Open adode pdf and edit a page by adding a text box

Question

I'm quite new to vba coding with adobe and can't get any code to work. I first need to open a pdf located in my documents (with adobe acrobat) and then edit the 5th page by adding a textbox/or a number of text boxes. I was wondering if this was possible and if there was code to do this. I have Adobe Acrobat XI Standard, which allows me to edit pdfs manually and create text boxes where needed. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Answer 1

There a several ways to communicate with acrobat from vba/vbs (see Acrobat SDK / IAC section). But for me the best is to work with Acrobat Form API, which allows to work more ore less direct with js-code.

Following you will find an vbs/vba example how to add text on the first page (zero based: first page = 0).

Please look for further methods and properties and especially for defining the rect (place/array to set the box) at the "Acrobat JavaScript API Reference". Good luck, Reinhard

Path = "D:\Test.pdf"

Set App = CreateObject("Acroexch.app")
app.show
Set AVDoc = CreateObject("AcroExch.AVDoc")
Set AForm = CreateObject("AFormAut.App") 'from AFormAPI

If AVDoc.Open(Path,"") Then
    '// write some js code on a vbs variable
   js = "f = this.addField(""newField"", ""text"", 0, [250,650,20,600]);" &vblf _
    & "f.value = ""any Text""; " &vblf _
    & "f.flatten"
     '//execute the js code
    AForm.Fields.ExecuteThisJavaScript js
end if

Set AForm = Nothing
Set AVDoc = Nothing
Set APP = Nothing

Answer 2

After trawling through adobes documentation on OLE automation and API references, I found that you can actually code very well in VBA with acrobat. Enjoy and adapt to your needs. Here is a link to adobe's API reference: http://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/acrobat/pdfs/iac_api_reference.pdf

Sub RMS_pdf()

 Application.DisplayAlerts = False
 Application.CutCopyMode = False


Set wb1 = Workbooks.Open(Filename:="\\ldnfortunenet\fortunenetdocuments\William Hadman\Suitability\RMS\RMS Product Governance Reports\" & LongNewDate & "\RMS Product Governance Report.xlsm", UpdateLinks:=True)

Set ws1 = wb1.Sheets("Performance & Volatility")
    Set ws2 = wb1.Sheets("Asset Allocation")
    Set ws3 = wb1.Sheets("Detailed Contribution")


OpenPath = "\\ldnfortunenet\fortunenetdocuments\William Hadman\Aushir Shah\RMS Product Governance Reports\RMS Product Governance Report - 2016-10-31 -  CDF Direct Diversified Income.pdf"
SavePath = "\\ldnfortunenet\fortunenetdocuments\William Hadman\Aushir Shah\RMS Product Governance Reports\RMS Product Governance Report - 2016-10-31 -  CDF Direct Diversified Income v2.pdf"
'initialize the Acrobat interface
Set AcroApp = CreateObject("AcroExch.App")
Set gpdDoc = CreateObject("AcroExch.PDDoc")
'open the file
If gpdDoc.Open(OpenPath) Then
Set jso = gpdDoc.GetJSObject
End If
'get at the jso
If Not jso Is Nothing Then
If gpdDoc.Open(dest) Then
Set jso = gpdDoc.GetJSObject
End If

LastPage = gpdDoc.GetNumPages - 1

Set Box1 = jso.AddField("Performance Comment - " & StrategyName(4), "text",            LastPage, Array(583.8, 706.32, 224.7, 583.2))
Box1.TextFont = "Helvetica"
Box1.TextSize = 8

Else
End If
If gpdDoc.Save(PDSaveFull, SavePath) = False Then
MsgBox "Unable to save image"
Else
End If