Callas software releases first update of pdfChip for PDF creation using HTML templates

Callas software, a market leader for automated PDF quality control and archival solutions, has updated its pdfChip product line. PdfChip converts HTML into standards-compliant PDF documents. The pdfChip 1.1 update adds a number of features that were identified in projects customers completed with pdfChip – especially when it was used to create long, dynamic documents. First, pdfChip 1.1 lets you control the maximum number of pages in the generated PDF file. For example, that makes it possible to create single-page PDF files once, instead of creating one PDF file with many pages. Since the destination PDF can now be defined in the Javascript code, it’s possible to start a new PDF whenever needed.
During development, it can be critical to understand what errors occur and how to adjust the HTML template. PdfChip 1.1 error reporting, specifically for Javascript and when placing bar codes, has been improved in order to make it easier to develop complex PDF publishing applications. PdfChip 1.1 also allows for passing command-line variables straight to the HTML template, where Javascript can pick them up and use them to shape the resulting PDF file. The ability to pass this kind of small information to an HTML template adds even more flexibility to PDF publishing – compared to what was already possible with the HTML/Javascript architecture.
Long documents that need to include lists of references – such as a list of figures, list of tables or simply a table of contents – often posed a challenge in pdfChip 1.0. In pdfChip 1.1, Callas added a “list collector” that allows content to be marked using simple CSS, and stores information about this content in a JSON (Javascript data) file. This information can then be used, for example, to automatically create a table of contents with page numbers for the generated PDF document.
PdfChip 1.1 also adds support for the Device-N colour space. Device-N is an advanced PDF colour space that’s essential for content where a number of different spot colours or a combination of CMYK and spot colours is used for page objects such as images or vector graphics. Finally, placing of PDF files has been improved. Therefore, pdfChip provides information about PDF files that are placed in the HTML template – such as information about their trimbox or bleedbox. This information can then be used in Javascript to modify the placement.