Hello all,
My job has a very repetitive aspect to it that I feel could be automated. I create technical instructions packets for our production staff, which consists of:
- Title page
- The build instructions
- Technical drawings
I realize that I could compile these 3 elements into a single PDF, but it would likely create more problems than it would solve. The company I work for is very very small, and all drawing replacements (due to obsolescence or revision) are done by hand. The fewer places a drawing exists, the smaller the chance that I will forget to replace it, leading to major problems. Some drawings are shared between different products, furthering the confusion. So when an order comes in, my steps are to:
- Apply information to the title page (Customer, contract #, part number, etc)
- Print out the latest revision for the build instructions and technical drawing package
- Manually stamp each page by hand with an "APPROVED FOR PRODUCTION" date stamp (as part of our Quality Management System)
- This stamp has 3 fields on it: JOB, QTY, and APPROVED BY
- Fill in the JOB, QTY, and APPROVED BY fields on the stamp of every page by hand
I have been experimenting with Adobe Livecycle Designer 8 lately, creating a "Front page" where I can input the data and have it automatically fill in matching text fields on the title page. I also created a master page with the "APPROVED FOR PRODUCTION" stamp that is automatically filled in by the data on the "Front page" as well. This is where I hit a wall. What I would like to do is this:
- Fill in appropriate data on a "Front page"
- This data then populates text fields on the Title Page
- Click a button to attach/import a PDF to be appended to the form
- Browse and attach latest revision of build instructions PDF
- Browse and attach latest revision of Technical Drawings PDF
- Each of the attached PDF pages is stamped/overlaid in the lower right with an APPROVED FOR PRODUCTION date stamp, the relevant JOB and QTY fields therein automatically filled in by the data input from the "Front Page."
- (Optional) Save a flattened copy of the stamped/filled in PDF
Is this possible without having to either upgrade Livecycle or resort to an adobe server-side solution? I do not wish to involve a database or external data sources, keeping it local and simple would be best.
I appreciate your time. If anybody would be able to give me a push in the right direction, I would be very appreciative. Though my programming experience could be best described as "non-existent," I am ready to go to great extents in order to rid myself of this robotic task