I am trying to convert a pdf file to a crystal report file, is that even possible? IS there a software tool out there that does that?
I have looked on-line but can't find anything
The answer is no.
But given that the question is a bit odd (Crystal needs a data source), perhaps what you are after is embedding a PDF form outline in Crystal.
That can be done by inserting the PDF (or an image of the form) in the page header and taking advantage of the 'Uderlay Following Sections' option. This would make the form outline act as the background for the rest of the report, allowing you to position dynamic content on top of that image.
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I am learning the basics of form pdfs now. After entering the field values, I can save the pdf with data as a pdf file. With Acrobat pro, I am able to export data in FDF and XFDF files. we need to develop a website that will allow users to fill a few form pdfs in browser and download it preferably as pdf forms filled with data. The PDFTron is a good solution, but it looks like I can download FDF file or XFDF file or the flattened pdf from it. The user should be able to modify the downloaded forms. Is this possible with PDFTron?
If it is not PDFTron, Is there any other way I could do this?
Yes, PDFTron fully supports online form filling and the export/import of XFDF data. In particular the WebViewer technology sounds like the best fit for you. It comes with out of the box form field filling, and XFDF is uses as the data interchange. A simple call in javascript to AnnotationManager.exportAnnotations() will give you all the form field data that you can use with any XFDF compliant PDF SDK.
This is the online sample for form filling. It will work on any modern browser/device.
https://www.pdftron.com/webviewer/demo/samples/forms/index.html?doctype=xod
This presentation explains WebViewer technology at a high level.
https://prezi.com/view/Aug5ft1twZNNKfBXfTIQ/
Finally, this page shows the basics of form field data interchange.
https://www.pdftron.com/webviewer/demo/tutorials/getting-started-annotations.html
I really like PDFTK and the PHP library php-pdftk. It will do everything that you want and more, they are really powerful tools, and free if you open-source your code!
PDFTK: https://www.pdflabs.com/tools/pdftk-the-pdf-toolkit/
php-pdftk: https://github.com/mikehaertl/php-pdftk
I have a lengthy PDF time tracking document that was printed out and used in a paper process to schedule appointments. Now this paper process is being converted to an online application and this application needs to generate reports in the same format as the PDF document (this time programatically inserting values into rows instead of having someone write them on the piece of paper).
My question is this, is possible to somehow import the layout of that PDF document into Telerik reporter's designer? Otherwise, is there some sort of an intermediary tool that I can use to make the layout more exportable?
Just to clarify, I am not trying to save my reports as PDF but trying to use a given PDF's layout to create a similar looking report in Telerik.
Any tips would be very welcome.
Thank you very much!
There are numerous tools for extracting text or images from pdf files, but I am pretty sure nothing exists to extract the layout of a pdf. The pdf format is just text and symbols with coordinates. There is no layout to extract.
I have built an application that automates the filling out of form fields inside a pdf. It then takes various assets and combines them together to generate a "print ready" product. All of this is accomplished using the magic of iTextSharp. When form fields are populated, they are then flattened to text. The problem is that even with the fonts embedded they aren't really attached to the form fields in a meaningful way (like straight text elements are) and the printers are complaining that the pdf is generating licensing errors due to this. I researched this a bit and it just seems to be the nature of how form fields are.
The artists we are working with requested that we research a way to "outline" the text that is created from flattening the form fields. I found that running the PDF Optimizer with a custom preset allows for Text Outlining in Acrobat, and even better I can generate an Acrobat Sequence that runs this command on the pdf. The problem is that Sequences can not be automated, at all.
I found a plug-in called AutoBatch that allows for the execution of Sequences on the command line through a batch file. The downside is that this would require installing Acrobat Pro and the Plug-in on the server this application will be running on. Further it seems like an overkill solution just to outline the text in the pdf. For all I know at this point iTextSharp may allow me to do this programmatic, but searching for such a thing on google returns little results and nothing relevant.
So the question: Is there a better way to outline text in a pdf than the current solution I have implemented or am I kind of stuck?
TLDR; PDF is generated w/ non-standard fonts. I need to "outline" this text to send it to the printer. Currently using AutoBatch Acrobat Plug-In to execute Acrobat Sequence from the Command Line. Seems excessive, wondering if anyone knows a better way to automate font outlining.
I am also in a printing environment and have used forms for "Box Covers" plenty of times to shorten the code used to produce box covers.
I simple us "pdfStamper.FormFlattening = true;" and the printers (Xerox DP180 and DC5000) has no problems in using the PDF.
The moment I leave out FormFlattening the printer gives a lot of errors regarding the PDF.
If you are using FormFlattening then check if the printer has the font locally installed in order for it to reference the font from the print engine instead of the PDF resources.
We are using Blackberries to display PDF reports. Here are background details on the problem:
The PDF reports are created using JasperReports.
Report format can be changed.
Different report formats are available (as per the feature set of JasperReports).
The PDF reports are on a website, too, so retaining a single source is ideal.
The page setup is in Landscape.
Here are the issues we have encountered:
Users cannot see a full line of text on the Blackberry.
The size of the PDF and UI makes reading difficult, at best.
The menu option to convert the PDF to text loses too much formatting to be useful.
The text is blurry (and too small).
Here are solutions we have thought about:
Create a second report (not ideal) in text or HTML format.
Simplify the original report format (not really an option, given the amount of data).
What other options are there for making a report available on the Blackberry, given the constraints of JaserReports, such that the report:
Is legible?
Is formatted for readability?
Displays quickly?
Essentially, we'd like to make sure there are no simple solutions we have overlooked for displaying legible PDFs on Blackberries.
We convert TIFFs to PDF for one of our applications, and have had mixed results with BlackBerry PDF viewers. These were our results.
Working
The following PDF readers worked for our purposes:
RepliGo Reader v1.1.1.1 - $19.95
Works fine.
DataViz Documents To Go Premium Edition v1.003.001 - $49.99
Works and includes a word wrap option to get the current zoom level to fit the available screen width, by moving text onto subsequent lines. Might fit your needs.
Non-Working
The following PDF readers did not work for our purposes:
BeamReader v1.0.8 - $17.99
BeamSuite v3.0.2 - $49.99
These couldn't open our PDF files ("Unsupported document format"). In addition they did not register as a PDF content handler, required for our application.
MasterDoc - $19.95
eOffice - $29.95
These also did not register as a PDF content handler. We had a range of problems with these, including installation issues, and not being able to open any PDFs at all.
Try BeamReader http://www.slgmobile.com/beamreader.html
I hear it's the best at reading PDFs for BlackBerry
How about outputting the file to an RTF or an image file (JPG/GIF), and then viewing them in your web browser?
If that doesn't work well on the native browser, I would focus on viewing the file via some other web browser - for example, Opera Mini. I know for images it's easier to navigate "big" images in Opera Mini than the native browser.
If your blackberries are on a BES server, couldn't you display the reports as HTML on your corporate intranet? - Then you could email a link to the blackberry and simply browse the report.
You can convert pdf to image via xpdf and than show image. xpdf is a BEST renderer of pdf.
Is there a script that anyone can suggest that would allow me to create a HTML or PHP web based form to collect data and save that data. the call the data to be populated in a fillable pdf?
If you have an existing PDF that you want to populate, and that PDF just has text fields (no checkboxes or radio buttons) then CAM::PDF may be able to help you. You can use it as a Perl library directly, or use its command-line interface. CAM::PDF is not useful for generating PDFs from scratch, however. Furthermore, if you have embedded fonts, then you need to ensure that all of the characters you plan to insert are represented in the embedded font.
Use a normal web page to get the data. If not sure how to do it, look for "php forms" on google, there are plenty of tutorials.
Then use a php pdf generator, like this one, to create the PDF file. If you look hard enough, you will probably find a pdf generator that will let you use a template with placeholders where the entered data should be.