Acrobat -- Create an Intelligent Mail Barcode Field

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The United States Postal Service (USPS) developed a type of barcode it uses to easily identify addresses in the US, called Intelligent Mail Barcode (or IMB). This barcode symbology is composed out of 65 vertical bars, based on a set of 31 (or possibly less) digits, which represent the Barcode identifier, Service type identifier, Mailer ID, Sequence number and finally the Delivery point ZIP code.

This barcode format is very useful when printing shipping labels for addresses in the US and using it can help make sure your letters arrive to their correct destination on time.

So how can we integrate this technology into our PDF files? The USPS provides a free font that can be installed on your computer and subsequently used as the font of a text field in a PDF, and using this tool I've developed it's never been easier to set it up!

Let's say we have a field that contains the IMB value, and another field where we want the barcode to appear:

The original file with the two fields, and the menu item added by the script on the right (click to enlarge)

After the script is installed on the computer it adds a new menu button under the Tools panel, which allows us to set up our IMB field (the lower one in this case). Pressing the button pops-up this dialog:

The script's settings dialog window

In this dialog we select the Value and the Barcode field names, as well as the type of value we use.
In this case we have an non-encoded numeric value, so we select the first option. If we have an encoded value with A/D/F/T letters (for example: "FADDFAFTFTADAFDTFDDAAFDFAFADFTTDTFDDTDTTDDTTFFATFDFAATFAFAFTDFFDD"), we would select the second option.
Next we select whether the Mailer ID has 6 or 9 digits, and finally whether to hide the value field (in this case we keep it visible).
We click OK to proceed and get this message:

Clicking on Yes is recommended as it's required that the Barcode field use this font for the IMB barcode to appear.

And the result is this:

The original value and the corresponding barcode (click to enlarge)

If we change the text in the Value field to a different (valid) number, the Barcode field will update immediately as well:

Value field edited: Last digit changed to "3" (click to enlarge)

All the required code is now embedded in the PDF file and there's no need to use any external resources, as the font is fully embedded as well.

The fonts can be downloaded from here: https://ribbs.usps.gov/onecodesolution/download.cfm
(for a Windows computer I recommend looking for the latest version of the USPS non-AFP Fonts and then installing the TrueType font called "USPSIMBStandard.ttf" inside the zip file).

To verify the barcodes generated by the script one can use this online encoder tool by the USPS:
https://ribbs.usps.gov/index.cfm?page=encodertool

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

Acrobat -- Edit Links Properties

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Using this tool you can easily and quickly edit the various properties of the links in your PDF document. The tool allows you to select on which pages to edit the links, and in what way.
The properties that can be edited are: Border Color, Border Width (which can also be used to set the links as having an invisible rectangle) and Highlight Mode.

When the script is installed into Acrobat and run, it looks like this:

(click to enlarge)

 When the script is done you see a message like this:

And this is the edited version of the file:

(click to enlarge)

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

Easily Rename PDF Fields

One of the most annoying tasks when creating PDF forms is to rename many form fields in a single go. Acrobat doesn't offer the means of doing it automatically and doing it with a script can be a pain because it requires removing the old field and then creating a new one in its place with the new field name. Because of this I've decided to develop a standalone application that can do it quickly and easily.

I've created three versions of this tool, all for very reasonable prices.
The $5 version will rename any number of fields that you specify to it directly, by running it like this from a command-line window:

java -jar RenamePdfFields.jar "Input File Path" "Output File Path" "Current Field Name 1" "New Field Name 1" "Current Field Name 2" "New Field Name 2" ...

This means that the file will be opened, "Current Field Name 1" will be renamed as "New Field Name 1" and that "Current Field Name 2" will be renamed as "New Field Name 2", and then the file will be saved under the new file path.

The $10 version of this tool is a bit more advanced, in that you can specify the names of the current and new fields in an input file and don't have to write them out in the command. You can specify a single text file that contains two tab-delimited, with the current names in the first column and the new ones in the second column, or two text files, one with the current names and one with the old names.

The command for the first variant looks like this:

java -jar BatchRenamePdfFields.jar "Input File Path" "Output File Path" "List Path"

And the second variant looks like this:

java -jar BatchRenamePdfFields.jar "Input File Path" "Output File Path" "Current Names List Path" "New Names List Path"

However, it should be mentioned that these tools are not suitable for renaming duplicate fields (ie. multiple "widgets" with the same name), or fields with a period (dot) in their names.

It's important to stress that both of these versions DO NOT REQUIRE ACROBAT and that they will both work on either a Windows or a Mac computer, as long as Java is installed.

The third version, which costs $20, is a script that runs within Acrobat. It accepts a tab-delimited text file with the names of the current fields in the first column and the new names in the second column, and will then process the fields in the file.
This version is very easy to use, but has one IMPORTANT caveat: renaming a field using this script will cause it to lose any actions associated with it, as well as settings such as format/validation/calculation.

For more information about these tools you can contact me directly.

Acrobat - Print or Extract Selected Pages

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Update (09/06/2014): Now this tool can also be used to extract the selected pages (only in Acrobat, of course). You select the pages just like before (using the added check-boxes) and then click a menu item that tool adds under Tools - Add-On Tools, and the selected pages are extracted to a new file.

Also improved is the mechanism that prints out the pages. If Acrobat or Reader XI are used all of the pages will be printed out in a SINGLE print command, not one by one. And if an older version is used the tool will attempt to print out the pages in as few print commands as possible by grouping the selected pages into ranges.

Sometimes you want to allow the reader of your file to easily select which pages they want to print out of it.
With this script you can automatically add a check-box to each page of your file, as well as a Print Selected Pages button.
The user can then simply tick the pages they want to print and then print them all with a single click.

The document with the check-boxes and the print button:

The print confirmation dialog:

After printing the user can reset the check-boxes, if they wish:

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

Acrobat/Reader -- File History Replacement

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Important Note: Due to a bug in the later versions of Acrobat X, this script will not work in that application. It does work fine in Acrobat XI, though.
Also, it seems that due to changes in the user interface of Reader XI v11.0.07 this script can't be used there, either. It should work fine in earlier versions of Reader, though.

With the introduction of version X of Acrobat/Reader, the File History and Organizer feature that used to be available was removed, for some reason. Many people found that feature very useful to keep track of the the files they opened in the past and to re-open them quickly.
Well, now a similar version feature can be brought back into the application using this new tool I've developed, the File History Replacement!

Once installed, the tool keeps track of any file opened, and stores it in an in-memory database.
You can access the full File History archive via a new sub-menu added to the File menu:

The full File History window:

In this window you can browse the entire archive, and even filter it based on date and/or file-name:

File History list, filtered by date

File History list, filtered by date and file-name

 
Once a file has been selected it can be opened directly via the Open File button. Even files that no longer exist (or have been renamed or moved) will still appear in the File History under their original location, only you won't be able to open them, of course.

There's also an option to temporarily pause the recording of the file history, and then continue it later on, when you wish.

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

Acrobat/Reader -- Save and Load Sessions

Direct purchase using PayPal ($50 only)!
Update (13/05/2014): A free demo version of this script is now available! This version works just like the full version, but it allows you to create only 1 session with up to 3 files in it. The full version has no limitations on the number of sessions or files.

Many applications offer the option to save your current workspace as a session and to restore it later. Let's say you're working on a project and have multiple documents open and you want to move to a different project, or just need to close the application. You save your workspace and later on you restore it and continue working from the spot you've left it off.

Unfortunately, Acrobat does not offer this functionality, until you install this script...

With this tool you can maintain an unlimited amount of sessions, which will remain even when the application is closed or the computer is restarted. The session contains all of the currently opened files, and the exact location where you left them off.

The tool adds a new "Sessions" menu under the "Window" menu:

Acrobat -- Import Items from a Text File to a Combo-Box or List Field

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Another New Feature (06/05/2014): Now it's possible to select multiple combo-boxes and/or radio-list fields in your file and apply the new items to them all, in a single process!


New Feature: It is now also possible to embed the text file used in this script into the actual PDF.
The data from the text file will be automatically loaded each time the file is opened, so you can easily update the list and keep it up-to-date at all times.

If you're working with Acrobat form fields and need to insert a large amount of items to a drop-down menu field (also known as a combo-box), you know what a pain it can be to manually enter all of those values.
Well, with this script you can just put all of your items (name and export value, or just name) in a text file or even an Excel spreadsheet and the script will read them and add them to your drop-down box.

Setup and maintenance of your PDF forms will be much faster and easier using this tool.

Screenshot of the tool:

Download a free sample PDF file that contains lists of all the US States in various forms: Full name, 2-letter code, and full name with the 2-letter code as the export value.
The lists were populated using this tool and the source text files used to achieve that are also included. The file can be downloaded from here.

Also, a free demo version of this script is available here.
This version will only import the first three items from the input file. Purchase the full version and get the full capabilities of the script!

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

Acrobat/Reader -- Hide Recent Files List (FREE)

Download now: Free Download


Acrobat (and Reader) has a built-in recently opened files list in both the File menu and the Welcome Screen. This is a handy feature, but not everyone is happy with it, and unfortunately there's no easy way to disable it entirely, until now.

The Recent Files list in the File menu and in the Welcome Screen in Acrobat

The Welcome Screen can be disabled by applying a Registry tweak, as explained here.

You can change the number of files shown in the File menu (under Edit - Preferences - Documents), but the minimum number accepted is 1. And what if you want to have no files at all? Then you can use this free tool I've developed. Simply follow the installation instructions and your File menu will be nice and clean, without any recent files in it.

Acrobat's File menu after installing the script

If you have any questions regarding this tool, you can contact me directly, and if you find this tool useful and would like to donate, it's always appreciated!

Acrobat -- Retroactively Copy Highlighted Text into Comments

Batch version: Buy Now ($60 only)
Non-batch version: Buy Now ($40 only)
Stand-alone version: Buy Now ($75 only) Stand-alone DEMO version : FREE   Direct purchase using PayPal!


Update (25/03/2014): Acrobat has a problem processing very large files using this script, so I've decided to develop a stand-alone version of it, which runs outside of Acrobat and is not dependent on it. This version can process an entire folder of files, including all sub-folders, in a matter of seconds. It is much more robust and much faster than the script version, so more suitable for professional purposes.

The stand-alone version of the tool looks like this:

Alongside the stand-alone version there's now also a free demo version, which will process the first 3 highlight annotations in the first 3 files you use it on. Feel free to try it out and then purchase the full version to get the full functionality.

The script version of the tool is still available, as can be seen below...

Tool Description:
One of the most important settings in Acrobat is "Copy selected text into Highlight, Cross-Out, and Underline comment pop ups" (to be found under Edit - Preferences - Commenting). Sadly, it's not checked by default (see screenshot below).
As a result, if you make highlights to your file, the text you highlight is not copied into the comment itself, which can be very useful when creating summaries. And when you realize this and switch this setting on, it's too late. Acrobat won't change your existing comments, only your new ones.

This is why I developed this script to retroactively insert the highlighted text into existing comments in all of your pre-existing files.
In case you manually entered some text into the comment, don't worry! The script will not remove your text, just add to it (see example #2).

Note: The script can only recognize full words. If you highlighted just a part of a word, it will not be picked up.

Convert all links in a PDF to Open In New Window

Direct purchase using PayPal: Pay securely and receive the tool immediately! ($99 per license)
Update (24/03/2014): The tool will now process not just URL links, but also links that point to other PDF files, and will set all of them to open in a new window.

This tool will easily and quickly convert all of the links in your PDF files, whether they are of the type "Open a weblink" or "Run a JavaScript" to open in a new window.
No need to manually edit hundreds of links just so that your file will remain open when the user clicks a link in it. The tool can batch process entire folders within seconds!

A free demo version of this script is available here.
This version will only convert the first 3 links in the first 3 pages of the first 3 files in the selected folder. Purchase the full version and be able to convert them all!

Important information about viewing PDF files in browsers: The current versions of some browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Safari) contain their own PDF viewer plugins, which are often not very compliant with the full PDF standards and usually have problems with executing JavaScript code.
As a result, if you're using one of these browsers to view the files processed by this tool you might encounter some problems. To solve them read this page on how to set up the Adobe plugin as the default PDF handler in your browser:
http://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/display-pdf-browser-acrobat-xi.html

Here's how it looks like:

(click to enlarge)

NOTE: This application does NOT require you to have Acrobat or even Reader, and it will run on both Windows and Macintosh computers. You do need to have Java installed, though.

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

Acrobat -- Combine 2 Folders of PDF Files

Direct purchase using PayPal ($40 only per license)!
Update (06/06/2020): A free demo version that will combine up to 3 files in the selected folders is now available here.

With this script the merging process of two folders of PDF files with identical file-names can be automated easily. Say you have one folder with PDF letters for clients and another folder with their bills (also in PDF format), all named the same way (using the clients' names, for example).
Now you want to merge the letter for each client with their corresponding bill. How would you go about doing it? Well, with this tool it is very easy and very quick.

All you have to do is run the provided Action on the first folder, and then click the "Combine 2 Folders" button that the script adds to your Acrobat. Then you select the second folder, and the output folder (where the merged files will be saved), and let the script do the rest.

Within a matter of seconds you'll have a complete folder filled with the merged files, ready to be sent out to your clients!

The only pre-condition is that the files in both folders are named the same way... And of course you will need Acrobat Pro to be able to run the Action.

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

Acrobat -- Localize (Translate) FormRouter Calendars

Direct purchase using PayPal ($10 only per license)!
FormRouter offers a very nice add-on feature for Acrobat: A calendar widget. However, this widget only contains English texts, and sometimes there's a need to localize those texts to other languages.
To do that I've developed this tool that allows you to edit the FR calendar widgets in your file and apply any texts you want to the day and month fields in them.

Here we have a PDF file in Portuguese with a FR widget added to it. As you can see, the texts in the calendar are in English, which is not consistent with the rest of our file and doesn't look professional:

(click to enlarge)

So we click on the "Localize FormRouter Calendars" button under Add-On Tools and enter the localized texts:

Now the calendar is edited to use the new texts, which looks much better, but its functionality remains exactly the same as before:

(click to enlarge)

IMPORTANT: The script can not localize the date string that appears in the field after a selection is made in the calendar, only the calendar itself.

As always, for more information about this tool you can contact me directly.

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:

(click to enlarge)

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

(click to enlarge)

And the results are:

(click to enlarge)

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

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:

(click to enlarge)

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

(click to enlarge)

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.

Acrobat -- PDF Analytics

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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.

(click to enlarge)

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):

(click to enlarge)

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

(click to enlarge)

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