single line of JavaScript “this.flattenPages();” to the Document Will Print option (see Figure 2). Now whenever you print this document, any stamps will be merged into the page and will always print, regardless of the user’s selection.

If you want to flatten pages on a document-by-document basis, you can add a menu item to Acrobat. See this tip on “Flattening PDF Annotations in Adobe Acrobat” (www.aecbytes.com/...issue2-acrobat.html) that gives a step-by-step explanation of how to add new menu items to Flatten Page or Flatten Document that will appear under the Document menu in Acrobat.

— Lori

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