Output profiles

Profiles define the output format and transformations a workflow may use. Changes require an administrator-managed configuration update.

Start conservatively

Start with color preserved and lossy processing disabled. Before enabling settings that reduce image detail, have staff compare sample output with the originals for readability and completeness.

{
  "id": "generic-conservative-pdf",
  "revision": 1,
  "format": "Pdf",
  "color": "Preserve",
  "allowLossy": false
}

This is a profile fragment, not a complete configuration. See the complete workstation example.

Core options

Option	Default	Accepted values	Behavior
id	required	1-64 letters, digits, _ or -	Stable profile identifier
revision	1	Integer >= 1	Version of this profile's behavior
format	Pdf	Pdf, Tiff	Output file format
color	Preserve	Preserve, Grayscale, Monochrome	Pixel color policy
allowLossy	false	true, false	Permits lossy pixel transformations and eligible JPEG encoding
maxDpi	null	1-1200 or null	Maximum output resolution, not an upsampling target
jpegQuality	90	1-100	JPEG quality when eligible PDF raster output uses JPEG
monochromeThreshold	128	Byte 0-255	Threshold for explicit monochrome conversion
allowPdfFlattening	false	true, false	Permits rendering complex PDF pages into raster output
allowSignedPassthrough	false	true, false	Allows eligible signature-bearing PDFs only as unchanged bytes
maxOutputBytes	null	Positive integer bytes or null	Hold output exceeding this size; no guaranteed compression target
maxPdfVersion	17	14-17	Maximum PDF version: 14 = 1.4 through 17 = 1.7
metadata	Preserve	Preserve, RemoveDescriptive	Preserve metadata or explicitly allow descriptive metadata removal
rotation	0	0 only	Nonzero rotation is currently unsupported
maxWidthInches	null	Positive number or null	Maximum permitted page width
maxHeightInches	null	Positive number or null	Maximum permitted page height
allowedCodecs	null	Array or null	Optional allowed codec names; see below
validatedForClinicalUse	false	true, false	Records your team's review that this profile preserves the information needed for its intended clinical documents

Before enabling lossy processing

Important

Reducing resolution (maxDpi) or changing color policy requires allowLossy: true. Review representative output before clinical use. Automated image checks cannot replace a review of clinical readability and completeness.

With lossy processing enabled, eligible raster pages above eight bits per pixel can use JPEG when exported to PDF. TIFF output uses Group 4 for entirely bilevel batches and ZIP otherwise; jpegQuality is not a TIFF JPEG selector. A preserved grayscale master does not recover color already lost at capture.

allowPdfFlattening is a separate permission. Even without downsampling, flattening changes PDF structure and can lose interactive or semantic information. Enable it only when your workflow needs it and your team has checked that the finished documents retain the content and features they need.

Codec and geometry restrictions

Allowed codec names are Flate, DCT, CCITT, LZW, Uncompressed, JPX, and JBIG2. Listing a codec permits it; it does not select that compression method for output. An empty array allows no codec, while null means no codec restriction. Paperweight holds complex PDFs when it cannot confirm that they meet these restrictions.

Width/height and byte limits are validation ceilings. They do not request cropping, page resizing, or repeated compression until a target is met. maxPdfVersion is also a validation ceiling, not a promise to convert every PDF to an earlier version.

Signatures and metadata

Signature-bearing input is held unless unchanged PDF passthrough is explicitly allowed and other constraints permit it. A passthrough requires PDF output, preserved metadata, and no requested pixel change. The original bytes remain unchanged; Paperweight does not verify cryptographic signature validity.

Existing PDFs with descriptive metadata use a structure-preserving path when necessary. Conversions or flattening that cannot preserve that metadata are held unless removal was explicitly permitted. Embedded raster color profiles and unsupported complex transformations are held conservatively. Active or encrypted PDFs are held even when other permissions are enabled.