4Adobe Acrobat PDF

What is PDF?

PDF stands for Portable Document Format and is sometimes referred to as Acrobat file. PDF is the de facto standard created by Adobe. PDF files can be created from other electronic files by converting the data into Postscript. Hardcopy PDF conversion can be performed as well by scanning images and converting files into one of three PDF types.

PDF is easily accessible across multiple platforms (PC, MAC, UNIX, LINUX). PDF provides strong copyright protection, is web ready and looks exactly like the originals. PDF documents can be secured to prevent alterations, printing or any type of annotation.

PDF is the de facto standard for electronic distribution of documents because it is the best way to keep the look and feel you created intact. 

PDF files are compact, cross-platform and can be viewed by anyone with an Acrobat Reader. PDF files can be distributed globally via e-mail, the Web, corporate intranets, or CD-ROM.  Acrobat Reader's navigation and zoom features enable closer review of PDF file text and images, even within your browser.  PDF files can be easily viewed and printed a page at  time.  Links, annotations, live forms, security options, video, and sound can be added to PDF files for enhanced online viewing with Adobe Acrobat.

Which PDF solution is right for me?
PDF conversion is available in the following basic formats.

• PDF Image Only: An image bitmap representation of the actual document. The image's full-text is not searchable but indexes can be added during the PDF conversion process.
   

• PDF Searchable Image (also called Image + Hidden Text): Is a combination of a bitmap image in the PDF format with embedded text within the document. The full text of this document is searchable. Files in this format have the greatest file size compared to PDF Image Only and PDF Formatted Text and Graphics. 
   

• PDF Formatted Text and Graphics (also known as PDF Normal): This is a completely searchable file created from a Postscript file or editor.  PDF conversion is generally done from a printing file or ML file.  Of the three PDF types, PDF Formatted Text and Graphics generates the smallest file size and yields the greatest printable and viewable quality.

The growth of corporate intranets has taken the information technology industry by storm.  Web-savvy Adobe Acrobat for Macintosh, Windows, and UNIX platforms makes intranet publishing as easy, quick, and simple as printing a paper document.  It allows users to easily convert their business documents into Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files for use on corporate intranets and the Internet.  PDF is Adobe's unique, open file format that preserves the high quality look and feel of printed documents, no matter which computer platform, operating system, or fonts a recipient uses to view or print PDF files.

To solve the problem of getting paper-based legacy documents on-line, Adobe has added the Acrobat Capture plug-in to  Acrobat. With the Capture plug-in, users can scan and OCR ( optical character recognize paper documents - such as faxes, news clippings, and customer correspondence - and create fully formatted, fully searchable PDF files that can be posted on-line. It does an excellent job of font recognition, so that the PDF file will very closely mimic the original page.

Acrobat software can also be used as a cross-platform image viewer.  The Capture plug-in converts many different types of image files, such as TIFF, BMP, or PCX files into PDF files.  Converting image files into PDF makes them readable from virtually any computer using the freely distributable Acrobat Reader.

When you save a document in PDF with Adobe Acrobat software and distribute it electronically, you can rest easy knowing that what you created and viewed on your computer will look exactly the same to the recipient - whether you have e-mailed it to anyone, posted it on your corporate intranet or Web site or saved it on CD-ROM.  It can be viewed or printed anywhere exactly as you intended.

PDF keeps fonts, formatting, color and images intact regardless of which platform or software application your recipients use, so your brand image and corporate identify will have the same look and feel online as they do in hard-copy format, regardless of what kind of computer or printer they use.  All anyone needs to view and print your documents is the free Acrobat Reader.  Once you get a copy, you can distribute it yourself to as many people as you like.

There's no end to the types of documents you can distribute using PDF:  annual reports, product brochures, presentations, sales contracts, marketing proposals, advertising graphics, direct mail, event invitations, competitive literature, market research data and so much more.  You can even add annotations, automatic Web links or security options to these documents.

When you distribute your materials online, you can also count on saving a great deal of time and money normally incurred by printing, copying, faxing and shipping hard-copy documents.  There is no need for anyone to weed through numerous pages of your documents looking for what they need because PDF files are searchable and support page-at-a-time viewing.  Your recipients can find and print what they need on demand.