Text/PDF Documents
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[edit] Overview
Text-based documents are a mainstay of business and educational processes. In printed form, text documents are what we could call completely interoperable for those physically holding and reading them. In digital form, text documents began as the output of simplistic text editors and today are part of fully-featured word processing and page layout software packages.
For many years the only way to share text documents across multiple computer platforms and operating systems was through basic, ASCII text documents lacking any font choices, embellishments, or rich formatting. Early e-mail programs used this basic text presentation. The alternative was to make sure both the parties creating a document and those receiving the digital document had the same set of editing and display software, e.g., Microsoft WORD, and a host of other word processors (WordPerfect included).
In 1992, Adobe unveiled its Portable Document Format called PDF. According to the Adobe's website...
- Invented by Adobe Systems and perfected over 15 years, Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) lets you capture and view robust information—from any application, on any computer system—and share it with anyone around the world.
Since that time, it is indeed true that the Adobe Acrobat PDF format can be found throughout the Internet to digitally represent all manner of text and image-based documents (even rich media, including video and audio can be embedded in a PDF document). The free availability of the Adobe Reader and World Wide Web Browser plug-ins greatly enhanced the ability of end users to open and browse PDF documents.
In its aggressive endeavors to cement the place of the PDF doucment format as a de facto standard, Adobe is working to establish PDF as a world-wide standard through the ISO--International Standards Organization. In announcements, Adobe states...
- As of January, 2007, Adobe is working with an ISO Technical Committee to submit PDF 1.7 to ISO for approval as a formal, open standard, named ISO 32000. ISO 32000 will be maintained and further developed by this technical committee with the objective of protecting the integrity and longevity of PDF. This will provide a formal, open standard for the billion+ PDF files in existence today.
[edit] Guidelines
In terms of Media On Demand, text-based documents are smaller in size and less impactful on delivery requirements than time-based video and audio digital files. Including a PDF document within a web page has become no more difficult than placing a jpeg image in the layout.
As far as ensuring that Web servers will successfully fulfill user requests for downloading PDF documents, Web server preferences either are pre-configured to include the PDF as an understandable MIME type (Internet based file type), or IT web managers, by force of habit, add PDF as a valid MIME type.
For PDF creation, consult the Adobe website for a full array of tutorials and forums in the creation, use, and delivery of PDF files--
For PDF display, consult the Adobe website regarding its Adobe Reader--
[edit] Resources
- Wikipedia article on the Portable Document Format
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pdf
- Adobe PDF Technology Center
- Hub for access to extensive information in PDF across Adobe.com and the Adobe Solutions Network
- http://www.adobe.com/devnet/pdf/
- Adobe Acrobat Developer Center
- http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/
- Adobe Acrobat Products
- http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/
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