PDFlib Personalization Server (PPS) 9
The PDFlib Personalization Server (PPS) includes PDFlib+PDI plus additional functions for variable data processing using PDFlib Blocks. PPS makes applications independent from layout changes.
The designer creates the page layout and converts it to PDF. She takes into account areas as placeholders for variable text and images. In Acrobat she drags a rectangular Block for each area using the PDFlib Block Plugin. Each Block contains a variety of Block properties, such as font size, color, image scaling. The PDFlib Block Plugin offers a Preview feature which shows the results of filling Blocks according to their properties.
The programmer writes code to fill PDFlib Blocks with text, images, or PDF pages. He doesn’t need to know the formatting or position of a Block. Use PPS for all PDFlib+PDI tasks plus the following:
Customize direct mailings with text and images
Fill templates for transactional and statement processing
Personalize promotional material with address data
Generate individual parts catalogs from a database
Produce customized documentation for multiple similar
products
PDF Form Fields or PDFlib Blocks?
The primary distinction is that PDF form fields are optimized for interactive filling, and PDFlib Blocks are targeted at automated filling. Applications which need both interactive and automated filling can easily achieve this by using a feature of the PDFlib Block Plugin which automatically converts form fields to blocks. Although there are many parallels between both concepts, PDFlib Blocks offer several advantages over PDF form fields as shown in the table below.
