...a ripped pdf is achievable but only if your rip has the ability to create pdf files, depending on your rip software you might not be able to achieve this.
I know that the Agfa Apogee X rip is capable of exporting to pdf both individual pages and also imposed schemes, but in my experience the pdf's it creates are often quite large, larger than what distiller churns out. This is something I have addressed with our studio manager, but he seems as dumbfounded as me on this one.
Options for changing pdf export settings seem limited on this rip, although does a great job with flattening transparency...
...if you have the option to get a postcript file off the rip then you could always use that and then distill it, of course this is a bit of a cheats way out as this isn't strictly speaking the final processed file...
...you might want to consider conatcting your rip provider for support on this issue, they will soon tell you if final processed pdf files are accessible from the rip...
...the ripped pdf files you have received from outside sources are probably from rips capable of this feature or are pdf files used at imposition stage...
Andrew
