This page demonstrates a few of the hacks I developed for my book, PDF Hacks, published by O'Reilly Media. Buy my book from Amazon.com and learn how to add these features to your own PDF documents and web pages.

Many thanks go to Eric Tamm for allowing me to use his book in these examples. All of the PDFs linked from this page and any derivative material (HTML generated from Eric's book, etc.) are Copyright © 1988 Eric Tamm. Please contact him regarding reproduction or distribution.

Eno fans will be interested in this recent (October 23, 2004) announcement. Here is an excerpt: "Brian Eno has created a new record inspired by his work on the Clock of the Long Now, the clock that will mark time for ten thousand years. ..."

Create an HTML Table of Contents from PDF Bookmarks

Add an HTML TOC to your web page so readers can jump directly to any section of interest. Note that these HTML links reference specific pages within the full PDF.

• Full PDF Table of Contents >>

Take Control of your PDF UI with Skins

Skinning a PDF gives you much more control over the user interface. This is an example of the Classic PHP skin. I created a Classic JavaScript skin, too, if you prefer client-side processing.

• With Sidebar Navigation >>

• Without Sidebar Navigation >>

Report Hits by Section

The above skin can log PDF page hits. Our hit_report script converts page hits into section hits, so you can see exactly which material people are reading most.

• PDF Section Hit Report >>

Comment PDF Pages using HTML

This PDF skin adds a comment pane to every PDF page. Since this comment pane is HTML, it is easy to customize. The name of this skin is Classic Comments, and it is written in PHP.

• With Sidebar Navigation >>

• Without Sidebar Navigation >>

Search PDF with our Automatic Portal

I created a collection of PHP scripts for automatically spinning HTML portals that link into PDF collections. This is an example of a portal into a single document. Try out the search feature and see how it organizes hits using document headings. Very cool.

• Searchable PDF Portal >>

About
Brian Eno: His Music and the
Vertical Color of Sound
by Eric Tamm

Faber & Faber first published this book in 1989. Da Capo Press published the Updated Edition in 1995, which you can still purchase from Amazon.com. Today, Eric Tamm provides the updated edition as an electronic download from his web site: www.erictamm.com.