Creating Structured PDF Files Using XML Templates

Hardy, Matthew; Brailsford, David F.; Thomas, Peter

Abstract

This paper describes a tool for recombining the logical structure from an XML document with the typeset appearance of the corresponding PDF document. The tool uses the XML representation as a template for the insertion of the logical structure into the existing PDF document, thereby creating a Structured/Tagged PDF. The addition of logical structure adds value to the PDF in three ways: the accessibility is improved (PDF screen readers for visually impaired users perform better), media options are enhanced (the ability to reflow PDF documents, using structure as a guide, makes PDF viable for use on hand-held devices) and the re-usability of the PDF documents benefits greatly from the presence of an XML-like structure tree to guide the process of text retrieval in reading order (e.g. when interfacing to XML applications and databases).

Citation

Hardy, M., Brailsford, D. F., & Thomas, P. (2004). Creating Structured PDF Files Using XML Templates. In J. Vion-Dury (Ed.),

• Conference Name: ACM Symposium on Document Engineering (DocEng2004)
• End Date: Oct 31, 2004
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2004
• Deposit Date: Sep 28, 2005
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 9, 2007
• Journal: Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on Document Engineering (DocEng'04)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: XML, PDF, Logical Structure Insertion.
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1020880
• Additional Information: Final draft of paper accepted for ACM DocEng '04 conference