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Adobe Acrobat: PDF Files

Seminar outline

Northern New York Library Network Workshop Jim Crowley C3 - Crowley Computer Consulting 9148 State Highway 37 Ogdensburg NY 13669 315-394-7008 fax 315-394-7009 www.crowleycomputers.com jim@crowleycomputers.com
This day-long class will explore the ins and outs of the PDF. Students will turn their documents into PDFs that anyone, anywhere can read, looking exactly as they were meant to appear. Students will also learn how to fill PDFs in digitally, signing them and making them as useful and friendly as possible. This class also covers a number of aspects of creating and manipulating PDF files. Students will learn to access information in PDF files, including browsing tools for PDF documents, navigation to specific content within a PDF document, and finding and editing text. Students will create PDF documents using content from multiple sources, and will learn to create documents with enhanced navigation. 1. Schedule a. 9:00 b. 9:30 c. 12:00 d. 1:00 e. 3:30

Registration Morning session Lunch Afternoon session Departure

1. Survey a. Have you read PDF file(s)? i. Screen ii. Paper iii. PDA b. Can you search a PDF? c. Can you email a PDF? d. Have you created a PDF? e. Have you used an application besides Adobe Acrobat? f. Do you want to create PDFs? i. Purpose? ii. How often? g. Why are you here? 2. Adobes PDF a. Electronic document exchange PDF = portable i. Required for the paperless office document format ii. Universality iii. PDF is not the only game in town, but it is the market leader. (1) Past: Envoy (2) Current: HTML / XML iv. PDF is a proprietary format. b. Current standards i. PDF/A: May 2005, for the long term preservation of digital documents. ii. PDF/X: for exchange of high-quality, print-ready pages. iii. U3D: open, extensible format for sharing and viewing 3D designs c. Future standards i. PDF 1.7: Jan 2007, submitted to AIIM, for the purpose of publication as a standard by the ISO. Info at http://www.adobe.com/devnet/pdf/pdf_reference.html ii. PDF/E: officially accepted as ISO working item for exchange of project info, review and document markup with a 3D component iii. PDF/UA: universally accessible - extended for visually or mobility impaired individuals d. Electronic document exchange: PDF is not the only game in town, but it is the market leader. i. Past: Envoy ii. Current (1) HTML (2) XML (3) ODF: Open Document Format (4) Microsoft XPS: XML Paper Specifiication e. PDF History i. Original concept by John Warnock in 1984 when hand programming an IRS tax form into PostScript for an Apple LaserWriter.
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ii. In 1991, Warnock wrote a paper referring to Camelot that led to the development of COS which is the foundation of the PDF language and data structure. iii. Acrobat Reader was not free at first and nearly sunk PDF when competing products like Envoy gave their reader away. The Dream universal documents The Accomplished Acrobat Reader is available in approximately 26 languages. The Reality Acrobat does not translate documents. Computer based translation is still a very new technology and leaves a lot to be desired. exchangeable documents Adobe PDF readers are available for 23 major platforms: Windows 3.1 to Xp Macintosh 7.5 to 10.3 HP-UX IBM AIX IBM OS/2 Linux Sun Solaris everyone can read the documents everyone can create the documents Palm OS Pocket PC Symbian OS You still need the PC and the ability to download Reader if you dont have a CD. Many applications have the ability to produce PDFs. For example: QuickBooks and Corel products like WordPerfect. Other creation utilities are available, starting for free. Everyone can create good PDFs or bad PDFs! Support and new versions are not maintained for dying platforms like OS/2. You still need a computer.

Reader is free. Adobe has distributed more than 500 million copies of the software worldwide.1 Acrobat starts at $299.

www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/main.html April 1, 2004


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C3 - Crowley Computer Consulting Adobe Acrobat: PDF Files Copyright 2004- 2007

reduced storage space

PDFs can do the job

Many agencies still required printed documents. Many agencies dont recognize digital signatures

increased security

digital signature technology is here and works

Signature technology is still new and is likely to evolve. No security is perfect. Signature technology is not overly simple to get started

3. Who is who... a. Adobe is the corporation that owns the PDF format. b. Current version is 8. Handouts are created with version 6 and 8. c. Reader is the application to read PDFs. Reader used to be called Acrobat Reader. d. Acrobat is the application to read and create PDFs. There are three versions of Acrobat, see following table2: i. Reader free ii. Acrobat Standard $299 iii. Acrobat Professional $499 iv. Acrobat 3D $995 e. Reader available from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html f. 30 day demo of Acrobat Professional available from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatpro/tryout.html

From www.adobe.com
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4. What is so tough about universal documents? a. Media b. Resolution 5. Other PDF creating options a. Not all PDF creators are created equally. see Outline via *.pdf in My Documents b. Create Adobe PDF Online at https://createpdf.adobe.com/?v=AHP i. Five free PDFs ii. Subscribe for $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year c. Non Adobe options: Adobe opened the file format to allow others to write PDF creation applications. i. Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PDF_software ii. PC Magazine: http://www.pcmag.com and search reviews for PDF 6. Adobe Reader a. When you download... i. Acrobat Reader 8.1 - 22.3MB ii. Do you want Photoshop Album Starter Edition? 8.4MB iii. Do you want Google Toolbar? 1.1MB iv. Installation of Adobe Download Manager v. Close apps during installation so it can plug in better. 7. Making PDFs: you already have the tools you need to make PDFs! You design documents in your word processor. You design newsletters in your page layout program. You create forms in Word or Excel. Then you create the PDF! a. LiveCycle Designer is an Adobe product that can be used to create PDFs, especially forms, from scratch.

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8. Using PDFs with Reader

SUNY app 2004.pdf

a. File: Open, Save, Print, Email, Search

i. File menu in 8 b. Basic: Hand (moves page), Select text / image, Snapshot (mixed selection) i. Select ii. Cut / Copy iii. Select new location iv. Paste v. Tool menu in 8 c. Rotate: clockwise or counter clockwise d. Zoom: Zoom in tool, in, out, dynamic, Actual, Fit page, Fit width, In and out via steps i. Right click with a zoom to selected to see standard steps

e. Search

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f. Reader tools people might find interesting but dont know they exist! i. File, Save as text exports to txt file that any word processor can read! ii. View, Read out loud iii. Window, Full screen view g. Navigation Pane acrforms.pdf i. Bookmarks - table of contents created by PDF author (1) Drag separator to adjust size of navigation pane (2) Options (a) Can be collapsed or expanded (b) Size can be adjusted ii. Pages - gives thumbnail sketch of pages, options allows reduction and enlargement iii. Layers - created by applications such as AutoCAD and Visio. Layers can add detail to drawings. iv. Signatures will be explored later...

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h. Cant read from online? Try reinstalling to repair ties into Internet Explorer and other browsers. Or, save the PDF to your hard drive and then open it. i. Filling in forms. Fed 1040 2003.pdf i. PDF must be created to fill in. ii. With Reader, you probably cant save your edits unless youre using version 8! iii. Auto-Complete

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9. Creating PDFs using PDFCreator a. From www.pdfforge.org download the MSI installer b. Install c. Create your document and print to the PDFCreator printer.

Note: PDFs are not created using Acrobat or other PDF creators. PDFs are created using other applications such as Word or Excel, they may be adjusted in a PDF editor like Acrobat!

Printers and Word.doc

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10.

Creating PDFs using Pdf995 a. From www.pdf995.com download Printers and i. Pdf995 Printer driver - pdf995s.exe Word.doc ii. Free converter - pds2pdf995.exe b. Install i. pdf995s.exe ii. pds2pdf995.exe c. Create your document and print to the PDF995 printer i. Properties, Advanced to adjust settings ii. If youre unfamiliar with any particular setting: click onto the setting and press F1 for Tool tip help

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11.

Create PDFs using PDFMaker a. PDFMaker is a series of macros which plug into Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer Visio and Project, Lotus Notes and AutoDesks AutoCAD. Creation can be launched using the tool bar or menu choices. b. Creates more powerful PDFs if documents are formatted correctly.

Printers and Word.doc

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c. Menus and toolbars File Edit View Document

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Comments

Forms

Tools

Advanced

12.

Deeper into a. Page b. Zoom

Adobe tools

c. Basic tools i. Selection tool: graphic and text selection tools are combined ii. Hand: moving around screen iii. Zoom d. Commenting: for document review and sharing

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e. Bookmarks i. Manual (1) Display the Bookmark Navigation pane (2) Highlight text (3) Create new bookmark button (4) Drag book marks to desired location to indicate sub-content or to re-order. ii. Automatic (1) Use Bookmark menu (2) New Bookmark from structure - must use Style correctly to work with much accuracy. (3) Rename Bookmarks

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13.

Creating PDFs with Acrobat Distiller export Printers a. Create your document using the appropriate tool. Basically, any and Word.doc application that can print can be used to create a PDF. Not as automated as PDFMaker. i. Choose to print the document - you may need to go to the File menu to select the appropriate printer. ii. Choose Adobe Distiller as your printer. Distiller prints your document to a PDF file. iii. Use Properties, Adobe PDF Settings to make adjustments. iv. File size: (1) Distribution method: CD or download? (2) Download method: dial up, mix, broadband? (3) Primary target: on screen or print?

b. Conversion settings tune output for where PDF will be used: eBook, press, print, screen. c. Sending fonts will insure a more accurate but larger PDF. d. View Results will open Acrobat when done. e. Edit conversion settings for more fine tuning

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f. Compatibility: use older versions of Acrobat for less advanced audiences or more compatibility. g. Resolution: increase for improved printing.

h. If graphics in PDFs dont print well, increase resolution dpi settings, but file size will grow!

i.

For best fidelity embed all fonts.

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j. Save As allows you to recreate your settings very quickly by creating new conversion settings.

14. Types of PDFs a. Unstructured: recreates documents that maintain printed fidelity to the original. b. Structured: also contain a logical structure tree. Fidelity is maintained for printing and exporting to other formats, IE RTF, works well. i. View Actual size, Fit in window and Fit width all use un/structured information. c. Tagged: contains more logical structure for repurposing for print, export and on screen reading, IE screen or PDA. i. When reading a magazine PDF on screen, dont you want to follow articles rather than pages? Do page number mean anything? Comments?
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ii. Web pages automatically create tagged web pages. iii. View, Reflow uses tagged information for onscreen reading iv. Reflow via TouchUp Order Tool (1) Click numbers in order of desired appearance (2) Right+click to move back and forth Unstructured Authors content, including pages, articles, paragraphs, tables, and figures Comments such as online notes, graphic markups, and text markups Pagination artifacts such as page numbers and running headers Layout and typographic artifacts such as colored bars between columns of text and horizontal lines separating footnotes from text Printing artifacts such as crop marks, printers stars, and the document name printed outside of the crop marks. Logical structure tree Maintaining fidelity Print Export Screen reading 15. PDF Forms allow you to create, fill in, submit forms and export data filled in into databases. a. Filling in forms, be sure to highlight fields b. Creating form i. Form, Edit in Acrobat ii. Run Form Field Recognition c. Create fields via the toolbar U U U U U U U U U U St ructured U U U U Tagged U U U U

C3 Fax.pdf

d. Drag a box as needed


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e. Start messing with options. f. Jump into editing your form via form menu and into testing by hand tool or text select or other selection tools. g. Right+click for Properties on a field for further options. Properties of the page will allow adjustment of tab order.

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16.

Make it neater a. Selection i. Random fields by Ctrl+clicking on each one ii. Groups of fields by clicking on the first and Shift+clicking on the last b. To make things line up:Right+click on the field you like, Align... c. To make things the same size: Right+click on the field you like, Size...

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17.

Form Field examples a. Calculating sums and really, really simple stuff b. Calculating simple math

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c. Automatic date - method I - results in an unchangeable date on your form that resets on opening i. Add a text field to your form. ii. In the The Text Field Properties dialog box, on the General tab (1) In the Name text box, type Today (2) In the Common Properties section, select Read Only iii. On the Format tab (1) From the Select format category pull-down list, select Date (2) From the Date Options scroll box, select a date format option iv. On the Calculate tab (1) Select Custom calculation script (2) Click Edit... (3) Enter the following: var f = this.getField("Today"); f.value = util.printd("mmm/d/yyyy", new Date()); Today must match name given above! Date format must match format selected above! (4) Click OK v. Click Close

d. Automatic date - method II - results in an changeable date on your form that resets when you click into the field i. Add a text field to your form. ii. In the The Text Field Properties dialog box, on the General tab (1) In the Name text box, type DateSubmitted iii. On the Format tab (1) From the Select format category pull-down list, select Date (2) From the Date Options scroll box, select a date format option iv. In the Text Field Properties box, select the Action tab. (1) Select On Focus from the Select a Trigger drop down list. (2) Select Run a JavaScript from the Select Action drop down list. (3) Click the Add button. (4) Enter the following: var fld = this.getField("DateSubmitted"); fld.value = util.printd("mm/dd/yyyy",new Date()); DateSubmitted must match name given above! Date format must match format selected above! (5) Click OK v. Click Close

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e. Email a form i. Create a button

f. Other options to consider i. Print ii. Reset

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18.

Digital Signatures and PDFs a. General info about digital signatures i. Becoming recognized as binding by more and more agencies. ii. A signee can have multiple signatures for multiple positions. iii. Digital signatures can (1) Be simply text (2) And/or include a picture of your actual signature (3) And/or include a picture of your company logo... (4) Can be invisible b. General info about digital signatures and PDFs i. Ensures changes made by signer are preserved and changes made later can be removed. ii. Can be verified by others as genuine. iii. Multiple signatures to a single document can be viewed on the Signatures navigation tab. iv. Multiple revisions can be compared by signature. v. Encryption and digital signatures can work together to secure documents. c. Notes i. There is no recovery of lost password ii. Removal of a signature requires the password Creating your signature with Adobe Self-Sign Security a. Under Edit, Preferences you should probably fill in your Identity so information appears in your Digital ID.

19.

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b. Under Edit, Security create your signature appearance for effect i. You can create multiple appearances ii. You can incorporate pictures like a logo or an handwritten signature. A handwritten signature is not necessary for a valid digital signature. c. Sign your document i. Sign ii. Place Signature iii. Draw a box where you wish to place the signature (1) If you have not created a Digital ID, the process will start, see below. iv. Select (1) Digital ID and provide password (2) Appearance

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d. Modify Digital Ids with Advanced, Security Settings

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Possible Resources Adobe Acrobat Help - is a PDF file, very well written! Works cited www.adobe.com www.pcmag.com www.pcworld.com www.planetpdf.com Samples from www.crowleycomputers.com/handouts.htm www.empirecapitalmortgage.com/forms/loanapp.pdf www.irs.gov/formspubs/index.html www.suny.edu/student/welcome/welcome.cfm

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