Re: [xsl] PDF to XSL-FO

["W. Eliot Kimber" <eliot@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark Seaborne wrote:
> Just wondering if there are any tools to convert pdf to XSL-FO? I did
> a quick Google search, but couldn't find anything obvious.

This is, I think, an FAQ. The short answer is "no, it can't really be done".

My question: why would you need this? What business problem would going 
from PDF to FO solve?

Do you mean generating an FO instance from a PDF document or do you mean 
generating an XSLT style sheet that will generate an FO instance?

I suppose one could, in theory, generate an FO instance that exactly 
reflects the formatting represented by the PDF data, but it would be 
very difficult to do and couldn't be done without either using the Adobe 
PDF library or re-implementing interpretation of the formatting 
instructions in the PDF. But the resulting FO would just be a more 
verbose, less complete version of the original PDF. It wouldn't be good 
for much except turning back into PDF again.

Cheers,

Eliot
--
W. Eliot Kimber, eliot@xxxxxxxxxx
Consultant, ISOGEN International

1016 La Posada Dr., Suite 240
Austin, TX  78752 Phone: 512.656.4139


XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list