Looking to keep up with PDFs in 2010?

With the speed at which documents are making their way online— file hosts, document search engines, online processing, and real-time collaboration, you might want to get your PDFs browser-friendly. 

Admittedly, the PDF format isn’t well received when it comes to viewing it in a browser.  Download times, a heavy GUI, and an overly long scrolling document are the top 3 turn-offs users are looking to avoid. If you need a quick solution to any one of these, here’s a neat tool that’ll take your PDFs and turn them into viewer-friendly file.

Last week, you read about the advantages and disadvantages of Flash—about its versatility, its application on the Web and its integration with Acrobat.

Yet, despite the fact that Flash based web applications, PDF documents and websites are now more interactive, colorful and dynamic than ever; they still struggle with one important feature--Search Engine Visibility. Webmasters with Flash content on their websites have always been presented with SEO challenges.

Due to the lack of search engine friendliness, most developers and webmasters have avoided using Flash content on their websites and web published PDFs.

Let’s take a more detailed look at a few SEO disadvantage points of Flash as well as a few strategies that are improving the visibility of your Flash content for Search Engines.

Before the release of Flash, websites and web pages used to be very simple, dull and boring containing plain text, static images, and the occasional video. From videos to games and from interactive widgets to presentations; Flash is being used everywhere.

As the current leading solution for delivering interactive content, Flash has even pervaded into the PDF sphere. Adobe has made it simple for anyone to incorporate Flash components within a PDF file with everyday applications like Acrobat 9.  

Interested in creating an interactive PDF with Flash for your website? There are a few things you should know first.

In this two part blog posting, we take a closer look at Flash: its impact on the Web, its integration with Acrobat and finally, its visibility with search engines while in the PDF format. So let’s take a look at how Flash has changed the PDF scene.

In the world of multi-tasking gadgets where your phone can replace more devices than you can carry, your Sony PSP gaming console can also do just as much. It not only plays simple video games, but can also store images, mp3 files, let you network, watch movies and a whole lot more.

Because earlier PSP firmware can be hacked, users have extended the device beyond its original capabilities to include a whole slew of applications that have nothing to do with video gaming at all. And I just found out that you can even extend them to viewing PDF files with an application called bookr.

Whether you think about it or not, most of the web content you save in a PDF is excess material you don’t ever really need. Did you really need those 7 extra paragraphs? The picture of an ugly toad in the corner? The web page ads?

If you ever wanted more precision with Web to PDF converters, Select,Arrange. is just the thing you’re looking for. With the many Web to PDF applications out there, Select,Arrange. might not sound like anything special.

The digital trend these days is about doing everything—even the littlest things, online. You want to do everything you do on the desktop on the Internet, charge-free, plug-in-free and software-free.

If you’re one of the many who are looking to expand your PDF work online, you might want to check out A.nnotate.

A.nnotate is a handy online service that lets you annotate your PDF files. The service is perfect if you review PDFs on a regular basis, need a backup solution for desktop PDF software or need constant access to annotation functionality.

Reading PDFs on your mobile device is one thing. But being able to create them is another. If you’ve got a cell phone or PDA that has a built in digital camera, then you’ve got the essential tools needed for creating a PDF file on the go.

What Is scanR?

With the online service of US based company, scanR, you can create scanned PDFs from photos of whiteboards, business cards and paper documents taken with your cell phone camera or a digital camera.

So instead of manually recording information, copying out complex whiteboard diagrams or relying on scanning devices and desktop software, you can simply take a picture of it.

Before and after shots of a document conversion

(Images from scanr.com)

Everyone is looking for software alternatives these days. It’s a given fact with postings in the blogosphere like �10 Alternatives to (enter software here)�. Well, Adobe has been busy this month with new releases and one of them is Acrobat.com, a website that may be the alternative you’re looking for.

Acrobat.com is a bundle of online services of Adobe software tools you use every day- file sharing and storage, PDF converter, online word processor and even web conferencing. So how does Acrobat.com online stack up against Adobe
desktop software?

If asked to name your number one pet peeve about Adobe Reader or Acrobat, chances are you’d single out the large download size and slow start up speed for both.

Acrobat with all its advanced features is crammed into 320 MB. The Adobe Reader size itself is currently at 22.4 MB from the Adobe download page (and that’s without the Adobe Media Player addition of 12.3 MB). These sizes can mean the difference between a quick couple of seconds or a couple of seconds to get a cup of coffee.

As computer users, we’ve become overly concerned with turning paper work into digital files that we sometimes forget that there are documents and written content that have never been paper to begin with.

For instance, the RSS feeds you check in with on a daily basis, although treated and read like newspapers, were never meant to be made into newspapers. Or were they?

Whether its Computerworld, TechCrunch, Reuters, or the Investintech blog you subscribe to, as long as it has an RSS feed, FeedJournal can turn it into your own personalized PDF newspaper.

Every Wednesday night I go to a writing seminar held by Canadian novelist, film critic and journalist, David Gilmour, who is the Writer in Residence at the University of Toronto this year. The seminar is made up of 16 aspiring writers willing to share and discuss their own pieces of fictional prose with tips and advice from Mr. Gilmour himself at the head of the table.

Looking for something to read? A magazine perhaps? If so, then you might be interested in checking out PDF-mags.com.

Devoted entirely to supporting PDF magazines from all over the world, PDF-mags.com is a web portal with a good resource of links and information to different PDF magazines and the companies that publish them.

But a bit of a warning--their magazine stock isn’t exactly your the run-of-the-mill news stand collection that includes The New Yorker, People, GQ, Rolling Stone, Fortune and Times. On their site, you’ll find PDF magazines from all over the world that focus primarily on art, graphic design, illustration and urban culture.

However, PDF-mags.com’ s categories also range from cars and Linux to poetry and travelling. So finding a PDF magazine to suit your taste buds shouldn’t be too hard. If you look around, you’ll even catch a glimpse of the Adobe Magazine for Creative Professionals.

PDF-mags.com is also a site dedicated to connecting its visitors and its contributers. They post up regular updates, offer RSS subscription feeds, and regularly post submission calls from PDF magazine publishers looking for new and innovative content.

If you're interested in getting your work published, visit the site’s submission page.

‘Til next time!

The great thing about the Internet is that there are so many ways in which you can easily gain your 15 minutes of fame. Whether you post a video to Youtube, create your own website, or sign up for Facebook,  you can get yourself out there easily and for free.

The same goes for publishing  PDF files. For this, there’s Scribd.

Huh? Scrib-what?

 If you haven’t  heard about it, here’s a section quoted from the website:

 “Part of the idea behind Scribd is that everyone has a lot of documents sitting around on their computers that only they can read.  With Scribd we hope to unlock this information by putting it on the web.�

Now although this statement may sound a bit paradoxical when you think about it in terms of your own protected PDF files,  it may be just what you‘re looking for if you need to get some PDF content out on there on the Internet.

Scribd is a convenient online publishing resource that’s basically a collection of uploaded user content that can range anywhere from sheet music and poetry to health reports and political essays.

And unlike most online sites and services, you don’t need to sign up  for an account to publish your documents. You can publish them anonymously. However, in doing so you’ll be forfeiting any ownership over the posted material.

By signing up with a Scribd account, you can specify copyright licenses for your material.  In addition, because linking in documents is prohibited, having an account is also a way of posting up your contact information for viewers interested in the files you’ve uploaded. 

Getting Online Exposure

In terms of online exposure, the files that are uploaded are indexed by major search engines, such as Google, with a designated public URL.  Also, documents are organized by categories, tags, ratings and reviews, which make your documents easily accessible in a variety of ways on the Scribd website itself.

This accessibility also extends to file formats. The PDF content  published on Scribd can be automatically converted and made available in other digital formats (.doc, .ppt, xls, .txt, .jpg, .gif, etc.).  You can  even convert  other documents you want to view and download into the PDF format. 

The fun part about this site is that it’s a social network. As a user community, Scribd has the usual networking bells and whistles— RSS feeds, emailing and messaging features, the ability to bookmark and flag your favourites, spaces for adding groups and friends, and even shareable options for digg, reddit, stumbleupon, and del.icio.us.

It’s a publishing service, user community and content resource centre in one. 

Check out  Scribd for yourself.

 

 

Always on the look out for anything that has to do with Adobe and the PDF, I am almost never disappointed.

New in the Adobe Labs is Adobe SHARE, a web service application that allows you to organize, publish and share your documents online. With all the buzz about shifting desktop functionality to the Web, here is one service you get to see developing in the works.



I gave it a quick test drive and found it simple to use and easy to navigate. Adobe users will be happy to know that the Interface contains the same sleek black look and easy feel as the Digital Editions, Reader and Acrobat Interface.

The usage is also simple: browse for and upload a file, type in the recipient’s email address, type in the message and click on Send. The recipients will receive an email—not with an attachment, but with a URL link to your application (read: account page) where they can access and download them.

Here are a list of key features:

• Support for PDF, Word, HTML , JPG, GIF, PNG

• Send your file to any number of recipients

• Organize received and sent documents into collections

• Create a contacts list from the recipients you’ve sent documents to

• Quick access thumbnail views of your documents

• Apply access restrictions that allow open or limited access to regular and secured files

• Library file search

• Post document links or Flash previews of documents on wikis, websites and blogs

• Basic viewing tools for image files

• 1GB of storage space


If there is one pet peeve I have, it’s not being able to have access to the files I need. I am ridiculously dependent upon my USB key that comes equipped with a little holder/clip that I attach to my keys. If I forget my keys, I’m done for. So having access to a service like this when I’m online and can share files with myself makes things a lot easier.

This web service is worth checking out whether you’ll need it or not, though you’ll need an Adobe ID in order to access and make use of the current beta version. It’s free of charge and brought to you by a wiki development site-- meaning you can share and discuss your comments and opinions on the service with the development team.

And saving the best for last, according to the SHARE page and SHARE Beta blog, another thing to watch out for in the future with SHARE is the ability to create and convert documents to PDF!


All for now.

Is it a weird question to ask what Al Gore has to do with the PDF? The answer: not at all.

Throughout his political career, Al Gore has been a long time supporter and advocate of environmental issues. He is to Global Warming what Martha Stewart is to homemakers, raising environmental awareness since the late 1970’s.

Since then, he has participated and supported countless environmental events. With programs such as GLOBE in 1994, his Digital Earth in 1998 and the cable television network, Current TV in 2005, Al Gore has kept up to date with growing use of technology and media.

And to his credit, media technology and the Internet have proven to be a huge factor in raising climate change awareness and, more importantly, in providing a way in which it can be improved.


The Paperwork Reduction Act And The PDF

As an early pioneer of the “Information Superhighway� (his coined term), Al Gore’s push for The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 was ultimately a push for digital workflows within the government. The act aimed to make government information economically and efficiently accessible through information technology, and thereby lessening the consumption of paper documents.


Keep in mind that in 1995 Adobe’s first version of Acrobat had already been out on the market for two years. And with Adobe’s vision for the technology to integrate people, information and processes across a spectrum of industries, it’s easy to see how the PDF format could be used as part of that strategy to prevent Global Warming.

So, with his support of policies such as this one, Al Gore is also essentially a supporter of the PDF format’s basic goals as well.


Putting It All together

Lately, Al Gore has moved from political candidate to celebrity figure. In addition to his political career, he’s been appointed director of Apple Inc. and Senior Advisor to Google (during a time of Google Maps and iPods, that’s big), and made TV appearances on shows such as the Tonight Show, Oprah and Saturday Night Live.

And now, an Academy Award winner, his appearance at the Adobe Acrobat & PDF Conference will bring a little more to the PDF, which will definitely help in making a not so exciting format. . . well, exciting.