Saturday, December 14, 2013

Acrobat -- Copy Combo or List Values To Other Fields



Direct purchase using PayPal ($30 only per license)!

Using this script once can easily and quickly copy other the values from one combo-box (also known as a drop-down) or list-box field in a PDF to other fields.

Let's say we have a list of technicians in our file and we want the user to be able to select up to 3 separate technicians. We create the first field and populate it with the names:

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Then we run the script and select the field to copy from and the field(s) to copy to:

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And the results are:

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If you have any questions about this tool, you can contact me directly.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Acrobat -- Split and Sort Scanned Booklet Pages



Direct purchase using PayPal ($40 only per license)!

If you've ever scanned in a booklet you know that splitting the double pages and re-organizing them in the correct order can be a tedious job... Well, not anymore!
This new tool for Acrobat will split booklet pages into a single page format, and then sort them to the correct order.

The tool can handle both Left-Bound and Right-Bound files. So for example, a left-bound file that looks like this:


Will be converted to this:


Here's a real example of such a file:

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 And after running the script on it using the button it adds to Acrobat's Tools menu:

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This tools also comes with an Action (for Acrobat Pro XI only!), that can be used to process multiple files in this way with ease.

If you have any questions about this tool, you can contact me directly.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Acrobat -- PDF Analytics



Direct purchase using PayPal ($99 only per license)!

This tool introduces a concept that is common with other file types to PDF files: PDF Analytics.

Using this tool you can find out how your files are used in the real world: For how long are they viewed; In which applications they're opened; are they printed? How long is each page viewed in each session? etc.

The scripts, once applied, monitor and record the exact times each of the following events take place:
  • File Open: Including the details of the application used to open the file, its location on the computer and whether or not it's viewed inside a browser window
  • File Close
  • Page Enter
  • File Will Save
  • File Did Save (including the new file path)
  • File Will Print
  • File Did Print
It's important to realize, though, this this process is completely hidden from the users using the file, and they'll not be aware of it running in the background.

This data is saved within the file and can be extracted when the file is submitted back to you.
Under certain circumstances the data can even be submitted back to a web-based service (PHP, SOAP, etc.)


The tool adds buttons to Acrobat that allow you to apply the PDF Analytics to a file, remove it from a file, save the raw data, or clear it.

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Applying the PDF Analytics scripts to a single file is easily done through the custom button, or even using the provided Action (to multiple files):

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The results can be exported to a plain-text file that contains the raw data collected by the script.

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If you have any questions about this tool, you can contact me directly.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Acrobat/Reader -- Print PDF With File Name



Direct purchase using PayPal ($25 only per license)!

Using this script it's possible to print out the file with the file-name embedded in the lower-left corner. One can select to embed the file-name on all the pages of the file, or just on the first page, or on the current page that you're viewing.



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Below is the Print dialog with the file-name highlighted in red:

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After printing the file (or canceling the Print dialog window), the embedded file-names are gone from the file and it is restored to its original state.

This script can be used both in Adobe Acrobat and in Adobe Reader. In Reader, in versions prior to XI, using the script requires that the file has the rights to add comments to it.

If you have any questions about this tool, contact me directly.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Site Update: New Clients Feedback Page

I've just added a new page where clients can leave general feedback about their experiences purchasing scripts from me, or about our interaction in general. It's available here.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Acrobat -- Copy Page Labels To Pages




Direct purchase using PayPal ($30 only per license)!

This script allows you to easily copy the page labels of a PDF files to the actual pages themselves and use them as a sort of footer (or header) to number the pages. This page labels (the ones that appear in the Pages panel and navigation menu) are more flexible than the built-in option to number pages, and with this script you can easily set their location on the page, as well as font type, size, color, etc.

All you have to do is create a form text field called "PageLabel" at the location you want the text to appear, and give it the appearance properties you desire, and then execute the script and select to which pages it should be applied.

For example: We have our PDF file with the page labels all set (on the left), and a field called "PageLabel" located where we want to copy them to the pages themselves. We click on the "Copy Page Labels To Pages" button under the Tools menu...
(click to enlarge)
We now select to which pages to copy the labels (all of them, in this case):


The script does its job, and then reports how many pages were edited, and offers to flatten them:


At the end of the process we see the new labels on the pages (top-left corner, where the original field was):

(click to enlarge)

If you have any questions about this tool, contact me directly.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Acrobat/Reader - Disable Sign Pane and Signature Bar

Yet Another Update: Adobe just published its own instructions on how to disable the Signature Bar, both for Windows and Mac computers. See: http://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/disable-echosign-detection.html

Hopefully this is a sign that they'll remove (or at least disable) this feature in future releases... We'll wait and see!

Another Update: For any Mac users willing to disable this feature, check out the discussion between myself and a Mac user in this thread (2nd reply and the comments under it). As stated there, the solution I suggested is not tested by me so I take absolutely no responsibility for trying to implement it.

Update: Adobe revealed that there's a specific registry setting to disable just the Signature bar.
See: http://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/ReleaseNotes/11/11.0.03.html#echosign-integration

Many people dislike the newly added "feature" in the latest versions of Acrobat and Reader that shows a green bar at the top of the document when the application thinks that is requires a signature (this seems to be based solely on the content of the document, when it contains the words "sign" or "signature").

Acrobat doing a not-very-good job of detecting when a signature is needed...
(click to enlarge)

Unfortunately, there is no option to disable this feature, which is why I delved into the registry reference and found a workaround. By downloading and executing these FREE .reg files you can completely remove the Sign pane from Acrobat or Reader, taking along with it this new signature detection feature.

The same file after running the .reg fix for Acrobat XI. Notice the Sign button is gone, as well as the green bar at the top.
(click to enlarge)

IMPORTANT: Running these files will change your registry and you do so AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Also, this workaround works only for Windows installation of Acrobat and Reader XI.

The download links are:

Disable Sign Pane (Acrobat XI)

Disable Sign Pane (Reader XI)

Enable Sign Pane (Acrobat XI)

Enable Sign Pane (Reader XI)

As always, I can be contacted directly at try6767@gmail.com, and if you find this tool useful and would like to donate, it's always appreciated!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Acrobat -- Create Skype Phone Links




Direct purchase using PayPal ($50 only per license)!

Your PDF files probably already have links to open web-sites and send emails, but what about adding an even more advanced layer of interactivity for the user? This script will take any telephone numbers that appear in your file and convert them into clickable links that will launch the Skype application (if installed, of course), and automatically bring the telephone number up so the user can immediately call it.

For example, let's take this bank's Contact Us page and run the script on it:


(click to enlarge)

The phone numbers on the page already have a country-code (+44), so we leave that option blank:



The script created 3 links:



We can see them by hovering with the mouse above one of them:



Clicking it immediately launches Skype and prompts us to call this number:

(click to enlarge)

The script even comes with an Action (if you have Acrobat Pro) that allows you to process multiple files easily.

For more information about this tool, you can contact me directly.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Acrobat/Reader -- Silently Print All Open PDF Files




Direct purchase using PayPal ($30 only per license)!

Using this new script you can easily and quickly print all the currently open PDF files in Acrobat or in Reader. The tool adds a new item to the Window menu that will send all the files you currently have open to the default printer.



For more information about this tool, you can contact me directly.