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Looking for a script

DevinC
Registered: Nov 19 2007
Posts: 10

Hi, I'm looking for a script that will help cut down my time doing repetitive work. I'm currently using Acrobat Pro 6.

I use a scanner to scan receipts and save them all into one big PDF file. Once that step is done, I explode each receipt (one receipt per page) into individual PDF and then rename each to reflect its content. For example:

[RECEIPT] Costco from Chequing 149.99 {bed mattress} (22 Sep 2008).pdf

Whenever I wish to see the receipt, I'd use Windows Explorer's file search engine to locate it using keywords (i.e. "Costco" or "bed").

I think that it is possible to somewhat automate some of the repetitive task that I do (extract, crop, and rename each file).

Ideally a script will be able these steps:
1) first open the big PDF file
2) page extract the current page and delete from original file
(this can be accomplished by opening the "Pages" tab, right-click on a page, select "Extract Pages..." from the context-menu, then a dialog will pop up asking me for the extract range with a tickbox "Delete pages after extracting". By default, I'd like the script to set it as from 1 to 1 with a tick to delete the page after extracting. auto OK.
3) Now this page is a separate PDF file starting with file name "Pages from ..."
4) manually specify the crop area
5) double-click and click OK to crop the area.
6) automatically close the file, automatically say YES to save changes, so it will bring up the Save As dialog
7) enter filename to specify the receipt's content
8) after I've clicked OK, batch picks up again and go back to Step 1. Repeat the process until all pages are done.

Most of these steps could be automated except for 1, 4, and 7.

Anything like that available or can it be developed without too much effort?

Thanks,

Devin

My Product Information:
Acrobat Pro 6.0.6, Windows
saraveenan
Registered: Oct 21 2007
Posts: 38
Devin,

i hope this can be done. But i require a sample to try it out. Can you provide it (a dummy pdf of how the contents in the original will be)?

This could help us to try an solution.

Regards,

Saravana :)

Saravanan Murugesan

DevinC
Registered: Nov 19 2007
Posts: 10
Hi Saravana,

Thanks for replying. There's no option for me to upload a dummy file onto this forum so I'll explain how you can create one yourself (it won't take long).

1) on three piece of papers, write down various info on it (name, account, amount, date, etc.)
2) scan each paper
3) combine all as one multisheet PDF (Note: my scanner takes care of this automatically)

Now you have the dummy file.

The goal is to divide each sheet into individual PDF and _quickly_ rename each file to reflect its content.

I'm still working on a solution to this. Thank you in advance for your help.

Regards,

Devin
saraveenan
Registered: Oct 21 2007
Posts: 38
Hi Devin,

We can split the file into individual files just with 'extract' option in the Acrobat pro -

1. open the file in the Acrobat pro
2. Menu: Document -> Extract Pages
3. metion the page numbers and select 'Extract pages as Separate files'
4. Select the output folder and click ok.

you will get the individual files.

* Renaming is a separate concern. You have to batch or do it manually.

* Finally, for cropping, you can batch the files to cropped if the size are equal.

This is what I can do without the sample. I can tryout further if I have few samples. My personal mail ID is saraveenan [at] gmail [dot] com.please mail me if you need anymore details.

Regards,
Saravana :)

Saravanan Murugesan