Automating the import of multi-page PDFs

[Combs, Richard]

Christopher Seal wrote: 
 
> I can either copy text from the WordPerfect file and paste into the FM
> document (then format), or I can import sequential pages from the PDF
> version of each report.
> 
> The report collection will be published as PDF.
> 
> As there are hundreds of PDF pages to be imported (if I go that
route), I
> was wondering if there is an automated method of doing this. Any
> suggestions
> would be welcome.

Well, I haven't done hundreds -- and might consider a FrameScript script
for a project that size, especially if it were likely to come up again.
But I've imported several 15-30 page PDFs, and it only took a few
minutes each. 

My PDFs were sized so they fit correctly in the text frame of my FM body
pages without any sizing/scaling. This simplifies things. 

Begin by creating a dedicated anchor pgf and putting the cursor in it.
Then enter the keyboard shortcut for File > Import > File (Esc f i f)
and select the multi-page PDF you want to import. 

The Select PDF Page dialog opens to the first page of the PDF, so just
press Enter to select it. FM imports it into an anchored frame in the
anchor pgf. Make sure the sizing and layout are correct. 

Now that you have the first PDF page in FM, select the anchor pgf
containing that it and copy it. Then paste it into the flow as many
times as there are pages in the PDF. 

All the copies, of course, display the first page of that PDF. Replace
their contents with the subsequent PDF pages by doing the following: 

1) Press Page Down. 

2) Click the next PDF page to select it, and press Esc f i f. The Import
dialog opens with the correct PDF already selected. 

3) Press Enter. The Select PDF Page dialog opens to the first page of
the PDF. 

4) Press Tab to put the cursor in the page number field.

5) Type the next page number and press Enter to import that page. 

6) Go back to (1) and repeat until done. 

It's no problem doing five or six repetitions of the above in a minute.
The biggest risk is losing track of the page number and getting off by
one, so you'd want to stop briefly every minute or two to double-check. 

Once you get into the rhythm of it -- and if you don't freak out from
the immensely mind-numbing nature of the process -- I suspect you can do
well over a hundred in an hour. :-)

Richard


Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
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rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
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