CopyPageRanges results with blank pages

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   Hi
Extracting pages from one document and inserting them in a new document is what I am trying to do with CopyPageRanges.
For many documents this works perfectly. However I have some documents where just blank pages result in the new document.
I have not found a topic dealing this problem here.
I'm not sure if my problem is a bug and should be placed on the "Bug Reports" Forum or if it's just a programming mistake.
As I have not much experience with this feature maybe I have overlooked something and somebody could give me a hint.
The code I'm using to do the extraction looks like this:

aPageNo := 1;
qp.LoadFromFile('MergesBlank1.pdf');
DocIdSrc := qp.SelectedDocument();
DocIdTrg := qp.NewDocument;
res := qp.CopyPageRanges(DocIdSrc, IntToStr(aPageNo));
qp.DeletePages(1, 1); // allways one leading empty pages is produced
res := qp.SaveToFile('MergeOutput.pdf');
The return values from the function calls allways is 1 (success).
Here is a document which results only blank pages with CopyPageRanges: www.pirmin.gmxhome.de/MergesBlank1.pdf
Even the "iSEDQuickPDF 5.11 Reference Guide.pdf" results in blank pages with CopyPageRanges.
Kind Regards
Pirmin

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Pirmin Members Profile Find Members Posts Team Player Joined: 28 Nov 05 Status: Offline Points: 28	Post Options Post Reply Quote Pirmin Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: CopyPageRanges results with blank pages Posted: 05 Jul 06 at 2:18AM
	Hi Extracting pages from one document and inserting them in a new document is what I am trying to do with CopyPageRanges. For many documents this works perfectly. However I have some documents where just blank pages result in the new document. I have not found a topic dealing this problem here. I'm not sure if my problem is a bug and should be placed on the "Bug Reports" Forum or if it's just a programming mistake. As I have not much experience with this feature maybe I have overlooked something and somebody could give me a hint. The code I'm using to do the extraction looks like this: aPageNo := 1; qp.LoadFromFile('MergesBlank1.pdf'); DocIdSrc := qp.SelectedDocument(); DocIdTrg := qp.NewDocument; res := qp.CopyPageRanges(DocIdSrc, IntToStr(aPageNo)); qp.DeletePages(1, 1); // allways one leading empty pages is produced res := qp.SaveToFile('MergeOutput.pdf'); The return values from the function calls allways is 1 (success). Here is a document which results only blank pages with CopyPageRanges: www.pirmin.gmxhome.de/MergesBlank1.pdf Even the "iSEDQuickPDF 5.11 Reference Guide.pdf" results in blank pages with CopyPageRanges. Kind Regards Pirmin

Pirmin Members Profile Find Members Posts Team Player Joined: 28 Nov 05 Status: Offline Points: 28	Post Options Post Reply Quote Pirmin Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 05 Jul 06 at 8:13AM
	If there is no workaround (different function or whatever) for the above mentioned problem, maybe somebody can recommend me an affordable royalty free different library which I can try to use to overcome the problem.

bogey Members Profile Find Members Posts Senior Member Joined: 30 Nov 05 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 50	Post Options Post Reply Quote bogey Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 05 Jul 06 at 11:24AM
	Most of the time I have found blank pages are the result of document security preventing access to the document. Check the security properties of the source file to ensure extraction is permitted.

Pirmin Members Profile Find Members Posts Team Player Joined: 28 Nov 05 Status: Offline Points: 28	Post Options Post Reply Quote Pirmin Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 05 Jul 06 at 3:08PM
	Yeah!!! You are perfectly right. Thank you! Every document where CopyPageRanges resulted in blank pages had values for some SecurityItems which the others did not have. I'm more confident about our library now. Here is a list with typical Security properties I read from some documents. Documents with CopyPageRanges CopyPageRanges CopyPageRanges SecurityItem no Problem failed Doc 1 failed Doc 2 failed Doc 3 ------------ ------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- Security Method None Adobe Standard Adobe Standard Adobe Standard User Password No No No No Master Password No No Yes Yes Printing Fully Allowed Fully Allowed Fully Allowed Fully Allowed Changing the Document Allowed Allowed Not Allowed Not Allowed Content Copying or Extraction Allowed Allowed Allowed Allowed Authoring Comments and Form Fields Allowed Allowed Allowed Not Allowed Form Field Fill-in or Signing Allowed Not Allowed Not Allowed Not Allowed Content Accessibility Enabled Allowed Not Allowed Not Allowed Not Allowed Document Assembly Allowed Not Allowed Not Allowed Not Allowed Encryption Level Blank 40-bit RC4 40-bit RC4 40-bit RC4 I think it's the SecurityItem 8 (Content Accessibility) which prevents the function CopyPageRanges to work, isn't it?

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: 05 Jul 06 at 8:29PM
	Accessibility has to do with things like text-to-speech, etc. for the disabled. More likely the Document Assembly item is causing the problem. If you know the owner password for the PDFs, you can unlock them using SetPassword() and Unencrypt().

Pirmin Members Profile Find Members Posts Team Player Joined: 28 Nov 05 Status: Offline Points: 28	Post Options Post Reply Quote Pirmin Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 08 Jul 06 at 12:45PM
	Hi There must be a different problem. I have installed the trial software from www.verypdf.com/pdfpg and extracted some pages from www.pirmin.gmxhome.de/MergesBlank1.pdf and from "iSEDQuickPDF 5.11 Reference Guide.pdf" without any problem. Trying the same pages with the above code always fails. Any idea? Pirmin Edited by Pirmin

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: 08 Jul 06 at 1:02PM
	From their web site: *Supports "owner" password protected PDF files;* Does this mean, unlike QuickPDF, that it bypasses owner password protection? Most legitimate products respect the protection, but since the PDF spec details how it works, it can be bypassed. For example, when I try to "burst" the "iSEDQuickPDF 5.11 Reference Guide.pdf" with pdftk, it refuses to do so without the owner password. Edited by chicks

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: 08 Jul 06 at 1:35PM
	Interesting - I downloaded it out of curiosity, and it definitely bypasses the PDF's security. More interestingly, it appears to be using the open-source iText PDF library, and the compilation techniques shown by Sid Steward with his open-source pdftk project. Then they are turning around a selling a product based on these open-source projects, without adding a bit of value to them. There are several free GUI front-ends for pdftk. I suppose there are lots of people who don't know about the open-source projects this is based on who are paying for this. At least they give credit to Bruno Lowagie and GNU...

Pirmin Members Profile Find Members Posts Team Player Joined: 28 Nov 05 Status: Offline Points: 28	Post Options Post Reply Quote Pirmin Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13 Jul 06 at 11:54AM
	Hi I was wondering if it is possible to make our library to support owner password protected PDF files as well and have been trying to find the concerning code for some hours without any success. Just for curiosity, if somebody takes the time and succeeds, I am interested to see the result. Remark: I'm not sure if I can answer your posts during one month. Pirmin