Automating the import of multi-page PDFs

[Pinkham, Jim]

Quite so, Richard, and no offense. I think the manual process you
described yesterday with the anchored frame and the multiple copies
would get the job done well, especially for docs that are usually no
more than a few dozen pages. I only meant that I've never found a tool
that would automate the process of taking a PDF of multiple pages and
bringing those pages into FM. Your advice is good, and I agree that
splitting is superfluous for the process you describe.

Jim

   

-----Original Message-----
From: Combs, Richard [mailto:richard.combs at Polycom.com] 
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 5:16 PM
To: Pinkham, Jim
Cc: framers at lists.frameusers.com
Subject: RE: Automating the import of multi-page PDFs


Pinkham, Jim wrote: 
 
> As for the direct import issue, I went back and searched the archives 
> and found the discussion in October 2006, but couldn't find a
definitive
> answer to the direct import of multiple-page PDFs into Frame. You 
> suggested the alternative approach of the RTF for the text at that 
> point, too, along with a second trip through with a PNG export to take

> care of the graphics. This makes sense, and long term, I agree it's 
> better to have content you can edit and reuse than to have it 
> constrained in PDFs.

I believe Chris said the report pages must look _exactly_ like they do
in the PDF, so editing isn't really relevant for his problem, and
reformatting RTF to replicate what already exists seems like needless
extra work. 

Maybe I'm confused about what you mean by "a definitive answer to the
direct import of multiple-page PDFs into Frame." I like to think my
earlier post provided a fairly definitive answer -- I've done it
numerous times, and it works great. :-)
 
> A quick search
>
(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&fkt=3213&fsdt=46573&q=import+(multip
>
age+OR+multi-page+OR+multiple+page)+PDFs+into+(FM+OR+Framemaker)&btnG=Go
> ogle+Search&aq=o&oq=) suggests there are tools out there that will
split
> up a PDF into individual pages (see, for instance, the splitter and 
> merger tools on Planet PDF), but I didn't find a batch import tool in 
> the same quick glance.

Splitting up a multi-page PDF serves no useful purpose in this context.
For the manual (but fast) process I described earlier, it would be
counterproductive, since it would require the extra step of browsing to
a different file for each import operation -- much more time-consuming
than simply typing a page number. 

And I can't imagine a script- or macro-based process where separate
files would be an advantage, either. 

"It's my opinion and it's very true."

Richard


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