[starman]

Pondering something to write. I'm ridiculously short on ideas.

Mike

[wataru]

Write the great American novel.

[Krypton]

The biggest problem for most developers (of Cocoa drawing/dtp apps) is being able to edit PDF graphics and text made by other apps.

If you could do this, and turn a PDF into something that apps like Stone Create or OmniGraffle could edit, that would be handy

[Horsepoo!!!]

Originally posted by Krypton:
The biggest problem for most developers (of Cocoa drawing/dtp apps) is being able to edit PDF graphics and text made by other apps.

If you could do this, and turn a PDF into something that apps like Stone Create or OmniGraffle could edit, that would be handy

That would be perfect DTP material. I wonder if the long rumored Document app (Word-killer?) would be able to wrap TextEdit into a more newbie friendly word processor GUI + add all sorts of DTP features: powerful text and graphics alignment (maybe using Keynote-like guides,) layering and Rendezvous collaboration tools and crank out .pdfs instead of a proprietary format.

I really like the pdf format...but how does the licensing work with Adobe? Maybe the license agreement doesn't include editing pdfs in an app other than Adobe Acrobat.

[starman]

I have the PDF 1.5 reference right here.

1.4 Intellectual Property
The general idea of using an interchange format for electronic documents is in
the public domain. Anyone is free to devise a set of unique data structures and
operators that define an interchange format for electronic documents. However,
Adobe Systems Incorporated owns the copyright for the particular data structures
and operators and the written specification constituting the interchange format
called the Portable Document Format. Thus, these elements of the Portable
Document Format may not be copied without Adobe�s permission.
Adobe will enforce its copyright. Adobe�s intention is to maintain the integrity of
the Portable Document Format standard. This enables the public to distinguish
between the Portable Document Format and other interchange formats for electronic
documents. However, Adobe desires to promote the use of the Portable
Document Format for information interchange among diverse products and
applications. Accordingly, Adobe gives anyone copyright permission, subject to
the conditions stated below, to:
� Prepare files whose content conforms to the Portable Document Format
� Write drivers and applications that produce output represented in the Portable
Document Format
� Write software that accepts input in the form of the Portable Document Format
and displays, prints, or otherwise interprets the contents
� Copy Adobe�s copyrighted list of data structures and operators, as well as the
example code and PostScript language function definitions in the written
specification, to the extent necessary to use the Portable Document Format for
the purposes above
The conditions of such copyright permission are:
� Authors of software that accepts input in the form of the Portable Document
Format must make reasonable efforts to ensure that the software they create respects the access permissions and permissions controls listed in Table 3.20 of
this specification, to the extent that they are used in any particular document.
� Anyone who uses the copyrighted list of data structures and operators, as stated
above, must include an appropriate copyright notice.
� Accessing the document in ways not permitted by the document�s access permissions
is a violation of the document author�s copyright.
This limited right to use the copyrighted list of data structures and operators does
not include the right to copy this book, other copyrighted material from Adobe,
or the software in any of Adobe�s products that use the Portable Document Format,
in whole or in part, nor does it include the right to use any Adobe patents,
except as may be permitted by an official Adobe Patent Clarification Notice (see
the Bibliography).
Acrobat, Acrobat Capture, Adobe Reader, ePaper, the �Get Adobe Reader� Web
logo, the �Adobe PDF� Web logo, and all other trademarks, service marks, and
logos used by Adobe (the �Marks�) are the registered trademarks or trademarks of
Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and other countries. Nothing in
this book is intended to grant you any right or license to use the Marks for any
purpose.

[cpac]

Originally posted by starman:
Pondering something to write. I'm ridiculously short on ideas.

Mike

I'd love a simple .pdf editor that allows two additional functions (over what Preview gives us - ideally this would be a plug-in for preview or something)

(1) the ability to highlight text (and have the highlighting saved)
(2) the ability to create/edit and organize bookmarks/tables of contents

ps - anybody w/ Tiger know if either of the above 2 capabilities are in a new version of Preview?

[headbirth]

There is definetly a lack of annoting & editing features in PDF Utilities. I would love to find a slim app that would allow me to mark up a document, add some attachments, add some links and send the doc back to a client.

Basically a slimmed down version of Acrobat ... definetly Cocoa based.

[shiny]

Originally posted by starman:
Pondering something to write. I'm ridiculously short on ideas.

Mike

How about something that let's me fill out PDF forms. You know, you download a form and you have to fill out predefined form fields. Right now, the only thing that I can use is Adobe Acrobat (Reader or Pro). Both Adobe programs are dirt slow on the Macintosh. If I could use another app to fill out PDF forms, I would be ecstatic.

[cpac]

Originally posted by shiny:
How about something that let's me fill out PDF forms. You know, you download a form and you have to fill out predefined form fields. Right now, the only thing that I can use is Adobe Acrobat (Reader or Pro). Both Adobe programs are dirt slow on the Macintosh. If I could use another app to fill out PDF forms, I would be ecstatic.

Excellent - I forgot to list this. So make that a .pdf app that is:

Preview +
highlighting
bookmarks/TOCs
form capabilities (savable, ideally)

[arekkusu]

Another vote for forms. Viewing and editing. I file my taxes via PDF.

[starman]

I'm working on a PDF parser at the moment. The parser is not that difficult, but the complexity of linking the objects together is kinda difficult. No, I won't be using someone else's code. I don't like doing that.

Mike

[bleuvixen]

How about a droplet of sorts that "flight checks" PDFs for pre-press use?
I receive around 20-30 PDFs a month from outside sources and need to check these quickly and a report would be nice too?

or is there already a program that does this?

[starman]

There are commercial apps for that. That's not a bad idea, and it'll be MUCH less tedious than an app that does graphical editing.

Mike