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[[Raku PDF Project]](https://pdf-raku.github.io) / [PDF::Tags](https://pdf-raku.github.io/PDF-Tags-raku) PDF-Tags-raku ============ A small DOM-like API for the creation of tagged PDF files for accessibility purposes. This module enables PDF tagged content manipulation, construction, XPath queries and basic XML serialization. See also [PDF::Tags::Reader](https://pdf-raku.github.io/PDF-Tags-Reader-raku), which is designed to read content from existing tagged PDF files. Synopsis -------- ```raku use PDF::Tags; use PDF::Tags::Elem; use PDF::API6; use PDF::Page; use PDF::XObject::Image; my PDF::API6 $pdf .= new; my PDF::Tags $tags .= create: :$pdf; # create the document root my PDF::Tags::Elem $doc = $tags.Document; my PDF::Page $page = $pdf.add-page; my $header-font = $page.core-font: :family<Helvetica>, :weight<bold>; my $body-font = $page.core-font: :family<Helvetica>; $page.graphics: -> $gfx { $doc.Header1: $gfx, { .say('Marked Level 1 Header', :font($header-font), :font-size(15), :position[50, 120]); }; $doc.Paragraph: $gfx, { .say('Marked paragraph text', :position[50, 100], :font($body-font), :font-size(12)); }; # add a marked image my PDF::XObject::Image $img .= open: "t/images/lightbulb.gif"; $doc.Figure: $gfx, $img, :Alt('Incandescent apparatus'); } $pdf.save-as: "/tmp/synopsis.pdf" ``` Description ----------- A tagged PDF contains additional markup information describing the logical document structure of PDF documents. PDF tagging may assist PDF readers and other automated tools in reading PDF documents and locating content such as text and images. This module provides a DOM like interface for creating and traversing PDF structure and content via tags. It also an XPath like search capability. It is designed for use in conjunction with PDF::Class or PDF::API6. Standard Tags ---- Elements may be constructed using their `Tag` name or `Mnemonic`, as listed below. For example: $root.P: $gfx, { .say('Marked paragraph text') }; Can also be written as: $root.Paragraph: $gfx, { .say('Marked paragraph text') }; Or as: $root.add-kid(:name<P>).mark: $gfx, { .say('Marked paragraph text') }; ### "Grouping" elements: Tag | Mnemonic | Description ---------|-----|------------ Document | | Whole document; must be used if there are multiple parts or articles Part | | Large division of a document; may group smaller units of content together, such as Division, Article, or Section elements. Art | Article | Self-contained body of text considered to be a single narrative. Sect | Section | General container element type that is usually a component of a Part or Article element Div | Division| Generic block element or group of element BlockQuote | | A large portion of text referencing content from another source Caption | | Description of a Figure or Table TOC | TableOfContents | May be nested, and may be used for lists of figures, tables, etc. TOCI | TableOfContentsItem | Table of contents (leaf) item Index | | An index of keywords and topics, usually at the end of the document (text with accompanying Reference content) NonStruct | NonStructural | non-structural grouping element (element itself not intended to be exported to other formats like HTML, but 'transparent' to its content which is processed normally) Private | | Content only meaningful to the creator (element and its content not intended to be exported to other formats like HTML) ### "Block" elements: Mnemonic | Tag | Description Tag | Mnemonic | Description ---------|-----|------------ H | Heading | Nested section heading (not recommended) H1 - H6 | Heading1 - Heading6 | The title or heading of a section within the text content P | Paragraph | A distinct section of a piece of writing, usually dealing with a single theme L | List | A group of similar items that are related to each other. Should include optional Caption, and list items LI | ListItem | A Single list element. Should contain Lbl and/or LBody Lbl | Label | Bullet, number, or "dictionary headword" LBody | ListBody | Description of the item; may have nested lists or other blocks ### "Table" elements: Tag | Mnemonic | Description ---------|-----|------------ Table | | Content arranged into rows and columns; should either contain TR, or THead, TBody and/or TFoot TR | TableRow | A single row of cell elements within a table TH | TableHeader | Description of column contents TD | TableData | A cell element THead | TableHead | A row of table headers TBody |TableBody | Table body; may have more than one per table TFoot | TableFoot | Table footer row group ### "Inline" elements: Tag | Mnemonic | Description ---------|-----|------------ Span | | Generic inline content. Quote | | Inline text referencing content from another source Note | | End-note or footnote; may have a Lbl (see "block" elements) Reference | | Content in a document that refers to other content (e.g. page number in an index) BibEntry | BibliographyEntry | Text referring the user to source of cited text. May have a Lbl (see "block" elements) Code | | Computer code Link | | hyperlink; should contain a link annotation Annot | Annotation | annotation (other than a link) Ruby | | Chinese/Japanese pronunciation/explanation RB | RubyBaseText | Ruby base text RT | RubyText | Ruby annotation text RP | RubyPunctuation | Warichu | | Japanese/Chinese longer description WT | WarichuText WP | WarichuPunctuation ### "Illustration" elements (should have Alt and/or ActualText set): Tag | Mnemonic | Description ---------|-----|------------ Figure | | An image or graphic that is referenced by the text Formula | | A scientific or mathematical formula element Form | | An editable PDF field used to complete a form ### Non-structure tags: Tag | Mnemonic | Description ---------|-----|------------ Artifact | | Used to mark all content not part of the logical structure ReversedChars | | Every string of text has characters in reverse order for technical reasons (due to how fonts work for right-to-left languages); strings may have spaces at the beginning or end to separate words, but may not have spaces in the middle Classes in this Distribution ---------- - [PDF::Tags](https://pdf-raku.github.io/PDF-Tags-raku/PDF/Tags) - Tagged PDF root node - [PDF::Tags::Attr](https://pdf-raku.github.io/PDF-Tags-raku/PDF/Tags/Attr) - A single node attribute - [PDF::Tags::Elem](https://pdf-raku.github.io/PDF-Tags-raku/PDF/Tags/Elem) - Structure Tree descendant node - [PDF::Tags::Node](https://pdf-raku.github.io/PDF-Tags-raku/PDF/Tags/Node) - Abstract node - [PDF::Tags::Node::Parent](https://pdf-raku.github.io/PDF-Tags-raku/PDF/Tags/Node/Parent) - Abstract parent node - [PDF::Tags::Mark](https://pdf-raku.github.io/PDF-Tags-raku/PDF/Tags/Mark) - Leaf content marker node - [PDF::Tags::Text](https://pdf-raku.github.io/PDF-Tags-raku/PDF/Tags/Text) - Text content node - [PDF::Tags::ObjRef](https://pdf-raku.github.io/PDF-Tags-raku/PDF/Tags/ObjRef) - A reference to a PDF object (PDF::Annot, PDF::Field or PDF::XObject) - [PDF::Tags::XML-Writer](https://pdf-raku.github.io/PDF-Tags-raku/PDF/Tags/XML-Writer) - XML Serializer - [PDF::Tags::XPath](https://pdf-raku.github.io/PDF-Tags-raku/PDF/Tags/XPath) - XPath evaluation context Advanced Topics ----- ### Form and Image XObjects In the simple case, both [PDF::XObject::Form](https://pdf-raku.github.io/PDF-Class-raku/PDF/XObject/Form)'s and [PDF::XObject::Image](https://pdf-raku.github.io/PDF-Class-raku/PDF/XObject/Images)'s are inserted and externally tagged as an atomic graphical element, typically tagged as `Figure` or `Form`: ```raku my PDF::XObject::Image $img .= open: "t/images/lightbulb.gif"; my $figure = $doc.Figure: $gfx, $img, :position[50, 70], :Alt("A light-bulb"); ``` An [PDF::XObject::Form](https://pdf-raku.github.io/PDF-Class-raku/PDF/XObject/Form) may be associated with a marked content sub-tree. This is achieved by marking the form against a document fragment, then calling `do` to repeatably render the form, while inserting the fragment, as demonstrated below: ```raku use PDF::Tags; use PDF::Tags::Elem; use PDF::Class; use PDF::XObject::Form; my PDF::Class $pdf .= new; my PDF::Tags $tags .= create: :$pdf; my PDF::Tags::Elem $doc = $tags.Document; my PDF::Page $page = $pdf.add-page; $page.graphics: -> $gfx { $doc.Header1: $gfx, { .say('Header text'); } my PDF::XObject::Form $form = $page.xobject-form: :BBox[0, 0, 200, 50]; my PDF::Tags::Elem $form-frag = $doc.fragment; $form.text: { my $font-size = 12; .text-position = [10, 38]; $form-frag.Header2: $_, { .say: "Tagged XObject header"; }; my $p = $form-frag.Paragraph: $_, { .say: "Some sample tagged text"; }; } # multiple rendering of the form, and insertion of its structure tree $doc.do($gfx, $form-frag, :position[150, 70]); $doc.do($gfx, $form-frag, :position[150, 20]); } ``` To insert an XObject Form that has marked content: 1. Create a new fragment element. 2. Create the Form XObject, marking content against the fragment 3. The `do` method can then be used to both render and insert a copy of the fragment into the structure tree. ### Links Links are usually contained in a block element, such as a `Paragraph`. If the link is internal, it should be further enclosed in a `Reference` element. Furthermore, if the link is in flowing text, such as a paragraph, the `mark` method may be needed to mark preceding text, the link, and following text. Please see [examples/link.raku](https://github.com/pdf-raku/PDF-Tags-raku/blob/master/examples/link.raku) which demonstrates adding an tagged internal link to a PDF. ### Graphics Content Tags As a rule, all content doesn't have to form part of the structure tree, but should be tagged to meet accessibility guidelines. This sometimes requires tagging of incidental graphics. `PDF::Content` has a `tag()` method for this. The content is be tagged, but does not appear in the content stream. Some of the commonly used content tags are: #### Artifact Artifact content forms part of the visual display, but does not belong in the Structure Tree and is tagged using the `PDF::Content` `tag` method. For example: ```raku $gfx.tag: Artifact, { .say("Page $page-num", :$font, :position[ 250, 20 ]); } ``` #### Clipped A clipped region encompasses additional graphics that are being used as part of a clipping operation. The clipped area may include graphics that are part of the structure tree. For example: ```raku use PDF::Class; use PDF::Tags; use PDF::Tags::Elem; use PDF::Content::Tag :ContentTags, :ParagraphTags; my PDF::Class $pdf .= new; my PDF::Tags $tags .= create: :$pdf; # create the document root my PDF::Tags::Elem $doc = $tags.Document; $pdf.add-page.graphics: { .tag: Clipped, { .Rectangle: 100, 100, 125, 20; .Clip; .EndPath; $doc.Paragraph: $_, { .say: 'Clip me', :position[98, 98]; } } } ``` The above example is setting up a clipping sequence. The clipped text is being inserted as a paragraph in the structure tree. #### Span This tag may be used in the structure tree, or at the content level to defined attributes of a graphics sequence. Its usage is similar to the XHTML `span` tag. ```raku $gfx.tag: Span, :Lang<es-MX>, { .say('Hasta la vista', :position[50, 80]); } ``` It can be used almost anywhere in the structure tree, or at the content level, as above. ### Role Maps The PDF standard allows user defined tags, which are mapped to standard tags via a role-map table. `PDF::Tags` supports this feature, via the `create` `:role-map` option. One declared, role-map entries, can be called as standard construction methods: ```raku use PDF::Tags; use PDF::Tags::Elem; use PDF::Class; use PDF::Page; enum RoleMap ( :Body<Section>, :Footnote<Note>, :Book<Document> ); constant %role-map = RoleMap.enums.Hash; my PDF::Class $pdf .= new; my PDF::Tags $tags .= create: :$pdf, :%role-map; my PDF::Tags::Elem $doc = $tags.Book; my PDF::Page $page = $pdf.add-page; $page.graphics: -> $gfx { $doc.Paragraph: $gfx, { .say: 'Some body text¹', :position[50, 150]; }; $doc.Footnote: $gfx, { .say: '¹With a foot-note', :position[50, 20]; }; } ``` ### Tagging and Metadata If a PDF document is tagged for accessibility, additional metadata usually also needs to be set-up; typically `Title`, `Author`, `Subject`, `Keywords` and language. For example: ```raku use PDF::API6; use PDF::Info; my PDF::API6 $pdf .= open: "/tmp/synopsis.pdf"; my PDF::Info $info = $pdf.Info //= {}; $info.Title = 'PDF::Tags README Synopsis'; $info.Subject = 'Sample Output PDF'; $info.Author = 'David Warring'; $info.Keywords = 'accessibility,pdf,tags'; $pdf.catalog.Lang = 'en'; $pdf.update; ``` Note that `PDF::API6` automatically fills in `Producer`, `Creator` and `CreationDate`. ### Verification The `pdf-tag-dump.raku` script from the [PDF::Tags::Reader](https://pdf-raku.github.io/PDF-Tags-Reader-raku) module can be used to view the logical content of PDF files as XML, for example: ``` $ pdf-tag-dump.raku /tmp/synopsis.pdf ``` Produces ```xml <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE Document SYSTEM "http://pdf-raku.github.io/dtd/tagged-pdf.dtd"> <?xml-stylesheet type="text/css" href="https://pdf-raku.github.io/css/tagged-pdf.css"?> <Document> <H1> Marked Level 1 Header </H1> <P> Marked paragraph text </P> <Figure BBox="0 0 19 19"> </Figure> </Document> ``` The XML output from `pdf-tag-dump.raku` includes an [external DtD](http://pdf-raku.github.io/dtd/tagged-pdf.dtd) for basic validation purposes. For example, it can be piped to `xmllint`, from the `libxml2` package, to check the structure of the tags: $ pdf-tag-dump.raku /tmp/synopsis.pdf | xmllint --noout --valid - See Also ------ - [PDF::Tags::Reader](https://pdf-raku.github.io/PDF-Tags-Reader-raku) - for reading PDF files with existing tagged content Further Work ---- - Type-casting of PDF::StructElem.A to roles; as per 14.8.5. Possibly belongs in PDF::Class, however slightly complicated by the need to apply role-mapping. - Develop a tag/accessibility checker. A low-level sanity checker that a tagged PDF meets PDF association recommendations `pdf-tag-checker.raku --ua`. See https://www.pdfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/MatterhornProtocol_1-02.pdf and Wikipedia Clause 7 guidelines: - Complete tagging of "real content" in logical reading order - Tags must correctly represent the document's semantic structures (headings, lists, tables, etc.) - Problematic content is prohibited, including illogical headings, the use of color/contrast to convey information, inaccessible JavaScript, and more - Meaningful graphics must include alternative text descriptions - Security settings must allow assistive technology access to the content - Fonts must be embedded, and text mapped to Unicode The PDF accessibility standard ISO 14289-1 cannot be distributed and needs to be [purchased from ISO](https://www.iso.org/standard/64599.html). - Editing. Currently the API doesn't readily support editing tags into existing content. More work is also needed in the PDF::Content module to support content editing.