

Show HN: Pagify - Document Design and Generation on Cloud - shaneeb
http://pagify.io

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salman89
I think you should consider dropping the design part of the workflow - there
are applications out there that are very good at this and it will be hard to
compete there, and it is not part of your core product value. I believe the
core value is in the dynamic PDF generation aspect - not the template design
aspect.

Allow me to upload a pre created template that follows some sort of variable
naming that is compatible with your API, and allow me to use just the API to
generate documents.

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shaneeb
Thanks for your feedback! Which products do you have in mind which do the
design part? Particularly those that work in a browser.

Essentially we are something like Crystal Reports for web apps. Being web
based is a core part of our proposition.

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crisnoble
I have never heard Crystal Reports mentioned in a positive light. I think the
parent means tools like InDesign which can create professional reports. If one
could upload a pdf export of an indesign file and update it on the cloud
through your api then I imagine designers would be throwing money at you fast.

~~~
salman89
That is in fact what I meant, but OP has the point that they are more trying
to compete in the BI tool arena.

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nlh
Very cool - thanks for sharing guys. I think you're certainly onto something -
there's a lot of traditional paper-based business out there that could use a
shift toward dynamic PDF-based workflow.

I'd tweak some of your marketing points a bit, in particular:

"No one wants to read emails, let alone dull and boring ones. Make your emails
stand out from the crowd by designing creative documents and send them as
attachments. And with Pagify, the whole process can be automated, so its quick
and easy."

I don't know that I agree with that at all. And this point cheapens your
product/message - it sounds like you're -really- reaching for a nail to
hammer.

Take a look at some businesses that deal with contracts a lot -- legal
agreements, etc. I had to sign an agreement for a vacation home yesterday
using some awful service that auto-generated a PDF for me, and it was totally
abysmal. Bad UX, clunky, etc.

Anyway - congrats on the launch and good luck!

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reeses
I often get stung when I 'reply' and add people to a message that originally
had attachments. (OS X) It strips the attachment out of courtesy, which I
_usually_ catch before I send the email.

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dlib
Wow, pretty cool.

I see you can only use the API to generate the PDF's. I'd love to be able to
upload an csv/xls file and use the columns as variables. Writing
invitations/letters/labels to a lot of people happens occasionally and not
having to dive into the code but simple use point-and-click to personalise the
documents would be cool. I'm aware Word has this functionality but I think
improvements can be made in simplicity. Pre-set templates for labels might
also be useful.

~~~
shaneeb
Hmm, thats a very interesting perspective. We would definitely give it
thought. Much appreciated!

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crisnoble
Wow this is pretty neat. I love the api, very straightforward.

One question: Can I use the api to push a uri encoded png to the document? My
use case would be converting d3.js charts into uri encoded pngs, pushing that
to pagify via api and presenting the user with a customized report based on
the current chart's data.

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shaneeb
Thanks! As of now this support is not available but we would definitely look
into it. For now only our 'native' charts are available which can be populated
with data as well (including bar, stacked, pie.. etc).

Also if you have an image url, that could work too.

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SamirSam
Very cool in concept. I genuinely believe that if you start packaging plugins
based on your API for existing platforms like wordpress, magento, joomla for
verticals like e-commerce, you would definitely start making bucks for the
quick reporting features.

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DenisM
Can this generate a very long table and paginate it carefully, without tearing
individual rows? Can the table have arbitrary number of columns? How do the
columns get sized when there is a lot of data? Thanks.

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shaneeb
Right now the layouting is pretty basic. So data will only fit within the
width/height you 'draw' on the template. We are working on a dynamic layouting
engine which will be able to automatically paginate tables cleanly, but its
not rolled out yet.

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james_alonso
Small thing, but it would be a big help if you could expand the font choices
for your template maker - I could definitely see myself using this but would
need to be able to drop in text in Times New Roman.

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shaneeb
Noted, thanks! Btw, you can also use the feedback widget within the editor to
give quick feedback like this. Its on top right corner.

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gizzlon
Just one tip for your site: Don't use youtube for the video, it links to more
unrelated youtube videos that people might be tempted to watch instead of, you
know, testing Pagify :)

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bunkat
You can turn those links off in the video settings (which I recommend they
do). We use YouTube to host our intro video and couldn't be happier.

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shaneeb
We just launched our alpha (and are sending out invites to people who sign
up). We want to validate our value proposition so any feedback/suggestion is
very much appreciated!

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impostervt
How long does PDF generation take?

Can I upload and manipulate an existing PDF?

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shaneeb
PDF generation time depends on the length of the document but ideally it
should be pretty quick.

No you cannot manipulate existing PDF but only generate new ones. Thanks!

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impostervt
Thanks for answering. So you can understand my use case - I have a PDF book I
want to sell, and would like to include a customized code in each book. As the
book is long, I have no desire to recreate it in your app's Designer.

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simonh
Off topic, but since PDF files are actually text files for a form of source
code, you should be able to put a default code on your document and generate
new ones using a search-and-replace script. Sed should do the trick.

