CAM-PDF
Last update: v1.06, 2006-03-20
This package reads and writes any document that conforms to the PDF specification generously provided by Adobe at http://partners.adobe.com/asn/developer/acrosdk/docs/filefmtspecs/PDFReference.pdf (3rd edition, for PDF v1.4 as of May 2002)
The file format is well-supported, with the exception of the "linearized" or "optimized" output format, which this module can read but not write. Many specific aspects of the document model are not manipulable with this package (like some font details), but if the input document is correctly written, then this module will preserve the model integrity.
This library grants you some power over the PDF security model. Note that applications editing PDF documents via this library MUST respect the security preferences of the document. Any violation of this respect is contrary to Adobe's intellectual property position, as stated in the reference manual at the above URL.
COMPARISON TO OTHER MODULES
Other Perl libraries which implement the PDF specification are Text::PDF, PDF::API2, PDFLib. PDF::API2 supercedes Text::PDF. PDFlib is a wrapper around the superb C library by www.pdflib.com.
All three of those libraries are optimized for programatically creating new PDF documents from scratch. If that is your goal, then we highly recommend that you look at those. On the contrary, CAM::PDF is optimized for reading and manipulating existing PDF documents.
We use CAM::PDF in production Linux environments to customize template PDF documents that were often created by non-programmers using standard tools.
We have a couple of older demonstrations of the dynamic document functionality at http://www.clotho.com/pdfdemo/
Perl License
This software is released by Clotho Advanced Media, Inc. under the same terms as Perl itself. That means that it is dual-licensed under the Artistic license and the GPL, and that you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of either or both of those licenses. Copies of this license are available from Clotho or view the LICENSE file directly.
GPL License
Releases of this software are available under the General Public License, v2. Copies of this license are available from Clotho and GNU.
Clotho License
Releases of this software are available under commercial license directly from Clotho. Please contact us at info@clotho.com to purchase a license.