Form definitions

A form definition is the resource that specifies the physical attributes of the printed output. The word form refers to a sheet of paper or any other print medium.

You must specify a form definition for each data set you want to print. You can specify a form definition by name, or you can use the default form definition that your installation sets up.

A form definition contains printing controls that specify these options, within the limitations of each printer:

• Page origin, which is the top-left boundary for printing. When the printer is duplexing, page origin can be different for the front and back of the page.
• Sheets on which medium overlays are to be printed.
• Sheets on which medium preprinted form overlays are to be printed.
• N_UP pages on which page preprinted form overlays are to be printed.
• Sheets on which a forms flash is to be printed.
• Printing with only overlays or forms flash and no variable data. This option is the constant-forms function.
• Number of copies of each page to be printed.
• Paper source (input bin of the printer) for printers with more than one paper source.
• Output bin for printers with more than one output stacker.
• Simplex printing (on one side of a sheet) or duplex printing (on both sides of a sheet).
• Data fields that are to be suppressed (not printed).
• Printed copy groups to be stacked offset from each other.
• Page presentation in either portrait or landscape position.
• Print-quality level for printers that support different levels.
• Horizontal adjustment in pels.
• N_UP printing of multiple logical pages on a sheet. These pages can be MO:DCA-P pages (fully composed pages containing data and the structured fields that control how the data is presented), line data, or XML data.
• Type of font fidelity. You can ensure the font used to format the data and the font used to print the data have the same resolution.
• Type of finishing; for example, corner stapling.

A form definition is required for every print job that you send to an AFP printer. PSF needs the form definition to position the logical page on the physical form. The form definition specifies the origin of the logical page as an offset from the origin of the physical form, or medium. The logical page is an area defined by the page definition for line data and XML data, or by structured fields for MO:DCA-P data.

For more information about medium origin and logical page origin, see Page position.