Monday, March 30, 2015

Acrobat -- Generate Radio Button Groups




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

Update (30/03/2015): Now available, a free demo version of this tool.
The demo version will create two copies of the original radio buttons, and can only begin from number "1".

Update (28/01/2014): New dialog added and the ability to specify the base number.

The option to duplicate fields in Acrobat is very useful, but not so much when it comes to groups of radio-buttons or check-boxes. It's not possible to generate new groups of these fields, so you have to either duplicate an individual field, and then rename and set the options for all the copies, or manually copy&paste your group (and then rename it as well)...

This is why I've developed this new tool, which will make creating new groups of fields very easy and convenient. No more renaming required. No more changing the options for each group so they work the same. It's an easy and fast process.

Let's say you have a PDF with 10 multiple-choice questions.
All you have to do is create the first 2 groups of radio-buttons for the answers, and then click the Generate Field Groups button that the script adds to Acrobat:

(click to enlarge)


You are then asked to enter the base name of the two groups you've created (which is "Group" in this case), as well as the base number (1 in this case), and the number of new groups to generate (we want 8 new groups):




Click OK, and within seconds, the new groups are added to the file, each one with its own unique name (Group3, Group4, Group5, etc.), but with the same values as those we defined in our original groups (A, B, C and D, in this case), and perfectly aligned to them:

(click to enlarge)

Done and dusted in no-time...

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

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Batch Combine All PDF Files In Folders


Direct purchase using PayPal ($100 per license)!

This tool is similar to my Acrobat -- Batch Combine All PDF Files in a Folder script, only it's not a script, it's a more robust stand-alone tool that does the same task but is capable of processing more files quicker and more efficiently.

The tool looks like this:

The applications' GUI (click to enlarge)




If you wish to test the tool before purchasing it, a free demo version is available here.
The demo version is limited to processing up to 3 files in up to 3 folders. The full version has no such limits, of course.


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

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Reader -- Create Form Fields in Adobe Reader




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

One of the most frustrating things in Adobe Reader is that you can't add form fields to your files with it. You can fill them in, if they exist, but not create them. You usually need to purchase some expensive application to do that, but not any more!

Using this new tool I've developed one can create form fields even in the free Reader (XI version only!), simply by drawing them using built-in the Square commenting tool and then converting them to real, fillable fields.

It's fast and easy to do. All you need to do is draw the squares where you want the fields to be located, and as their comments enter the desired field name, like so:

The original comments (click to enlarge)
You can even specify some special properties for various field types, such as:
- Default values for Text fields
- Export values for Radio-Buttons and Check-Boxes
- The list-items for Combo-box (Drop-down menus) and List-box fields

After creating the comments you select the ones you want to convert and run the tool from the Extended menu on the right:

Creating text fields I
You select which kind of fields they should be from the list:

Creating text fields II
 And voilà... The new fields are created! As you can see the one on the right has a default text, and the one on the left shows the field name of that field.

Creating text fields III
 They are editable, just like any field created elsewhere.

Creating text fields IV
 We can also create check-boxes:

Creating check-boxes I

Creating check-boxes II
Radio-buttons...
Creating radio-buttons I

Creating radio-buttons II
A combo-box field, with items:

Creating a combo-box I
Creating a combo-box II
 A list-box, with items as well:

Creating a list-box I

Creating a list-box II
 And even a real Digital Signature field!

Creating a signature field I

Creating a signature field II
The file can now be saved and distributed, just like any other PDF form!

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

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Acrobat/Reader -- Quickly Switch Between Highlighter Colors




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

Update (19/03/2015): The tool now offers three independent custom colors that you can set, instead of just one.
Also, if you have one or more highlights selected when switching between colors, they will be automatically painted using the selected color.

One of the most annoying things when adding comments to PDF files in Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader is having to switch colors of the Highlighter tool. It's a cumbersome process that can really slow you down when you want to quickly review and comment a file.
The problem is there's no option to add an icon for the tool in different colors, it has to be done via the Properties Toolbar. Well, not any more!

Using this new tool I've developed it is now possible to switch between colors with a single click on an icon, making the review process much faster and smoother.

You can select between a set of default colors (I can customize these colors for your specific needs, of course): Yellow, Red, Blue, Green, as well as an option to define a custom color, either in RGB, CMYK or Grayscale.

Here's how it looks like in Acrobat XI Pro:



Here I show how to add the buttons to the toolbar, so the Tools panel can be closed while working:


And here's how it's used in Reader XI:




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

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Acrobat -- Create Copies with Unique Codes




Direct purchase using PayPal ($60 only per license)!

Update (03/03/2015): It is now possible to specify sequential codes instead of random ones.
If you select to have sequential codes the tool will automatically increment the value of the code from the starting number when saving the copies of the original file.

Imagine you have a document and you want to add a unique code to each copy of this document. For example, you are creating a coupon for your clients and want to have 100 unique coupon codes, one in each copy of the template file. How would you go about creating such a thing?

Well, using this new tool I've developed it couldn't be easier!
This tool will duplicate your file, and add a unique and random code to each copy, based on your selections.

All you have to do is add a text form field to your PDF document that will hold the code, and the tool does the rest for you. You launch the tool from the Tools menu bar:

(click to enlarge)
  
Then a window pops open where you can select the field, the number of copies you want to generate, the length of the code, plus some other settings as to what kind of characters the code should contain:



And when you press OK the tool generates all of your files in seconds! The results can be found in the same folder as the original file:

(click to enlarge)

  We can see that each copy has its own unique code:
(click to enlarge)


The tool also generates for you a list of all the codes it generated (in order) so you can easily track later on which ones have been used (and if they're valid, of course):


(click to enlarge)

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