Native PDF Publishing and XSLT

[frameexpert]

I am exploring native PDF publishing with AEM. Is there a way to modify the content using XSLT before the PDF is created? Or before the intermediate HTML is created? Thank you.

[gkalyan]

@frameexpert AFAIK AEM does not natively support XSLT transformations directly before PDF generation.

[punagpal]

It is possible to modify content using JavaScript functionality on intermediate HTML  before PDF publishing. Native PDF doesn't have XSLT transformation.

Some examples of using JS in Native PDF:
Add Enterprise Branding to the First Page of a PDF
Use JavaScript to work with content or style

Let us know your use case to assist you better.

-Pulkit Nagpal

 

[frameexpert]

I don't have any specific use cases yet. My client is currently using an AEM to FrameMaker workflow and we are investigating using native PDF publishing from AEM.

[punagpal]

@frameexpert 
Additionally, Starting from AEM Guides release 4.6 / 2410, the DITA OT preprocess step in NativePDF allows for adding or overriding XSLT-processing steps in the pre-processing pipeline using the Custom DITA OT plugin.

Ref:

https://www.dita-ot.org/3.7/topics/plugin-overridestyle

[kautuk_sahni]

@frameexpert Did you find the suggestions helpful? Please let us know if you require more information. Otherwise, please mark the answer as correct for posterity. If you've discovered a solution yourself, we would appreciate it if you could share it with the community. Thank you!

[kautuk_sahni]

@frameexpert Just checking in — were you able to resolve your issue?
We’d love to hear how things worked out. If the suggestions above helped, marking a response as correct can guide others with similar questions. And if you found another solution, feel free to share it — your insights could really benefit the community. Thanks again for being part of the conversation!

[frameexpert]

@kautuk_sahni Thank you for following up. I don't have a specific use case yet, but understand the concept.

[THoltham]

I have the same question but need to implement it.

The v5 release documentation states that:

"Introduced an option to enable or disable the DITA-OT preprocessing for Native PDF output. Enable this option if your content requires DITA-OT-based normalization or custom DITA-OT plugins during processing. This gives you greater control over how content is processed for PDF generation. By default, the setting is set to Enabled.

For more details, view Working with PDF output preset

BUT this link is for DITA-OT based PDF generation not NativePDF

How do I tell NativePDF to use my updated DITA-OT or plugin. I know how to install a new DITA-OT, and use the profiles to set it as the one to use when creating a PDF solely using DITA-OT and my customized transtype, but, I cannot find anywhere in the documentation or this forum that states how to set it to be the one to use for preprocessing the DITA before NativePDF is executed.

All I see in the General Tab of the NativePDF preset is the ability to enable DITA-OT preprocessing

I see there are the following plugins in the default AEM DITA-OT (profiles/ditaot--b1aad0a7-9079-e56c-1ed8-6fcababe8166/DITA-OT/plugins)

• com.adobe.fmdita.fm-pdf
• com.adobe.pdfx

Do I create a new package based on this DITA-OT and place my preprocessing plugin in it? and if so, how do I direct NativePDF to use it?