Thanks for the response ...  I reviewed both links and I'm going to give the widget a shot tomorrow, thanks for the link.  On the python extent and scale with the webmap,  I sorted this after I reviewed the other link and the instructions carefully I made a typo on the Web_Map_as_JSON Display Name  - again thanks....
On a similar path - The process is great fast and cracking quality, but how can I get Rasters into the process?.. For testing I put in a raster into the template, and the serivice.  I create the PDF and the raster is created , but is renamed IMAGE and is placed at the bottom of the layer list  -same is true for multiple images.  I tried getting the  'rasters = arcpy.ListRasters(mxd)' list and trying not to remove these  - so many different ways but never managed to get a correct result  - as in and image with the corrrect name and location in the TOC in the PDF.
any hints please - i'd like to crack this soon 
cheers
Paulg