blog index - Diversions

How Does Adobe Help You With Your Taxes?

nospam@example.com (Reena) — Fri, 4 Apr 2008 14:07:41 -0500

It’s tax time and the 2008 deadline is fast approaching.Are you ready?

While now is the time to start worrying about your number crunching skills and your organizational skills, one thing you don’t have to worry about with Adobe around is your record keeping skills—with the help of the PDF file format.

Whether you do your taxes by hand or have someone do them for you, at one point or another, your tax forms will be touched by Adobe technology somewhere along the way. How?

There’s an interesting tax filing web tour over on the Adobe site that shows a behind the scenes look at how LiveCycle ES and other Adobe technology can play a role in your tax filing and tax form reviews.

Through a fictional scenario, it shows you:

-How Flex is used to build applications for constructing self serve tax filing and tax review
workflows

-What happens when you enter data into interactive forms or online questionnaires

-Multiple ways of processing submitted forms

-When Acrobat and Reader are used for working on your tax forms

-What security features keep your tax information secure

-The difference between a wet signature and a digital signature on your tax forms

-When and how 2D barcodes are used

-What types of organized forms processing workflows are possible with LiveCycle ES and Flex

Tax Tips and PDF Tips

No doubt, that when the deadline gets close, you’ll want to file those taxes the quickest and easiest way possible. Just remember that it won’t do you any good if you’re careless. So here are a few tax tips and PDF tips to keep in mind.

-Update all your PDF software before you even begin to open or fill out interactive forms.

-If you’re going to use tax-prep software such as TurboTax, H&R Block Taxcut or TaxACT, make sure you know how both desktop and online versions of the software export your returns in the PDF format.

-Stay linked to the IRS gateway page for PDF tax publications and forms for easy access the following year.

-When saving your tax returns as PDFs, make use of strong security features such as passwords and encryptions.

-If you have older versions of tax software that are no longer supported or compatible with other viewing software, check out TaxPrinter, an online service that will help you access old personal fax files by converting them into the PDF format for you.

-When you write a check to the IRS, be sure to write it out to the “Internal Revenue Service”. Three letters, if carelessly written, can easily be made into a “MRS.”, “MR.S--“ or “IRIS”, leaving thieves with access to your money.

Hope that when the April 15 deadline hits, you’ll be ready.

Putting The PDF Into Perspective

nospam@example.com (Reena) — Tue, 1 Apr 2008 08:35:42 -0500

When you think PDF, what comes to mind?—Adobe? Reader? Acrobat? “Oh, no”?

The format has indeed gained such a reputation for being manipulated too easily and frequently in the past that the latter probably came more naturally to you than the others. But this fact hasn’t turned the PDF into a has-been format yet.

In fact, despite the PDF hacks—or in spite of them, users and groups are still looking to the PDF as a digital solution. How come? Why is such a vulnerable format still in the picture? What keeps it going?

Check out The PDF Paradox: How Does A Risky Format Draw Us Into Its Ecosystem?--an article that tries to answer just that by putting the PDF into perspective.

With short glances and spotlights on PDF innovations, uses and technologies, the article goes beyond "Adobe”, “Reader” and “Acrobat” to look at the bigger picture—the PDF ecosystem, where the format takes centre stage.

Why Do We Need the PDF?

nospam@example.com (Reena) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 11:19:21 -0500

This may seem like a rhetorical question, but is it? If you’ve ever questioned the need for the PDF, here’s the answer.

I came across this video on YouTube posted up by Adobe veteran Lori DeFurio, entitled “Introducing Adobe Acrobat 1.0”. The video is a “mock-umentary” presenting a comical “day in the life of” look at the kind of office workflow we’d be stuck with if it weren’t for the PDF file format.

You just can’t help but laugh at how these office workers get their job done—because at one point or another, you probably did the same thing.

Enjoy!

The PDF: Trendy Or Not?

nospam@example.com (Reena) — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 14:13:05 -0500

If you’re bored to death with articles and spotlight pieces that sum up the past year, here’s an interesting and fun way of doing it yourself: Google Trends. Ever check it out?

Google Trends is a Google Labs project aimed at keeping in track with the latest in user search trends according to time frame, region and sub-region. You can find out visually how many times a certain topic was searched for.

In addition, it’ll provide you with a news-reference-volume graph, which shows you how many times your search subject occurred in Google News and major headlines that went hand-in-hand with that search trend.

(*Disclaimer: Because this is still a Google Labs project still being developed, results are not always accurate nor are they the definitive word on user habits. However, according to the Google Team, they are “updating the information provided by Google Trends daily”.)

Just typing in a few search terms, like “Iraq”, “Britney Spears”, “mountain climbing” will generate interesting results.

So what does a “PDF” search trend for 2007 look like? Take a look.

Take a look at the news reference volume graph as it hits a peak with the news of the PDF submission for ISO certification. It’s search popularity hits a plateau. A natural occurrence with headlines being posted everywhere?

Moreover, Google Trends lets you keep “up to date” with the past as well with an option for viewing older search trends—a good way to compare and contrast the past and the present. And why not with the PDF?

Here’s a look at 2006—the year of the Microsoft-XPS kerfuffle.

The search volume is pretty much up there consistently, until June when it started to dip a bit with the announcement that MS was going to pull out the PDF support from Office 2007. Search trends that reflect the climax and resolution of the conflict?

By the way, in case you couldn’t tell, I am NOT a statistics analyst by any means. However, I think you can get a sense of how the “trendiness” of our beloved format comes about in relation to news events.

You can see PDF search popularity dipping and climbing accordingly—and that’s just with the term “PDF” alone. Try out "PDF" variations (PDF documents, PDF converters, PDF software, PDF. . . .) and see what comes up.

So was 2007 a better, hotter, trendier PDF year than 2006? What’s your verdict?

Happy New Year’s from Investintech.com!

Adobe’s 25th Year—The Best Of Times And The Worst Of Times

nospam@example.com (Reena) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:49:14 -0500

From the looks of it, it seems that this year had everything for Adobe: ISO standardization, marketing innovations, and product launches.

Yet, Adobe’s enormous successes were all but equaled by the controversies and technical vulnerabilities that sprang up. In short, it turned out to be the best of times and the worst of times for Adobe.

In the annual tradition of looking back over the past year, here are some Adobe highlights from 2007—the good, the bad and the ugly.

PDFs ISO Certification

(January)

Having PDF 1.7 as an ISO standard should make life easier for organizations that need to comply with government-mandated strategies to use the format.

Indeed, Adobe and Microsoft were racing to see who could make it easiest in 2007 as the Adobe/Microsoft competition got even closer with the PDF spec submission to ISO, the OOXML fast track submission, and the release of MS Vista with its PDF/XPS creation functionality. 2008 will definitely see more of this with the race for online applications that’s already begun.

Adobe CS3

(April)

A customer-inspired release, Adobe Creative Suite 3 presents an unprecedented variety of integrated configurations and stand-alone products, with comprehensive support for the most cutting-edge workflows for any design discipline.

2007 was the year for graphic designing products, and it was backed by a whopping product release known as Adobe Creative Suite 3. Taking image editing applications to a designing level especially catered to the user, Adobe indirectly took the PDF to another level as well by integrating streamlined PDF support.

Adobe Acrobat and PDF Conference 2007

(May)

I’m still processing all the things that went on during the conference, but this year’s conference struck me as an evolution in process. The conference itself was broader than last year, as it included all of the creative aspects – in fact, it was marketed as the CRE8 Conference.

2007 was also a great year for Investintech.com. We not only participated in conferences dedicated to pushing PDF innovation, but also did some innovating of our own with the Able2Extract product line: we added image conversion and PDF form creation.

LiveCycle Enterprise Suite

(June)

By transforming processes such as account enrollment, claims processing or guided self service into engaging applications, businesses and governments can improve customer service, decrease costly cycle times, and manage information faster and more accurately.

The release of LiveCycle ES further enhanced workflows that efficiently process interactive PDF forms. Yet, with all its benefits, how could this service/software not enhance more than just PDF workflows? Adobe PDF technology is always aimed at doing more than just what’s required for the PDF; it does what the user requires.

Digital Editions

(June)

The public beta of Adobe Digital Editions generated more than 300,000 downloads in less than six months.

This is a 2007 product release that will no doubt further promote the PDF and PDF e-book as a digital commodity in 2008. In essence, it’s a super Reader being the ubiquitous software it was meant to be.

PDF Spam

(July)

As PDF usage continues its ubiquitous growth, unfortunately so does the spammers creative use of it to engage readers to buy into bogus offerings.

PDF spam campaigns happened more than once this year with July being one of those times. This PDF pump-and-dump spamming period put all PDF users at odds with their own files—not a good time for the format’s popularity, or its reputation as a trusted format.

Kinko’s Fedex Controversy

(August)

I was hoping that Adobe would take real advantage of the hubbub and create a new, more platform-oriented feature. The timely burial of “The Kinko’s Edition” could be converted to a significant opportunity.

The outcome of this innovation didn’t turn out as expected. As a consequence of singling out Kinko’s Fedex, a major controversy between Adobe and print publishers ensued, leading to the removal of the functionality altogether. A lesson for future endeavors in 2008? Or, as Duff Johnson puts it, “a significant opportunity”? It’s always hard to tell at the moment.

XSS and PDF backdoors

(September)

I am closing the season with the following HIGH Risk vulnerability: Adobe Acrobat/Reader PDF documents can be used to compromise your Windows box. Completely!!! Invisibly and unwillingly!!! All it takes is to open a PDF document or stumble across a page which embeds one.

When it seemed like it couldn’t get worse, more format vulnerabilities popped up. Unlike the PDF spamming campaign, this PDF setback also involved other software application vulnerabilities. The event underscored a digital irony for PDF users: what was once used to protect their data was now used to exploit it.

Bruce Chizen Announces His Retirement

(November)

"Bruce Chizen's vision has helped transform Adobe from a company that was known mainly for its popular design products into one of the largest and most diversified software companies in the world," Chuck Geschke and John Warnock, Adobe's board chairmen and the company's co-founders, said in a joint statement.

With more than 10 years invested in the company, Chizen announced his retirement. It was a major shocker of the year that will significantly shape the company’s future. In short—the vision is shifting, the company is metamorphosing.

Yahoo! Ads

(November)

The service could hold great promise for PDF publishers, which are trying to find new revenue streams for their content and are tired of running ads by selling ad space and linking to the ad.

This marketing innovation leaves 2007 on a cliffhanger: How will it turn out for Adobe? Controversy or success? Will 2008 be any different? Or will it contain a bit more drama?

Thus, Adobe’s 25^th year ends.

Will You Remember Desktop Applications?

nospam@example.com (Reena) — Fri, 9 Nov 2007 16:44:25 -0500

Do you remember what it was like using 3 ½ floppy disks? Typewriters? Rotary dial telephones? Audio cassettes? Will you remember what it was like to use Desktop applications?

I’m a late bloomer when it comes to technology, so it’s actually been ten years since I first used a 3 ½ floppy disk. Up until then I’d been using a typewriter for high school essays and papers. Back then, typos were costly on a final typewritten draft, something which the backspace key on a computer now eliminates. Most of you can probably remember even more “old school” ways of getting things done.

Changes come slowly, then gradually, and then finally all of a sudden, over a day, a month, or even a few years. Well, in ten years, a lot can happen. This is the time frame Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen predicted for a complete shift from the computer desktop to the World Wide Web.

Articles on tech sites in the past month, have been citing Chizen’s predictionfrom his question and answer period at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. And over the span of ten years, you can expect to see this predicted shift.

You can see it happening right now. You can see it happening with Google and its number of web services and mashups. And, much like Google in the early days of the web, Adobe is aiming to be a major player as an online service provider, taking a major step into the Web 2.0 market.

So far it’s latest moves have been a gesture towards this. Their latest SHARE beta project in Adobe Labs is geared towards sharing, accessing, viewing and organizing your documents online as a free web-based service.

In addition, Adobe’s already offering some of its digital editing applications online as services. Even the PDF format is still being improved and innovated with the still on-going Mars project.

Yet as exciting as the prospect of seeing how far we can go using the web as platform is, it’ll be just as demanding in adjusting to the changes it’ll generate. It’ll mean changes in the way you work (as always), in how companies carry out e-commerce and product sales, in server-client processing technology, and further changes in document exchange and storage.

Microsoft, of course, is also looking to gain ground in the Web 2.0 future with its own online storage service, Windows Live SkyDrive, which has been in beta form since late September. Thus, even competition between companies and the services they create is going to evolve.

In my last posting, I looked at the how the interconnectedness of Web 2.0 made an impact on the changes in the PDF format. You can think of it now as a sneak peek of what to expect from the bigger picture. If desktop applications can achieve the same dynamic, connected and richer quality the PDF has acquired for online usage, it‘ll be interesting to see what Adobe will do with its desktop applications.

How Has Web 2.0 Made An Impact On The PDF Format?

nospam@example.com (Reena) — Mon, 5 Nov 2007 17:32:01 -0500

If you were to come up with a good sampling of trends you see online, what would be included in that list? Facebook, YouTube, G-mail, ebay? Perhaps Yahoo!, Google Maps and Wiki sites as well. Let’s not forget the infinite number of blogs, RSS feeds, tagging, podcasting and bookmarking sites that are out there. If you’ve listed these, then you’ve listed a good sample of Web 2.0 elements.

Web 2.0 is a term that you’ve probably seen around on the Internet, and perhaps a term that is a bit obscured. Coined by Tim O’Reilly in 2004, the term encompasses a broad definition. But in a nutshell, it refers to the general trend in which the World Wide Web is going—a more connected and dynamic direction than ever before.

Broadly speaking, Web 2.0 places emphasis on the web as platform. Moreover, the user participation that enriches it, the networks that add to it, the tech innovation that motivates it, and the data that drives it, are all hallmarks of a Web 2.0 application. The result of such a combination? A web environment in which users can do more.

From just that short description alone, you can see that it’s a Web 2.0 world out there. And it’s seeping into the PDF world simply by influencing our digital habits and interests. For example, web designing tools are turning users into developers. If you’re a downloader, you’re a server as well. Desktop publishing software can make the user both publisher and reader at the same time. These desktop applications, in turn, are then gradually shifted to web applications. Whether or not you’re an avid user of the PDF, you can see that these characteristics play a role in how we look at the file format in a different way, how it’s used, how it’s innovated and how it can be made more efficient online.

Web 2.0—It’s presence, It’s Impact, And It’s Influence On The PDF

Along with this Web 2.0 growth, Adobe has been taking PDF and its authoring tools and combining it with the web tools of Macromedia. This is forming an important relationship between the PDF and online content. And this is why the PDF is gaining a foothold as Web 2.0 further develops. Adobe’s AIR is a runtime client that can render PDF, HTML and Flash content that can work external to the browser and as a desktop application connected to the Web while still taking advantage of your local storage and hard drive. This is just an example of PDF technology being leveraged for the web. There is so much PDF content on the web because the PDF is accomplishing what other formats can’t do online.

For instance, if you take a look at the main use of PDFs today, three words that might come to mind are: Interactive Document Processing. This is an efficient way of connecting both business workflows and the Web to each other. The PDF format is becoming the interface between businesses and users. Just because of the sheer growth of the Internet and the wide user-base websites have established, it’s now convenient that tax forms be downloaded in PDF, or that applications be filled out online. Document processing and dynamic security control is what software and online services like LiveCycle Design ES and Adobe Document Server is geared towards--creating and connecting custom tailored backend systems with the client user.

Real time collaboration is now a major feature that enhances PDF workflows. The format is no longer a static virtual page , but a dynamic virtual space. This connectedness is also accompanied by hyperlinking, a thing to which other online documents is not immune. The format actually goes beyond the identity of a closed format and connects to the web and to users online. However, what makes the PDF more unique is that the Adobe Reader is feature rich. Reader 8.1 can now support RSS feeds in XML format, a more dynamic and heavy duty linking than simple hyperlinking can provide. A Reader can keep you in touch with dynamic content that’s constantly updated.

Another aspect of today’s web is the “openness” of software and technology that is now becoming the norm for Web 2.0. It generates user input and contribution that drives the innovation and integration of different technologies. Software manufacturing is becoming a communal project. The Adobe Mars project, for instance, still in beta status, is an example of this communal production. In one sense, Web 2.0 has made PDF users participants, third party developers and innovators all in one.

The user perspective on the PDF is changing drastically in that anyone can create one for any purpose, not just for those dealing with top corporation documents. This allows users to spontaneously create and share PDF files as you would normally email media or image files. PDFs are being uploaded and downloaded publicly on webpages in the form of documents and data containers.

In one form or another, the PDF is being developed in stride with Web 2.0 in mind. The PDF has gradually shifted its position and is a far from what it was three versions ago, let alone the last version. If Web 2.0 is a vision of what the web could be, then the PDF format is a vision of what Web 2.0 documents should be.

9 Key Mergers & Acquisitions that Made Adobe Acrobat a Technology Leader

nospam@example.com (Reena) — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:42:36 -0500

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?

Why Performing OCR On Handwriting Doesn’t Work

nospam@example.com (Reena) — Fri, 5 Oct 2007 17:47:11 -0400

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.

Ten Things You Never Knew A PDF Could Do

nospam@example.com (Reena) — Mon, 1 Oct 2007 15:12:21 -0400

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!

How del.icio.us Can Help PDF Users In Need

nospam@example.com (Reena) — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 15:09:00 -0400

Using the web to do my research, I often find the most interesting PDF resources and nick-nacks second hand. That is, from following posted links on the web pages I’m currently browsing at the time. This can become a long “six degrees of separation”, with its many twists and turns (thank goodness for the browser history). But this can also become easier when you find them linked on social bookmarking websites, such as del.icio.us.

If you’re familiar with the site, then you already know that all you need to do is set up an account to start bookmarking and organizing your favourite sites under a customized system of tags. The beauty about this is that it’s a network. You also get to see how many other users are bookmarking the same content as you are. On this social scene, networking means that you can branch off and check out other users’ bookmarks, or send and receive them from members in your network. You can even say that it’s a place where you can create a personalized web search engine, all linked and tagged to different pages you frequently visit.

And amidst the tagging clouds and bookmarking users, you can find numerous links to web content regarding the PDF. From related PDF products and websites to tutorials and books, Adobe has its own del.icio.us page, which makes it easier for you to look for Adobe content and PDF information. The page is choked with helpful links and user resources gathered from all over the web. The page is maintained by the Design Center editors of Adobe, and is set up for anyone looking for everything and anything Adobe and PDF.

And another helpful tip for aspiring bookmark worms: think PDF next time you post a web page to del.icio.us. From my experience and from searching other user pages, online PDF files containing URLs can be bookmarked. This comes in real handy if you need to quickly reference manuals and forms from a different computer. However, keep in mind that you may need to bookmark the gateway page instead as the file may be moved or the link may be deleted altogether overtime.

That’s it for this week. In the meantime, happy bookmarking!

5 Ways To Help The Environment From Right In Front Of Your Computer

nospam@example.com (Reena) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 15:00:26 -0400

Recently in the news, there have been stories about the new iPhone—the features, the how to’s, and the user favourites. Yet among these stories, there are also ones that don’t paint such an amusing picture as the rest of them do. While the gadget is highly loved for its many sleek and cool features, the size of the bill isn’t.

The gist (to save you a click): An iPhone user had posted up a video on YouTube showing viewers the length of her phone bill, most of which, according to the news, were recordings of instant data transactions which didn’t incur any costs. The length of this bill was 300 pages.

Being a pay-as-you-go cell phone user myself without a monthly bill in the mail from my service network, I was shocked at seeing a bill that had to be sent in a box. I don’t know if there are other phone/service bills out there like this one. Perhaps there are. But, this iPhone case is the first one that I had ever heard of.

As neat and compact as the iPhone is, its service bill has the potential to outweigh the gadget itself.

Reading from the AT&T site, forum comments, and other articles covering the story, the problem is solved easily enough by changing your billing options to ebilling—or opting to receive a less voluminous “summarized bill” for a small charge instead.

The former seems like a hands down better choice than having to pay for a hard copy of something you could save electronically—and, even more efficiently, in a PDF.

Connection to the topic at hand? If there was ever a real world example on a small scale of how computers could save paper, time, money, and the environment, it was shown in this story.

It’s just a matter of using your computer in the right way to avoid situations that can produce that kind of unnecessary waste. Ebilling is just one of them.

What are other ways in which you can help save the environment from right in front of your computer?

Here are five ways to get you started.

1)Work Digitally—A popular tip already being practiced. Using word processing and authoring applications saves on the amount of paper used to handwrite numerous drafts. If you have a laptop, portable device or some other electronic recording device, use it to take notes and record meeting minutes instead. Also, try to get in the habit of backing things up with external storage devices instead of in hard copy. When it becomes absolutely necessary to produce a printout, print double-sided copies.

2)Computer Parts—Yes, computers do take up a lot of environmental resources to make, and can create even more pollution than you can reduce. This also goes for getting rid of your old ones. How do you try and solve that one? The phrase, “Reduce, reuse and recycle” also applies to computers. Try out a refurbished computer when shopping for one, or donate and recycle your old one.

3)Subscribe, Download, and Email—Computers are great, if not made, for such things. You can cut down on the amount of garbage produced by software packaging and paper with a click of the mouse. And because the Web is a HUGE network, it’s the number one ideal way to distribute material and reach a wide range of readers on a global level.

4)Work at Home—Everybody’s dream. The best part about working with computers is that you can work from home. Computing technology has made it more than easy enough to access your office PC, communicate online, and collaborate over documents (--in PDF, of course). If you’re at home, there’s no need to drive in and add to the exhaust emissions hovering in the air. The picture perfect job, no?

5)Change Your Computer Habits—You can’t get far in helping the environment without doing so, electronically or not. The most energy being wasted due to computer use will depend upon the way in which you actually use your computer. Here are some energy saver tips to adopt and practice if you’re a Windows user or a Mac user.

Has going tech just been put into a whole new perspective? I think so.

Is The E-Book A Threat To The PDF Industry?

nospam@example.com (Reena) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:21:48 -0400

As more high tech gadgets are coming out to transfer virtually everything in your daily life into the digital, the one tangible thing difficult to transfer completely to the other side is the printed book. A number of formats and companies have been trying though, and Adobe is no exception.

In the past, Adobe’s innovation has enabled the PDF format to remain in the digital pool of format usage. The format has certainly had its share of successfully turning millions of hard copy files into tiny little icons. But, this also goes for the e-book that can contain War and Peace in one single file.

And yet, while the PDF format and formats used for e-books are separated by a fine line, things are rapidly changing in the e-book industry to blur that line more than ever.

The E-book

With today’s digital lifestyle, it’s easy to see how the e-book is advantageous: it’s digital, portable, searchable, interactive and printable. An e-book is aimed at the user’s reading experience first and foremost, and has had one major advantage over the PDF format as an e-book—it reflowed textual content better. Also, e-publishers like Barnes & Noble.com, Peanut Press, and Amazon.com are big name publishers that make it easy for you to access all your favourites with the click of a mouse.

Technology wise, there are many reading devices and software applications that have been created to echo the printed book. MS Reader, Mobipocket, Palmreader, Hiebook—these are just a few of the e-Readers that you can find online. And with them, you can also find many miscellaneous, and some already obsolete, formats.

This was the major setback to emerge in the past—multiple e-book formats. You could have Word and Text documents, HTML, XML, PDF and not to mention the other formats specific to its corresponding e-book reader. Thus, the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), formerly the OEB Forum, developed the Open e-book (OEB) Format in response to the issue, a non-proprietary format based on XML.

It was based on the widely adopted Open e-book Publication Structure (OEBPS), a specification ultimately aimed at the regulation, conformance and uniformity that would reduce the number of formats that publishing companies have to pump out for every reader. These are aspects important to a long shelf life as publishers will go for the choice that means the least amount of cost and effort.

Open XML based open formats are still being developed into more advanced formats, such as the .epub format, by the IDPF group—a group of which Adobe is a current and participating member.

The PDF

By and large, you’ll agree that the PDF is the least desirable format as an e-book. The format is a final paginated format primarily used for printing and PostScript rendering, a format that wasn’t developed with textual reflow in mind in its early beginnings. It’s purpose was always beyond that of leisure reading. Until now.

Of course, the PDF has been used as an e-book format, and has done pretty well considering it was a format used for print publishing. Google’s e-book Search, for instance, has proven to be an example of effectively managing the PDF e-book on a large scale with such a widely used format.

However, the release of Digital Editions marks a change in Adobe’s PDF approach. A few years back Adobe had an Adobe Acrobat e-Reader, that was discontinued in 2003. The Digital Editions now available four years later is not focused so much on the PDF as a format for printing as it is for onscreen viewing.

With the latest tagging features of Adobe Acrobat, users can publish better PDFs with better textual reflow. This re-flow aspect is what makes the reading of PDFs or e-books go smoothly—pages can be flipped continuously and easily without any interruption. Hence, the PDF can now be enhanced for readability on mobile devices, screen readers and e-book readers.

Furthermore, PDFs used as an e-book can be protected with Adobe’s Digital Editions, which works in conjunction with Adobe Digital Editions Protection Technology (ADEPT), a hosted content protection service that guards publishers' rights. Publishers have more incentive to use formats which Digital Editions can support.

Let’s not forget that Adobe is also keeping pace with the XML game. XML is supported within Digital Editions, as well as the new .epub format, making a seamless integration with XML e-books already out there. On a bigger scale, Adobe’s keeping up to date with its Mars Document, an XML representation file format, which will undoubtedly play a huge role in Adobe’s XML position in the future.

And as always, an aspect to factor in is that the PDF is an established de facto, soon to be ISO, standard. This fact goes a long way in securing users’ confidence in Adobe, the company, itself. It has an established consumer base on which to rely on.

Adding all of these points up, you could safely say that Adobe has neatly put itself in a good position to leverage the benefits and advantages of the e-book format and the e-book industry itself.

The Future

While you can’t make solid predictions on the exact role of the e-book in the PDF industry just yet, you can, however, make the solid observation that Adobe does have a knack for turning impending threats into long avenues for innovation.

So, is the e-book a threat to the PDF industry? Hmmm. . . . You make the call.

The ABCs of the PDF: M to O

nospam@example.com (Reena) — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 16:34:01 -0400

A lot has happened with the PDF format in the last year—submission for standardization, release of a new specification, software upgrades, and improvements with graphic and dynamic PDFs. In this series posting, you get a look at the PDF’s recent format competition and past legal issues as well as the other uses of PDF related technology. Here it is.

Macromedia

Adobe Systems, Inc. acquired Macromedia Inc. in 2006 and has, since then, injected Macromedia technology into their software. However, Adobe and Macromedia had come into close, legal contact even before the acquisition—over patent disputes.

The patent dispute according to past articles in early 2000-2002, was over a tabbed palette interface element that was awarded to Adobe. The issue dated back to 1996, right up until 2000, during which time Adobe had confronted Macromedia about the palette’s inclusion in several of the company’s products. Yet, Macromedia’s argument against the suit, filed in August of 2000, was that the patent was invalid. This escalated to a point where Macromedia countersued against Adobe in September 2000 for infringing on three of Macromedia’s own patents. After two years of back and forth legal battles, Adobe won the lawsuit and was awarded 2.8 million.

And five years later, Macromedia is now one of Adobe’s acquisitions. . . .

Native PDFs

As you know, native PDFs are ones that are generated from electronically created documents. Yet, while these native PDFs are beneficial when it comes to conversion, they can also produce just as much legal hubbub as patent disputes can. Moving the ability to create PDF files, or PDF-like formats, directly into the authouring application was definitely a complex issue that became a major headliner in PDF news this year.

Back in February, I wrote three postings on factors that made creating digital documents and native PDFs a more significant matter than ever before. There were the legal issues between Adobe and Microsoft; the PDF specification submission to ISO; and then, there was OpenOffice.org, Microsoft’s word processing app rival whose applications sport ODF creation, a format that became a statewide standard in Massachusetts.

Creating native PDFs and PDF-like formats now involves more politics at the authouring application level. Microsoft has the convenience of a widely used platform, Adobe has the ubiquity as de facto standard, and OpenOffice has the state of Massachusetts. Creating a native PDF, or PDF-like format is now, in one sense, a matter of “moral” choice: are you an Acrobat advocate, a loyal MS Office user, or an open source supporter?

OCR

You know it by its three letter acronym, you know what it does when it comes to converting scanned PDFs. Yet, as a software that literally recognizes and translates digitally imaged characters into character codes (ASCII or Unicode), OCR isn’t just for converting scanned PDFs.

OCR has been used for a wide range of data processing systems. It’s been used by the Standard Oil Company of California for credit card imprints for billing purposes. At the Ohio Bell Telephone Company, OCR was used for reading bill stubs. Even the United States Air Force used OCR for reading and transmitting typewritten messages.

Another big use for OCR technology is postal office work. The first use of OCR in Europe was by the British General Post Office for automating the mail sorting process. OCR scanners read the routing barcodes marked upon the envelopes that are based on corresponding postal codes, resulting in faster organization and shipment times. In 1965, the United States Postal Services adopted the method, followed by Canada Post in 1971.

Today, OCR is being further enhanced as a data input method ranging from simple text to digital scanning processes to sophisticated ICR (Intelligent Character Recognition), a more advanced version of OCR that recognizes hand printed documents.

Whether the PDF world is buzzing with long standing issues from the past or just slowly unfolding with new developments, the PDF world, can be an interesting place, indeed.

Thinking PDF Can Also Mean Thinking Green

nospam@example.com (Reena) — Fri, 11 May 2007 13:17:16 -0400

Sitting by the window in a coffee shop, you always tend to let your gaze fall on whatever happens to be in front of it.

And on one particular day in a coffee shop, I chose to sit by a window with a view of the parking lot. And the asphalt of it was so badly cracked that it formed a good sized puddle of rain water. Of course, being in a parking lot, the surface of the puddle was streaked and polluted with oil and other engine fluids.

And yet, as polluted as it was, this puddle served as the main source of drinking water for a pigeon who drank from it just as you would water from a regular fountain.

The image alone is enough to stop you in your tracks.

So, here I was, thinking about the polluted puddle, the pigeon and, yes, the PDF while drinking my coffee (yes, more often than not, I do think about work outside of work). What does one thing have to do with the other?

Well, there are times when you just can’t help but notice the environmental damage involved with your day to day routine. So, you do what you can to help the environment. You convert to a being a habitual recycler, refrain from littering, commute by public transit, and find ways to conserve energy.

And after all that and a few more habit changes, what else can you do? Answer: use the PDF format.

Using the PDF for a Greener Society

One of the major environmental roles of the PDF is that it lowers the production of paper waste. While there are some document printings you can’t avoid, the PDF still decreases the negative environmental impacts of paper waste.

This is one of the motivations behind the paperless office. Businesses are deploying systems that use PDF technology to save on overhead costs, to work with other processing systems and, most importantly, to cut down on the amount of paper being consumed.

With the PDF, you can cut down on paper consumption when you need to print and fax a single sheet. One sheet will double the waste produced—both on your side and the receiver’s side.

Instead of printing up advertisement flyers and office forms, if companies use the PDF format, they would save on the amount of paper actually used to print and distribute them.

Or, if you read more than one newspaper on a daily basis, subscribe to them online instead. Why read and toss when you can read and delete?

Using the PDF may seem like something on a small scale, but, from an environmental and PDF perspective, it’s something that’ll produce big results. After all, the little things add up, right?

So next time you’re thinking about a greener society (and about cleaner drinking puddles), think PDF.