PDFlib Personalization Server (PPS) includes PDFlib+PDI plus additional functions for variable data processing using PDFlib Blocks. PPS makes applications independent from layout changes.

The designer creates the page layout and converts it to PDF. She takes into account areas as placeholders for variable text and images. In Acrobat she drags a rectangular Block for each area using the PDFlib Block Plugin. Each Block contains a variety of Block properties, such as font size, color, image scaling. The PDFlib Block Plugin offers a Preview feature which shows the results of filling Blocks according to their properties.

The programmer writes code to fill PDFlib Blocks with text, images, or PDF pages. He doesn’t need to know the formatting or position of a Block.

Note: Please review the following Platform and Product Requirements, Limitations of the Evaluation version and Supported Programming Languages before downloading or purchasing this software.

Feature Summary

PDFlib Personalization Server (PPS) includes PDFlib+PDI. Use PPS for all PDFlib+PDI tasks plus the following:

• Customize direct mailings with text and images
• Fill templates for transactional and statement processing
• Personalize promotional material with address data
• Generate individual parts catalogs from a database
• Produce customized documentation for multiple similar products

Major Features in Depth

What’s new in PDFlib 8?

New PDF Features for Acrobat 9

• PDFlib supports various PDF features according to Acrobat 9 (technically: PDF 1.7 Adobe extension level 3)
• External graphical content (Reference XObjects)
• Layer variants (also called layer configurations)
• PDF Portfolios
• Georeferenced PDF
• AES-256 encryption and Unicode passwords
• PDFlib+PDI and PPS can import and process Acrobat 9 data.

PDFlib Block Plugin and the PDFlib Personalization Server

• The PDFlib Block Plugin is used to prepare PDF documents for Block filling (personalization) with the PDFlib Personalization Server (PPS)
• Preview PPS Block processing in Acrobat
• Redesigned user interface
• Snap-to-grid for quickly layout out Blocks in a raster
• Additional Block properties, e.g. for transparency
• Clone PDF/A or PDF/X status of the Block container
• Leverage PDFlib 8 features with Blocks

Font Handling and Text Output

• Quite a number of new typographical features can be found in PDFlib 8:
• Complex script shaping and bidirectional formatting for Arabic, Thai, Hindi, and many other writing systems
• Fallback fonts
• OpenType layout features, e.g. ligatures and swash characters
• Retain fonts across documents
• SING fonts for CJK Gaiji characters
• Redesigned font engine
• Wrap text around image clipping paths
• Text on a path

Other important features

• There are a number of other important new features, details can be found in the product documentation
• Reusable path objects
• PDF/X-4 and PDF/X-5
• Alpha channel in TIFF and PNG images
• JBIG2-compressed images
• Compressed object streams and cross-reference streams
• Built-in PANTONE® Goe™ color libraries
• PDFlib 8 also introduces a variety of improvements in existing functions.

Limitations of the Evaluation version.

• The evaluation version is a fully functional product including documentation and samples available. The evaluation version is restricted by a watermark in the output, which disappears once a license key is applied

Supported Programming Languages

• COM for use with VB, ASP, Borland Delphi, etc.
• C and C++.
• Cobol (IBM eServer zSeries).
• Java, including servlets.
• .NET for use with C#, VB.NET, ASP.NET, etc.
• PHP hypertext processor.
• Perl.
• Python.
• REALbasic.
• RPG (IBM eServer iSeries).
• Ruby
• Tcl.