PdfPageBoundaryType Enum
A PDF page may be prepared either for a finished medium, such as a sheet of paper, or as part of a prepress process in which the content of the page is placed on an intermediate medium, such as film or an imposed reproduction plate. In the latter case, it is important to distinguish between the intermediate page and the finished page. The intermediate page may often include additional production-related content, such as bleeds or printer marks, that falls outside the boundaries of the finished page. To handle such cases, a PDF page may define as many as five separate boundaries to control various aspects of the imaging process:
Fields
| ArtBox | The art box (PDF 1.3) defines the extent of the page’s meaningful content (including potential white space) as intended by the page’s creator. |
| BleedBox | The bleed box (PDF 1.3) defines the region to which the contents of the page shall be clipped when output in a production environment. This may include any extra bleed area needed to accommodate the physical limitations of cutting, folding, and trimming equipment. The actual printed page may include printing marks that fall outside the bleed box. |
| CropBox | The crop box defines the region to which the contents of the page shall be clipped (cropped) when displayed or printed. Unlike the other boxes, the crop box has no defined meaning in terms of physical page geometry or intended use; it merely imposes clipping on the page contents. However, in the absence of additional information (such as imposition instructions specified in a JDF or PJTF job ticket), the crop box determines how the page’s contents shall be positioned on the output medium. |
| MediaBox | The media box defines the boundaries of the physical medium on which the page is to be printed. It may include any extended area surrounding the finished page for bleed, printing marks, or other such purposes. It may also include areas close to the edges of the medium that cannot be marked because of physical limitations of the output device. Content falling outside this boundary may safely be discarded without affecting the meaning of the PDF file. |
| TrimBox | The trim box (PDF 1.3) defines the intended dimensions of the finished page after trimming. It may be smaller than the media box to allow for production-related content, such as printing instructions, cut marks, or color bars. |