se/SE/schema/WPS_Functions/dita-ot/dita-ot-3.0.4/docsrc/topics/pdf-customization-resources.dita

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<reference id="ID">
  <title>Resources for custom PDF plug-ins</title>
  <titlealts>
    <navtitle>Custom PDF plug-in resources</navtitle>
  </titlealts>
  <shortdesc>There are several external resources that can help you generate and refine custom PDF plug-ins for the DITA
    Open Toolkit.</shortdesc>

  <refbody>
    <section id="pdf-plugin-generator">
      <title>PDF Plugin Generator</title>
      <p>This online tool, developed and maintained by Jarno Elovirta, enables you to generate a PDF customization
        plug-in automatically.</p>
      <p>The application at
        <xref href="http://dita-generator.elovirta.com/" format="html" scope="external"
          >dita-generator.elovirta.com</xref> walks you through the process of creating a custom PDF plug-in and allows
        you to adjust a variety of settings for your PDF output. For example, you can:</p>
      <ul>
        <li>Define the target environment, selecting from the most current and two previous versions of the DITA-OT</li>
        <li>Select the XSL formatting engine (FOP, Antenna House Formatter, or RenderX XEP)</li>
        <li>Specify page size, columns, and margins</li>
        <li>Select from (limited) options for headers and footers</li>
        <li>Specify layout options for chapters</li>
        <li>Select formatting for the following publication components:
          <ul>
            <li>Normal text</li>
            <li>Headings (levels one through four)</li>
            <li>Titles for sections and examples</li>
            <li>Tables and figures</li>
            <li>Notes and examples</li>
            <li>Lists (unordered, ordered, and definition)</li>
            <li>Code blocks and pre-formatted text</li>
            <li>Inline elements such as links and trademarks</li>
          </ul><draft-comment author="Kristen Eberlein" time="13 February 2016">
            <p>Given the technical level of our audience here, should we list DITA elements rather than the generic
              categories?</p>
          </draft-comment>
          <p>For each component, you can specify: </p>
          <ul>
            <li>Font family, size, weight, and style</li>
            <li>Color and background color</li>
            <li>Alignment, indentation, spacing, and padding</li>
          </ul></li>
      </ul>
      <note type="tip">The PDF Plugin Generator should be your first stop as you start developing a brand-new PDF
        customization plug-in.</note>
    </section>

    <section id="dita-for-print">
      <title><cite>DITA for Print: A DITA Open Toolkit Workbook</cite> (Second Edition, 2017)</title>
      <p>Authored by Leigh W. White, DITA Specialist at IXIASOFT, and published by XML Press, <cite>DITA for
          Print</cite> walks readers through developing a PDF customization from scratch. </p>
      <p>Here is an excerpt from the back cover:</p>
      <lq><cite>DITA for Print</cite> is for anyone who wants to learn how to create PDFs using the DITA Open Toolkit
        without learning everything there is to know about XSL-FO, XSLT, or XPath, or even about the DITA Open Toolkit
        itself. <cite>DITA for Print</cite> is written for non-programmers, by a non-programmer, and although it is
        written for people who have a good understanding of the DITA standard, you don't need a technical background to
        get custom PDFs up and running quickly.</lq>
      <p>This is an excellent, long-needed resource that was initially developed in 2013 for DITA-OT 1.8.</p>
      <p>The second edition has been revised to cover DITA Open Toolkit Version 2, including customizing the DITA 1.3
        troubleshooting topic type, localization strings, bookmarks, and the new back-cover functionality.</p>
      <note type="important">
        <p>The first edition of <cite>DITA for Print</cite> recommended copying entire files from the PDF2 plug-in to
          your custom plug-in. The DITA-OT project — and the second edition of the book — do not recommend this
          practice.</p>
        <p>Instead, you should copy only the specific attribute sets and templates that you want to override. Following
          this practice will more cleanly isolate your customizations from the DITA-OT code, which will make it easier
          for you to update your plug-ins to work with future versions of the DITA-OT.</p></note>
    </section>

    <section id="dita-for-practitioners">
      <title><cite>DITA for Practitioners: Volume 1, Architecture and Technology</cite> (2012)</title>
      <p>Authored by Eliot Kimber and published by XML Press, this seminal resource contains a chapter dedicated to the
        DITA Open Toolkit: “Running, Configuring, and Customizing the Open Toolkit”. In addition to a robust overview of
        DITA-OT customization and extension, the chapter contains a detailed example of customizing a PDF plug-in to
        specify 7" × 10" paper size and custom fonts for body text and headers.</p>
      <p>The DITA-OT chapter in <cite>DITA for Practitioners: Volume 1</cite> was written for DITA-OT 1.5.4, which was
        the latest stable version at the time it was written.</p>
    </section>
  </refbody>
</reference>