Adobe Acrobat

For a PHP developer, jobs mentioning Adobe Acrobat typically refer to the need for programmatic generation and manipulation of PDF (Portable Document Format) files on the server. While Acrobat is the end-user tool, the developer's responsibility is to create these documents dynamically using PHP libraries. This skill is essential for applications that need to produce invoices, reports, tickets, or official contracts.

Server-Side PDF Generation with PHP

Your primary task will be to write backend code that converts data from a database or user input into a professionally formatted PDF document. This can involve generating a report from application data, creating a downloadable invoice after a purchase, or populating a PDF form template with user information. The goal is to automate document creation, ensuring consistency and accuracy without manual intervention.

Common Libraries and Techniques

PHP has a rich ecosystem of libraries for working with PDF files. A developer in this role is expected to be proficient with one or more of these tools. Key skills and popular libraries include:

• Using libraries like FPDF, TCPDF, or Dompdf to create PDFs from scratch or by converting HTML and CSS.
• Working with tools such as FPDI to import and modify existing PDF documents.
• Implementing features to merge multiple PDFs or add watermarks and page numbers.
• Ensuring proper font handling and character encoding for internationalization.