programally edit ai or pdf files

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
June 8, 2023
3 replies
742 views

I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to seek some clarification regarding editing AI files in Adobe with Acrobat SDK, as well as understanding how to decode the hexadecimal string used for text encoding within PDF files.

Firstly, I would like to inquire whether it is possible to edit AI (Adobe Illustrator) files using the Acrobat SDK. As an AI file contains vector graphics and is primarily associated with Adobe Illustrator, I am curious to know if there are any provisions within the Acrobat SDK that enable modifications or editing of AI files.

Secondly, I would appreciate guidance on how to decode the hexadecimal string used for text encoding within a PDF document. While PDF files typically store text in an encoded format, often utilizing hexadecimal representation, I am interested in understanding the process of decoding such strings to extract the original text content.

Any information, guidance, or resources you can provide on either of these topics would be greatly appreciated. I am eager to explore the possibilities and capabilities of Adobe's tools in relation to AI file editing and PDF text decoding.

Thank you very much for your time and assistance. I look forward to your response.

Acrobat SDK and JavaScript

A

Anand More

Participant

Adobe Illustrator supports scripting using JavaScript (ExtendScript), AppleScript, or VBScript. You can:

Open an .ai file
Modify elements such as text, colors, and logos—even when preserved as artistic formatting
Export the result as SVG (or PDF, PNG, etc.)

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Test Screen Name

Legend

You can't edit an AI file in Acrobat. Not programmatically, not at all. Because, if you were to change the PDF portion of the AI file, and then re-open in Illustrator, then AI will open the ORIGINAL embedded AI content. Your edits would be entirely lost. If you want to edit AI files, use the Illustrator API which is much more powerful and flexible.

However, if you just want to extract text, you don't have to worry about the encoding. Any good PDF text extractor (including the Acrobat SDK in C++ and JavaScript) will parse the strings and apply font encoding and ToUnicode CMaps to extract text. And there will also be files where text extraction is impossible.