In this month’s article I would like to tell you about your options related to PDFs. PDFs are useful and important and I’m certain you’ve had some experience with them. But what exactly is a PDF? How do people use this format and why? What are the benefits and how can you use them on your computer?
PDF stands for Portable Document Format. As the name infers, this type of document is used for transforming any type of data file from any program to a printable version. It converts a document into a readable file so that the recipient doesn’t need to have the program that the original file was created in. For instance, if someone created a brochure in Adobe InDesign and sends it to you, you would need Adobe InDesign on your computer to be able to open the brochure. Adobe InDesign is both expensive and large and most people, aside from graphic designers, are not likely to have it. That’s where PDF comes into the picture. If you have a PDF reader and the file is sent to you in PDF format, you don’t need to buy and install any additional software. Rendering the file into a PDF makes it accessible to more people.
Another advantage of using PDF files is that they are usually lighter than the original file formats. This makes is faster and easier to send them via e-mail.
The PDF extension was created by Adobe in 1993. That’s why the name Adobe PDF is often associated with PDFs. However, there are other programs that read and create PDF files that are available for free. The current best PDF reader is no doubt FoxitPDF. It’s only 5MBs compared to Adobe Acrobat Reader’s 35MB, making it lighter on your computer. Acrobat Reader takes long to load up whereas Foxit is much faster, allowing you to access your documents right away. Foxit also has an add-on for creating PDFs. However, this add on costs US$29. There are also free PDF convertors such as PrimoPDF (downloadable from www.PrimoPDF.com) and DoPDF (www.dopdf.com). PrimoPDF is my favorite one because it gives you many options for creating a document whereas DoPDF is simpler. The options that you might consider when creating a PDF file are password protection for any re-prints or manipulation of content.
There is good news for Microsoft Office 2007 users as it has a free add-on available called Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS (only 934 KB to download). In any Office program, click the Microsoft Office button in the top left hand corner and then move the pointer over Save As. Then you can choose to download the add-on for Publishing PDF and XPS. But what is XPS? Well, confusingly enough Microsoft has created an alternative extension just like PDF called XML Paper Specification. Yes, I know, very user friendly.
Portable files or extensions should be built-in or installed by default with the operating system, but annoyingly they’re not. Having to download the 35MB Acrobat Reader while on a slow Internet connection can be really annoying. Give Foxit a try instead and save yourself some bandwidth and time.
