Riovra

Hi there,

so you want to create PDF’s on the fly, convert a web page into a PDF for reports on your website. I’ve been using ABCpdf on our server as a demo to test the functionality. I have to recommend this to anyone looking to add this type of functionality to your web projects.

It uses a simple method for programmatically creating dynamic pdfs. I’ve been using the .net version with some classic asp to generate some pdfs. I’ve been able to mix in some EPS files which I’ve created in illlustrator and merge them with exisiting PDFs and build up some funky pdf’s based on user input. e.g. Adding your name to an invite created with your choice of colour background and image, saving it as a PDF while also outputting a PNG preview to screen. 

Its Powerful, yet highly efficient. I’ve put it through its paces and have found it has handled anything I’ve thrown at it. The documentation is very clear and easy to follow, and it works great at handling text. Merging pdfs into multiple pages or placing multiple pdfs into one page. Very flexible. I can see many applications for ABCpdf from simple receipts, to custom variable pre-filled form that you download/print off to more graphic rich applications. I especially like the ability to control it down to a very fine level including document colour modes. 

I’ve found it a great compliment to some other server based image manipulation tools we use. Check out their live demo here.

http://www.abcpdfeditor.com/

I had previously investigated a lot of expensive solutions for online PDF manipulation and this stands out by far as a cost effective, yet powerful solution for web PDF related projects.

For more information on ABCpdf , see 

http://www.websupergoo.com/abcpdf-1.htm

Enjoy

Dara

Facebook ‘Like’ Button coming to email! Email Service Provider MailChimp are making it super easy to add social features to your Email Marketing. Using a simple Merge tag you will now be able to add a ‘Like’ button to your email campaigns.

People clicking on it will then have the email campaign posted to their Newsfeed on Facebook.

I’m a fan of MailChimp already, but I think this is great. They also back it up with social stats so you can see the impact of the sharing factor of your email Campaign.

Read more, and watch a video about it here:

http://ping.fm/ZhHcE

Android is gaining market share over all other smartphone platforms…

http://ping.fm/hHVVp

IPhone OS 4.0 now available. I’m currently installing on my iPhone 3G. I won’t get all the functionality available in it on the 3G, but still worth the upgrade I hope! The backup of my phone is taking AAAgges… so don’t be in a rush to get the upgrade on your phone…

http://ping.fm/rvjDX

Steve jobs on the post-PC era

http://ping.fm/460N4

Facebook Privacy Update: Facebook is going to be rolling out simplified privacy controls after the uproar in recent weeks since the roll out of the Open Graph API. Read more here:

Some notes on this which has been delivered from Facebook:

Starting today, Facebook will:

• Provide an easy-to-use “master” control that enables users to set who can see the content they share through Facebook.  This enables users to choose, with just one click, the overall privacy level they’re comfortable with for the content they share on Facebook. Of course, users can still use all of the granular controls we’ve always offered, if they wish.
• Significantly reduce the amount of information that must be visible to everyone on Facebook. Facebook will no longer require that users’ friends and connections are visible to everyone. Only Name, Profile Picture, Networks and Gender must be publicly available. Users can opt to make all other connections private.
• Make it simple to control whether other applications and websites access any user information. While a majority of our users love Facebook apps and Facebook-enhanced websites, some may prefer not to share their information outside of Facebook. Users can now opt out with just one click.

http://ping.fm/cMeOx

A nice little article on the up coming Business tools for twitter
http://ping.fm/zMqLD

Yes, it’s almost mind boggling to think about, but YouTube turns 5 this year and today have announced that they are now averaging over 2billion video views per day. This is quite staggering really. The technical infrastructure to cope with that must be immense.

They say on average everyone watches 10mins of YouTube per day. That there are over 24hours worth of Video footage uploaded to Youtube every minute. 

I remember when Google bought YouTube for over 1billion back in 2006, but today looking back it surprises me that it was only just over a year old. Well done YouTube!

Here are some more key facts from its 5 years timeline:

My kids would love this (and maybe me) - 1980’s Star Wars Jungle Gym

http://ping.fm/4xSqa