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Affinity Publisher - Export every page as individual PDF + File naming?


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Hi there!

I am currently trying to use Affinity Publisher to mass-produce Diplomas at my institution.

I am able to create "pages" for each diploma using data merge, but can't figure how to export each page (Diploma) individually.

If this can be done - can each page be named? (For example using a Data Merge field)

 

Many thanks in advance! 

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Hello @Amore - welcome to the forums.

I don't think there's a way to split the output into single files directly from within Publisher, though I'm sure more experienced users will show you how if I'm wrong.  😁

But there's more than one way to split a PDF…  If you're on a Mac, you can utilise Apple's Automator.  Create a new Automator document of type Print Plugin.  This will allow you to generate the individual PDF files when you print from Publisher - or from any other app for that matter.  (You could alternatively create a new Application that operates by drag'n'drop: output your multi-page PDF file and drag it onto your app once ready.)

a.png.7434bd18f7e5074d47c36c85b25db218.png

 

On your new blank Automator document, use the filter to search for actions that contain the word "split".  Your results show up at step 2 in the screenshot below - click on it once to highlight it.  Step 3 shows a summary of what that selected action does.  Drag the item at step 2 over to the box on the right, to produce step 4.  In my case, I changed the Save Output  target to a folder I made specially to test this.  You probably wouldn't want to generate 5000 new PDF's on your Desktop!

b.png.e798801b98667a8278fb8ec4cc58371c.png

 

That one action is all that's required.  When you save your new print plugin, you'll be prompted for a suitable name.

Because it's a Print Plugin, it will be automatically saved to the correct location: /Users/amore/Library/PDF Services/

f.png.07527647736d37ac1e2e564a418f0d24.png

 

Now when you print, you'll have a new option under the PDF dropdown menu.  The name, shown at step 6 below, is the name that you saved it as in the previous stage.

c.png.886edbf6fd8d596d8761ccb25a4e6ce8.png

 

Hey presto - individual files, one per page.

d.png.267ae71bba8f92f4f3acbe6adf6474ac.png

 

This could probably be refined a bit, I kept it simple to demonstrate what can be accomplished easily.  But I don't think there's an easy way to have the individual files custom named as Alan, Barbara, Charlie, Dorothy, etc.  Still, if you used a data merge to create your Publisher document, then you could work out a method to use that same data to produce an index sheet for reference purposes…

Other PDF utilities might do this sort of thing too, but this print plugin can be created in seconds using the Automator utility that Apple have been including in your Applications folder for years and years and years. Hope this helps!

—— Gary ——

Photo/Designer/Publisher: Affinity Store, v2.1.1 release

Mac mini (M1, 2020), 16GB/2TB, macOS Ventura 13.4.1(c) • MacBook Pro (Intel), macOS Ventura • Windows 10 via VMware Fusion • iOS: current release

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The easiest way on MacOS is probably, to open up a PDF file in Preview.app and then on the view menu selecting thumbnails. Afterwards Ctrl select the pages that you want, then drag and drop them to the desktop or some folder.

However, there are a bunch of other ways available via tools like ghostscript (gs), dedicated PDF-tools, and phyton scripts etc. - As an example here is a Mac specific python splitPDF script (Usage: splitPDF.py inputPDFfile splitPageNum1 splitPageNum2 ...):

 

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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  • 7 months later...

 I'm a new fan of Affinity (a long-time ex adobe customer).  I recently needed to create an individual pages pdf from a multipage document and found it easy by using the export persona feature available in designer and photo. All you need is a multipage pdf. Open it in affinity photo or designer and use the export persona feature.

I created a how-to tutorial for this since many designers/users will probably want to know. 


https://youtu.be/k2eH1IDg1uI

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