Friday, September 27, 2013

Windows users of Patent Grabber: new instructions for installing the PDFTK helper app

Windows users: if you are new to Patent Grabber, then you need to download the PDFTK helper app in order to enable Patent Grabber to combine the individual PDF pages of a patent into a single PDF file. Previously, it was easy for users to download the pdftk.zip file, unzip it, and put the resulting pdftk.exe file into the same folder with Patent Grabber. Once you had it there, you just moved it to another folder whenever you downloaded a newer version of Patent Grabber, or you simply put a new version of Patent Grabber into the same folder with the pdftk.exe file.

Now PDF Labs, the developer of PDFTK, has a fancy new installer instead of a simple zip archive. So if you do not already have a copy of pdftk.exe, you need to go to http://www.pdflabs.com/tools/pdftk-server/ and download the Windows "PDFTK Server" installer. Once downloaded, double-click to start the installer.

You can choose where to install the PDFTK Server folder, so install it somewhere that is easy to find since you will not need most of the files and folders that are included. I installed it into my Documents folder. What you will see upon installation is a folder called PDFTK Server (which of course makes sense!). Inside the PDFTK Server folder are several folders, one of which is called "bin." Open the bin folder and you will find two files, pdftk.exe and libiconv2.dll. Those are the only two files you will need. Just drag those two files into the folder that contains Patent Grabber and you are done. You can now delete the PDFTK Server folder.

Once you have these two files on your PC you do not have to download PDFTK Server again when I release a new version of Patent Grabber. Just move the Patent Grabber files into the same folder with pdftk.exe, or move the pdftk.exe and libiconv2.dll files into the same folder with the new version of Patent Grabber.


Friday, September 20, 2013

Patent Grabber 6.2 is now available!

Patent Grabber 6.2 is now available for download from the Patent Tools page of the Blazing Dawn Software web site. Fixes the ability to download U.S. patents and published patent applications. Full length U.S. patents and applications now download much faster. Adds "International" search through the EPO's library. "Demo mode" now uses a separate patent number entry field .

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Patent Grabber update is nearly complete!

The update to Patent Grabber that will reinstate USPTO downloading is nearly complete. Just some fine tuning is left to do. Thank you for your patience!