Fix a wrong PDF

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   Hello !

I used QuickPDF to load a PDF  template and stuff field contents into it, generating a new PDF file (LoadFromFile, SetFormFieldValue , FlattenFormField and then SaveToFile).

So far , so good.

It happens that the PDF template was WRONG.

Now I need to modify those generated PDFs, in order to replace a very small string.

IOW, I need to replace ".DES." by ".PRO."  .

I tried to load the PDF into my editor, in binary mode and to replace the strings directly cause the editor allows a kind of binary or "raw" editing. It doesnt work.

What could I do ?

You can have a sample of the PDF here :

http://www.DES.online.unimep.br/au/pub/wrong.pdf

I thought about doing a very simple VBScript to modify it but, dont know how to start....

Thanks in advance 4 your help !

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic
jabaltie Members Profile Find Members Posts Senior Member Joined: 08 Nov 05 Location: Brazil Status: Offline Points: 138	Post Options Post Reply Quote jabaltie Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Fix a wrong PDF Posted: 24 Oct 07 at 8:12AM
	Hello ! I used QuickPDF to load a PDF template and stuff field contents into it, generating a new PDF file (LoadFromFile, SetFormFieldValue , FlattenFormField and then SaveToFile). So far , so good. It happens that the PDF template was WRONG. Now I need to modify those generated PDFs, in order to replace a very small string. IOW, I need to replace ".DES." by ".PRO." . I tried to load the PDF into my editor, in binary mode and to replace the strings directly cause the editor allows a kind of binary or "raw" editing. It doesnt work. What could I do ? You can have a sample of the PDF here : http://www.DES.online.unimep.br/au/pub/wrong.pdf I thought about doing a very simple VBScript to modify it but, dont know how to start.... Thanks in advance 4 your help !

chicks Members Profile Find Members Posts Debenu Quick PDF Library Expert Joined: 29 Oct 05 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 251	Post Options Post Reply Quote chicks Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 26 Oct 07 at 6:01PM
	When you edit anything in a PDF, you will most likely mess up the XREF table. Reader will try to fix the errors, but might not be able to. You can use pdftk to do some simple edits. It has the capability of fixing corrupt XREFs when it saves. You'll need to have it uncompress streams in order to edit compressed text: 1. Uncompress wrong.pdf, save as wrong1.pdf $ pdftk wrong.pdf output wrong1.pdf uncompress 2. Edit wrong1.pdf, make your changes $ vi wrong1.pdf 3. Recompress and fix wrong1.pdf, save as right.pdf $ pdftk wrong1.pdf output right.pdf compress (I did this in a *nix environment, it will also work fine with Windows, so long as you use a binary editor).