Optional Features in Datalogics Adobe PDF Library (APDFL)

This article applies to the Windows version of Datalogics Adobe PDF Library (APDFL) 21. Feature availability, component filenames, file sizes, and deployment requirements may differ on other platforms or in other APDFL versions.

Over the years, Datalogics has expanded Adobe PDF Library (APDFL) with optional features that support a wider range of document workflows. These capabilities extend PDF processing with additional conversion, text recognition, and output preparation options.

This article focuses on the CPlusPlus interface and introduces six optional features. Each feature addresses a particular need, allowing applications to include the capabilities required for their products.

OCR

Optical character recognition (OCR) recognizes text in scanned documents and images. It can add searchable text to PDFs whose pages would otherwise contain only images.

OCR makes scanned content easier to search, select, copy, and extract. It is useful for digitizing paper records, organizing document collections, and making scanned information available for subsequent processing.

The OCRPage sample demonstrates recognition on a PDF page, while OCRImage demonstrates recognition from an image:

- SDK samples: CPlusPlus\Sample_Source\OCR\OCRPage 
- SDK samples: CPlusPlus\Sample_Source\OCR\OCRImage
- GitHub OCRPage sample: OCRPage
- GitHub OCRImage sample: OCRImage

For more information, refer to: OCR Components and Deployment

PDF2Office

PDF2Office converts PDF documents to Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint formats. It makes PDF content available in formats commonly used for editing and business work.

Typical uses include preparing a PDF document for revision, bringing tabular information into a spreadsheet, or reusing presentation content. This capability supports workflows that need editable Office output from existing PDFs.

The ConvertToOffice sample demonstrates conversion to all three formats:

- SDK sample: CPlusPlus\Sample_Source\DocumentConversion\ConvertToOffice
- GitHub sample: ConvertToOffice

For more information, refer to: PDF2Office Components and Deployment

PDFProcessor

PDFProcessor converts PDF documents to supported PDF/A and PDF/X formats. PDF/A supports long-term document preservation, while PDF/X supports document exchange for print production.

This feature is useful for applications that prepare documents for archival repositories or printing workflows with specific PDF format requirements. It provides a way to incorporate those conversions into document processing.

The ConvertToPDFA and ConvertToPDFX samples demonstrate these capabilities:

- SDK samples: CPlusPlus\Sample_Source\DocumentConversion\ConvertToPDFA
- SDK samples: CPlusPlus\Sample_Source\DocumentConversion\ConvertToPDFX
- GitHub PDF/A sample: ConvertToPDFA
- GitHub PDF/X sample: ConvertToPDFX

For more information, refer to: PDFProcessor Components and Deployment

Transparency Flattening

Transparency flattening prepares PDF artwork containing transparent objects and effects for workflows that require content without live transparency. It combines those effects into a representation suitable for the intended output.

This feature is useful when preparing documents for older printing equipment or processing systems that require flattened artwork. It helps applications meet the output requirements of those systems.

The FlattenTransparency sample demonstrates this feature:

- SDK sample: CPlusPlus\Sample_Source\ContentModification\FlattenTransparency
- GitHub sample: FlattenTransparency

For more information, refer to: Transparency Flattening Components and Deployment

WebToPDF

WebToPDF converts web pages and HTML content to PDF. It supports web content that uses HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, making it useful for producing PDFs from web-based documents and layouts.

Applications can use this feature to create PDF versions of online content, HTML reports, or documents generated from web templates.

WebToPDF is provided through a separate installer and is added to an APDFL installation when this capability is needed. In an installation that includes WebToPDF, the ConvertWebToPDF sample demonstrates the feature:

- SDK sample: CPlusPlus\Sample_Source\DocumentConversion\ConvertWebToPDF
- GitHub sample: ConvertWebToPDF

For more information, refer to: WebToPDF Components and Deployment

XPS2PDF

XPS2PDF converts XML Paper Specification (XPS) documents to PDF. It is useful for applications that receive XPS files and need to make that content available as PDF for distribution, viewing, or further processing.

Converting XPS to PDF helps organizations bring documents from different sources into a common format and incorporate them into existing PDF workflows.

The XPStoPDF sample demonstrates this conversion:

- SDK sample: CPlusPlus\Sample_Source\DocumentConversion\XPStoPDF
- GitHub sample: XPStoPDF

For more information, refer to: XPS2PDF Components and Deployment

Include Only the Features an Application Needs

All six features described above are optional. When a feature is not used by an application, its associated components can be omitted from the product's deployment, provided they are not needed by another retained capability. This can reduce the amount of software packaged and distributed with the product.

For example, an application that processes existing PDFs may have no need for XPS conversion, OCR, Office output, or web conversion. The presence of those capabilities in the SDK does not mean every application must include them. WebToPDF can remain uninstalled when web conversion is unnecessary.

The separate technical articles identify the files associated with each feature, potential size savings, and considerations for omitting unused components.

For more information, refer to:

- OCR Components and Deployment
- PDF2Office Components and Deployment
- PDFProcessor Components and Deployment
- Transparency Flattening Components and Deployment
- WebToPDF Components and Deployment
- XPS2PDF Components and Deployment

How to Get Additional Help

Contact Datalogics Tech Support 

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