Technical FAQs

Question

What are the technical details/process of “Flattening” a PDF document?

Answer

It is possible to “Flatten” PDF documents in PrizmDoc Viewer. You can do this by converting the document to a raster format (TIFF is recommended for PDF conversion) using PrizmDoc’s Content Conversion Service, and then converting it back to PDF format. This will result in a PDF with a single layer and no hidden objects. However, this will usually lower the quality and increase the file size of PDFs that are largely text.

Here is an example workflow using the Workfile API and the Content Conversion Service API:

1. Create a WorkFile from PDF

POST {{pccisUrl}}/PCCIS/V1/WorkFile
Content-Type: application/octet-stream

{{file bytes}}

2. Initiate Conversion to TIFF

POST {{pccisUrl}}/v2/contentConverters
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "input": {
        "sources": [
            {
                "fileId": "{{fileId}}"
            }
        ],
        "dest": {
            "format": "tiff"
        }
    }
}

3. Poll until response[“state”] === “complete”

GET {{pccisUrl}}/v2/contentConverters/{{processId}}

4. Initiate Conversion from TIFF back to PDF

POST {{pccisUrl}}/v2/contentConverters
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "input": {
        "sources": [
            {
                "fileId": "{{fileId_from_Step3_output}}"
            }
        ],
        "dest": {
            "format": "pdf"
        }
    }
}

5. Poll again

GET {{pccisUrl}}/v2/contentConverters/{{processId}}

6. Download

GET {{pccisUrl}}/PCCIS/V1/WorkFile/{{fileId}}?ContentDispositionFileName={{desiredFileNameWithExtension}}
View Detail >

On August 3, 2021, Accusoft announced the release of the paid Professional version of Accusoft PDF Viewer. Initially released in March of 2021, the Standard version of Accusoft PDF Viewer is a free-to-use, lightweight JavaScript PDF library featuring a responsive UI for out-of-the-box mobile support. The new Professional version adds enhanced PDF tools and document functionality without introducing any complex server dependencies that could impact application security or performance.

“We’ve received tremendous feedback so far regarding the Standard version of Accusoft PDF Viewer,” says Jack Berlin, CEO of Accusoft. “With the release of the paid Professional version, customers now have a clear upgrade path that allows them to add new features without having to rethink their application architecture.”

Key Accusoft PDF Viewer Professional features include:

  • Multiple Annotation Types
  • Customizable UI
  • White Labeling
  • Electronic Signature

As an entirely client-side integration, Accusoft PDF Viewer can be incorporated into any web application with just a few lines of code. The paid Professional version features the same intuitive UI controls that provide an optimized viewing experience across all screen types, making it ideal for web apps that need to run on both desktop and mobile devices.

“We did a lot of research to determine which features are most important to developers,” says Mark Hansen, Product Manager at Accusoft. “The ability to markup and electronically sign documents without having to rely on external servers or backend processing is going to be a gamechanger for a lot of applications.”

To learn more about the latest Accusoft PDF Viewer features, please visit our website.

About Accusoft: 

Founded in 1991, Accusoft is a software development company specializing in content processing, conversion, and automation solutions. From out-of-the-box and configurable applications to APIs built for developers, Accusoft software enables users to solve their most complex workflow challenges and gain insights from content in any format, on any device. Backed by 40 patents, the company’s flagship products, including OnTask, PrizmDoc™ Viewer, and ImageGear, are designed to improve productivity, provide actionable data, and deliver results that matter. The Accusoft team is dedicated to continuous innovation through customer-centric product development, new version release, and a passion for understanding industry trends that drive consumer demand. Visit us at www.accusoft.com.

###

View Detail >

content collaboration

Collaboration is key. As noted by Fast Company, 95 percent of businesses now recognize the value of collaboration tools, but just 56 percent have deployed these solutions at scale. Part of the disconnect comes down to adoption. Companies must demonstrate that new applications are worth using for staff and stakeholders alike.

The other half of this holdback stems from the concern around secure content collaboration. Organizations need the ability to handle enterprise content management interactions securely across multiple use cases including internal and external business process automation, task lists, reports, dashboards, and document collaboration. As a result, new frameworks don’t simply offer document management in isolation. Instead, they deliver cross-solution, cross-organizational collaboration that’s available anywhere, anytime, for any user. 

Let’s dive into three use cases that show the collaborative potential of one of these cross-solution frameworks, made possible by a partnership between Accusoft and one of its solution partners, TEAM Informatics. TEAM has developed a new product called M-Connect which leverages Accusoft’s PrizmDoc Viewer to extend the capabilities of the M-Files platform, making true cross-organization collaboration possible. 

Triple Threat

Security remains a critical concern for organizations. If data isn’t properly protected, the results can be disastrous for both clients and companies. Emerging legislation around data protection includes mandates for shared due diligence no matter the origin or intention of data use.

As a result, effective content collaboration also includes actionable defense. It’s not enough to simply process information. Organizations must also secure this critical resource, starting first with streamlining. 

TEAM Informatics makes it possible to take control of your content with forms-based workflow automation. M-Files’ metadata solution, meanwhile, helps eliminate the growing security risk of information silos, while document viewing and control with PrizmDoc Viewer lets staff easily view and annotate documents to empower granular access control. With IT risks on the rise, a triple threat content collaboration response is key.

 

Back to Front

In addition to security, users must be able to collaborate effectively. One way that users gain context is through metadata. Intelligent access to metadata across your content management system paves the way for increased automation and improved results. As noted by Dark Reading, for example, relevant metadata is critical in the fight against emerging information security threats. 

It also forms the basis of practical process automation at scale. Here’s how the three entities work together to provide metadata context securely: 

  • M-Files’ intelligent metadata functionality organizes content based on what it is, not where it’s stored.  
  • If you want to include users outside of your M-Files ecosystem, TEAM Informatics’ M-Connect provides this capability. 
  • M-Connect joins your external users with your M-Files repository, leveraging organized and secure content and process automation. 
  • Accusoft’s embedded PrizmDoc Viewer enables users to capture key backend metadata and automate critical processes without compromising visibility.  
  • M-Connect allows users to quickly configure interactions and processes in the form of a digital workspace.   

Consider the complex process of vendor take-on, staff take-on, provider or loan application processing and evaluation. Using M-Files, organizations can leverage key metadata to auto-populate forms and assess mortgage criteria. PrizmDoc Viewer, meanwhile, makes it easy for staff to access and evaluate documents to ensure processes are working as intended. This results in complete content control from back end capture to front end completion.

Sharing the News

Automation and protection form the basis of enhanced enterprise content management — but aren’t enough in isolation. To meet the evolving demands of consumers, C-Suite members, and corporate stakeholders, enterprises must leverage collaboration tools that empower both internal and external document sharing, viewing, and editing.

Best bet? Bridge the gap by finding — and combining — solutions that play to their strengths. Start with M-Files, which helps unify content by context, then leverage M-Connect to automate key functions to empower internal document efficiency. With PrizmDoc Viewer embedded inside, you’re empowering secure document collaboration across third parties and delivering the internal ability to collaborate efficiently.

View Detail >

Implementing any technology solution within an established organization can be a monumental challenge for a developer. Doing so for a legal firm that has a strong culture and longstanding processes can be even more difficult. That’s why LegalTech developers need to take a few key factors into consideration as they work on applications for the legal industry.

Build vs. Buy

One of the first questions any firm needs to ask is whether it wants to build a specialized solution or turn to an existing LegalTech application. In many cases, this comes down to a question of resources. For larger “big law” firms or legal departments within an enterprise business, internal developers may be available to build a customized application that caters to specific organizational needs. 

If the resources and development skills are on hand, building a dedicated solution can be an effective strategy. Developers can focus narrowly on the established processes used at the firm and design technology that targets clear pain points more effectively than an “off-the-shelf” product.

More importantly, as Kelly Wehbi, Head of Product for Gravity Stack, points out, building doesn’t necessarily mean starting from nothing: 

“I think a lot about how to leverage the platforms we have or could potentially purchase, but then add our own expertise and strengths on top of it. That doesn’t have to mean you have to build some entirely new interface or have to invent some new technology. It could be there’s a tool that’s out there that does exactly what you need and maybe you have to build a few customizations on top of that.”

Of course, building a solution also presents a number of challenges, especially if the project’s requirements are not well defined from the beginning. There’s a great deal of overhead involved with building new technology in terms of maintenance and ongoing support. It’s easy to fall into the trap of focusing on technology at the expense of services. But legal firms are not product companies; they need to focus instead on finding ways they can use technology to leverage their core services.

It’s that emphasis on services that drives many firms to buy the technology solutions they need rather than to build them. Existing software integrations are typically better positioned to maintain security and don’t need to be maintained as extensively. Deploying proven software integrations also helps organizations to maximize their on-premises resources and enhance their flexibility in the long-term. 

“I tend to default toward leveraging an existing platform when possible,” Wehbi admits. “Security ends up being a huge part of this and when you can leverage a company that’s solved that really well, that goes a long, long way. It offers you a bunch of options you wouldn’t have if you had to build it yourself,” Wehbi says. “That’s a pretty big undertaking to start from scratch.”

Getting Buy-In for LegalTech Solutions

Once the build or buy decision is finally made, there’s still the critical matter of executing and putting the new solution into practice. Getting feedback throughout the development and integration process is important, whether it’s gathered from anecdotal observations or some form of usage analytics. 

Neeraj Raijpal, CIO at Schroock & Schroock & Lavan, finds that implementations tend to go smoother when the development team is able to get rapid feedback from key decision makers: “The faster you get the feedback, the faster you know you’re down the right path or not. It is very frightening when the stakeholder…looks at something and says ‘This is exactly the opposite of what I expected.’ You don’t want to be in that situation.”

Ultimately, a LegalTech application’s success depends largely upon whether or not the firm as a whole embraces it. When developers are seeking to implement a solution, they need to be especially careful to take the culture of the firm into consideration. Without buy-in at the top, it will be difficult to convince anyone in the organization to commit to change. 

“If you’re trying to solve a problem because you have a deficiency in a current business process, but you’re not willing to change the process…that’s (a) disaster,” Raijpal warns. Although LegalTech solutions are designed to enhance efficiency and reduce errors, they often require people to learn how to use them or to abandon existing technology solutions.

Take, for example, a legal firm that needs to redact documents during the discovery process. The existing process likely involves printing out documents and then laboriously redacting them by hand with marker. Once that process is finished, they are scanned and saved as image-based PDFs. An HTML5 viewer with redaction capabilities could easily streamline this process to make it faster, more flexible, and more secure. Unfortunately, if the firm’s attorneys aren’t willing to adopt the new process, all of the potential efficiency benefits go to waste.

The Importance of Communication

Communication and ongoing support are critical to ensuring a successful LegalTech implementation. Developers can begin this important conversation right from the beginning when they’re designing application features. Whether they’re building everything from scratch or turning to software integrations, they need to have honest and thorough discussions to determine what specific features are needed to support legal processes. Implementing a LegalTech solution is more likely to be successful if that solution is closely aligned with the firm’s existing needs and future goals.

But the conversation doesn’t stop once the application goes live. Ongoing support and education is often necessary to help firms adopt new technology and make the most of its potential. Developers may even need to adjust some features over time as needs change. If they utilized third party software integrations to add key functionality, they need to know they can count on those vendors to support them as the LegalTech application evolves.

Make Your LegalTech Implementation a Success with Accusoft

Accusoft’s family of software integrations allow LegalTech developers to quickly add the features their clients need to modernize workflows and improve efficiency. Whether it’s PrizmDoc’s extensive document redaction capabilities that make it easier to protect privacy during eDiscovery or the automated document assembly features of PrizmDoc, developers can lean on our 30 years of document processing expertise so they can focus on building the tools legal teams require

As part of our ongoing work with the LegalTech industry, Accusoft recently sponsored a Law.com webinar on the subject of building vs buying technology solutions for legal firms. You can listen to some of the highlights with contributors Kelly Wehbi and Neeraj Rajpal along with host Zach Warren, editor-in-chief of LegalTech News, on the Law.com Perspectives podcast.

View Detail >
Question

We are using the Webforms Samples and want to know how to enable the “Always User Raster” feature. Which file needs to be modified and how should it be modified?

Answer

In order to enable the “Always Use Raster” option for our Webforms sample, you will need to do the following:

  • Modify the Default.aspx file
  • Update the Central Configuration file

How To:

  1. In the Sample, before modifying, make a backup of the following file for safekeeping:

\Prizm\Samples\dotnet\webforms\full-viewer-sample\Default.aspx

  1. In the original file, modify the code that is located close to line 115:

\Prizm\Samples\dotnet\webforms\full-viewer-sample\Default.aspx

Line to Replace:

} else {
        sessionData.source = getDocumentSource(query.document || '');
        }

Replace with:

} else {
        sessionData.source = getDocumentSource(query.document || '');
        sessionData.render = {
          html5: {
             alwaysUseRaster: true
          }
       };
}

  1. Next, to update the Central Configuration file you will need to stop the Prizm Services.

  2. Make a backup of the prizm\prizm-services-config.yml file.

  3. Edit the .yml file and remove the leading # for the following line and add true to the array so that it looks like the following:

viewing.sessionConstraints.render.alwaysUseRaster.allowedValues:
[true, false]

  1. Restart the Prizm Services.
View Detail >
Question

When trying to create a viewing session directory to the PrizmDoc back end over port 18681:

(POST http://prizmserver:18681/PCCIS/V1/ViewingSession)

why am I receiving a 500 internal server error?

Answer

There are some troubleshooting steps below you can take to verify the health of the server as well as ensure the API call you are making is properly formatted.

  1. Verify the Prizm service is healthy by opening a browser on the Prizm server and using the following service health check URL (http://localhost:18681/admin)
  2. Verify your POST command has all the required elements which can be verified in detail on the following documentation page:

https://help.accusoft.com/PrizmDoc/latest/HTML/webframe.html#viewing-sessions.html

View Detail >
Question

When viewing an Excel document with hidden content in the viewer, the content remains visible when otherwise expected to remain hidden. Is this intended behavior?

Answer

Short answer: Yes.

Currently, both PrizmDoc Cloud and PrizmDoc Viewer (Self-Hosted) are configured to render hidden content by default, so this is expected behavior.

For PrizmDoc Viewer (Self-Hosted) users, this rendering behavior is configurable using the central configuration file.

The file paths for the central configuration file are:

  • Linux: /usr/share/prizm/prizm-services-config.yml
  • Windows: C:\Prizm\prizm-services-config.yml

Simply add/modify the following parameter:

fileTypes.excel.renderHiddenContent: false

Setting the render option to false will hide content as expected, whereas true will render it.

View Detail >
Question

We wanted to upgrade our previous version of PrizmDoc to the most recent release. However, when trying to install the latest version, the installation is failing. What do I need to do to get the latest version installed?

Answer

Typically, this issue may occur if you are upgrading from an older major version to a new major version, such as from PrizmDoc 11 to PrizmDoc 12 or PrizmDoc 13. If you are upgrading from one minor version to another, such as PrizmDoc 13.1 to PrizmDoc 13.6, then it should be seamless.

If you do have issues in either circumstance, it is usually due to files, folders, or registry settings that were left behind from the older version.

In order to fix the installation, please follow the process below to ensure the previous version is completely removed.

  1. Ensure previous installation folders are deleted:

    \Prizm and \ProgramData\Accusoft.

  2. Back-up your Windows registry, and then click on Start > Run, and type in regedit

  3. Click Edit and select Find, and then type Prizm

  4. When it finds a match, right-click on the registry key and select Delete

  5. Click F3 to find the next match, and repeat Step 4 for each key.

  6. Repeat Step 5 until the search comes back with “Finished Searching Registry”

  7. Reboot Server and attempt to re-install.

View Detail >
Question

Why are the fonts in my CAD files showing up garbled/unrecognizable/not as expected?

Answer

Some CAD files may include fonts that are not included in PrizmDoc Viewer’s default font set. PrizmDoc will choose the most appropriate substitute font to use in its place. The substitution process isn’t always perfect, and as a result, you will see garbled/unrecognizable characters in the Viewer.

In order to provide additional fonts for PrizmDoc to pull from,

Some CAD/DWG files may include fonts that are not included in PrizmDoc Viewer’s default font set. PrizmDoc will choose the most appropriate substitute font to use in its place. The substitution process isn’t always perfect, and as a result, you will see garbled/unrecognizable characters in the Viewer.

In order to provide additional .SHX fonts for PrizmDoc to pull from, you can copy the necessary .SHX font files into the cad-fonts folder, located at:

Windows: ‪C:\Prizm\modules\cad-fonts
Linux: /usr/share/prizm/modules/cad-fonts

Alternatively, if you want to use fonts from that are located in a different directory, you can add the environment variable, ACAD, to explicitly specify the filepath of these fonts. his variable can be added under System Properties > Advanced > Environment Variables > System Variables > New... > ACAD. For the variable’s Value, specify a folder path that contains additional CAD font files for PrizmDoc to pull from.

* It is important to note that the Linux filesystem is case-senstive, so when adding custom CAD fonts on Linux, make sure that the fonts are named with case-sensitivity in mind. If you still see unexpected output after adding the fonts to the cad-fonts folder, try renaming the fonts to all lowercase.

** Note that the cad-fonts folder was added in PrizmDoc 13.20, so to add custom cad fonts on earlier versions of Prizm, use the environmental variable approach.

you can add the environment variable, ACAD.
This variable can be added under System Properties > Advanced > Environment Variables > System Variables > New... > ACAD. For the variable’s Value, specify a folder path that contains additional CAD font files for PrizmDoc to pull from.

View Detail >
Question

We are currently using PrizmDoc Cloud licensing. After applying our cloud license, the Prizm services started and show healthy, however, I see “CloudLicenseValidationFailed” errors in the PccErrors.log file. Is this normal, and do I have to worry about Prizm functionality?

Answer

Currently the licensing messages referencing “CloudLicenseValidationFailed” in PccErrors.log are a false positive and should not be taken as an issue with PrizmDoc Cloud licensing.
The more accurate way to check whether the license has been validated successfully would be to use watchdog.log and look for “Cloud License Validation” – “isValid”:true which indicates that the license is valid.

The issue regarding that error in pccerrors.log is in our product backlog to consider addressing in a future release, but it is not yet prioritized on our roadmap.

View Detail >
Question

Why do the fonts in my document look different when rendered in PrizmDoc?

Answer

There are times when a document was created on a machine where a user installed a non-standard font (e.g., Maestro-Regular). When the document is viewed on another system, without that font installed, the text will look different.

PrizmDoc uses the fonts installed on the server where it is running when converting the document. If the document has a non-standard font, and the font is not installed on the server where PrizmDoc is running, then it will render the document with a default font.

To fix the issue, you need to install the font onto the PrizmDoc server that converted the document. The procedure below outlines how to install the font on a Windows server. You will need to ensure that you are logged in as the same UserId that the Prizm Service is using.

  1. Identify the name of the font that needs to be installed and download the font file associated with that font. The font file name will typically be in the format of fontname.ttf.
  2. Copy the .ttf file to the server running PrizmDoc.
  3. On the server, right-click the .ttf file and select Install from the menu.
  4. Stop all of the Prizm services.
  5. Clear all folders under \Prizm\Cache – this will clear the previously rendered files that had the wrong font rendered.
  6. Reboot the server and attempt to open the document again.
View Detail >
Question

How can I enable content encryption in PrizmDoc Viewer?

Answer

First, you need to enable content encryption on the PrizmDoc Server in the central configuration file. To do this, find the viewing.contentEncryption.enabled section and change the value to true. Save the changes to the file and restart the PrizmDoc services for the change to take effect.

The file paths for the central configuration file are: 

Linux: /usr/share/prizm/prizm-services-config.yml
Windows: C:\Prizm\prizm-services-config.yml

Next, you need to enable content encryption in the Viewer. To do this, in the index page of your viewer (Default.aspx in C#, index.php in the PHP sample, index.html, etc.), provide the encryption option in the viewer options parameter as follows so that the Viewer can handle encrypted data:

function buildViewerOptions() {
    ...
    var optionsOverride = args.pop(); // always last arg
    var options = {
        ...
        encryption: true
    };
    var combinedOptions = _.extend(optionsOverride, options);
    embedViewer(combinedOptions);
}

For more in-depth information on enabling content encryption in PrizmDoc, please refer to our documentation here.

View Detail >