Differences between version 14 and predecessor to the previous major change of PDF.
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| Newer page: | version 14 | Last edited on Thursday, March 30, 2006 7:18:59 am | by PeterHewett | Revert |
| Older page: | version 8 | Last edited on Sunday, January 11, 2004 4:35:31 am | by StuartYeates | Revert |
@@ -1,18 +1,31 @@
-PDF is an [Acronym] and FileExtension for __P__ortable __D__ocument __F__ormat. Invented by [Adobe]
.
+PDF is an [Acronym] and FileExtension for __P__ortable __D__ocument __F__ormat.
-[PDF] files are good for distributing certain types of documents because:
-# They can't be trivially changed by the receiver (compared to emailing MicrosoftWord documents)
-# Because it is a true page description language, the same document should display the same on any viewer. (Word documents are notorious for displaying differently on different machines, depending on the version of MicrosoftWord in use, the fonts available to the machine, and the type of printer that computer is using as the default printer.)
-# It is an open format, adhering to a published standard. This means that you are not at the mercy of a company that can change the file format forcing you to upgrade software.
-# There are viewers capable of displaying and printing PDF for many platforms, and because it is an open standard, viewers can be written for any platform that doesn't yet have one.
-The PDF format was specified by
[Adobe
], the same company that helped introduced PostScript and Type1 fonts.
+!!! What is
[PDF
]
-You can view
PDF documents with AcrobatReader ([free
] but not
[Free
]).
-xpdf(1)
and GhostView are
[Free
] programs that you can use to view PDF files if you don't want to use Adobe's proprietary closed-source reader
. [KDE] has kghostview and [GNOME] has gnome-gv
, both
of which are front-ends to GhostView/ghostscript
.
+[
PDF] is a format specified by
[Adobe
] which describes how to embed a multitude of resources in a single file, and also defines
and describes formats for these resources, primarily PostScript with extension functions to enable the features
[PDF
] delivers beyond PostScript
. Essentially
, it is not a descendant
of PostScript so much as an advanced container format for PostScript documents
.
-You can generate PDFs by using Adobe's commercial AdobeAcrobat
, see our
[CreatingPDFs
] page
.
+PostScript (and the Type1 font format
, for that matter) are, of course, also
[Adobe
] brainchildren
.
-[Apple]'s [MacOSX] uses PDF for rendering images (and the user interface), which is why you can have true transparent windows on their [OS].
-PDF is arguably
a version of PostScript
and is certainly a descendant
of it in some ways
. Calling
PDF something other
than PostScript II was probably actually
a very good idea
, since
there are already enough different forms of PostScript around
.
+!!! Why use [
PDF]
+
+[PDF] is the format of choice for distributing documents because:
+
+* They can't be trivially changed by the receiver. (MicrosoftWord documents can be.)
+* It
is a true page description language. The same document will display identically on any viewer. (MicrosoftWord documents are notorious for displaying differently on different machines, depending on the
version of MicrosoftWord in use, the fonts available to the machine,
and the type
of printer that computer is using as the default printer.)
+* The format is described by an unencumbered, published standard. ([Microsoft] have been known to change the undocumented Word document format to force users to upgrade.)
+* Because
it is an open standard, viewers are available for many platforms (and can be written or ported to those without one). This means people can read the pdf file you send, even if they don't use the same software or OS.
+* PDF files do not include macro code, and so can not carry viruses or malware
in the way that MicrosoftWord can
.
+
+
+!!! Viewers for [
PDF]
+
+* AcrobatReader: by [Adobe], ClosedSource, available for all major platforms.
+* GhostView: [Free], available for all major platforms. In [KDE] and [GNOME], there are wrappers to better integrate it with the DesktopEnvironment: __kghostview__ and __gnome-gv__, respectively.
+* xpdf(1): [Free], runs anywhere an [X11] server is available. It tends to do a better job
than GhostView. There is
a [GNOME] version called __gpdf__, which based on the original xpdf code but has "better desktop integration".
+* [Evince | http://www.gnome.org/projects/evince/]: a [Free] multi-format viewer for [GNOME] 2.9 or later. [PDF] support is based on the xpdf(1) code, navigation is supposedly better than gpdf, and hopefully will be better maintained (gpdf development seems to have slowed or stopped).
+
+!!! Creating [PDF] documents
+
+The obvious way is [Adobe]'s commercial AdobeAcrobat, and if you're a professional and need all of the advanced features of [PDF], that is your best bet. If you are less ambitious
, there are many other, completely sufficient options available; see our [CreatingPDFs] page
.
