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Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor

breezepdf.com

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Re: Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor

#151

Post by philjohnson »

tanepiper wrote: post #128
philjohnson wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No plans to open source at the moment, but I might consider it. I just added a Subscribe button to support further development of the software and get access to premium features. Which features (if any) that if added would you be willing to pay for?

Essentially templates, driven from a headless CMS with some ability to customise and print - instead of having to go to the headless CMS, or use some other tool to edit - in browser is nice. I've already looked at options but this is a build vs buy option.

Based on my understanding of what you're saying, here's my idea that I could build:

You would add variables in the interface, and there would be a secure sandbox in the client where you can call the API of your headless CMS, and with an sdk you could create PDF programmatically assigning the respective variables with values from your headless CMS API response. Then a button to print them. This keeps everything fully private in the browser while automating the process.

Would that work? For reference, what would you expect to pay for this if you wanted to go this route?

Re: Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor

#152

Post by philjohnson »

stefnotch wrote: post #146

I noticed that this tool doesn't preserve links within PDFs. ( https://github.com/Hopding/pdf-lib/issues/341 ) That's one of the main things I always try out with PDF editors, and it saddens me to see that this one also runs into that issue. Fixes would be either using a different PDF library, or manually implementing that feature with the building blocks that pdf-lib provides.

Not sure if you're referring to external or internal links but external ones are indeed preserved when once you download the modified PDF.

I've updated it so that external links are also clickable when viewing the PDF in the editor. Working on getting internal links to be clickable and function as well.

Let me know if this fits what you're after

Re: Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor

#153

Post by hakfoo »

throwanem wrote: post #53

I tossed a legal document at it which was recently of passing interest to me, and it looks like embedded fonts still need some work. I'm not inclined to share a test case from what I have, which relates to a change of name and in any case was not really prepared by anyone especially competent when it comes to PDFs and their content; I tested with the first, facially void, version I was given. But it is possible I'll…

I love the idea of a downloadable version because I suspect there are a lot of business cases of

* Need to make a relatively narrow change to a PDF (add a line, reorder pages, concatenate two files)

* Adobe is $$$ and pretty much a subscription-only fiasco. Even the most trivial tasks are paywalled.

* Even if you're paying for Adobe at a corporate level, getting the IT clearance to get it installed might be more time sink than the actual task,

We have a server that had pdftk installed to generate some pre-filled documents and I ended up using that to concatenate two PDF files instead of fighting to get Real Acrobat.

Re: Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor

#156

Post by philjohnson »

8mobile wrote: post #155

Thank you for breezepdf, it is a beautiful idea. I am using it to create simple documents, do you foresee any new features? Like a table? That would be perfect.

You’re welcome, and thanks for the kind words.

Yes, lots of new features coming as well as a downloadable desktop version.

A table is definitely something I will add! Thanks for the suggestion.

Stay tuned!

Re: Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor

#157

Post by philjohnson »

Saris wrote: post #154

Doesnt Firefox do this natively?

Yeah there is currently a bit of overlap, but even with my software in it’s current state, it has password protecting a PDF, merging PDFs, reordering pages and adding input fields, all of which Firefox doesn’t have.

And, I’m just getting started with this, lots more features to be imminently!

Re: Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor

#158

Post by philjohnson »

jsomedon wrote: post #116

Any chance to open source this and allow us to host it privately? Fantastic work btw.

Thanks!

As of now I don’t plan on open sourcing. I think open sourcing software that I plan to monetize would create bad incentives. There are several companies of note that were very permissive early on with open source, and eventually after the product was built in large part by the community, they closed sourced it. I think it’s more honest to not open source it in the traditional sense, as there’s no chance of close sourcing a product that the community would have helped build for free.

What I’m thinking at the moment, to fully answer your question, is to have a downloadable version for a fair, one-time price. As of now I think this approach provides the best balance between monetization and having full trust in the software and the ability to modify the software as you wish.

Re: Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor

#159

Post by tanepiper »

philjohnson wrote: post #151
tanepiper wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Essentially templates, driven from a headless CMS with some ability to customise and print - instead of having to go to the headless CMS, or use some other tool to edit - in browser is nice. I've already looked at options but this is a build vs buy option.

Based on my understanding of what you're saying, here's my idea that I could build: You would add variables in the interface, and there would be a secure sandbox in the client where you can call the API of your headless CMS, and with an sdk you could create PDF programmatically assigning the respective variables with values from your headless CMS API response. Then a button to print them. This keeps everything fully…

It's hard to give a price here, but essentially that's it - we already are doing the same with web templates with their live preview functionality.

We have planning coming up, and I still need to see how high the priority is on this period

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