Acrobat Services Updates for August 2023
Welcome to the August 2023 update for Adobe Acrobat Services. This is a rather large update with new features, improvements, and performance updates. Read on for details. This article was edited today to reflect an updated list of changes to our release. We apologize for the mistake.
Updates to PDF Electronic Seal API
We are thrilled to announce the General Availability of the PDF Electronic Seal API. Today we’re announcing some important updates to the API.
First, developers on the Microsoft Power Automate platform can beta test a new connector with Electronic Seal support. If you wish to test this out, send us an email at electronic-sealapi-betaprogram@adobe.com.
Secondly, we’ve added support for timestamping authorities in the sealing process. A Timestamping Authority (TSA) can add a cryptographic timestamp to the document data, helping to further ensure the integrity and validity of the document. Information about how to use this new feature can be found in the documentation. This feature is only available via the REST API and is not included in the SDKs yet.
Next, developers can specify document level permissions when sealing PDFs. This allows for more fine-grained control of the sealed document. This feature is only available via the REST API and is not included in the SDKs yet.
Last but not least, we’ve added a way for you to test and see the results of the API via the new PDF Electronic Seal Playground. After selecting a file, you’re provided a simple interface to change and update multiple settings:
You can even expand the right-hand column to see the sample code:
And then finally you can seal the PDF and see the result:
Improved Document Generation API performance
This update is short and sweet. The Document Generation API is now much faster for all users, SDK or REST APIs. Typical API responses will now be under five seconds per call (network dependent of course), approximately twice the previous speed. There’s nothing developers need to do to take advantage of this.
Enhanced external file support
In our last update, we announced the ability for Document Generation to read and write to Amazon S3 and Microsoft SharePoint. Now, developers can make use of these storage systems in all parts of our APIs, except for PDF Extract API, PDF Accessibility Auto-Tag, and Split PDF actions.
Additionally, developers can now use files stored on Dropbox and Azure Blobs.
This is currently available via the REST APIs only.
PDF Extract API updates
This release includes much better support for working with tables. This includes additional data on cell backgrounds and borders.
Larger file sizes
Enterprise customers will now be able to process much larger files, up to 500 megs. Enterprise customers also have the ability to request higher RPM rates for API calls. To enable these features, please contact us.
PDF Accessibility Checker API
For our final update, we are now in the process of developing, and previewing, a new endpoint that will check a document for accessibility. The PDF Accessibility Checker API will return information concerning how well a document conforms to accessibility standards like PDF/UA and WCAG 2.0.
This new service is in private testing now and developers interested in trying it should reach out to pdf-a11y-checker-api-beta@adobe.com.
Wrap up
This release is one of our largest, and as always, if developers have questions or comments, we encourage you to reach out on our forums. You can also sign up for our monthly newsletter as a way of keeping up to date with the latest improvements and fixes. Finally, don’t forget we have a generous free tier available so sign up today!
