How To Remove PDF Watermark RE Trial Version?

[RLS]

Is there a way to get rid of the "Adobe ColdFusion Developer/Trial Version" watermark from the PDF files we create?  I'm using the Developer edition but I still don't want to have documents come out with that on it.  Do I need to tell it I know the enterprise trial time is done or something?  Thank you!

[Adam Cameron.]

Is there a way to get rid of the "Adobe ColdFusion Developer/Trial Version" watermark from the PDF files we create?

Yep: buy a ColdFusion licence and enter the licence number in CF Administrator.

The developer version of CF is not for production use so it shouldn't matter that it has the watermark.

--

Adam

[BKBK]

RLS wrote:

Is there a way to get rid of the "Adobe ColdFusion Developer/Trial Version" watermark from the PDF files we create?  I'm using the Developer edition but I still don't want to have documents come out with that on it.  Do I need to tell it I know the enterprise trial time is done or something?

I think it's sheer petty for Adobe to maintain the PDF watermark in the Developer version. I could see the sense of it some years ago, when ColdFusion belonged to Macromedia and PDF to Adobe. Then, the techniques for generating PDF documents were still in their infancy. The watermark is now, not only an irritation, bit is in fact a bit silly.

Will anyone ever buy a ColdFusion license, just so they can generate PDFs? I don't think so. What motivates people to buy, in my opinion, is the remaining 99.9% functionality besides PDF. Is Adobe then going to disable some attributes of, say, cfquery or cfoutput in the Developer version?

If a developer really wanted to mass-produce PDFs they could simply just re-install ColdFusion. They'll then get a month's supply. Common, Adobe ColdFusion Team, go on, do us all a favour and get rid of the watermark.

[Owainnorth]

I don't think it's them being petty, why should they go out of their way to remove something just for you to use it, basically, illegally? You're saying you should be allowed to create PDFs for your company's use using a developer edition?

Is Adobe then going to disable some attributes of, say, cfquery or cfoutput in the Developer version?

They already do. You can only access any tags from two remote IPs.

[Adam Cameron.]

And they throttle a few other features.

It's all entirely reasonable for a development licence.

--

Adam

[BKBK]

Owainnorth wrote:

Is Adobe then going to disable some attributes of, say, cfquery or cfoutput in the Developer version?

They already do.

Disable attributes?

[Owainnorth]

Disable attributes?

Well basically yes, connect from a third IP and all attributes are disabled. And the tag itself. And access to the page. Still, the point remains.

[BKBK]

Owainnorth wrote:

Disable attributes?

Well basically yes, connect from a third IP and all attributes are disabled. And the tag itself. And access to the page. Still, the point remains.

This is just tortuous argumentation. If one cannot access the server, then all the hundreds of tags and functions, and their thousands of attributes are disabled.

If what you mean to say is, the development version restricts access to a maximum of 2 IP addresses, which is even more limiting than the watermark, then just say so.

[Owainnorth]

I really am not sure what you're trying to achieve here, I'm simply making the point that the Dev edition *is* limited in many ways, and there's no reason Adobe should change that.

[BKBK]

Owainnorth wrote:

[In the Developer version] You can only access [ColdFusion] from two remote IPs. (BKBK paraphrase)

That I find reasonable.

[Owainnorth]

Right, but you don't find it reasonable to have a watermark on a PDF to stop everyone just using Dev edition for all their office PDF generation?

[BKBK]

Owainnorth wrote:

Right, but you don't find it reasonable to have a watermark on a PDF to stop everyone just using Dev edition for all their office PDF generation?

I find a restriction on access to the server a reasonable distinction between Developer version and licensed version. That is difficult to bypass.

In my opinion the PDF watermark is a throwback that is no longer necessary, and is, I expect, relatively easy to bypass. After all, there are now libraries and tools which enable anyone with moderate skill to use the Developer version to generate a PDF document that doesn't have the watermark.

[BKBK]

If you really have to, you could create PDFs using the iText library(which ships with Coldfusion). I only wonder whether the result will be watermarked, too.

[Owainnorth]

I guess the real question is: why would you have to?

[BKBK · Accepted solution]

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RLS wrote:

Is there a way to get rid of the "Adobe ColdFusion Developer/Trial Version" watermark from the PDF files we create?  I'm using the Developer edition but I still don't want to have documents come out with that on it.  Do I need to tell it I know the enterprise trial time is done or something?  Thank you!

I just realized there has been no direct answer yet to your question. So here.

No. I don't think there is any way to get rid of the watermark. I would imagine that the makers of ColdFusion have used an encrypted procedure to put it in the PDF. Even if they haven't, you will have to tinker with ColdFusion's system files to get rid of it. Such hacking is illegal, of course.

[RLS]

Wow! Worked late into this morning and just sat down to quite a discussion going on.   I tried to modify the \lib\watermark.png in Photoshop to erase the text from the watermark, but they have something they're checking that identified it as "bad" and gave me a "watermark invalid" error.  Tried a few different ways to no avail.

Why would a developer want to remove the watermark?  Let's say I have a number of clients who have their own versions of ColdFusion, many because I recommended them. That's a lot of sales of ColdFusion that Adobe would not have made otherwise, all because of me.  But, since I am a CF developer, I want to create a report for them, or an invoice, perhaps, or some other general reporting diagnostic from me, the developer, to my clients. 

Should I really have to pay $1299 to do that?  I can get Adobe Pro for half that and do some kind of work-around by creating an RTF file, open in Word, save as PDF, and then email, but c'mon! We're developers! We automate! That's fingernails on the chalkboard.

I also find it silly now that Adobe owns the whole thing.  I see some of the points, though. Equip your team of programmers with their own dev versions to produce the reports of the company and save $1200....    Really?  Someone who has a TEAM of programmers is going to save $1200 and limit their productivity?   Only in the cheapest sweatshops, perhaps...

[Owainnorth]

they have something they're checking that identified it as "bad" and gave me a "watermark invalid" error.

Heh yes, tried that once. Assume they've got it checksummed somewhere.

Let's say I have a number of clients who have their own versions of ColdFusion, many because I recommended them. That's a lot of sales of ColdFusion that Adobe would not have made otherwise, all because of me.

No that's different, that's some kind of reseller/partner scheme. Yes I agree they could do something with that, but it involve them just giving you a licence or discount, not changing the way the Developer licence works.

Since I am a CF developer, I want to create a report for them, or an invoice, perhaps, or some other general reporting diagnostic from me, the developer, to my clients. ..I can get Adobe Pro for half that and do some kind of work-around by creating an RTF file, open in Word, save as PDF, and then email, but c'mon! We're developers! We automate!

Aha, but that's exactly the point! You, at that point, are not using CF and CFDOCUMENT as a developer; you're using it as an office worker to create PDF documents in order to save yourself time and money. You're no longer developing, you're using the product.

I know it's annoying, but it's an extremely powerful product. If all you want to do is knock up an invoice just use Word then something like PrimoPDF which is free.