
This archive contains the distribution PDF::Builder.
See Changes file for the version.

  A Perl library to facilitate the creation and modification of PDF files

The installable Perl package may be obtained from https://www.cpan.org, 
as PDF::Builder. If you install this product, only the run-time modules will
be installed. Download the full .tar.gz file and unpack it (hint: on Windows,
7-Zip File Manager is an excellent tool) to get utilities, test buckets, 
example usage, etc.

Alternatively, you can obtain the full source files from
https://github.com/PhilterPaper/Perl-PDF-Builder, where the ticket list (bugs,
enhancement requests, etc.) is also kept. Unlike the CPAN version, this will
have to be manually installed (copy files).

Note that there are several "optional" libraries (Perl modules) used to extend
and improve PDF::Builder. The installation process will not attempt to install 
them if not present -- you need to do this manually (if you want to use them). 
Read about the list of optional libraries in PDF::Builder::Docs, and decide 
whether or not you want to manually install any of them.

REQUIREMENTS ======================================================

Perl 5.18 or higher (it will likely run on somewhat earlier versions, but 
  the CPAN installer may refuse to install it).

Libraries used, available from CPAN --

 REQUIRED, should be automatically installed...
  Compress::Zlib
  Font::TTF
  Test::Exception (needed only for installation tests)
  Test::Memory::Cycle (needed only for installation tests)

 OPTIONAL, install manually if wanted...
  Graphics::TIFF (recommended if using TIFF image functions)
  Image::PNG::Libpng (recommended for enhanced PNG image function processing)
  HarfBuzz::Shaper (recommended for Latin script ligatures and kerning, as
                    well as for any complex script such as Arabic or Khmer)

Other than an installer for standard CPAN packages (such as 'cpan' on
Strawberry Perl for Windows), no other tools or manually-installed prereqs
are needed (worst case, you can unpack the .tar.gz file and copy files into
place yourself!). Currently there are no compiles and links done during the
install process, only copying of .pm Perl module files.

===================================================================

This software is Copyright (c) 2017-2020 by Phil M. Perry.
Previous copyrights are held by others (Steve Simms, Alfred Reibenschuh, 
et al.).

This is free software, licensed under:

  The GNU Lesser General Public License, Version 2.1, February 1999

See INFO/RoadMap file for the PDF::Builder road map.
See CONTRIBUTING file for how to contribute to the project.
See INFO/SUPPORT file for information on reporting bugs, etc. via GitHub Issues
  (preferred), or the author's website.
See INFO/DEPRECATED file for information on deprecated features.
See INFO/KNOWN_INCOMP file for known incompatibilities with PDF::API2.
See INFO/Changes* files for older change logs.
See INFO/PATENTS file for information on patents.
See INFO/LICENSE file for the license.

INFO/old/ also has some build and test tool files that are not currently used.

To build the full HTML documentation (all the POD), get the full installation
and go to the "docs" directory. Run "buildDoc.pl --all" to generate the full
tree of documentation. There's a lot of additional information in the 
PDF::Builder::Docs module (it's all documentation).

We admit that the documentation is a bit light on "how to" task orientation.
We hope to more fully address this in the future, but for now, get the full 
installation and look at the "examples" and "contrib" directories for sample 
code that may help you figure out how to do things. The installation tests in 
the "t" directory might also be useful to you.
