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112
Teaching an Old Acrobat New Tricks (Continued from page 99)
For now, however, most users
have to open their Quark or other file
into the Acrobat software and save it
as a PDF file—a procedure that is not
too complicated. Proper workflow
and printing use of PDF by your service
provider will require the newest
version of RIPS and other systems —
they're in development right now and
should be out within months. But most
of the pre-press industry users agree
that Adobe has addressed their major
concerns with early versions of PDF.
The Acrobat software itself is a
powerful set of applications that lets you
not only write PDF files, but also open,
view, edit and manipulate them. It's a
bit like the universal translator on "Star
Trek"—no matter what you put in, it
comes out as
predictable and
familiar on the
other end. This
could all result
in much fewer
imaging problems,
fewer files
being rerun, and
an easier transition
to direct-toplate
and directto-pressworkflows.
PDF
makes sense for
archiving, too,
although it
doesn't replace
the original
application file.
NOT EVERYTHING TO
EVERYONE
Of course don't forget that PDF files
are small and efficient—they get that
way by simplifying what's there. This
doesn't mean any loss of quality, of
course, but it does mean some lack of
editability. PDF files can be modified
for simple things—fixing a last-minute
typo, changing a color, or deleting a
line. But that's about it—these are meant
to be finished files, not works in progress.
And one drawback at this point
is that it is not possible to import more
than one PDF file into a single page, a
limit that makes PDF less suitable for
things like fractional newspaper ads.
A host of companies have expressed
support for PDF—virtually any RIP
that supports Adobe PostScript 3 can
process a PDF file. Agfa has embraced
the format as the core of its imaging
technology for the near term. Quark
is supposedly working with Adobe to
build in strong PDF support in )(Press,
and you can be sure PageMaker, Illustrator,
Photoshop and other Adobe
products will provide great PDF capabilities
in future versions (many fully
support it now).
I honestly believe that in a year you
won't be sending your Quark files, fonts
and graphics to the printer—you'll be
sending PDF files instead. And if you
e-mail the exact same files to your clients,
they can view and print the job on their
While Acrobat 3.o
isn't perfect for everything
at this point, Adobe is generally
good at listening to
the industry and providing
(Above)
A PDF file carries all
the information needed
to print. Cover, U&Ic
Spring, 1997
(Left)
Details like fonts
are embedded in a
PDF file.
own equipment at
whatever resolution
their device supports.
For online document
storage and retrieval,
Acrobat is already the
best choice. And for
anyone sensitive to
good type and good
layout on the Web,
PDF provides one
possible option.
solutions that work. The current version
of the Portable Document Format
may not be the trendiest format on the
graphics runway today, but it's sensible,
versatile and looks good on almost
any device.
Gene Gable is publisher of Publish
magazine and he can be contacted at
ggable@publish.com .
HEADLINE/BYLINE/SUBHEADS/CAPTIONS . ITC FRANKLIN GOTHIC DEMI, DEMI COMPRESSED HEAVY TEXT/BIO: ITC GAWARD ROMAN, ITALIC
PDF files are
small and
efficient, but
resist heavy
editing.