This section describes how to upgrade from PDF Xpress 4 to PDF Xpress 5. While generally you'll be able to simply replace PDF Xpress 4 with PDF Xpress 5, there are a few important changes you may need to consider. This section provides information about those changes.

Changes and New Properties/Methods

PDF Xpress 5 introduces changes to the PDF Xpress API, as described in this section.

Extract Images

PDF Xpress 5 adds the ability to extract images from the pages of a PDF document. The ExtractImages, GetExtractedImage, and ExtractThumbnail methods have been added to the Document class to accomplish this. While previous versions supported the ability to rasterize a page or a portion of a page, this did not enable a user to embed an image. This new functionality gives you that ability.

Extract Pages

We have also added the ExtractPages method to the Document class. While previous versions supported the ability to extract pages, there wasn’t a simple, direct way to do this. This new method gives you that ability.

Attachments/Portfolio

PDF Xpress 5 adds support for Portfolio PDFs.

We have also added the GetAttachment, AddAttachment, and DeleteAttachment methods to the Document class.

We have also added the IsPortfolio property to the Document class. While previous versions could only render the cover sheet of a Portfolio, now when you know you have a Portfolio document, you can provide the document-level attachments in your application’s UI to make the contents of the Portfolio available to the end-user.

Hyperlinks

The ability to work with Hyperlinks on a page has been added.

We have added the GetHyperlink, AddHyperlink, and DeleteHyperlink methods to the Document class. For example, if you need to strip hyperlinks from a document for Security purposes, this functionality gives you the ability to do so.

Enhanced Bookmark Support

We have enhanced bookmark functionality by adding support for Color, Style, Indention, and Destination information. While previous versions gave you the ability to work with bookmarks, you now have full control of the bookmarks of a document.

Other Miscellaneous Changes

• Accusoft's new licensing structure is available in PDF Xpress 5. See Licensing for information about the new licensing, and Upgrading Runtime Licensing for information about updating your licensing from an earlier version of PDF Xpress.
• This release introduces the ability to easily copy or transfer image data to other Accusoft components without having to manually work with DIBs. See Pass Image Data between Accusoft Components for information.
• Specific API Changes are discussed in the PDF Xpress changes.txt file, accessible from the Start menu.