How to Prepare an Issued PDF Set

Before changing a PDF, record the expected files, order, issue status, page counts, and output names. Copy the sources into a working location and reserve a separate output folder. This makes a missing volume or unexpected page-count change visible before distribution.

• Keep source, working, and issued files in distinct folders.
• Decide whether the issue identifier belongs in the filename, a visible header or footer, a Bates sequence, or more than one of those places.
• Record whether bookmarks, links, forms, attachments, layers, or signatures must survive.
• Do not modify an already signed PDF to make a new issue. Obtain an authorized unsigned source or follow the issuer’s re-signing process.

A backup is part of the workflow, not a recovery plan added after something goes wrong. Whole-document operations can affect every selected page.

PolyPDF 1.5 adds Revision Packages for the issue-management work that comes before final page stamping. Import the new issue, review recognized sheet identities, decide what replaces or adds, carry approved markups and scale data forward, inspect changes and available quantity or cost impact, verify references, and publish a current package with a revision report.

1. Create or open the .polyset Revision Package that owns the reviewed baseline.
2. Import the new issue and record its label, date, and whether it is a partial update or full reissue.
3. Reconcile every proposed sheet replacement; do not let a revision code make the decision for you.
4. Review carried work, alignment, changes, available impact, and references.
5. Publish the current package and revision report from the reviewed state.
6. If your issue standard also requires Bates numbers, headers, footers, or watermarks, create those as controlled downstream outputs and verify them before signing.

Revision Packages manage sheet identity, history, carryover, changes, impact, references, and publication. They do not replace the per-document controls described below for headers, footers, Bates numbering, watermarks, preflight, or certificate signing.

See the complete five-step workflow: Revision Packages in PolyPDF 1.5

A page label can help a viewer navigate to A-101 without changing the printed sheet. PolyPDF’s Headers & Footers fields support {page} for the physical page position and {label} for the existing page label. A Bates identifier is a separate visible sequence with a prefix, start number, digit count, suffix, placement, and styling.

Choose one authoritative scheme for each purpose. Printing a page label in the footer can be useful, but it does not turn that label into a cross-volume Bates sequence. Conversely, Bates numbering does not repair incorrect drawing-sheet labels or bookmarks.

Open Document › Headers & Footers for each file that needs issue text. The dialog provides six positions, a page range, font and margin controls, and a preview. Use {page} or {label} exactly as documented; there is no {total} token, and an unsupported token prints literally.

• Use the page stepper in the preview to inspect sheets with different sizes, rotations, or title-block positions.
• Keep issue text outside drawing and title-block content, and check the chosen margins on the smallest page.
• Apply headers and footers before certificate signing because they change page content.
• If the result is wrong, use the dialog’s Remove Headers & Footers action on the working copy rather than covering the text with another object.

The current PolyPDF release does not expose a cross-file Batch Process, so plan this final page-content work one file at a time. Apply Bates numbering and any text watermark to a single working document, save a new output, check it, and only then calculate the starting number for the next file.

1. Open the first working PDF in manifest order and confirm its page count and intended page range.
2. Open Bates Numbering and set the prefix, starting number, digit count, suffix, placement, page range, and styling required by the issue rule.
3. Apply the number, save to the clean output folder under the manifest name, close it, and reopen the saved copy.
4. Check the first and last Bates value. Record the last number you saw rather than relying only on the expected page count.
5. Open the next working document and use the recorded last value plus one as its start. Repeat until every volume is accounted for.
6. When a text watermark is required, apply it per document using the placement, opacity, rotation, font-size, color, and layer controls. Watermarks are text only; there is no logo-image watermark.
7. Compare the completed output folder against the manifest before preflight and signing.

PolyPDF 1.5 does not expose a user-facing cross-file Batch Process. Revision Packages coordinate drawing issues, but they do not batch-apply Bates numbers or watermarks across unrelated PDFs. If you need unattended multi-file page production, use an organization-approved external workflow.

Run Document › Accessibility & Preflight on each final candidate. PolyPDF reports 10 automated checks across five groups. Preflight is a screening tool, not PDF/UA certification and not a substitute for visual and contractual review.

1. Open every output from the clean issue folder and confirm filename, page count, first page, and last page.
2. Spot-check page labels, bookmarks, links, rotation, layers, forms, and attachments that should remain.
3. Check the first and last Bates number in every file and the transition between files.
4. Inspect headers, footers, and watermarks on portrait, landscape, and rotated sheets.
5. Search for the issue identifier and print or export representative pages.
6. Open the exact release files in a second viewer that resembles the recipient’s environment.
7. Apply any required certificate signature only after these page-content checks, then verify the signed file without modifying it.

Consider an illustrative three-volume set containing 28, 31, and 15 pages. The issue manifest calls for “REVIEW” in the header, a centered text watermark, and Bates identifiers beginning at REV-000101. First, add and verify the header on each working file. Number the first volume REV-000101 through REV-000128, set the second to start at REV-000129, and set the third to start at REV-000160. Apply and inspect the watermark on each document separately.

If all 74 pages are numbered, the next unused value should be REV-000175. Arithmetic is not a substitute for looking: check the first and last value in each volume and the boundary between volumes. Run preflight, confirm the appearance in a recipient-style viewer, then sign if the issue procedure requires it.