Organizations who can bring their applications to market faster with the best PDF capabilities have a critical edge over their competitors. Integral to their success is providing software developers with the most advanced technology possible.
SourceForge recently caught up with Datalogics, Inc. CEO Kevin McNeill to discuss what the Adobe PDF Library is and how global organizations are using the software to achieve their goals. With more than 25 years at Datalogics, Kevin has extensive experience with PDF technology and the global industries that require customized PDF processing solutions in their applications.
What is The Adobe PDF Library?
The Adobe PDF Library is a software development kit (SDK) that allows programmers to create, edit and manipulate PDFs in their document management workflows. The software is used by OEMs that embed the technology into their own applications, build service platforms (SaaS), or use it for their own internal processes.
Why was The Adobe PDF Library developed?
It was initially developed by Adobe for use within their desktop applications but has been enhanced by Datalogics to support developers in their choice of languages and platforms.
Originally designed for C/C++, Datalogics built on that code to expand its use to developers working in .NETFramework, .NET Core, and the Java programming language on Windows, Linux & MacOS. It is also available for download as a NuGet package, and we have hundreds of code samples available on GitHub. We wanted to make it easily accessible to as many developers as possible.
The software is built with the same core technology that Adobe uses to build Acrobat, which means developers get full compatibility with current specifications of PDFs as well as interoperability with Adobe products. Compatibility with PDFs means a lot of things to developers – confidence that files will be conformant, reduced development time, and fewer manual errors.
Why should customers use Datalogics over another software?
While we pride ourselves on our software, the key to our success is the excellent technical support we offer – to both our prospects and customers.
Datalogics has a 94% customer retention rate, which is unheard of in almost any industry, let alone software. Our technical support is available even before you buy the software. With our free trial of The Adobe PDF Library, software engineers are available to help developers complete their proof of concept.
Datalogics has many employees on staff who have worked with PDFs for more than 20 years, including myself. One of our engineers has been with the company for over 35 years! There is not much you can throw at us that we haven’t seen. Developers have the software and support that help them create elegant solutions.
What difficulties do organizations have managing PDF documents?
Most people don’t think of PDFs as anything other than static, fixed-layout documents. But there is a lot behind the scenes you don’t see. Each PDF file encapsulates a complete description of that document, including text, fonts, vector graphics, raster images, and any other information needed to display it properly. All these pieces of information are important. The Adobe PDF Library gives developers the tools to access, extract or edit these resources.
What are some examples of how companies have used The Adobe PDF Library to solve their PDF challenges?
Financial Services
Our financial customers use The Adobe PDF Library for variable data printing, which is pulling information from several types of files – images, charts, graphs, text from Excel, Word, PowerPoint – and converting and merging into recipient-specific PDFs, for thousands of customers, while maintaining the ability to RIP these files at the rated speeds of high-performance digital presses. Banks and other financial institutions use our software to comply with regulatory data and archiving requirements with PDF/A.
Commercial Printing/Graphics
The Adobe PDF Library is used extensively in commercial printing and graphic arts because of its abilities in preflight, color and ink management solutions. For example, there are various combinations of CMYK that will get you the same color on the printed page, and some pigments are more expensive than others. There are also different inks required to get the same color depending on the color and character of the paper substrate you are printing on. Software vendors use our software to create processes to optimize the desired colors while minimizing usage of expensive pigments and maximizing usage of less expensive ones.
Pharmaceutical/Medical
Pharmaceutical companies use our text extraction capabilities to verify and quality check packaging to ensure accuracy and compliance with government regulations. The Adobe PDF Library is also used in variable printing software for correct labeling on pharmaceutical products and personalizing medical device documents that collect information from various file types and sources.
Other uses include converting legacy XFA form data into customer invoices, purchase orders and HR documents; converting dynamic forms (fillable forms) into standard PDFs for archiving purposes; compression/optimization of PDFs to reduce file sizes; and barcode/QR code creation.
What should developers consider before investing in a PDF SDK?
Business Benefits
- Are business challenges solved with the software customization available?
- What kind of licensing models are available? The Adobe PDF Library is licensed to software developers for embedding the software into product applications (OEM), to build services (SaaS), or for internal use.
Software Benefits
- How stable and reliable is the code?
- How often are updates released?
- Is the software available in the language/platform needed?
- Is there a free trial – you have to be able to try it before you buy it!
Support
- Do you have ready access to PDF and software experts?
- How quickly can you onboard?
- Are there self-serve options like sample code examples and developer resources?
Why is The Adobe PDF Library the right SDK for Developers?
The Adobe PDF Library is used by some of the largest organizations in the world with over a billion current installations and counting. Built on reliable, stable source code, PDF workflow control is in the hands of the developers. There are endless possibilities to customize application solutions, giving organizations a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Related Categories