"Developing your own PDF solution"

By Leah Lothringer
PDF Store Support Team
Issue 2 for 2007

If you’ve ever found yourself debating over whether you should buy a solution off the shelf or build one from scratch, you are certainly not alone. This is a dilemma frequently faced by project managers who are in the position of having to produce new functionality for an application.

Ultimately, it comes down to this: are there developer components on the market that do what you require? Will researching, licensing and integrating them be sufficiently faster and of greater economic benefit when compared with creating your own? For many, the answer is an amalgamation of both approaches. For example, core functionality could be built internally, while specialized features are added using third-party tools. Potentially, this approach frees up internal development resources to concentrate on crucial functionality.

The most popular PDF feature for this kind of integration is, by far, creation. Of course, the source formats and platforms (both development and operating system) will determine which solution is most suitable. The PDFlib library is geared towards a wide variety of environments and can be used on the desktop or implemented server-side. On the server, TallPDF.NET and PDF4NET components work well under .NET, while activePDF DocConverter can each be used programmatically or via a hot folder configuration.

Demonstrating the modularity of the development world, activePDF DocConverter is itself an add-on for activePDF Server, adding specialized conversion features for MS Office and WordPerfect files.

Until next time, please browse PDF Store's PDF Developer aisle for a wide range of PDF development components, libraries, tools.

Additionally, the Developer section of Planet PDF offers an extensive range of source material and tutorials for those who choose to build a solution from the ground up.