Hack 86 Use Perl to Create PDF

Create or modify PDF with a Perl script.

Many web sites use Perl for creating dynamic content. You can also use Perl to script Acrobat on your local machine [Hack #95] . Given the great number of packages that extend Perl, it is no surprise that packages exist for creating and manipulating PDF. Let's take a look.

6.14.1 Install Perl and the PDF::API2 Package on Windows

[Hack #95] explains how to install Perl on Windows. After installing Perl, use the Perl Package Manager to easily install the PDF::API2 package.

Launch the Programmer's Package Manager (PPM, formerly called Perl Package Manager) by selecting Start Programs ActiveState ActivePerl 5.8 Perl Package Manager. A command prompt will open with its ppm> prompt awaiting your command. Type help to see a list of commands. Type search pdf to see a list of available packages. To install PDF::API2, enter install pdf-api2. The Package Manager will fetch the package from the Internet and install it on your machine. The entire session looks something like this:

PPM - Programmer's Package Manager version 3.1.

Copyright (c) 2001 ActiveState SRL. All Rights Reserved.



Entering interactive shell. Using Term::ReadLine::Stub as readline library.



Type 'help' to get started.



ppm> install pdf-api2

====================

Install 'pdf-api2' version 0.3r77 in ActivePerl 5.8.3.809.

====================

Transferring data: 74162/1028845 bytes.



...



Installing C:\Perl\site\lib\PDF\API2\CoreFont\verdanaitalic.pm

Installing C:\Perl\site\lib\PDF\API2\CoreFont\webdings.pm

Installing C:\Perl\site\lib\PDF\API2\CoreFont\wingdings.pm

Installing C:\Perl\site\lib\PDF\API2\CoreFont\zapfdingbats.pm

Installing C:\Perl\site\lib\PDF\API2\Chart\Pie.pm

Successfully installed pdf-api2 version 0.3r77 in ActivePerl 5.8.3.809.

ppm> quit

The PDF::API2 package is used widely to create and manipulate PDF. You can download documentation and examples from http://pdfapi2.sourceforge.net/dl/.

6.14.2 Hello World in Perl

This Perl script creates a PDF named HelloWorld.pdf, adds a page, and then adds text to that page. It gives you an idea of how easily you can create PDF. Figure 6-16 shows the PDF document created by this script.

Figure 6-16. Creating PDF content using Perl

#!/usr/bin/perl

# HelloWorld.pl; adapted from 0x_test-pl



use PDF::API2;



my $pdf  = PDF::API2->new(-file => "HelloWorld.pdf");

$pdf->mediabox(595,842);

my $page = $pdf->page;

my $fnt = $pdf->corefont('Arial',-encoding => 'latin1'); 

my $txt = $page->hybrid;

$txt->textstart;

$txt->font($fnt, 20);

$txt->translate(100,800);

$txt->text("Hello World! left-aligned");

$txt->translate(500,750);

$txt->text_right("Hello World! right-aligned");

$txt->translate(300,700);

$txt->text_center("Hello World! center-aligned");

$txt->textend;

$pdf->save;

$pdf->end( );

6.14.3 Discover Perl Packages with CPAN

CPAN (http://www.cpan.org) is the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, where you will find "All Things Perl." Visit http://search.cpan.org to discover several other PDF packages. Drill down to find details, documentation, and downloads. For example, PDF::Extract (http://search.cpan.org/~nsharrock/) creates a new PDF from the pages of a larger, input PDF.