Developer Shares PDF Coordinate Tool for AI Integration

Problem: PDF Signature Positioning in HR System

A developer building an HR system encountered a specific technical issue: they couldn't get signatures to appear as images in PDFs at the correct locations. The system was designed to have new hires fill out I-9 and W-4 forms via links sent by administrators, with signatures needing to be burned into the generated PDFs at precise positions.

The Solution: Create a Small Prototype Project

After struggling with prompts alone, the developer created a separate small project with specific functionality:

• Upload a PDF and display it in the browser
• Click on locations within the PDF to get X,Y coordinates
• Save click positions to discover coordinates of important spots across multiple PDFs
• Expand the app to inject images at those discovered locations

AI Integration Approach

Once the small prototype project was working, the developer uploaded it into their main project and had the AI "steal the idea and integrate it." This approach worked on the first attempt after the prototype was shown to the AI.

Development Workflow Insight

The developer's workflow involved minimal direct code examination: "Haven't looked at the code once other than trying to debug certain issues." Authentication and security had been tested via end-to-end testing and security agent scanning before this PDF issue emerged.

The key takeaway: When facing a big problem in a large project, create a small, focused project to solve that specific issue, get it working as a prototype, then show it to your AI coding agent for integration into the main project.