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Dynamic stamps and Adobe 9.0

historymaiden
Registered: Aug 10 2010
Posts: 6

Hello,

I have searched the forums and found some helpful information on creating custom dynamic stamps. I have managed to create a stamp showing "Received [date]" using the article/tutorial Creating a Custom Dynamic Stamp as a guide but ran into a problem.

I want the date to change according to the day the stamp is used. So if a document is stamped on a Tuesday, Tuesday's date would be inserted. If it's stamped on Wednesday, Wednesday's date is inserted, etc. I used the following custom java script to create this date:

event.value = (new Date()).toString();
AFDate_FormatEx("mmm dd yyyy");

The stamp then puts in the date, but it keeps the original date that I created the stamp instead of changing from day to day. I know if the code goes on the image before the stamp is created, it all flattens out and is ineffective, but I've tried adding the code to the stamp itself and I think I must be missing something because it still won't update the date. Any ideas on what I may be doing wrong? Is my code wrong for what I want to do? All the forums I've found talk more about interactive stamps with user input but that's not what my goal is. Thanks for any help!!

Molly

My Product Information:
Acrobat Pro 9.0, Windows
try67
Online
Expert
Registered: Oct 30 2008
Posts: 2399
Once a stamp has been stamped it can't be edited any more.
If you want the data in it to change you will need to use something else, like a form field.

- AcrobatUsers Community Expert - Contact me personally at try6767 [at] gmail [dot] com
Check out my custom-made scripts website: http://try67.blogspot.com

gkaiseril
Expert
Registered: Feb 23 2006
Posts: 4308
You have to import the stamp into Acrobat through the manage stamps, and after you have the stamp in the appropriate directory, then you can edit the form fields.

George Kaiser

historymaiden
Registered: Aug 10 2010
Posts: 6
I went back and created my stamp with just the text, no form fields or anything. That created a file in the Stamps folder where all the newly created stamps go (with the funky file names). I renamed it Received then opened that file in Acrobat. I added a text box form field and put the calculation script in then did File>Save. Saving it again flattens it doesn't it? How do I keep the form field in there without having to save it? Should I be adding the form in another way? Thanks for your help!
gkaiseril
Expert
Registered: Feb 23 2006
Posts: 4308
You do not put the PDF file in the stamps directory. You need to use Acrobat to import the PDF file as a stamp and assign the PDF image within the file the file a unique id. And then edit the PDF.

See [url=http://acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2007/02/custom_dynamic_stamp|Creating a Custom Dynamic Stamp]by Lori DeFurio for instructions on creating and the locations for the stamp files. Yes it was made before version nine, so you may need to change the version number in the directory path from '6.0' or '7.0' to '9.0'. Thom Parker in [url=http://acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2007/02/dynamic_stamp_secrets|Dynamic Stamp Secrets]shows you how to use the JavaScript console to locate the possible locations of custom stamps.

George Kaiser

historymaiden
Registered: Aug 10 2010
Posts: 6
Ok, did all that before and still had problems. Went through Lori's article yet again and followed exactly and I think it works now. I was trying to take off the time and just leave the date on the stamp and when I did that it wouldn't change the next day. I guess until I can figure out what went wrong I will have to leave the time on the stamp, which isn't the end of the world, just not what I wanted.

Thanks though for your tips!