Converting Variable Data from Website

when it comes to scripting, there are limitations in terms of JavaScript utilities and real-time feedback. While it may be possible to communicate with a server through scripting using terminal commands or other methods, it can be cumbersome and challenging to manage as a user.

However, by utilizing a CEP extension with access to modern website development tools, communication becomes more feasible. Creating a separate SPA as a shared backend between the site and extension can streamline the process and avoid complications from third-party codebases.

The recommended approach involves creating a free Cloud Firebase app and enabling Cloud Firestore as a serverless backend. The SPA can set a database entry with user-submitted information and display a list of orders in a panel. PDF generation can be achieved by utilizing a local template file, and completed templates can be saved and moved to a history/inactive document in Firestore.

It's worth noting that Firestore offers a free tier for small operations, and browser-based PDF libraries can be used for editing purposes. By following these steps, the desired functionality can be achieved while incorporating perplexity and burstiness in the content.

You can set up a create a simple web app in PHP or Node.js that takes the customer’s data and writes it to XML or CSV file, which AI’s Variable Data feature can import into the template and save as PDF. You will still have to run AI on desktop and trigger the import manually.

What you can’t do is host AI on a public-facing web server to make the whole process 100% automatic, with the customer receiving the generated PDF immediately after clicking Submit. Adobe’s standard licencing terms don’t allow this for their desktop apps, only InDesign Server, which is hellish expensive for a small business. I expect once Adobe finishes UXP and has all PS, ID, and AI running headlessly in the Adobe Cloud, they will offer UXP-automation-in-the-cloud as pay-per-use service, though it will likely be a couple more years before that is ready.

Depending on your artworking/automation needs it may be worth looking into alternate PDF renderers with more web-friendly licensing terms. Feel free to DM if you want to discuss in more detail.

Through scripting no, since scripting doesn't have Javascript utilities like HTTP requests and scripts themselves don't have much in term of realtime feedback and rely almost exclusively on executing when the user wants it to or triggers it. It might be possible to communicate with a server via some terminal command, bash/sh file, or CURL through clever scripting but it'd still be cumbersome and I don't see it being easy to manage as a user.

Through a CEP extension with access to modern webdev, sure and relatively easily though you'd need a shared backend between the site and extension and if I were doing it personally, I'd rather create an SPA separate from your website entirely that you'd link to with the form to submit because it saves the headache of wading through someone else's codebase which might be using libraries like JQuery or Wordpress which I do my best to avoid.

If I were doing it, I'd:

• Create a free Cloud Firebase app namespace
• Enable Cloud Firestore inside this and have this as a serverless backend shared between the SPA and extension
• Have the SPA set a database entry when a user submits containing any relevant info, potentially autofilling some inputfields via your website by providing URL parameters like username, email, etc
• Have the panel gather the database on mount with an onSnapshotListener and display a list of orders where you could enable/disable and click a button to generate a PDF of each, probably best done by having a local template file that the panel opens and replaces text from then saves as a copy. After each template is made, it should move the order in Firestore from an active document to a history/inactive one

Firestore is (or was last I used) free for up to 50k reads and 20k writes per day, so it's plenty to cover virtually any small operation unless you're using this on multiple machines simultaneously. There are also plenty of browser-based PDF libraries for editing though, and you'd potentially not need something in Illustrator at all to accomplish the same thing -- have your site bundle with a PDF template (or request it from some location as needed) then edit the PDF clientside on submission and use their browser to upload this to some backend you'd have access to.

If you plan to spend the time developing all the scripts and putting up with Adobe's business licensing then perhaps, but otherwise no. There is no simple way to do any of this. If all you want to do is change a few things in a PDF you'll probably have better luck using OpenSource PDF libraries on your server, but even those will apparently require extra programming.

Mylenium