Version 5.5.8

Attach files to the PDF

The PDF file format offers the possibility of embedding files in the document so that they can then be downloaded as stand-alone documents. Electronic invoices, for example, can be sent as a “human-readable” PDF with an attached computer-readable description (as XML).

Any number of files can be attached, but only one ZUGFeRD invoice.

Attach files 

<AttachFile description="A nice view"
            type="application/pdf"
            filename="ocean.pdf" />

This command is used to attach a file to the PDF. The type is the mime type of the attached file.

attachfile.png

Attach ZUGFeRD / Factur-X invoices

PRO

To attach an electronic invoice, the value at type must be exactly the string ZUGFeRD invoice:

<AttachFile description="Electronic invoice"
            type="ZUGFeRD invoice"
            filename="invoice.xml" />

The output filename is set to factur-x.xml for ZUGFeRD version 2 and ZUGFeRD-invoice.xml for version 1.

The PDF output must be set to PDF/A-3:

<PDFOptions format="PDF/A-3" />

This happens automatically if the command <AttachFile> is executed at the beginning of the document (before the first page output).

For a PDF document to be compliant with PDF/A-3, the colors must match the color profiles. In the PDF/A-3 default setting, an OutputIntent is defined for a CMYK color profile. Accordingly, the colors in the document must be defined in this color space. Or another color profile must be embedded.

attachfile-zugferd.png