Accessible PDFs

Accessibility is not an especially familiar concept in the computing world. Most of us encounter the idea of accessibility often enough by way of special vehicle parking spaces, ramps, braille signage, beeping crosswalks, and so on. Improving accessibility is more than a courtesy, it is an accepted and vital goal of any advanced society.

Johnson, Duff. PlanetPDF. Design>Document Design>Accessibility>Adobe Acrobat

Acrobat 6 Pro, a New Forms Layout Tool?

I was recently asked by my employer to do some research on various form designer packages to see what they had to offer. Right around that time Acrobat 6 was released, but to consider it a fully featured forms 'layout' tool was the last thing on my mind. Little did I know that I would soon change my mind. After working with Acrobat 6 Pro for a while and getting to know all the new and useful tools it has, it gradually started to dawn on me that it offers form design and layout capabilities that one could only dream about with the previous versions of Acrobat.

Guignard, Bryan. PlanetPDF (2003). Design>Web Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

Acrobat Tips - Extracting Content

Suppose you have a multipage document and you want to remove a part of it for another purpose, such as combining it with other information for another document. In this tip, I'll explain how to separate, or extract, a portion of a document.

Baker, Donna L. PlanetPDF (2003). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

Acrobat Tips - Reduce PDF File Size

Distributing documents as Adobe PDF files can reduce the problems that may occur when you exchange large presentation or page-layout files. In many cases, you can make your Adobe PDF file even more compact without compromising the document's integrity. The PDF Optimizer in Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Professional gives you easy access to several options that can help you reduce the file's size, including compression options that are comparable to the ones available when you create an original Adobe PDF file using Adobe Acrobat Distiller.

PlanetPDF (1996). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

Adding Page Labels

A nice feature in Acrobat is the ability to 'name' or label pages with meaningful descriptions rather than just page numbers. This can be very useful if your PDF document contains in introduction section and is then split into sections or has specific chapter numbers. By adding Page Labels to a page or even a range of pages you instantly get to that section by typing it's name in the Page Number box at the bottom of the screen (on the status bar).

Wraight, Dave. PlanetPDF (2001). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

Adobe's Robert McDaniels Responds (Again) to Nielsen Criticisms of PDF

Many of the 'PDF Usability Crimes' Nielsen cites have nothing to do with Acrobat or PDF but are the result of poor design choices. Most of same arguments about poor navigation, large file sizes, and excessive text blocks can be used to describe poorly designed HTML as well. There are some very valid reasons for using PDF's online as opposed to HTML.

McDaniels, Robert. PlanetPDF (2003). Articles>Usability>Software>Adobe Acrobat

Cleaning up PDF Documents in Acrobat

If you are posting your PDF document to a web site, you'll generally want to upload a clean copy that will streamline the viewing experience for your site visitors. This tip outlines a quick way to remove unnecessary annotations, widgets, JavaScript, links, bookmarks and attachments, along with optimizing your documents for fast web viewing.

Shea, Dan. PlanetPDF (2007). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

Configuring the Pages Pane

The default layout of the Pages pane displays a single column of small thumbnail pictures of the pages. The default is fine for most kinds of work when you have a document consisting of several pages. However, when working with a very large document, you might want to make the thumbnails smaller and increase the number of thumbnail columns to see more at once. If you have to be able to see the content of the thumbnails, you'll want to increase their size.

Baker, Donna L. PlanetPDF (2001). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

Creating Dynamic Stamps

Dynamic stamps consist of the PDF image of the stamp and a text form field that contains JavaScript to make your stamp dynamic. For example, the Dynamic Stamp 'Approved' contains a form field that generates user name, time and date.

DeFurio, Lori. PlanetPDF (2003). Design>Information Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

Cropping Pages to Highlight Areas in Acrobat

When you receive a PDF that contains, say, an image that is surrounded by text, how do you highlight the image? One way is to export the graphic to an imaging application such as Photoshop, but that involves additional applications and the associated loading times. A great 'quick and dirty' fix here is to use the 'Crop' tool to hide the content that surrounds the image, leaving you with PDF which displays only an image, just the way you wanted it. This tip explains how.

Shea, Dan. PlanetPDF (2006). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

Custom Stamps in Acrobat

While Acrobat comes pre-loaded with a selection of stamps, including 'Approved', 'Declined' and 'Accepted', users can also create custom stamps of such things as company logos for use on their PDF documents. Complex or graphically rich stamps can be created or prepared in imaging applications before being added to Acrobat's selection. This tip explains how to create a custom stamp using an existing file.

Shea, Dan. PlanetPDF (2007). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

Enhancing Tutorials With Acrobat

Ideas for enhancing tutorial documents using Acrobat features.

McCue, Claudia. PlanetPDF (2004). Design>Document Design>Tutorials>Adobe Acrobat

Extracting Content

How to extract content from a portion of a PDF document.

Baker, Donna L. PlanetPDF (2004). Articles>Content Management>Document Design>Adobe Acrobat

Focus on PDF Layers

How you can combine layers and scripting to power up PDFs to deliver richer, more versatile content.

Wraight, Dave. PlanetPDF (2004). Design>Information Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

Importing and Exporting Form Data in Acrobat

When using PDF forms, it's possible to export, store and import the data in Form Data Format (FDF). Since an FDF file only includes the form data and not the form itself, it is much smaller and more lightweight that the complete PDF form, making it more efficient to manipulate. This tip explains how to export and import FDF data using Acrobat.

Shea, Dan. PlanetPDF (2007). Articles>Document Design>Forms>Adobe Acrobat

Introducing SOAP

SOAP or Simple Object Access Protocol has become a standard mechanism in the world of Web Services. Now what exactly does this mean? And how can I make use of it inside Acrobat?

Wraight, Dave. PlanetPDF (2004). Design>Information Design>XML>SOAP

Jakob Nielsen's PDF Phobia is Seemingly Incurable

The noted usability guru strays outside his area of expertise once again in a new 'Alertbox' column denigrating any uses of PDF other than printing. We can't help but wonder -- due to the silliness of some of his comments and suggestions -- whether he's being serious. We're afraid he is. Nonetheless, to show our respect, we've christened a special Google Advanced Search setting in his honor.

Foss, Kurt. PlanetPDF (2003). Articles>Usability>Software>Adobe Acrobat

A Lesson in Templates for Adobe Acrobat

Although Templates have been around since version 3 of Acrobat there was never any really useful supporting information or technical documentation to make use of them. Version 5 and 6 of Acrobat changed all that making it possible to take full control of Templates to create truly dynamic PDF documents.

Wraight, Dave. PlanetPDF (2004). Articles>Information Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

Linking to Pages or Destinations Within PDFs

Information about how to link to pages or specific bookmarks within a PDF document.

Shea, Dan. PlanetPDF (2004). Articles>Web Design>Hypertext>Adobe Acrobat

Markup PDF Pages with Drawings

Using Acrobat, PDF has been established as a popular and user-friendly medium for collaborative workflows. Not only can you add sticky notes or highlight text, you can even draw polygonal or freehand annotations. This tip explains how.

Shea, Dan. PlanetPDF (2007). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

Opening PDF Documents in Full Screen Mode

Adobe Acrobat allows users to configure the opening settings of PDF documents to display them in full screen mode. It's as effective as a PowerPoint display and very easy to accomplish. This tip explains how.

Shea, Dan. PlanetPDF (2007). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

PDF Author Creates Spoof of Nielsen's Misguided Alertbox

Doug Alford responds in kind to Jakob Nielsen's 2003 essay 'PDF: Unfit for Human Consumption.'

Alford, Doug. PlanetPDF (2003). Humor>Usability>Software>Adobe Acrobat

PDF Can Comply With Section 508. Now It's Your Move

A blind person cannot read from a screen any more than from a printed page. Technologies nonetheless exist that allow blind and other disabled users impressively full-featured access to documents. To be accessible, however, the document contents must be available to these so-called 'assistive' technologies.

Johnson, Duff. PlanetPDF (2003). Articles>Accessibility>Adobe Acrobat>Section 508

PDF: Fit for Human Consumption If Designed Properly

Jakob Nielsen hit a nerve with some PDF enthusiasts when he recently wrote in his monthly usability column that, in terms of suitability for use on the Web, the format is allegedly 'unfit for human consumption.' We're publishing a rebuttal that another satisfied user recently sent to Nielsen -- and also shared with us. In addition, Steve Borsch provides several samples of PDFs designed to be read and navigated online.

PlanetPDF (2003). Articles>Usability>Software>Adobe Acrobat

Planet PDF Tools List

A listing of over 700 tools for checking, separating, correcting colors, ordering and re-ordering pages.

PlanetPDF (2003). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat