General FAQ

What does the PDF autoprint feature do?

Aloaha PDF contains two autoprint features. One is used to automatically print every generated PDF document to a real printer. This is usefull if you want to archive every printout as a PDF and still want to get the hardcopy.

For PDF batch printing Aloaha supports an autoprint directory. Every PDF Document you drop into the autoprint directory will be printed to the default printer.

Why Interactive always re-enables automatically?

To be able to run Alaoha in non interactive mode you require a server or enterprise license!

How do I configure Aloaha to work as a windows service in non interactive mode?

In some cases it is very useful to run Aloaha as a windows service. For example if you use the Aloaha FAX Connector or run Aloaha in Server (non interactive mode) mode.

To re-configure Aloaha to run as a windows service please follow the steps below:

1. It is suggested to run the Aloaha Service as user Aloaha instead of LocalSystem. In case you agree to this suggestion please create a user Aloaha on your system

2. Log in as User Aloaha to your system

3. Right Click on the System Tray Icon of Aloaha, open settings and configure your settings.

4. Right Click on the System Tray Icon of Aloaha and disable interactive

5. Right Click on the System Tray Icon of Aloaha, choose advanced settings and activate “Process all Print Jobs”, “Enable Save to Folder”, “Enable Automation”

6. Stop Aloaha, remove all Aloaha entries from the Windows startup/autostart folder.

7. Re-login to the Machine as user Administrator

8. Open Services Control Manager and configure the PDF Print Service to run automatically as User Aloaha.

9. Start the Service.

Why is the Aloaha PDF Suite generating network traffic?

Unlike other 3rd party PDF Tools the Aloaha PDF Suite is not a virtual printer driver. The Aloaha PDF Suite is a print spooler monitor which converts spooled jobs into PDF. To be able to monitor the spooling process some UDP traffic is being generated.

Futhermore the Aloaha PDF Suite maintains a file called user.ini. This file contains user <-> email mappings which are retrieved from the Active Directory.

How do I attach files to the generated PDF?

Just drag&drop them into the preview pane.

How do I password protect the generated PDF File?

Once the preview pops up you can right click on the Aloaha Tray icon to set the password.

Why should I embed attachments into the PDF instead of just attaching them to the email?

Just consider how strict nowadays email content checker/virus scanner are. Nearly everybody experienced it allready that an email did not arrive at the recipient because the attached doc caused the email to be quarantined. PDF is considered as safe and is usually not on the blocking list.

I would like to use MS word Mail Merge to send out a PDF Mailing. Is that possible with Aloaha?

With Aloahas intelligent automailer it is possible to read content such as email addresses from the printed document to automail that document. Please read more on http://www.aloaha.com/wi-software-en/automailer.php

Is it possible to configure more than one default email recipient when using Aloaha in Server Mode?

You can simply comma seperate the recipient. For example a@aloaha.com,b@aloaha.com

Is it possible to configure a backup SMTP when using Aloaha in Server Mode?

It is not possible to configure a backup SMTP Server but if a mail cannot be submitted via SMTP it will be saved as EML to disk. This eml file can be dropped into every IIS pickup directory. You can configure Aloaha were to save these eml files. Just edit HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Aloaha\pdf and enter the path of your local IIS Pickup directory.

How do I share the Windows XP FAX Service via network?

The Windows XP Fax Service cannot be shared via network. You need to install Aloaha PDF Suite on the XP Machine and share the Wrocklage PDF Printer. Please consult http://www.aloaha.com/wi-software-en/aloaha-fax-connector.php for details.

This feature is only available in the server and enterprise edition of Aloaha. Interactive has to be disabled!

Can I change the FAX keyword in the Aloaha XP FAX Connector?

Yes, Automailer commands/tags can be changed in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Aloaha\pdf\automailer
Please note that you can also use regular expressions to define your tag.

I am using the autoprint folder and would like to define the application used for printing. Is that possible?

You can change the printing application to be used for the autoprint folder in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Aloaha\pdf\autoprint\\action
For example if you are using windows XP and would like to drop your .fax files into the autoprint to be converted and emailed you would add:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Aloaha\pdf\autoprint\fax
action=rundll32.exe shimgvw.dll,ImageView_PrintTo /pt "%1" "Wrocklage PDF Printer"

^^

What is the Aloaha PDF Automailer?

Once you enabled the Aloaha PDF Automailer Aloaha is able to extract commands like emailto, emailcc, fax, emailfrom, subject, body from the original document. If it finds these commands they will be used to automatically email or fax the resulting PDF to the specified recipient.

This feature is only available if option interactive is disabled

What can I do with the Aloaha FAX Connector?

If you install Aloaha on a XP or Windows 2003 Machine with configured FAX Service you can enable the Aloaha PDF Automailer. The Automailer will parse the PDF for FAX: tags and will automatically fax the document. If you share the Aloaha monitored printer you would be able to use the XP Fax Service network wide.

Please note that the Fax Connector is only available in the server edtion.

To activate the FAX Connector please deaktivate first "Interactive". Then please enable in advanced settings "Enable Automation" and "Process all Print Jobs"

Do I need the LiveCycle Server to add Sticky Notes/Annotations to my PDF Documents?

No, you can use the Aloaha PDF Editor

What does Digital Rights Management (DRM) mean?

DRM means that you can define what can be done with the PDF documents created by Aloaha.

Aloaha allows you to set permissions for your documents. You define if the document can be edited, if its possible to print it or to extract content.

DRM is very important for example if your company is seeking ISO2000 Certification or if you need to send confidential documents.
For example you wrote a document and need to send it for review but you do not want to allow the recipient to be able to extract or to print the document.

How can I change the way the Aloaha mailer parses the To: Address?

Open the registry editor and change the regular expression in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Aloaha\pdf\automailer\mailpattern and/or
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Aloaha\pdf\automailer\mailpattern

Can I use the Aloaha PDF Suite to convert SPL files directly to PDF?

Yes, it is possible to use the Aloaha PDF Suite to convert SPL to EMF or PDF. To convert SPL to EMF just drop your SPL file in the autoprint subfolder of the installation directory. Aloaha will try to convert your SPL into PDF. The temp EMF Files you will find in the subfolder of autoprint.

Our support department can also supply you with a programming API to convert SPL2PDF.

Can I install Aloaha PDF Suite on a Cluster?

Yes, but the Aloaha PDF Suite Cluster License is required!

How can I deactivate automatic Active Directory lookups to gain performance?

you can skip AD enumeration with the following registry key:

HKLM\Software\Aloaha\pdf\SkipAD=1

How do I configure the default mail from?

Just go into the Aloaha Settings, open the e-mail Tab and click on Server, User or Password. A new dialog will open!