Planet PDF In-Depth

Is EPUB a better e-book format than PDF?

Rowan Hanna — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

With Apple's recent release of iBooks 2 and a new application called iBooks Author, extra attention is being given to the EPUB file format, a free and open e-book standard by International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). Rowan Hanna attempts to answer the question of whether it is a better format for e-books than PDF.

Possible alternative to Acrobat for Mac users

Ernest Svenson — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Learning how to manipulate PDFs is critical if you want to efficiently capture and process digital information. Acrobat is the most obvious tool for the job, but the story is a bit more complicated for Mac users. If you don't need all of its features, Acrobat Pro is somewhat pricey, and Acrobat Standard is unavailable for Mac systems. PDFforLawyers.com's Ernest Svenson makes a case for his preferred Mac-based Acrobat alternative.

EDITORIAL: The next "PDF-killer"

Dan Shea — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The release of the new Computable Document Format (CDF) has been reported by some as ringing the death-knell of PDF. In this article, Dan Shea talks about the strengths, obstacles and possibilities for the new "PDF-killer".

EDITORIAL: Control versus convenience with eBooks

Dan Shea — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT

There has been a lot said, printed, blogged and tweeted about eBooks over the years, both good and bad. Recently, the main focus of this discussion has been the issue of copyright, along with its close companions, document security and piracy. In this article, Dan Shea takes a trip down memory lane and outlines his position of cautious optimism about the future of eBooks.

Raising the bar

Frank Rem — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Frank Rem from TallComponents writes about his experiences with PDF forms. Specifically, he sought to include a QR barcode on a PDF form, and to have it dynamically updated with the value of another form field. This article chronicles his trial and error efforts to accomplish this task in Acrobat.

How will Acrobat's new sandbox play with my workflow?

Dan Shea — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Following the addition of sandbox technology to Adobe's flagship product, people (including we at Planet PDF) have been keen to nail down the practical implications of the move. Sure, it makes PDF viewing safer, but how will it affect my elegant PDF document workflow? In this article, Dan Shea takes a look at some of the finer points of "Protected View", Acrobat's new bodyguard.

Latest Acrobat patch beefs up security, adds sandbox

Dan Shea — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Unfortunately, exploiting security vulnerabilities in Adobe's PDF products has become something of a growth industry. In response, Adobe has released major security updates to Reader (last November), Acrobat (two weeks ago) and their corresponding web browser plug-ins. These updates integrate "sandboxes" to isolate the software from system resources.

Reader Extensions: Under the hood

Frank Rem — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

If a PDF document has Reader Extensions enabled, then certain features that are normally only available in Adobe Acrobat are also available in the free Adobe PDF Reader. These features include saving (form) data locally and applying digital signatures. Frank Rem takes a look "under the hood" to gain a better understanding of how Reader Extensions works.

What are you putting in your PDF files?

Mark Stephens — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

PDF files are generally judged on how they appear. The problem is that a well-crafted PDF (basically, one that works) and a horrible PDF (one that doesn't) can look identical onscreen. Mark Stephens from IDRsolutions explains how to spot the difference and why it matters.

EDITORIAL: Most PDF viewers can't handle PDF/X

Dan Shea — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Report cards are in after VIGC recently tested PDF viewers for compatibility with PDF/X (PDF-based standards for printing). Sadly, the most common grade was "F". Dan Shea sings a few bars in praise of the humble Adobe Reader, and explains why you might want to save a little extra hard drive space to use it over its "leaner" competitors.

EDITORIAL: Should malformed PDF files be automatically repaired?

Rowan Hanna — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

PDF files come in all shapes and sizes. They vary from relatively simple to mind-numbingly complex. PDFs can also differ in their degree of conformance to the PDF specification -- the bad ones are often called malformed PDFs. In this article, Rowan Hanna discusses the pros and cons of Adobe Acrobat automatically repairing these malformed PDF files.

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: E-learning security case study

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Canada Care Global (CCG) needed to protect training courses which are available for download from its web site from being copied and distributed without the company's knowledge. This case study outlines how CCG used LockLizard Safeguard PDF Security to protect its training programs from piracy.

PDFs and their content - Part 2

Jim King — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

In the final part of this two part series, Jim King, a PDF Architect and Senior Principle Scientist at Adobe, takes a closer look at PDF forms as he discusses the editablility and resuse of content found in PDF files and highlights the fact that despite some people's misperceptions, PDF content is only frozen if you choose it to be.

PDFs and their content - Part 1

Jim King — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

In this two part series, Jim King, a PDF Architect and Senior Principle Scientist at Adobe, discusses the editablility and resuse of content found in PDF files and highlights the fact that despite some people's misperceptions, PDF content is only frozen if you choose it to be.

Federal courts move to require PDF/A for e-filing

Ernest Svenson — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Federal courts are moving towards adopting PDF/A as the standard format for electronic filing, which is prompting many attorneys to say, "What is a PDF/A?" PDFforLawyers.com's Ernest Svenson explains in this piece on this trend.

Acrobat X is out in the wild, but you might not recognize it

Rowan Hanna — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Hot off the production line, Acrobat X has just been released with a handful of new features and a slick new look. Planet PDF's Rowan Hanna takes a closer look at the changes and speculates about whether Adobe has gone far enough with its redesign.

Google Chrome gets its own slick PDF viewer

Rowan Hanna — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A lot of people dislike the experience of viewing a PDF in a web browser. A common complaint is that users are typically in for a long wait, because a separate desktop application needs to be launched and embedded within the browser before the PDF can be displayed. Google Chrome's new native PDF viewer offers a neat solution to this issue, according to Planet PDF's Rowan Hanna.

When can a PDF reader claim conformance with the PDF standard?

Olaf Druemmer — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

What exactly is a "conforming PDF reader" and what does it have to do with PDF 2.0? Olaf Druemmer, chairman of the PDF/A Competence Center, explains all in this in-depth article.

What you don't know about PDF can hurt you

Duff Johnson — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT

There has been a lot written lately about the "insecurity" of PDF. Depending on the case, security issues can arise due to complacency on the part of users, software vulnerabilities, or both. In this article, Appligent Document Solutions CEO Duff Johnson outlines the problems and offers advice for minimizing PDF-related security risks.

Why PDF?

Duff Johnson — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

"What's the purpose of PDF? Why can't I just send Word or Excel files; why should I bother converting to PDF?" In this in-depth article, Appligent Document Solutions CEO Duff Johnson answers these questions and more as he makes the case for PDF.

Section 508 and PDF: The facts

Duff Johnson — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

OK, so you need to ensure that your PDF documents are accessible and compliant with Section 508. How do you go about it? In this article, Appligent Document Solutions CEO Duff Johnson outlines 10 key facts relating to making compliant PDFs.

Is PDF an open standard?

Duff Johnson — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

On May 13, the founders of Adobe Systems stepped up to the microphone to deliver a response to Steve Jobs' open letter about Flash. They say Adobe has acted on open standards while Apple offers mere words. In this article, Appligent Document Solutions CEO Duff Johnson provides some background that places their claims in context.

No, PDF is NOT owned by Adobe!

Duff Johnson — Thu, 20 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

It is commonly believed that PDF is a proprietary format and that is owned by Adobe. Neither of these claims is now true -- we all own PDF, explains Appligent Document Solutions CEO Duff Johnson.

How to (successfully) switch to a paperless practice

Ernest Svenson — Thu, 13 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

There are various possible reasons for choosing not to go paperless. Nevertheless, technical and financial difficulties with making the switch are not among them, argues PDFforLawyers.com's Ernest Svenson. He goes on to outline some simple, inexpensive steps that can be taken to facilitate the change.

What's your preference, sir?

Ernest Svenson — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A common complaint is that software doesn't behave like it should. For example, word-processing packages might make unsolicited spelling suggestions when the program doesn't recognise a word, which can be frustrating for those writing jargon-heavy text (e.g., for legal documents). In this article, PDFforLawyers.com's Ernest Svenson notes that the solution, in many cases, might be to configure the relevant program's preferences correctly.

The best move you can make toward being paperless

Ernest Svenson — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

People are always talking about 'going paperless', but what is the best way to go about it? In this piece, PDFforLawyers.com's Ernest Svenson suggests what he thinks is the single best way to move forward from paper-based to paperless document processes.

OCR in Acrobat -- a few quick thoughts

Ernest Svenson — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Acrobat can be used to make scanned documents searchable via a process known as "OCR", or optical character recognition. In this article, PDFforLawyers.com's Ernest Svenson gives his take on OCR in Acrobat.

The disadvantages of locked PDFs

Ernest Svenson — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

One thing that makes the PDF format suited to storing and exchanging digital documents is that PDF documents can be secured against unauthorized access. Applying document security can sometimes be more of a hindrance than a help, however. PDFforLawyers.com's Ernest Svenson explains.

iPhone 3Gs as a portable scanner that creates PDFs

Ernest Svenson — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The wide range of available iPhone apps allows them to have a staggering variety of uses. Given the right app, an iPhone 3GS can even act as an effective portable scanner. PDFforLawyers.com's Ernest Svenson explains.

The Tablet: What it means for publishing

Duff Johnson — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The recent launch of the iPad, Apple's tablet device, has set the Net buzzing. The release has Appligent Document Solutions CEO Duff Johnson thinking about the future of personal computing and what he calls "the tablet economy" -- a computing ecosystem centered around tablet-based devices. Duff outlines his predictions and offers some guidance for content publishers in this feature article.