Introduction

The 3-Heights™ Image to PDF Converter converts raster image formats to PDF and PDF/A. PDF/A has been acknowledged world-wide as the ISO standard for long-term archiving since 2005. The Image to PDF Converter is used to convert images into a standardized format, for instance for electronic archiving or electronic data exchange.

It is also possible to include metadata from external sources. The Converter is characterized by a robust design, high throughput and accurate image reproduction. The optional OCR add-in makes output files searchable in full text mode.

Brief description

Performance Characteristics

• Robustness
• High throughput
• True to the original
• Intelligent functions for analysis, optimization and repair
• Simple integrability

Areas of Use

• Incoming mail
• Archive
• OEM
• Scan preparation

Functions

Image to PDF

• Convert single page or multi-page raster images to PDF
• Definable output format (PDF/A-1a, PDF/A-1b, PDF 1.4 , etc.)
• Automatic or selectable image compression, depending on the image type
• Automatic or selectable PDF page size
• Selectable page area
• Selectable image quality for lossy compression
• Set image position
• Set scaling
• Set standard resolution (DPI / X and Y coordinates)
• Set encryption and access rights
• Selectable and embeddable ICC color profile
• Define alternative texts (tagging) and image language
• Set document attributes
• Input and output document from file or memory (API only)
• Set cropbox for the generated PDF file
• Optional JPEG image recompression
• Set image orientation
• List available OCR engines
• Set OCR engine
• Set OCR engine language(s)
• Set options specific to OCR engine (performance optimization)
• IsPremultipliedAlpha, Mask, Smask
• Embedding metadata

Image to Image

• Split single page or multi-page raster images into individual, single page images
• Merge multiple images to form one multi-page image
• Convert to an image format of the same color depth
• Modify TIFF image compression
• Set quality index for lossy image compression
• Create lossy and lossless JPEG2000 and JBIG2 images
• Read input and output document from file or memory (API only)

Sectors

• Public sector
• Automotive industry
• Telecommunications
• Banking and insurance
• Archives and libraries
• Health sector
• Pharmaceutical industry
• Print and scan shops

Functions

The 3-Heights™ Image to PDF Converter converts raster image formats such as JPEG, TIFF or PNG to PDF or PDF/A. It can merge pages from various image files to form a single PDF and can also split multi-page image files into single page PDF files. Further options include defining page size and resolution, image scaling and the inclusion of (external) metadata. Optical character recognition (OCR) is also available as an option.

Functions

Image to PDF

• Convert single page or multi-page raster images to PDF
• Definable output format (PDF/A-1a, PDF/A-1b, PDF 1.4 , etc.)
• Automatic or selectable image compression, depending on the image type
• Automatic or selectable PDF page size
• Selectable page area
• Selectable image quality for lossy compression
• Set image position
• Set scaling
• Set standard resolution (DPI / X and Y coordinates)
• Set encryption and access rights
• Selectable and embeddable ICC color profile
• Define alternative texts (tagging) and image language
• Set document attributes
• Input and output document from file or memory (API only)
• Set cropbox for the generated PDF file
• Optional JPEG image recompression
• Set image orientation
• List available OCR engines
• Set OCR engine
• Set OCR engine language(s)
• Set options specific to OCR engine (performance optimization)
• IsPremultipliedAlpha, Mask, Smask
• Embedding metadata

Image to Image

• Split single page or multi-page raster images into individual, single page images
• Merge multiple images to form one multi-page image
• Convert to an image format of the same color depth
• Modify TIFF image compression
• Set quality index for lossy image compression
• Create lossy and lossless JPEG2000 and JBIG2 images
• Read input and output document from file or memory (API only)

Formats

Input Formats

• BMP
  • 1, 2, 4, 8, 24 bit
• GIF
  • 2 to 8 bit
• JBIG2
  • lossy compression
  • lossless compression
• JPEG, JPEG2000 and JPEG-LS
  • Grayscale
  • RGB
  • CMYK
• PBM and PNG
  
  • 1 to 8, 24 bit
• TIFF
  • Bitonal
    • uncompressed
    • CCITT G3
    • CCITT G3-2D
    • CCITT G4
    • LZW
    • ZIP
    • Packbits
  • Grayscale, RGB and CMYK
    • uncompressed
    • LZW
    • JPEG
    • JPEG (old)
    • ZIP
    • Packbits

Output formats

Image to PDF Converter:

• PDF 1.x (e.g. PDF 1.4, PDF 1.5, etc.)
• PDF/A-1a
• PDF/A-1b
• PDF/A-2a
• PDF/A-2b
• PDF/A-2u

Image to Image Converter:

• All input formats plus EPS

Compliance

• Standards: ISO 19005-1 (PDF/A-1), ISO 32000 (PDF 1.7), TIFF V6
• Quality assurance: Isartor test suite

Benefits

Properties and Benefits

The Image to PDF Converter creates files compliant with PDF/A. A high throughput is proof of its performance. Intelligent functions guarantee conversions are of a high quality: these include, for instance, more than one hundred supported TIFF dialects, image analysis and optimization for missing image attributes or color spaces, and repairs to corrupt data. The use of state-of-the-art algorithms reduces the size of the file during processing. The image formats JBIG2 and JPEG2000 (not for PDF/A-1) and in future PDF/A-2 are supported. The optional OCR add-in enables PDF documents to be searched in full text mode.
 

Performance Characteristics

• Robustness
• High throughput
• True to the original
• Intelligent functions for analysis, optimization and repair
• Simple integrability

Areas of Use

Incoming Mail

Scanned documents can be converted directly via an interface or indirectly from JPEG and TIFF format into PDF, PDF/A or other image formats. Thus, standardized further processing and secure archiving of incoming documents is guaranteed. Received texts can be made available via optional OCR functionality.

Areas of Use

• Incoming mail
• Archive
• OEM
• Scan preparation

Archive

Conversion of existing TIFF archives or files into a long-term PDF/A archive compliant with ISO requirements; full text searching of the entire archive available as an option.

OEM

The 3-Heights™ Image to PDF Converter is integrable in scanning solutions, document management systems and archiving systems.

Sectors

• Public sector
• Automotive industry
• Telecommunications
• Banking and insurance
• Archives and libraries
• Health sector
• Pharmaceutical industry

Technical Details

Architecture and Application Options

The Image to PDF Converter is available in the following variants:

• as a Windows service with watched directories (Service)
• as a command line for batch processing (Shell)
• as a programming interface for integration in existing applications (Application Programming Interface, API)

Variants and Options

Product Variants

• Shell tool (command line)
• API (programming interface)
• Windows service (system service)

Options

• Optional OCR add-in

Formats

Input Formats

• BMP
  • 1, 2, 4, 8, 24 bit
• GIF
  • 2 to 8 bit
• JBIG2
  • lossy compression
  • lossless compression
• JPEG, JPEG2000 and JPEG-LS
  • Grayscale
  • RGB
  • CMYK
• PBM and PNG
  
  • 1 to 8, 24 bit
• TIFF
  • Bitonal
    • uncompressed
    • CCITT G3
    • CCITT G3-2D
    • CCITT G4
    • LZW
    • ZIP
    • Packbits
  • Grayscale, RGB and CMYK
    • uncompressed
    • LZW
    • JPEG
    • JPEG (old)
    • ZIP
    • Packbits

Output Formats

Image to PDF Converter:

• PDF 1.x (e.g. PDF 1.4, PDF 1.5, etc.)
• PDF/A-1a
• PDF/A-1b
• PDF/A-2a
• PDF/A-2b
• PDF/A-2u

Image to Image Converter:

• All input formats plus EPS

Compliance

• Standards: ISO 19005-1 (PDF/A-1), ISO 32000 (PDF 1.7), TIFF V6
• Quality assurance: Isartor test suite

Platforms

Operating Systems

• Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 2008, Windows 7 - 32 and 64 bit
• FreeBSD 4.7 for Intel
• HP-UX 11.0 – 32 bit and 32/64 bit Itanium
• IBM AIX (4.3: 32 Bit, 5.1: 64 bit)
• Linux (SuSE and Red Hat on Intel)
• Mac OS X
• Sun Solaris (2.7 and higher)

Interfaces and Languages

Interfaces

• Shell tool: Command line for batch processing
• API: C, Java, .NET, COM
• Windows service: Watched directories

Programming Languages

All program libraries are written in efficient and thread-safe C++. API offers a selection of the following connections to programming languages:

• C#, VB .NET, J# via .NET
• Java via JNI
• MS Visual Basic, Borland Delphi, MS Office products such as Access and C++ via COM
• C and C++ via native C

Product Code

I2P

Further Product Details

The 3-Heights™ Image to PDF Converter API is a PDF conversion tool that converts image files to PDF files, for instance TIFF to PDF or JPEG to PDF. PDF files can be saved in PDF/A-1a or PDF/A-1b format if required. The Converter can also convert images of a specific format into images of a different format, as well as merge and split multi-page image files.

The 3-Heights™ Image to PDF Converter API supports TIFF, JPEG, JPEG2000, JBIG2, PNG, GIF, PBM, and BMP formats. Various options (image compression, scaling, etc.) can be used during the conversion process. PDF/A-1a and PDF/A-1b are also available as output formats in addition to standard PDF.
The optional OCR plug-in recognizes text content and embeds it in the PDF(/A) file. This makes it possible to search PDFs in full text mode after conversion.