Datalogics announces Reader Extensions service for PDF forms and documents

Chicago, IL, October 3, 2012 — At the JavaOne Expo in San Francisco today, Chicago-based Datalogics, Inc., the premier source for Adobe PDF and eBook technologies, announced an offering to enable rights for PDF forms and documents for end-users. When these documents are then opened in the free Adobe Reader, they enable extended functionality in the viewer, including local form save and more, annotations and commenting and digital signature features not otherwise available in the application.

Enterprises that need to distribute PDF forms and documents to a broad range of Reader programs as far back as Reader 7 can utilize this service to enable users to participate in data entry, review and authoring workflows using just the Adobe Reader on Windows and Mac.

Extended functionality enabled in the Adobe Reader includes

• Save in-progress forms data – Users filling out long or complex PDF forms using Adobe Reader cannot save their progress locally by default. If they need to shut down at the end of the day or wait to obtain necessary information to complete the form, they do not have the means to save their progress and continue later. Reader-extending these documents allows the users save their progress.
• Apply digital signatures – Applying a certified digital signature to a document to attest to its contents is a powerful feature of the Adobe Acrobat application. This enables the full range of Adobe digital signature plugins, including PKI-based signatures.
• Integrate with web services – Dynamic PDF forms can be built which interact with web services and external data sources to modify form choices or prefill data based upon earlier data entry.
• Create dynamic 2D barcodes – 2D barcodes can be dynamically generated based on forms responses. This enables completed PDF forms to be routed through electronic-to-paper-to-electronic document workflows without rekeying of data.
• Add and save comments and annotations – Users can add and review comments and annotations and participate more fully in authoring workflows.

Each feature can be enabled individually; other features are also available.

The Reader Extensions offering is powered by the Adobe PDF Java Toolkit, a standalone Java SDK for manipulating PDF forms and documents, and the core infrastructure of the Adobe LiveCycle enterprise platform. The Adobe PDF Java Toolkit can also be licensed to developers who wish to include Reader-extension capabilities in their own enterprise applications.

"The LiveCycle stack represents a notable investment in technology and a commitment to the J2EE infrastructure," remarks Kevin McNeill, President of Datalogics. "The Adobe PDF Java Toolkit reduces this requirement somewhat, but as an SDK still necessitates programming expertise. We anticipate our Reader Extensions offering will appeal to enterprises with a handful of high-value PDF forms and documents and who may not have the time or resources to invest in either the Adobe PDF Java Toolkit or the full Adobe LiveCycle platform. We feel we are uniquely positioned to offer the services and support for Reader Extensions: we have a great deal of institutional knowledge of PDF document processing and our Technical Support personnel have been providing extensive worldwide support to PDF application developers for over fifteen years."

Pricing for the Reader Extension service is based on the number and type of documents. For more information, stop by the Datalogics booth (#5601) at JavaOne, or visit http://www.datalogics.com/products/pdfjt/.

About Datalogics

Chicago-based Datalogics, Incorporated, an Adobe Portfolio Company, has dedicated over 45 years to delivering the highest quality software technologies and services which meet the most demanding customer needs. Datalogics is the premier source for Adobe eBook and PDF developer technologies, including the Adobe PDF Library, Adobe PDF Java Toolkit, Adobe PDF Java Toolkit with Reader Extensions, Adobe Normalizer, Adobe PDF Print Engine, Adobe Content Server, Adobe Reader Mobile SDK, and Adobe Digital Publishing Suite. Datalogics is a member of the PDF Association and the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF).

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