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How to Use a Publishing Template in a PDF Transformation

From Oxygen XML Editor/Author

A publishing template can be used for PDF output from the DITA Map PDF - based on HTML5 & CSS transformation scenario (or from the DITA PDF - based on HTML5 & CSS transformation scenario).

The Templates tab in the transformation scenario dialog box displays all the templates that are available in your template gallery. To use a particular template in the transformation scenario, simply select it from this tab and then continue configuring the transformation using the other tabs to suit your needs.

To add the publishing template to your templates gallery, follow these steps:
  1. Open the transformation scenario dialog box by editing a DITA Map PDF - based on HTML5 & CSS transformation (or a DITA PDF - based on HTML5 & CSS transformation scenario).

  2. In the Templates tab, click the Configure Publishing Templates Gallery link to.

    Step Result: This will open the preferences page.

  3. Click the Add button and specify the location of your template directory.

    Step Result: Your template directory is now added to the Additional Publishing Templates Galleries list.

  4. Click OK to return to the transformation scenario dialog box.

Result: All the templates contained in your template directory will be displayed in the preview pane along with all the built-in templates.

From a Command Line

You can use the pdf.publishing.template parameter to point to the *.opt (publishing template) file:
dita.bat 
	--input=map\test.ditamap" 
	"-Dpdf.publishing.template=full_path_to_template_dir/my_template.opt" 
	--format=pdf-css-html5 
	...
Or use the two parameters to indicate the folder containing the publishing templates and the name of the publishing template file relative to that folder: 
dita.bat 
	--input=map\test.ditamap" 
	"-Dpdf.publishing.template=full_path_to_template_dir" 
	"-Dpdf.publishing.template.descriptor=my_template.opt"
	--format=pdf-css-html5 
	...
Tip: You can also start the dita process by passing it a DITA OT Project File. Inside the project file you can specify as parameters for the webhelp-responsive transformation type the WebHelp-related parameters.