[Cialug] pdf thing (again)
Nathan C. Smith
smith at ipmvs.com
Thu Nov 9 10:33:25 CST 2006
An interesting part of that book, IMHO, was about how to get your own range
of ISBN numbers and do self-publishing.
-Nate
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dave J. Hala Jr. [mailto:dave at 58ghz.net]
> Sent: Thursday, November 09, 2006 10:25 AM
> To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group
> Subject: Re: [Cialug] pdf thing (again)
>
>
> I did manage to find a book called "PDF HACKS" from O'reilly. (isbn
> 0-596-00655-1) While this book doesn't go into too much
> detail about anything, it does cover alot of the stuff that
> is available for both Windows and Linux. It also has some
> code samples.
>
> It's handy dandy as a quick and dirty reference.
>
> :) Dave
> On Fri, 2006-11-03 at 16:33, Barry Von Ahsen wrote:
> > agreed - it took me 4-5 hours to get the w9 form laid out correctly
> >
> > -barry
> >
> >
> > Dave J. Hala Jr. wrote:
> > > I hate to say it, but designing the forms on a windows box using
> > > acrobat pro, was pretty easy. I'd never used it before
> and it only
> > > took me a few minutes to figure it out. At moment, I'd
> say that is
> > > definitely the way to design/create the pdf forms.
> > >
> > > I like the control that you have with ezpdf, but I don't
> think that
> > > designing my forms that way will be cost effective as my
> forms are
> > > fairly complex.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Fri, 2006-11-03 at 09:41, David Champion wrote:
> > >> We've used both ezpdf and pdf-lib. Not ironically, ezpdf
> is easier
> > >> to
> > >> work with. But setting up large / complex forms is still a pain.
> > >>
> > >> At least the tool that DH is using lets you design the
> forms in a
> > >> GUI.
> > >>
> > >> -dc
> > >>
> > >> Barry Von Ahsen wrote:
> > >>> we use ezpdf (http://www.ros.co.nz/pdf/) here at work
> to generate
> > >>> contracts and w9 forms from database data. the initial
> setup of a form
> > >>> can be a bit difficult (you can pixel position
> everything, if you wanted
> > >>> to), but the price is perfect :)
> > >>>
> > >>> -barry
> > >>>
> > >>> (some sample code)
> > >>> include_once('class.ezpdf.php');
> > >>> $pdf = new Cezpdf('letter','portrait');
> > >>> $pdf->ezSetMargins(43,30,30,50); $bf_size = 12;
> > >>>
> > >>> $mainFont = '/fonts/Helvetica.afm';
> $pdf->selectFont($mainFont);
> > >>>
> > >>> // SET DOCUMENT INFO
> > >>> $pdf->addInfo('Title', 'My PDF'); $pdf->addInfo('Subject',
> > >>> 'Test'); $pdf->addInfo('Author', 'Me');
> > >>> $pdf->addInfo('Producer', 'Myself');
> > >>> $pdf->addInfo('CreationDate', date("m/d/Y h:i:s A") );
> > >>>
> > >>> $txt = "This is a paragraph\n";
> > >>> $pdf->ezText($txt,$bf_size,array('justification'=>'left'));
> > >>>
> > >>> $txt = "Your name is: " . $database_variable . "\n";
> > >>> $pdf->ezText($txt,$bf_size,array('justification'=>'left'));
> > >>>
> > >>> if($stream) {
> > >>> $pdf->ezStream();
> > >>> } else {
> > >>> $pdfcode = $pdf->ezOutput();
> > >>> $fh = fopen("/path/to/pdf",rb);
> > >>> fwrite($fh, $pdfcode);
> > >>> }
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> Dave J. Hala Jr. wrote:
> > >>>> Basically what I did when trying out pdf-tools' form
> filling tool
> > >>>> was to load the pdf form into acrobat professional. Then I
> > >>>> defined the data fields and saved the form.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> To fill the form, I read the data from the database,
> and passed
> > >>>> the information to the form filling tool on the command line.
> > >>>> Their tool took the original pdf and the data and
> created a new,
> > >>>> filled out pdf. It was slick and it worked well. Smoking fast,
> > >>>> with almost no overhead.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> I'm not against forking out $2k for pdf-tools's software.
> > >>>> However, I have all dual cpu machines and possibly a
> quad coming
> > >>>> in the future. That will raise my licensing fees considerably.
> > >>>> Don't get me wrong, pdf-tools is well worth the money and they
> > >>>> have excellant support. However, if I can find a lower cost
> > >>>> alternative, I could be more competitive.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> :) Dave
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>> On Fri, 2006-11-03 at 07:42, carl-olsen at mchsi.com wrote:
> > >>>>> From what I see, it looks like it would be possible
> to build the
> > >>>>> FDF file using PHP and data from a database. I'm not too
> > >>>>> familiar with running command line instructions using
> PHP, but
> > >>>>> I'm sure that its not difficult. I'm wondering if I
> can create
> > >>>>> the form using Acrobat and then use this tool to fill in the
> > >>>>> form fields, or whether the PDF has to be created using this
> > >>>>> tool. I know how to create a form with fill in fields using
> > >>>>> Acrobat, but I'd be lost if I had to create one from
> a command
> > >>>>> line.
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> I know how to capture form fields from a PDF and put the data
> > >>>>> into a database, but I never could figure out how to populate
> > >>>>> the fields from the database later when I wanted to
> print out a
> > >>>>> copy of a form that someone filled out using a web
> browser. The
> > >>>>> options I found at that time were very expensive. I
> looked at
> > >>>>> the IRS website and found the tool they were using was about
> > >>>>> half the price of the Adobe tools, but it was still several
> > >>>>> thousand dollars.
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> Carl Olsen
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> Web Developer
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> Drake University
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> -------------- Original message from "Dave J.
> Hala Jr."
> > >>>>> <dave at 58ghz.net>: --------------
> >
> > >>>>> I've been experimenting with a trial version of PDF Tools
> > >>>>> form filling > tool.
> (www.pdf-tools.com) It takes an
> > >>>>> existing pdf, and
> > >>>>> allows you to > insert data into the
> form fields in
> > >>>>> the pdf. > > It works awesome.
> However, its priced by
> > >>>>> CPU. This makes it
> > >>>>> a little > pricey on a dual cpu
> server or a dual core
> > >>>>> server. I'm
> > >>>>> looking for a > lower cost
> alternative. >
> > >>>>> > I found something called pdftk or PDF
> Toolkit >
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>
> http://applications.linux.com/article.pl?sid=06/04/17/1943230&tid=47
> > >>>>> > > It seems to be the solution I'm
> looking for. Has
> > >>>>> anyone had
> > >>>>> any > experience with it before?
> > >>> _______________________________________________
> > >>> Cialug mailing list
> > >>> Cialug at cialug.org http://cialug.org/mailman/listinfo/cialug
> > >>>
> > >>
> > >> _______________________________________________
> > >> Cialug mailing list
> > >> Cialug at cialug.org http://cialug.org/mailman/listinfo/cialug
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Cialug mailing list
> > Cialug at cialug.org
> > http://cialug.org/mailman/listinfo/cialug
> --
>
> Open Source Information Systems, Inc. (OSIS)
> Dave J. Hala Jr., President <dave at osis.us>
> 641.485.1606 www.osis.us
> Save a life: Adopt a shelter animal!
>
> _______________________________________________
> Cialug mailing list
> Cialug at cialug.org
> http://cialug.org/mailman/listinfo/cialug
>
More information about the Cialug
mailing list