On every website you visit, if there is a document to download or an article to view, the Adobe PDF icon will be lingering around on the page somewhere. The PDF is everywhere online and for good reason.

Adobe’s made the PDF into a format that connects many of the tasks you need to do on a daily basis. But Adobe didn’t do it alone. The computer world is a dog-eat-dog world that involves big bucks and big names. In two words, it means mergers and acquisitions. And this is how Adobe has helped to keep the PDF format ahead of the competition.

So whether you realize it or not, these 9 acquisitions and mergers by Adobe have played an important role in your work.

1. OCR Systems Inc. (1992) OCR Systems Inc. provided the technology that gave birth to the question, ‘is it a native or scanned PDF?’ Their technology is what first made it possible to manipulate scanned documents into PDF.

2. Aldus Corp. (1994) This merger essentially brought PostScript--and hence the PDF, to the desktop. Creating, viewing, publishing. . . . Let’s face it, where would the PDF be without a desktop application to create one?

3. Accelio Corp. (2002) Digital forms users can submit are now a reality. Thanks in part to Accelio, the company’s server-based solutions technology is used in Adobe LiveCycle Design.

4. Yellow Dragon Software Corp. (2003) Now a combination of PDF and XML is being commonly being used for exchanging business data. Yellow Dragon, a maker of XML messaging and metadata software, palyed a key role in adding the backbone electronic business XML (ebXML) scheme to the PDF.

5. QLink Technologies, Inc.(2004) This merger contributed their Java-based workflow technology for building Intelligent document processing applications. Undoubtedly, you’ve probably already filled out a PDF form that has gone through a processing system built with the technology from QLink.

6. OKYZ S.A. (2004) Although not much detail was released about this acquisition at the time, OKYZ S.A. allowed Adobe to make use of the 3D technology that’s now a big part of its Acrobat line.

7. Macromedia, Inc. (2005) A big one. How big? So big that without it, it’d mean no support for Flashpaper, no mobile PDFs, no online collaboration, and worse, no media-rich PDFs. . . .

8. Trade & Technologies France (TTF) (2006) You wanted those 3D graphic models in PDF? Well, TTF provided the technology needed to convert 3D models to PDF with CAD translators.

9. FileLine DRM Division of Navisware (2006) FileLine DRM contributes to Adobe’s LiveCycle Policy Server that gives you the dynamic security control your PDF files use. Can you picture the PDF without the security it’s known for? I don’t think anyone can.


On the Adobe site, it says that around 10% of the file documents found online are PDFs. Now while that may seem like a small percentage, 10% of how many millions of online documents can add up to a very large number. With all the technology that’s added to the format, is it any wonder?

Unsurprisingly, OCR is consistently a hot topic in PDF and the PDF user mind in general. In paper intense work environments, PDF conversion and OCR engines have proven to be a successful work-around for transferring paper files into word processing applications. Thus, with the help of scanners and the PDF format, any and all types of paper work can be done electronically and efficiently. Or can it?


While trying to integrate and transfer every non-digital working habit into an electronic equivalent, there are still some things that just can’t be done with ease using the same everyday tools. For instance, what about converting hand printed/written documents?


Three Flavours Of OCR


Many of you have probably wondered why such a thing can’t be done with the OCR technology in PDF conversion products. Well, this is because OCR technology and devices are only capable of recognizing the machine printed characters and fonts. And seeing as how the number of documents that are being scanned in are usually typewritten, OCR is employed in almost all cases.


In other cases, there are documents that contain handwritten sections and/or fields that are used for collecting data—a thing being slowly superseded by the fill-able PDF form. You can create a digital copy from such a document simply by scanning it in, right? Yes. However, it requires a different recognition technology altogether. Using OCR, you can perhaps get maybe one letter to “OCR” into ASCII, if it’s printed clearly and written in ink that’s thick enough to be read. But that’s about it. This is where another flavor of OCR comes in: Intelligent Character Recognition.


ICR is a more advanced form of OCR that translates hand printed letters into digital ASCII equivalents. This version of OCR is primarily used for processing applications and forms on which you “print clearly” and place individual letters in boxes. This structured method of reading a hand printed document is one of the major limitations of the technology, but controls and reduces the amount of human errors that cause misinterpretations.


In addition, there are documents that contain handwriting—aka cursive writing. Can recognition on such documents be performed? The answer: Yes. The third flavor of OCR is IR (Intelligent Recognition), the latest generation of OCR technology to date. This is used to read unconstrained writing (text not contained in boxes) and uses the same methods to translate the characters into ASCII text. From my online searching, there are a good number of companies that provide full fledged OCR/ICR/IR solutions, which can be integrated with digital workflows.


Thus, if you’re looking to OCR handwritten PDFs, you’ll be sorely disappointed. The ability to do everything and anything with technology is perhaps the ultimate goal for developers and users. Practicing it, on the other hand, is perhaps the ideal goal for every worker bee out there. It’s sad to say, but there are some cases in which you can only do so much.

While there are avid Adobe users and experts who are attending the Adobe MAX 2007 conference who know the PDF inside out, there may be some of you out there just getting to know the PDF up close and personal. For those not getting a chance to attend, this will be a perfect opportunity to take a look at the innovative PDF on a smaller scale.

What can the PDF do? You already know the basics—you can send, print, convert and save a PDF file. You can even use the format for online publishing, capturing web pages and maintaining master copies. What else is there?
Here are a few other things the PDF can do which (perhaps) you never knew. The format can. . .

1) Contain different documents in a single PDF file. Known as a PDF package, it can contain multiple documents that can be printed individually or altogether while retaining different security properties. Thus, as your work can include other document and file formats, so can the PDF.

2) Let you collaborate with others online. This capability has been highlighted as one of the major features to come out with the latest version of PDF. Being able to start meetings from within the Adobe Reader, Adobe Connect is an easy interactive way in which to communicate in real time over a PDF document.

3) Save the data you type into PDF forms within the reader. This interactive PDF functioning allows you to type in a form, save the data, and complete it at a later time. On an enterprise level workflow, the PDF from can be downloaded from a website, filled in, saved and submitted instantly back to the company’s server, saving everyone time and money.

4) Have its contents read out loud by using Read Out Loud. Read Out Loud isn’t a plug-in or device you need to install. It’s an option in the Adobe Reader’s view menu that allows you to listen to the contents of the active PDF page. Provided that you have a well tagged PDF, the Reader can read the entire document out loud.

5) Support dynamic 3D work, such as rotating 3D objects and separating layers of image data. The complex rendering of 3D models and minute detail of which the PDF is capable allows engineering based drawings to be shared in a format versatile and suitable enough to be shared among manufacturers, clients, and consultants.

6) Support a number of multimedia. This list of supportable multimedia includes elements such as video, animation, audio and games. Contrary to belief, the PDF is not a static format. Although it preserves information, it’s also a dynamic one.

7) Be created from scratch. In general, PDFs are usually created from other already existing documents whether in digital or hard copy. Now with the latest version of Acrobat, you can create a simple PDF document from a single blank PDF page.

8 ) Store complex and high resolution images. Thanks to the PDF, print publishers and photographers can be guaranteed that their digital images stay sharp and clear without any discolouration. For you, the fact that the PDF can preserve quality photos and images means that you now have a creative use for the PDF as a digital photo album as well.

9) Archive your important emails. Thus far, the PDF has been used to archive important business and government records. However, this ability can be extended to emails. A PDF document can be created from email messages within your very own client email program. Click on the email and, provided that you have Acrobat installed, you can convert it into a PDF file.

10) Act as a full screen kiosk slideshow. With its capabilities for graphics, and presentational focus on content, the PDF can act as a presentation slideshow complete with sound. A PDF document can be made to open in full screen mode, scroll automatically, and looped.

As you can see, this version of PDF is focused around improving the user experience with more dynamic, interactive and versatile features. And all these features and functions are just for the current PDF specification. Can’t wait to see where PDF functionality is headed to next!