Adobe Acrobat: creating PDFs

Adobe Acrobat: creating PDFs

Learn how to use Adobe Acrobat to create PDF (Portable Document Format) files, one of the most

common formats for color-rich and highly formatted documents. This class includes an overview of the

many uses of PDF files and walks you through the steps of creating a PDF file. You'll also learn

techniques for optimizing PDFs for delivery over the web or to a professional print shop.

Lessons

1. Getting started with PDF software

This lesson introduces you to the technology behind PDFs, explores some

common uses for PDFs and explains which software you need to create a PDF

file. You'll also learn the advantages of using PDFs versus HTML.

2. Creating PDF files

You can create PDFs directly from a number of document-creation applications

or from within Acrobat. Learn how to do both, and how to select which option is

right for you. You'll also find out how to include multimedia in your PDFs.

3. Optimizing PDFs

This lesson describes optimizing PDFs for print, online distribution and other

uses. It includes information on Acrobat tools for tailoring output, and best

practices that help you configure Acrobat for the best possible output.

4. Securing PDFs

This lesson provides an overview of the different Acrobat security options. It

looks at protecting PDFs with passwords and encryption, removing sensitive

information and preventing printing and other changes.

5. Reviewing documents and collaborating with Acrobat

Acrobat provides robust document reviewing, tracking and collaboration tools.

In this lesson, you'll learn how to electronically initiate a review cycle, add

comments, track and manage shared reviews and initiate web conferencing.

6. Printing to PDF and professional printing

Acrobat is the preferred file format for service bureaus and print shops. This

lesson will give you system and color management tips, and show you how to

prepare and package complete PDFs for your printing provider.

Getting started with PDF software

This lesson introduces you to the technology behind PDFs, explores some common uses for PDFs and explains

which software you need to create a PDF file. You'll also learn the advantages of using PDFs versus HTML.

Getting ready to create PDFs

Adobe Acrobat is the premier software application for creating PDF (Portable

Document Format) files, one of the most common formats for color-rich and

highly formatted documents. This class includes an overview of the many uses

of PDF files and shows you how to create Adobe PDF files, step by step. You'll

also learn techniques for optimizing your PDFs for delivery over the web or to a

professional print shop.

Throughout this class, we provide Flash examples. To view these

examples, you need the Adobe Flash Player. Keep an eye out for notes

with links that say "See how to ____" or something similar. Some of these

files may be very large and could take a while to appear or download if you

have a slow connection.

This class looks at the PDF format, the PDF software you use to create these

files and some useful and practical applications of the technology in the real

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world. When you're done with this class, you'll have the skills you need to turn

even your most complex documents into files you can share with anyone.

This class is geared toward consumers, business and marketing

professionals, graphics artists or anyone who wants to use PDFs at work or

home.

Here's what to expect in the lessons:

Lesson 1, Getting started with PDF software, introduces you to the

technology behind PDFs, explores common uses for PDFs and explains the

PDF software that's required to create your own files. You'll also learn the

advantages of using PDFs over HTML pages.

Lesson 2, Creating PDF files, dives into creating PDF files directly from a

number of document-creation applications or from within Acrobat. You'll also

find out how to include multimedia in your PDFs and create fill-in forms.

Lesson 3, Optimizing PDFs, describes how to optimize PDFs for print, online

distribution and other uses. This lesson details Acrobat tool configuration for

producing the best possible output.

Lesson 4, Securing PDFs, provides an overview of the different Acrobat

security options. It looks at protecting PDFs with passwords and encryption,

preventing printing and other changes and removing sensitive information.

Lesson 5, Reviewing documents and collaborating with Acrobat, discusses

Acrobat's robust document reviewing, tracking and collaboration tools. You'll

learn how to initiate a review cycle, add comments, track and manage

shared reviews and more.

Lesson 6, Printing to PDF and professional printing, covers Acrobat as the

preferred file format for service bureaus and print shops. You'll learn system

and color management tips, and how to prepare and package complete

PDFs for your printing provider.

Beyond the lessons, complete the assignments and quizzes, which are

designed to help you get the most out of the class. Now let's get started with

the topics in Lesson 1.

Make sure that you have the latest version of Acrobat to take advantage of

the latest features.

Behind the scenes of a PDF

The Adobe PDF is a powerful standard for sharing and distributing documents

in today's wired world. Documents saved in the PDF format retain all of their

design and layout elements, including fonts, color and images, in a file format

that anyone can view on any computer with the free Adobe Reader installed.

You can create documents in just about any application running on any

platform and convert them to PDFs. This means you can turn documents you

create in Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Word, Quark QuarkXPress or any other

proprietary application into a common format that users can access, even if

they don't have the application used to create the file installed on their system.

Better yet, PDFs are well-suited for both online and print distribution.

PDF technology helps to optimize document quality while reducing

document size, which ensures PDF files stay truly portable. You can email

PDFs or make them available for download on your website. In addition,

recent PDF innovations enable you to add interactive features, such as

forms users can fill in and other useful extras to the PDFs you create.

In addition, PDFs retain all of the details of a four-color document that you plan

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to have professionally printed. In fact, PDFs are the standard format for

delivering electronic documents to print shops and service bureaus for printing.

Now that you know what a PDF is and about its many benefits, find out how to

create a PDF.

What do you need for creating PDF files?

To create a PDF, you need a few pieces of software and a little knowledge.

You'll find out about the software now and gain the knowledge later.

A document

The first thing you need to create a PDF file is a document. This might be an

existing document you want to share with others who don't have the documentcreation

software you used, or a new document you create from scratch. Either

way, you use document-creation software to build the original document before

you convert it to PDF format.

You can create PDFs directly from the majority of the document-creation

software packages available on the market today after you install the Adobe

Acrobat software (discussed next). The following are some of the well-known

software packages that integrate well with Acrobat for quick PDF creation:

Microsoft: Access, Excel, FrontPage, Internet Explorer, Outlook, PowerPoint,

Project, Publisher, Visio and Word

Adobe: Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop

Other products: Autodesk AutoCAD, Corel WordPerfect, IBM Lotus Notes,

QuarkExpress, CorelDRAW and Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo

Remember, this is just a brief list. Most major document-creation software

released in the last two years supports PDF creation. Even if your software

doesn't support direct PDF creation, the Adobe Acrobat software will do the

work for you. (You'll find out how a bit later in the class.)

PDF is a portable file format you use to share documents. You create your

documents with a separate software package, such as Microsoft Word or

Adobe InDesign first, and then convert them to PDF. Adobe Acrobat isn't

document-creation software, but rather PDF-creation software that works with

existing documents.

Adobe Acrobat 9 software

There are several editions of Adobe Acrobat 9, all of which are available for

trial download or purchase on the Adobe website. Let's take a brief look at

each of them:

Adobe Acrobat 9 Standard: This is the basic package that enables you to

create and work with PDF files. It retails for approximately $299 (the upgrade

is $99) and is available in both Windows and Mac OS versions.

Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro: This package offers advanced publishing features,

such as the creation of technical drawings and advanced support for the

print production process. It retails for approximately $449 (the upgrade is

$159) and is available for computers running the Windows or Mac OS

operating systems.

Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended: This package contains all of the functionality

of the Pro edition, and it enables you to insert and publish 3D files into PDF

documents. This edition is also designed for converting computer-aided

design documents to PDF, and turning your PowerPoint slides into

interactive presentations that can include media clips and quizzes.

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Adobe Reader is a free program that enables users to view and print PDF

files but not create them. You can download Reader directly from the

Adobe website. It's available for a wide variety of platforms, including

Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, various Linux and Unix distributions,

Windows Mobile Pocket PC and Palm OS.

The edition of Acrobat you select depends on your specific requirements.

Chances are, the Standard edition is sufficient, as long as you don't need

advanced technical drawing functionality or the ability to support complex print

production processes.

This class focuses on features in Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro. Many, but not all, of

the features are also found in the Standard edition. To see a comparison of

the features across the Acrobat 9 product family, visit the Acrobat Product

comparison web page. To make sure you can complete all lessons in this

class, use Acrobat 9 Pro. You can download and install a free 30-day trial

from the Adobe website.

Now that you know what you need to create a PDF, you'll find out some of the

many ways you can put PDFs to work for you.

Why use a PDF?

Chances are you're taking this class because you want to know more about

how to create PDFs and you have at least one PDF project in mind. If not,

PDFs have a variety of uses you might not have even considered, so now is a

good time to review the wide range of PDF applications.

The portability of the PDF format makes it the perfect choice for many different

kinds of materials, and the ability to create interactive forms and online

documents in PDF format increases its utility. By using the PDF format, you

can share your carefully designed documents for both viewing and printing.

You don't need to worry about how to preserve fonts, colors, links, and layouts

across different software packages and computing platforms. You only have to

create the document once.

Printing a PDF is a breeze. Whether you use Windows, Mac OS, Linux or

another type of operating system, you can open a PDF file and print to any

printer. It's truly portable technology.

Well, that's enough theory. What follows are some real examples of PDF uses.

Brochures, catalogs and product slicks

PDF is perfect for capturing and maintaining design information. All of your

design choices stay with the document. Complicated formatting and graphic

layouts are no problem, as shown in Figure 1-1. PDFs have become the format

of choice for marketing and sales professionals in all industries.

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and all-in-one printers

Figure 1-1: This highly formatted document, which is available on the internet,

retains its layout in the PDF file.

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For example, HP compiles a well-organized and nicely designed data sheet for

every product. You can pick up one of these data sheets in print at a trade

show or from a salesperson, but you can also download and print your own

copies from any HP product page. This use of the PDF format makes

documents that were once only available in print now available online, but with

its formatting intact, as shown in Figure 1-2.

Figure 1-2: Note the use of colors, fonts and layout, and how well the PDF

preserves them.

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Large text documents, user guides and manuals

You can tag and reference different sections of content within a PDF to create

complex interactive tables of contents, indices and other navigational aids, as

shown in Figure 1-3. Document users can jump quickly to the necessary data

regardless of document size. For this reason, most major software applications

today distribute their documentation in PDF format.

Figure 1-3: This document uses bookmarks to help you navigate through the

document.

Forms and applications

The ability to preserve complicated formatting and send that layout to a printer

makes PDF well-suited for delivering forms and applications that rely on

efficient use of space. Acrobat supports interactive (fill-in) forms that users can

electronically complete, with no need for pen or typewriter. Users can also

submit and manage these forms online, depending on their software

configuration.

Some of the best examples of how well PDFs manage forms are all of the IRS

tax forms that are available for download in PDF format. It's no longer

necessary to drive around town looking for a paper copy of that hard-to-find tax

form. You can download any form, instruction manual or publication from the

IRS website. A W-9 fill-in form is shown in Figure 1-4.

If you have trouble accessing the links in this class, you might not have any

version of Acrobat or Adobe Reader installed on your system. Take a few

minutes to download the free version of Adobe Reader to view these files.

Figure 1-4: An IRS fill-in form is designed for ease of use.

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As you can see from the examples in this section, few document types won't

benefit from the PDF protocol. PDF files are lightweight, powerful, precise and

universal. They're the perfect solution for sharing wide ranges of content in

today's connected world.

Now that you've learned how to put PDFs to work for you, find out some best

uses for PDFs on the World Wide Web.

PDF and the web

If you spend any time on the internet nowadays, you've likely come across a

wide variety of PDF files available for download. Similar to the IRS website

described on the last lesson page, many organizations provide brochures,

product data sheets, user guides, and much more in the form of downloadable

PDF files to website visitors. In addition, it's common to find resumes of

individuals posted on their personal websites.

As you know at this point, downloadable PDF files are first created in a

document-creation software package, such as Word or InDesign, and then

saved as or exported to PDF. However, most software packages nowadays

also include the ability to export data or created documents into HTML

(Hypertext Markup Language), the basic format of web pages. So which works

best for the web—HTML or PDF?

An HTML document is lightweight, generally small and is accessible to

anyone possessing the correct software: an HTML browser.

There will be times when HTML is a better option, but the following sections

describe the benefits of PDF that you won't find in HTML.

Formatting

With HTML, many websites control web page formatting through the use of

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), a type of file that's linked to HTML files and

provides most of the page formatting codes. If you download and open an

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HTML file that relies on CSS, but the CSS file wasn't part of the download,

most of the formatting disappears because the link to the CSS is broken. You'll

never experience this problem with a PDF.

In addition, if you're familiar with coding in HTML, you know how clumsy it is to

design web pages that involve complicated tables or other advanced

formatting. A PDF document eliminates this, which ultimately translates into

better readability.

Adobe Acrobat Web Capture converts portions of a web page, an entire

web page or entire websites to PDF. You'll learn about this feature in

Lesson 2.

More printer-friendly

You don't have many options when printing HTML files. A single file can span

multiple pages, and you have no real control over how the document is

paginated or arranged. HTML also supports a limited number of fonts. PDF

documents print on paper as they appear onscreen, and the document's fonts

are embedded in the document so they always print properly.

Easy to use

One of HTML's inherent advantages is the ability to build documents that users

can easily navigate. You can create web pages that link tables of contents,

indexes and related content. You can also link content within your document to

external websites. Newer versions of Acrobat offer this same functionality. As

you saw in the example PDFs on the previous page, you can create interactive

tables of contents and indexes that let readers instantly access them from any

spot in the PDF. You can also make live links to websites and other external

applications.

In summary, if you want to provide a highly formatted document to website

visitors, especially one that's meant to be printed on the user's end, create a

PDF and provide a link to view or download it. The same applies to files your

website visitors may want to save on their computers, such as a copy of your

resume or your company's annual survey results.

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Moving on

Now that you've learned a little bit about Acrobat, you're ready to take a closer

look at the application. Lesson 2 covers the creation of PostScript files from

your favorite document-creation application, and the details of creating PDFs

using PDFMaker and Distiller. Before you move on to Lesson 2, complete the

assignment and quiz for Lesson 1.

Assignment #1

Make a list of documents you already have or plan to create that you think are good candidates

for the PDF format. For each document, list the following:

The software you used to create the file or plan to use to create the file.

The version of Acrobat necessary to create the PDF.

How you plan to use the PDF file. Are you going to link to it from a website, burn it to a disc,

send it via email or deliver it to a print shop for professional printing?

The features you've seen in other PDFs that you would like to include in your PDF. Some

options include password protecting your PDF, adding navigation (hyperlinks and

bookmarks) and creating fill-in fields in forms.

Preparing your computer for the class

Install Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro (remember, a free 30-day trial version is available) and Adobe

Reader from Adobe.com. You'll need the software to work through the lessons and

assignments in the remainder of the class.

Quiz #1

Question 1:

Which of the following applications can you use to create simple PDF files from Microsoft Word documents?

(Check all that apply.)

A) Adobe Reader

B) Adobe Acrobat 9 Standard

C) Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro

D) Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended

Question 2:

True or False: You can print a PDF from a computer running Windows, Mac OS or Linux and get identical

output.

A) True

B) False

Question 3:

Which of the following applications can you use to generate content for Acrobat files? (Check all that apply.)

A) Microsoft Word

B) Microsoft Excel

C) Adobe Photoshop

D) QuarkExpress

Question 4:

Which of the following applications enables you to insert and publish 3D files into PDF documents?

A) Adobe Reader

B) Adobe Acrobat 9 Standard

C) Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro

D) Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended

Question 5:

True or False: If you download and open an HTML file that relies on CSS, but the CSS file wasn't part of the

download, most of the formatting disappears because the link to the CSS is broken.

A) True

B) False

Creating PDF files

You can create PDFs directly from a number of document-creation applications or from within Acrobat. Learn

how to do both, and how to select which option is right for you. You'll also find out how to include multimedia in

your PDFs.

How PostScript, PDFMaker and Distiller are intertwined

Welcome back. You learned the essentials of Adobe Acrobat in Lesson 1, and

now you're ready to dive into creating PDFs in this lesson. First, let's briefly

explore PostScript technology and how it relates to the creation of PDFs.

Acrobat 9 has two engines for creating PDFs: the basic PDF writer known as

PDFMaker and Distiller. PostScript is the underlying technology for creating

PDFs—the foundation upon which PDFMaker and Distiller work. PostScript

offers a universal language for output devices, such as printers, that allows for

a common software interface regardless of the hardware configuration. The

PostScript protocol handles files sent to 150-dpi (dots per inch) inkjet printers

the same way it handles files destined for 6000-dpi color image setters.

You can create PostScript files by "printing" to a file rather than to a printer,

creating a file with a .ps extension. So, why not use PostScript directly instead

of creating PDFs? The keyword is portability. PostScript files are designed to

be used by printers—the files are neither "lightweight" nor easy to work with.

Furthermore, because PostScript is a printer language, it has no way to convey

its information visually. The PDF format completes the process. It translates the

PostScript information into a portable format that can be sent to a printer,

transferred through an email account or viewed on a monitor with ease.

PDFMaker versus Distiller

Although there's no real difference in the technology behind PDFMaker and

Distiller, there is a difference in the level of flexibility and configuration that each

engine offers.

PDF-enabled software packages, such as Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign,

use PDFMaker to create PDFs directly from within the document-creation

software. PDFMaker works behind the scenes and conducts most PDF

processing automatically. The results come easy and fast.

By contrast, Distiller is more robust. Distiller takes a PostScript file you create

from within your document-creation software (more on that later in the lesson),

gives you the opportunity to specify exactly which properties you'd like your

PDF to have and then produces the PDF file. Distiller offers a more hands-on

approach—one that requires a little more attention and understanding of the

PDF protocol. There are also certain features that are only supported in PDFs

generated specifically by Distiller.

If you aren't sure whether you should work with PDFMaker or Distiller, take the

easy route and create the PDF first with PDFMaker within your PDF-enabled

application. If you aren't satisfied with the results, you can try again with

Distiller.

The remainder of this lesson shows you how to create PDFs using both

PDFMaker and Distiller.

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Creating PDF files with PDFMaker

Many major software applications come with built-in PDF support. However, to

unlock that support, you have to purchase and install the Acrobat software.

Once you do, you can create PDFs in those applications via PDFMaker right at

your fingertips. To make it even easier, many of these applications place a PDF

button on the toolbar or make the PDF functionality obvious in the menu

choices after you install the Acrobat software.

Moving forward, this lesson includes instructions on how to create PDFs in

Microsoft Word 2007. Although the information here is specific to Word, just

about every PDF-enabled application uses similar processes and dialog

boxes.

Setting your PDF options

After you install Acrobat, Microsoft Word gives you a few easy ways to create

PDFs directly from Word itself:

Select the Acrobat tab on the Ribbon, and then click the Create PDF button.

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Click the Microsoft Office button, point to Save As and click Adobe PDF.

Click the Microsoft Office button, point to Send and click Create Adobe PDF

and Email or Create Adobe PDF and Send for Review. (The first option

opens your default email client with the PDF attached; you'll learn about

document reviewing in Lesson 5.)

Any of these options automatically starts PDFMaker and begins the PDF

creation process. The process finishes by asking you to save the PDF file. (You

may be asked to save the Word file if you haven't already done so.) After you

provide a file name and location, you're done. You've created your first PDF

file.

General settings

Although it was quite simple to create a basic PDF file in the previous section,

there are also a number of ways you can customize the PDF creation process.

To begin customization, click the Acrobat tab on the Ribbon, and then click the

Preferences button in the Create Adobe PDF group.

The Acrobat PDFMaker dialog box appears. Most of the options on the Settings

tab, shown in Figure 2-1, relate specifically to conversion settings and

application settings.

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Figure 2-1: Settings tab of the Acrobat PDFMaker dialog box.

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As you can see, assistance is available via the Help button located at the

bottom of the dialog box.

Security options

The Security tab, shown in Figure 2-2, lists all of the options that affect

document security. It enables you to specify a document password as well as

specific permissions settings. You'll explore PDF security in Lesson 4 of this

class.

Figure 2-2: Security tab of the Acrobat PDFMaker dialog box.

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Word options

The Word tab, shown in Figure 2-3, contains application-specific settings. It

enables you to provide Acrobat with instructions on handling document

features, such as footnotes and comments.

Figure 2-3: Word tab of the Acrobat PDFMaker dialog box.

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Bookmark options

The Bookmarks tab, shown in Figure 2-4, gives you the tools you need to

create documents that are easy to navigate and read.

Figure 2-4: Bookmarks tab of the Acrobat PDFMaker dialog box.

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On this tab, you equate certain headers, styles or document structure elements

with PDF bookmarks. This means you can take a document's organizational

structure and build navigational bookmarks like the ones shown in Figure 2-5.

Figure 2-5: An Acrobat file that uses bookmarks.

Alternatives

So far, we've only discussed creating a PDF file within the confines of an

application. However, it's also possible to create it using other methods:

Acrobat Distiller: This application is discussed in the "Creating PDFs with

Distiller" section later in this lesson.

Adobe Acrobat: The application itself enables you to build PDF files from

various documents and other PDF files. Just open the files you wish to

manipulate and Acrobat converts them to PDFs.

See how to create a PDF in Acrobat 9. (1.0 MB)

Adobe PDF printer: Acrobat automatically installs a "printer" on your system

called Adobe PDF. You can print to PDF from any application that supports

printing. Rather than printing to a physical printer, you're taken to the Save

Adobe PDF File As dialog box.

Now that you've got a basic understanding of creating PDFs from within a

document-creation program, let's move on to see some real-world examples of

PDFs you can generate for home or office use.

A world of PDFs at your fingertips

This section covers just a handful of PDFs you can create within Acrobat or

from applications you may already have on your computer. Consider the

following examples inspiration for your next project.

Creating multiple-document PDFs

In addition to generating a PDF of a single document, you can combine several

different documents—even in different formats—into one PDF file. All of the

formatting in the original documents remains intact in the new PDF.

To create a multiple-document PDF:

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1. Select File > Combine > Merge Files into a Single PDF in Acrobat.

2. In the Combine Files window, ensure the Single PDF option is selected

in the upper-right corner.

Selecting the Single PDF option merges multiple files into a single PDF file

with the files listed as pages in sequential order. The PDF Portfolio option is

covered in the next section.

1. Open the Add Files drop-down menu on the left side of the toolbar, and

then select Add Files.

2. Select the files you want to include in the PDF, and then click the Add

Files button at the bottom of the window.

3. (Optional) Select a relative file size and conversion setting from the File

Size icons in the lower-right part of the window: Smaller File Size,

Default File Size or Larger File Size. A small file size is deal for web

viewing, whereas a larger file size is necessary for high-end printing.

Hover your mouse pointer over each icon to read a description.

4. Click Combine Files.

5. Select a folder location to save the new PDF, and enter a file name in

the Save As dialog box. Click Save.

Your new PDF is created, complete with navigation in the left pane.

See how to create a multiple-document PDF. (1.5 MB)

Creating PDF portfolios

One of the new features in Acrobat 9 is the ability to create a PDF Portfolio, a

"package" of multiple PDFs in which the user can navigate each file separately.

The PDF Portfolio feature lets you create a stunning presentation-style

interface, complete with a cover page that can includes graphics or Flash

elements.

To create a PDF Portfolio:

1. Select File > Create PDF Portfolio. The main screen changes to the

PDF Portfolio interface. If the Reading Untagged Document dialog box

appears, click Start.

2. Click the Add Files or Add Existing Folder button at the bottom of the

screen, and then add files to your portfolio.

3. In the Choose a Layout section in the panel on the right, select a layout

for the portfolio: Basic Grid, On an Image, Revolve or Sliding Row.

4. In the Add Welcome & Header section, select a welcome page (a cover

for your portfolio) and a header (handy for branding your portfolio with a

logo), if you like.

5. In the Select a Color Scheme section, click a color scheme box to apply

a new color scheme throughout your portfolio.

6. In the Specify File Details section, choose which columns you want to

display when the user views a Windows Explorer-like list of files in your

portfolio.

7. The Publish section provides tools for saving your portfolio (as a PDF),

emailing it or sharing it on Acrobat.com. (You'll learn about the free

services on Acrobat.com in Lesson 5.)

See how to create a PDF Portfolio. (1.0 MB)

Converting email messages to PDF

You can convert a Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes message to a PDF

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document to send to others without fear of your original message being

changed. To convert a message to PDF:

In Outlook, select an email message, and then select Adobe PDF > Convert

Selected Messages > Create New PDF. In the Save Adobe PDF File As

dialog box, name the file, select a folder and click Save.

In Lotus Notes, select Actions > Convert Selected Messages To Adobe PDF.

Save the file when you're finished.

Creating fill-in forms

Providing PDF forms that users can fill in electronically saves them quite a few

steps—they just view online or download, fill in and print. All the user needs is

the free Adobe Reader program.

Fill-in forms are as simple to make as any other PDF document: you create the

form in your favorite software and convert it to PDF, or use an Acrobat template

to generate the form without the need for additional software. To create fill-in

forms in Acrobat, just select Forms > Start Form Wizard from the Adobe main

menu, select the No existing form option, click Next and follow the prompts.

Embedding media clips in a PDF

Acrobat enables you to add media clips—audio, video and interactive

content—in a PDF as long as the media is playable in an appropriate

application, such as Windows Media Player, Flash Player or QuickTime.

To add a media clip to a PDF:

1. In Acrobat, select Tools > Multimedia. Select one of the options: 3D

Tool, Flash Tool, Sound Tool or Video Tool.

2. If Acrobat prompts you to save a copy of your file, click Save a Copy.

3. The mouse pointer changes to a crosshair. Drag an area in your file

where you want the media clip to appear (called the play area).

4. In the resulting dialog box, browse to select a multimedia file on your

computer or enter a URL (uniform resource locator) if the media file is

located online. Click Select or Open.

If you want the multimedia to be compatible with older versions of Acrobat, click

the Create legacy multimedia content link. In the resulting window, select a

compatibility option: Acrobat 6 (and Later) or Acrobat 5 (and Earlier). Browse to

locate the multimedia file, click Select.

1. (Optional) Select the Show Advanced Options checkbox to select a

poster image to display in the play area when the media clip is not

playing. The default is to retrieve the poster image from the media. Click

OK.

2. Click OK to embed the media file or URL, and then save the PDF file.

When you open this PDF file and click the media play area, a dialog box

prompts you to play the multimedia content one time only or add it to your list of

trusted documents. Select either option and then click Play.

See how to embed a media clip in a PDF. (1.5 MB)

Capturing web pages to PDF

A feature in Acrobat 9 referred to as Web Capture enables you to capture a

web page or even an entire website to PDF, preserving text formatting, images,

links and multimedia elements (audio, video or Flash content).

To capture a web page to PDF:

1. In Acrobat, select File > Create PDF > From Web Page (or Advanced >

Web Capture > Create PDF From/Append Web Page). The Create PDF

from Web Page dialog box appears.

2. Enter a URL into the URL field, or click Browse to locate an HTML file on

your computer.

3. To capture multiple levels of web pages, click the Capture Multiple

Levels button and enter or select the number of levels to include in your

PDF. You can also select Get entire site to include all web pages. When

you're finished selecting options, click Create.

For complex websites, selecting multiple levels or capturing the entire site

can take considerable time to generate a PDF.

1. Acrobat generates a PDF of the web page. If the page includes

multimedia content, such as audio, video or Flash elements, the Manage

Trust for Multimedia Content dialog box appears. Click Play to play the

content in the PDF, or click Cancel to continue without playing

multimedia.

2. Save the PDF file.

See how to capture a web page to PDF. (1.1 MB)

Converting scanned PDF documents to text

OCR (optical character recognition) technology lets you scan a paper

document and convert it to a text, which enables you to modify the content as

you would a file created in Word. In addition, you can scan a paper document

to PDF. To reverse the process, Acrobat includes the ability to convert a PDF

to text using OCR.

To convert a PDF to text:

1. Open the scanned PDF.

2. Select Document > OCR Text Recognition > Recognize Text Using

OCR. The Recognize Text dialog box appears.

3. Select to convert all pages, the current page or a range of pages, and

then click OK.

You've learned many ways to create PDFs using PDFMaker and Acrobat

commands. Next, find out how to use Distiller to create PDFs.

Creating PDFs with Distiller

Now it's time to take a closer look at Distiller. As you learned earlier, one of the

reasons Distiller is so powerful is the wide range of control it gives you over the

whole PDF creation process. Whether you plan to send your document to a

printer or make it available on the internet, Distiller can help produce a highly

compressed, perfectly optimized PDF to get the job done.

Before you begin: creating a PostScript file

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To try your hand at Distiller, or to take advantage of its enhanced options, you

have to create PostScript files to feed through Distiller. Creating a PostScript

file is actually as easy as printing a document, except you're printing to a file

instead of to an actual printer. To create a PostScript file in Word, follow these

steps:

1. Click the Microsoft Office button, and then select Print. The Print dialog

box appears.

2. Select a PostScript printer in the Name list, and then check the Print to

file checkbox.

3. Click OK.

4. Give your PostScript file a name and save it somewhere easy to find.

5. Click OK.

If Distiller won't process your file, you might need to add a PostScriptcompatible

printer driver. You may do so from the Printers Control Panel in

Microsoft Windows Vista by adding a new printer that has a "PS" in the printer

name, such as HP LaserJet 8150 PS.

The result of this quick process is a PostScript file with a .ps extension. Locate

the file on your hard disk and double-click it. Distiller will launch, as shown in

Figure 2-6, and automatically convert your PostScript file to a PDF file of the

same name.

Figure 2-6: Acrobat Distiller window.

Enlarge image

Some applications and printers combine to produce PostScript files with the

.prn extension. If your application generates such a file, rename it with the .ps

extension to avoid any difficulties with Acrobat.

If, for some reason, Distiller doesn't automatically launch when you double-click

your PostScript file, just select Start > All Programs > Adobe Distiller 9. In

Distiller, select File > Open to browse your hard disk, find the file and open it.

Now that you know the basics of generating PDF files with Distiller, learn about

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your options and configuration choices for controlling version compatibility,

colors, fonts and more.

Beyond the preset options

Distiller has even more options to choose from than PDFMaker. To access

them, you need to open Distiller manually, either from the Start menu or by

selecting Advanced > Print Production > Acrobat Distiller within Acrobat.

In Distiller, select Settings > Edit Adobe PDF Settings, which opens the

Standard - Adobe PDF Settings window.

This window opens with the General panel displayed, shown in Figure 2-7, on

which you define basic document setup and compatibility configurations. For

example, you can set the version compatibility for the PDF file you're

generating. This is particularly important if you're publishing PDFs for users of

older versions of Acrobat. Keep in mind some features aren't available in older

versions—most notably some advanced navigational and design features. See

the Acrobat user guide for more information.

Figure 2-7: Standard - Adobe PDF Settings window.

Enlarge image

Image options

The Images panel, shown in Figure 2-8, enables you to specify how Distiller

handles embedded images.

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Figure 2-8: Images panel of the Standard - Adobe PDF Settings window.

Enlarge image

This panel contains downsampling, compression and anti-aliasing settings that

impact image processing.

Font options

You manage the fonts in your PDF on the Fonts panel, shown in Figure 2-9.

Figure 2-9: Fonts panel of the Standard - Adobe PDF Settings window.

Enlarge image

Your settings on this panel determine which fonts will be automatically

embedded into the PDF files. Embedded fonts help the PDF display and print

correctly, even if users don't have the font installed on their machines or

printers. However, the more fonts you embed, the longer the file takes to load

and navigate. You should not embed commonly used fonts (such as those

listed in the Never Embed section of the Fonts panel shown in Figure 2-9).

Color options

Use the options on the Color panel, shown in Figure 2-10, to manage advanced

color settings for the PDF file. These options apply only to documents that will

be displayed or printed in color—and especially to those documents destined

for high-end color output.

Figure 2-10: Color panel of the Standard - Adobe PDF Settings window.

Enlarge image

If you use the Adobe Color Management System, you can select a settings file

here to automatically calibrate document color.

Advanced options

Like the color settings, many of the options on the Advanced panel, shown in

Figure 2-11, don't apply to the majority of PDF files.

Figure 2-11: Advanced panel of the Standard - Adobe PDF Settings window.

Enlarge image

If you use DSC (Document Structuring Conventions), you make related choices

here. If you're using Postscript prologue and epilogue files, you'll make the

choice here as well.

You use prologue and epilogue files to add custom PostScript code that

runs at the beginning or end of every converted PostScript job.

Standards options

The Standards panel, shown in Figure 2-12, contains PDF document options

designed to assist with the print production process.

Figure 2-12: Standards settings panel of the Standard - Adobe PDF Settings

window.

Enlarge image

You use the Standards options to check the document for compliance with

certain printing standards, such as PDF/X and PDF/A. You'll learn these and

other settings in Lesson 6.

Moving on

As you can see, Acrobat offers you a wide range of possibilities when planning,

building and managing your PDFs. You can build them for multiple audiences

and purposes, with the guarantee that your file can get the job done the way

you intended. In Lesson 3, you'll learn how to tweak your PDF files to optimize

them for the web and print formats, and how you can better prepare your

source documents to be converted to PDF files. Before you move on, be sure

to complete the assignment for this lesson and take the quiz to test what you've

learned.

Assignment #2

For this assignment:

1. Select a test document that you can open and edit in your favorite document-creation

application, such as Microsoft Word or Adobe InDesign. You can alternatively download

and use the sample Word document or sample PowerPoint document.

2. Use PDFMaker to create a PDF of the document within the document-creation application.

(In Word, for example, just click the Create PDF button on the Acrobat tab Ribbon, or click

the Microsoft Office button, point to Save As and click Adobe PDF.)

3. While in the document-creation application, create a .ps file.

4. Close the document-creation application.

5. Open Distiller. Create a PDF of the same test document, and save it with a different file

name.

Is one process easier than the other? Do you see any noticeable difference in the quality of the

PDFs you created?

Challenge exercise

Use Acrobat to create a fill-in form from a built-in template of your choice. To create a form,

select Forms > Start Form Wizard, select the No existing form option, click Next and follow the

prompts.

Optional exercise

If you run Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes, create a PDF from an email.

Quiz #2

Question 1:

Which Adobe Acrobat utility enables you to convert PostScript files to PDF files?

A) Adobe Reader

B) Convert to PDF tool

C) PDFMaker

D) Acrobat Distiller

Question 2:

Which utility is invoked when you click the Create PDF button on the Acrobat tab in Microsoft Word 2007?

A) Adobe Reader

B) Adobe PDF printer

C) PDFMaker

D) Acrobat Distiller

Question 3:

Which tab within the Acrobat settings enables you to specify how footnotes should be handled in a Microsoft

Word document?

A) Security

B) Word

C) General

D) Bookmark

Question 4:

True or False: The PDF Portfolio feature packages multiple PDFs into one file, and enables you to customize a

presentation-like interface.

A) True

B) False

Question 5:

Which extension should be assigned to files intended for use within Acrobat Distiller?

A) .prn

B) .pdf

C) .doc or .docx

D) .xls or .xlsx

E) .ps

Optimizing PDFs

This lesson describes optimizing PDFs for print, online distribution and other uses. It includes information on

Acrobat tools for tailoring output, and best practices that help you configure Acrobat for the best possible

output.

Optimization basics: fonts and colors

If you completed Lesson 2 and the assignment, you are well on your way to

understanding the numerous uses of PDFs and how easy it is to create a PDF

from almost any application. However, creating a quick PDF of a Microsoft

Word document or email isn't exactly the same as optimizing a PDF that's

loaded with vibrant, detailed images destined for your website or a professional

print shop. This lesson shows you how to manipulate Adobe Acrobat settings to

create high-quality PDFs you'll be proud to display or be confident to send out

for printing.

As you create documents that might end up in PDF format, there are a few

considerations related to font and color choice you need to keep in mind. A little

work ahead of time in your source document can help you avoid problems

when your PDF is complete.

Regardless of which Acrobat engine you use to create your PDFs—PDFMaker

or Distiller—these techniques still apply.

Fonts

Remember that PDF documents can embed or store fonts within the document.

This means that printers or computers don't need to have that font loaded for

them to properly print or display your document. If you're not sure of which

fonts any given PDF includes, in Adobe Reader, you can find out by selecting

File > Properties and clicking the Fonts tab. The Fonts tab lists all of the fonts

embedded in a PDF file, as shown in Figure 3-1.

Figure 3-1: The Fonts tab in Adobe Reader.

Enlarge image

Don't have Adobe Reader yet? Go to the Adobe website, click the Get Adobe

Reader button, and then download and install the software.

However, this display is relevant only after you create a PDF. How do you

choose fonts that are going to go into a PDF document? In general, most fonts

you encounter will work well in a PDF document—especially if they're

embedded. This is also true for foreign language character sets.

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Type 1 or TrueType?

If you're familiar with the terms, you probably know a bit about these two font

classes already. Type 1 fonts (also known as PostScript fonts) and True Type

fonts look the same to the naked eye. Although they're technically different,

that doesn't really make a difference here. You just need to remember these

two things:

Type 1 fonts generally work with zero problems in all versions of Acrobat.

You can embed Type 1 fonts as needed, although because they tend to be

more standardized, you might not need to embed many of these fonts.

True Type fonts can be embedded in versions of Acrobat 4.0 and later. If

you're preparing PDFs in later versions of Acrobat that need to be

compatible with versions earlier than 4.0, you might have to switch to Type 1

fonts instead.

Color

As with fonts, the PDF format is pretty well-equipped to handle most color

challenges. However, that does not mean that there aren't important things to

consider when choosing and using colors.

One of the problems PDF technology faces when dealing with colors is the

universality of the PDF format. The PDF protocol was designed to

communicate with a wide range of hardware devices and software applications.

Each one of these devices or applications might represent and manage color in

a different way.

You can use a CMS (Color Management System) to attempt to interpret color

in standard ways across different devices. Adobe's CMS is a powerful tool for

anyone doing a lot of color production work. Newer versions of PDF also

support ICC (International Color Consortium) color management.

RGB versus CMYK

Generally, RGB (Red, Green, Blue) mode is used for documents meant to be

viewed on your monitor (such as web documents), whereas CMYK (Cyan,

Magenta, Yellow, Black) is optimal for printed output. If you're given a choice of

color modes and you don't need high-quality printouts, go with RGB, especially

if you plan to use PDFMaker. Although both modes are technically compatible

with PDF, PDFMaker handles RGB faster and more efficiently. This applies to

spot colors as well as images, such as pictures, line art or other placed art

objects.

As you create a variety of PDF files, you'll soon realize that file sizes can get

quite large. Acrobat includes tools for optimizing and compressing files to attain

a proper balance between rich, detailed PDFs and file size. You'll learn how to

optimize, resample and compress your PDF files next.

More about color

To learn more about using color options to prepare your document for

professional printing, refer to the Acrobat user guide and the Adobe website for

more information on the Adobe CMS.

Keeping it lean: optimization, resampling and compression

The process of optimizing a PDF essentially involves carefully balancing file

size with your document output and design requirements. For web-based use

in particular, you want a document that includes enough information to display

as you intended, but no more than necessary. A happy medium between the

two ensures your PDFs load quickly, have fast navigation and are easy to

distribute.

Compression versus resampling

As you tweak your PDF files so they strike the delicate balance between file

size and output, you need to consider both compression and resampling.

Resampling

Resampling essentially means changing the actual pixel construction of a file,

and therefore, the size of the file itself. When you resample a file, you re-create

the file with less data, and therefore, a smaller size. It works because certain

printers (or web browsers) don't need all of the data present in a file. By

eliminating bits of unnecessary data (especially unused colors), you can

preserve image quality while reducing file size.

In a PDF, you'll generally downsample, which means you're attempting to

reproduce the image using less data. Again, the process relies on most output

devices not needing all of an image's data to reproduce it faithfully.

Compression

PDFs support two different types of compression technologies for reducing file

size by compressing image files: ZIP and JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts

Group). Each of these two methods has distinct, unique advantages:

ZIP compression is best for images with either large areas of solid color or

patterns. ZIP can be lossless, which means no data is removed from the file

when it's compressed.

JPEG compression is best for grayscale or color photographs. Because

JPEG compression is lossy—meaning image quality can suffer—use caution

when compressing images this way. The Adobe Distiller options also offer

different quality levels of JPEG compression: minimum, low, medium, high

and maximum.

Although many web users cannot tell the difference between high- and low-

JPEG compressions, it's often readily apparent on the printed page.

How to optimize

How you optimize your file depends entirely on your PDF's final destination.

You need to optimize documents that you're going to display and use online in

favor of file size over document quality. PDFs designed for professional printing

have the opposite need.

Distiller has a set of predefined output options designed to produce PDFs

optimized for the web, a standard office printer or a professional printer. These

are good benchmarks by which to set your optimization options. To view the

options (called presets), check the Show All Settings checkbox in the Standard

- Adobe PDF Settings window.

Optimizing for the web

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There's one priority when you're optimizing PDF files for the web: speed. You

want to build documents that display, send or download quickly. At the same

time, you want to take care to preserve document formatting and design

choices you've made. PDF gives you a completely new world of ways to

convey your ideas and information over the internet at a page load rate most

users will appreciate.

Distiller offers different compression options for your document. As you saw

when looking at compression options, you can control how different image

types are compressed. The average web browser needs only 72 dpi (dots per

inch) for a sharp display; therefore, you can quickly reduce file size just with

graphic compression alone. When you convert a collection of 300 dpi graphics

to 72 dpi, the change in file size is significant.

A more important innovation that debuted way back in Acrobat 5.0 was the

introduction of Fast Web View technology. This allows files to download page

by page rather than all at once. Users can start viewing the document while the

rest of it loads (called streaming), ensuring a nice steady flow of information

between document and user.

Optimizing for print

Your priority when optimizing for print is quality. Moreover, because you're not

necessarily trying to save space, it's an easier task than preparing documents

for the web. You still have some choices to make, but you don't face the same

constraints of time and resources.

Although file size might be a minor consideration, you're generally not

concerned with bringing a file under 32 KB (kilobytes), as you might be if your

file were headed for the web. Larger file sizes mean less compression and

resampling is required. At the same time, you can also generally embed fewer

fonts and other features into printed PDF documents, which means the creation

process is faster.

Before you decide not to embed fonts in your PDF file, check with your print

shop or service bureau to be sure they have the fonts you used in your

document. Missing fonts are one of the primary reasons print jobs are late or

incorrect. When in doubt, embed all fonts.

Getting dirty with Distiller

There's really only one way to learn the ins and outs of optimization (apart from

reading a thick book): experiment. Play with the job options Distiller offers.

That's one of the benefits of PDFs. From one source file, you can create

multiple variations specifically constructed for a particular purpose or audience.

As you tweak Distiller's options, you can click the Save or Save As button to

keep a copy of any setting changes you've made. This will help you save time if

you discover the right settings for a particular job that you might find yourself

dealing with again.

Next, we'll take a tour of Acrobat's PDF Optimizer tool.

Using the PDF Optimizer

After reading the last section, you should now have a basic understanding of

how optimization works and the methods used to optimize a PDF document

manually within the confines of Distiller. This lesson covered that material first

to provide you with a fundamental understanding of the basics. Now it's time to

learn the shortcuts.

The PDF Optimizer tool is a utility available in Acrobat 9 Pro and Pro Extended

(and similar versions back to Acrobat 6) that enables you to automatically

optimize your documents. Let's experiment with it a bit. Open Acrobat 9 Pro

and then open a PDF document of your choice. Preferably, pick one that has

many pictures in it and several different fonts.

It's best if you select a document you created yourself; otherwise, it might

already be optimized.

Start the PDF Optimizer by selecting Advanced > PDF Optimizer from the

Acrobat menu. The PDF Optimizer window appears. Your first task is to

analyze the properties of the current document. Click the Audit space usage

button in the upper-right corner to open the Audit Space Usage dialog box,

shown in Figure 3-2.

Figure 3-2: Audit Space Usage dialog box.

After you're done reviewing the space audit information, click OK to continue

and return to the PDF Optimizer window.

Images

The Images panel in the PDF Optimizer, shown in Figure 3-3, offers options for

customizing the way Acrobat handles images embedded within your

documents.

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Figure 3-3: Images panel of the PDF Optimizer window.

Enlarge image

Do you recall from the previous page of this lesson that the two ways to reduce

the size of image files are downsampling and compression? The Images panel

enables you to choose the resampling and/or compression techniques to use

on color images, grayscale images and monochrome images.

Alternatively, you can let Acrobat do the work for you by using the Optimize

Scanned PDF menu option. Close the PDF Optimizer, and with your document

open in Acrobat, select Document > Optimize Scanned PDF. The Optimize

Scanned PDF dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 3-4.

Figure 3-4: Optimize Scanned PDF dialog box.

Enlarge image

Use the slider bar to select the balance you'd like between image quality and

document size, and then click OK.

Fonts

The Fonts panel, shown in Figure 3-5, enables you to unembed fonts from your

PDF files.

Figure 3-5: Fonts panel of the PDF Optimizer window.

Enlarge image

To remove fonts, select them in the Embedded fonts list and use the Unembed

button to put them into the Fonts to unembed list.

Transparency

The Transparency panel, shown in Figure 3-6, enables you to select a low-,

medium- or high-resolution transparency setting, which flattens the

transparency artwork in the PDF, reducing file size.

Figure 3-6: Transparency panel of the PDF Optimizer window.

Enlarge image

Not all PDFs contain transparent artwork. If your PDF doesn't have them, the

Transparency checkbox isn't checked by default.

Discard Objects

The Discard Objects panel, shown in Figure 3-7, enables you to remove

objects from within the PDF file. Some PDFs, for example, include multiple

objects of the same image. When optimizing a PDF, you can use the Discard

Objects panel to eliminate the unnecessary objects and reduce file size.

Figure 3-7: Discard Objects panel of the PDF Optimizer window.

Enlarge image

Discard User Data

Much like the Discard Objects panel, you use the Discard User Data panel,

shown in Figure 3-8, to remove data from PDF files. In some instances, you

want to remove all personal information from a PDF, or just remove metadata,

attachments and so on.

Figure 3-8: Discard User Data panel of the PDF Optimizer window.

Enlarge image

You'll learn how to remove hidden text and sensitive information in Lesson 4.

Clean Up

The final panel, Clean Up, is shown in Figure 3-9.

Figure 3-9: Clean Up panel of the PDF Optimizer window.

Enlarge image

This panel enables you to perform a number of miscellaneous document

cleanup tasks that might reduce the size of the PDF, such as removing invalid

bookmarks and links.

The last item on the Clean Up panel, Optimize the PDF for fast web view,

enables you to use the web optimization technique discussed on the previous

page of this lesson.

After you've finished selecting your options, click OK. The Save Optimized As

dialog box appears. You're asked to select a name for your file. You can either

overwrite the original PDF with the optimized file or, alternatively, give the

optimized file a new name. If you're experimenting with image quality, give the

file a new name. After you've lowered the quality of an image, you cannot

increase it again.

You learned a lot about PDF optimization in this lesson; however, there's still

many more details to cover in Acrobat regarding optimal files. Whenever you

want additional information on an Acrobat topic, select the Help menu.

Moving on

In this lesson, you learned about optimizing PDF documents. Before you move

on to Lesson 4, take the time to complete the assignment and quiz for this

lesson. After you've completed these tasks, move on to the next lesson where

you'll learn how to add security features to your PDFs.

Assignment #3

In this assignment, you implement the optimization techniques learned in Lesson 3. To

complete the assignment, follow these steps:

1. Select a PDF file with a mix of text and graphical elements. If you don't have one

readily available, use the sample presentation file.

2. Use the PDF Optimizer to reduce the size to an optimal level. Click the Audit space

usage button before you begin changing settings, and note the total byte size.

3. Make appropriate image compression, font embedding, metadata and document

cleanup decisions based upon the content of the document and its intended use.

4. Click the Audit space usage button after optimizing settings and compare the new

total byte size to the original byte size.

5. Save the document in a new file with "-optimized" appended to the file name.

Quiz #3

Question 1:

Which Acrobat-supported compression format is most appropriate for color photos?

A) LZH

B) ZIP

C) ARC

D) BAK

E) JPEG

Question 2:

Which Acrobat-supported compression format is most appropriate for grayscale photos?

A) LZH

B) ZIP

C) ARC

D) BAK

E) JPEG

Question 3:

Which Acrobat-supported compression format is most appropriate for documents with large areas of solid color?

A) LZH

B) ZIP

C) ARC

D) BAK

E) JPEG

Question 4:

Which panel in the PDF Optimizer do you use to remove metadata from a PDF?

A) Clean Up

B) Transparency

C) Discard Objects

D) Discard User Data

Question 5:

Which resolution does the average web browser require for a sharp display?

A) 50 dpi

B) 67 dpi

C) 72 dpi

D) 89 dpi

E) 108 dpi

Securing PDFs

This lesson provides an overview of the different Acrobat security options. It looks at protecting PDFs with

passwords and encryption, removing sensitive information and preventing printing and other changes.

Keeping PDFs secure

Welcome back. Lesson 3 taught you how to optimize PDFs for web viewing or

printing. You learned that it's important to keep your view-only PDFs lean but

balanced for aesthetics, and that print output PDFs are generally larger files

with a focus on high quality. In this lesson, you'll switch gears and learn how to

incorporate security into your PDFs to protect the information they contain.

Creating an important document nowadays generally means coming up with

some way to keep it secure. Acrobat's PDF security settings allow you to

create and distribute PDFs with the peace of mind that users won't tamper with

them or alter them without your permission.

Passwords are the primary means you can use to protect a PDF file from

unwanted use or changes. To give you the most flexibility, you don't have to

include this level of security in the PDF when you generate it (although you can

in Distiller). Instead, you can add it later when you're ready to disseminate the

PDF.

Removing sensitive information from PDFs

Before you share a PDF with others, in certain circumstances you may want to

remove all personally identifying or sensitive information. Sometimes this data

is hidden. If you can't locate it, select Document > Examine Document from the

Acrobat menu. Figure 4-1 shows a document that contains metadata and

hidden text, as well as other elements that may need to be addressed.

Figure 4-1: The Examine Document panel shows the results of a document

scan.

To keep information in the PDF, remove the check mark next to an item. To

remove any of the items, leave the box(es) checked and click Remove at the

bottom of the panel. In the resulting confirmation dialog box, click OK. The

panel displays a reminder message that no changes will be in effect until you

save the PDF.

Adding security in Distiller

You can add a password to your PDF as it generates by using the Distiller

options. In Distiller, open a PostScript file to be converted to PDF. Select

Settings > Security to open the Adobe PDF - Security dialog box, shown in

Figure 4-2.

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Figure 4-2: Adobe PDF - Security dialog box.

Enlarge image

In Acrobat, you can use two different passwords in a PDF file. The first, the

Document Open password, is used solely to open a document and should

be distributed to all intended recipients of a password-protected PDF. The

second, the Change Permissions password, is used to alter the security

settings of a PDF document and should normally be kept secret.

When you assign a password to a PDF, you can restrict the way users interact

with your document, in addition to restricting who has access to it. The

following sections describe Acrobat password restriction options.

Require a password to open the document

When users attempt to open your PDF file, they're prompted to enter a

password. Without this password, the document is encrypted and useless. This

feature allows you to securely distribute confidential information via email or the

internet.

If you use password protection, be sure to prearrange the password with the

document recipient by telephone, regular mail or some offline means. If you

send a document as an attachment to a message that says, "The password is

Apple," you might as well not bother encrypting the file in the first place. If a

hacker intercepts the message, he or she will have both the file and the

password.

Restrict editing and printing of the document

This is a great feature if you're using PDFs to distribute important content you

don't want the recipient to freely print or change. Users are allowed to view the

document but not print or alter it, ensuring your work stays yours (and you get

paid).

The choices you have under the Printing Allowed option are the following:

None: Disallows printing entirely

Low Resolution (150dpi): Allows low-resolution printing only

High Resolution: Allows high-resolution printing

Restricting printing is not foolproof. There's nothing to stop a document

recipient from extracting data from a file using the print screen functionality

of their operating system.

There are several different permission levels that you may grant users of your

PDFs in the Changes Allowed drop-down list:

None

Inserting, deleting and rotation of pages

Fill-in form fields and signing

Commenting, filling-in form fields and signing

Any except extracting pages

Enable copying of text, images and other content

This setting determines whether users can cut and paste portions of a PDF

document. Leaving it unchecked makes the PDF truly read-only. Although

users can still manually type any text they see in your PDF into a separate

document they can edit, this makes it much more difficult for them to move

information out of your PDF and into a different document.

Enable text access for screen reader devices for the visually impaired

If you select this option, screen reading devices can access the underlying text

of your document.

Adding security to an existing PDF

If you have an existing PDF that you created in Distiller or via PDFMaker, you

can add password security to it using the Acrobat software. To configure the

security settings for the document, open it in Acrobat and select Advanced >

Security > Show Security Properties. The Document Properties dialog box

appears with the Security tab selected, as shown in Figure 4-3, displaying a

summary of the document restrictions. Because no security has been added to

this document yet, all of the document restrictions display "Allowed."

Figure 4-3: Document Properties dialog box, Security tab.

Enlarge image

Select Password Security from the Security Method drop-down list on the

Security tab. The Password Security - Settings dialog box appears, with the

same options found in the Adobe PDF - Security dialog box shown previously

in Figure 4-2.

Now that you understand how to add security to a PDF, move on to learn about

generating security certificates and IDs.

Generating security certificates and IDs

Acrobat enables you to digitally sign PDF documents, encrypt them to ensure

only the intended recipients can see them and certify them to provide

assurances to document recipients. The first step in this process is to create

your own digital certificate that includes a digital ID, which assures recipients

that the document came from you. Acrobat supports a number of certificate

types, including self-signed certificates, Microsoft Windows certificates and

those generated by a third party.

In this class, you'll work exclusively with self-signed certificates, due to the

expense involved in obtaining third-party certificates. However, you should

keep in mind that this type of certificate is suitable only for communicating with

known recipients with whom you may physically exchange certificates. If you

must exchange certificates over the internet, the use of a third-party

certification authority is critical.

Generating your own certificate

To generate your own self-signed digital certificate:

1. Select Advanced > Security Settings. The Security Settings window

appears.

2. In the left panel, select Digital IDs, and then click the Add ID button on

the toolbar. The Add Digital ID Wizard starts.

3. Select the A new digital ID I want to create now option, and then click

Next.

Throughout this class and in the real world, you'll hear the terms digital ID

and digital certificate used interchangeably.

1. Acrobat prompts you to choose how to store the digital ID. Select one of

the following, and then click Next.

New PKCS#12 digital ID file: Saves the ID in standard encryption format to

share with others

Windows Certificate Store: Saves the ID on your hard disk where other

Windows applications can access it

1. Fill in your identity information in the resulting window, shown in Figure

4-4. Click Next.

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Figure 4-4: Entering your identify information for a self-signed digital ID.

Enlarge image

1. Select a location to save your digital ID file. If you're using a Windows

system, the file has a .pfx extension. On Macintosh systems, it has a

.p12 file extension. You also need to enter a password and confirm it.

Passwords are case-sensitive and must be a minimum of six characters.

When you're done, click Finish.

You're returned to the Security Settings window, which shows a summary of

your digital certificate's details.

Making the certificate accessible for future use

Now you need to instruct Acrobat to use the ID for future signature and

encryption operations. To do this, perform the following:

1. With the certificate highlighted in the Security Settings window, select

Usage Options > Use for Signing. Acrobat places a check mark next to

the Use for Signing menu item, as shown in Figure 4-5.

Figure 4-5: The certificate is configured to be used for signing.

1. Repeat the previous step for the Use for Encryption option, and then

close the Security Settings window when you're finished.

See how to generate a certificate and add future signing and encryption. (1.1

MB)

If you're not familiar with digital certificates, you can find excellent tutorials and

information on the web; just search for digital certificates.

Next, you'll learn how to encrypt a PDF.

Encrypting PDFs

Encryption is a security measure that ensures that only intended recipients can

view a document. You can share digital certificates with single users, or use

digital IDs to encrypt PDF files so multiple recipients can securely read them,

but no one else.

Sharing digital certificates

Acrobat uses the FDF (Form Data Format) file format to facilitate the exchange

of certificates between users. To provide another user with a copy of your

digital certificate, you need to create your own .fdf file.

To do so:

1. Select Advanced > Security Settings.

2. Select your digital ID from the list, and then click the Export button. The

Data Exchange File - Export Options Wizard starts, as shown in Figure

4-6.

Figure 4-6: Data Exchange File - Export Options Wizard initial screen.

Enlarge image

1. Select one of the options to export the digital ID to send via email or to

save to a file. Click Next and follow the prompts.

2. When you're finished, close the Security Settings window.

To request a digital ID from another user, select Advanced > Manage Trusted

Identities from the Acrobat menu. Click Request Contact. Acrobat then walks

you through the process of requesting the digital ID and sending the recipient a

copy of your own ID.

Encrypting PDFs for multiple recipients

To encrypt a document for multiple recipients:

1. Select Advanced > Security > Encrypt with Certificate.

2. The Applying New Security Settings dialog box appears, confirming you

want to change security in the document. Click Yes. The Certificate

Security Settings Wizard starts.

3. In the General settings screen, click Next to accept the default settings.

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With the Discard these settings after applying option selected, the settings

will apply only to the current document and not all documents.

1. In the Select recipients screen, select your personal digital ID. It's

extremely important that you add yourself to the list of authorized

recipients. If you don't include your own certificate, you won't be able to

view the document after you've saved it.

2. After selecting your own certificate, you're asked to include the

certificates of other users that you'd like to authorize to view the

encrypted document. Click Search and follow the prompts.

3. When you're done, click Finished.

The next time you save the document, those security settings are added. Next,

learn how to certify a PDF.

Certifying a PDF

After you've created your own digital ID, you can use the certificate to digitally

certify PDF files. This certification provides recipients with the assurance that

you created the PDF document and that it was not altered after you signed it.

To certify a document, perform the following:

1. Select File > Save as Certified Document from within Acrobat. The Save

as Certified Document dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 4-7,

providing details of the certification process. Click OK.

Figure 4-7: Save as Certified Document dialog box.

Enlarge image

1. The resulting dialog box instructs you to close the box and then drag

your mouse pointer to a location in the document where you want the

signature field to appear. Click OK and follow those instructions.

2. The Certify Document dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 4-8.

Select a digital ID from the Sign As drop-down list at the top, enter the

appropriate password and select an appearance. The Permitted Actions

After Certifying drop-down list offers these choices:

No changes allowed

Form fill-in and digital signatures

Annotations, form fill-in, and digital signatures

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Figure 4-8: Certify Document dialog box.

Enlarge image

1. Select the option appropriate for your needs, and then click Sign.

2. The Save As dialog box appears. Select a location, enter a document

name and then click Save.

Recipients of a document are always notified of a certification, regardless of the

option you choose during this step.

If you chose to visibly sign the document, a certification mark similar to that

shown in Figure 4-8 appears in the document.

See how to certify a PDF. (1.1 MB)

Moving on

In this lesson, you learned how to add security to PDF documents and remove

sensitive information. Take some time to complete the assignment and quiz for

this lesson to reinforce new concepts and important topics. After you've

completed these tasks, move on to Lesson 5, where you'll learn about

Acrobat's document review and collaboration features.

Assignment #4

Using one of the PDFs you worked on in the assignment for Lesson 2 or 3:

1. Add password protection to your PDF.

2. Select the setting that prevents users from printing the PDF.

3. Ensure users cannot copy text from the PDF.

4. Test your security settings by doing the following:

5. Try to open the PDF without the password.

6. Use the password to open the PDF, and then try to print it.

7. Use the password to open the PDF, and then try to copy text from it into

another document.

Quiz #4

Question 1:

Which of the following terms commonly refer to digital IDs?

A) Private key

B) Public key

C) Digital signature

D) Digital certificate

Question 2:

True or False: The only way to generate a digital ID is by creating a self-signing certificate.

A) True

B) False

Question 3:

Which of the following is not an option for controlling use of a digitally certified PDF document?

A) No changes allowed

B) Allow any changes to the document

C) Form fill-in and digital signatures

D) Annotations, form fill-in, and digital signatures

Question 4:

True or False: Document certification is known only to recipients when you make the signature visible.

A) True

B) False

Question 5:

Which type of file is used to exchange digital certificates with other Acrobat users?

A) .pfx

B) .pxf

C) .fdf

D) .p12

E) .cer

Reviewing documents and collaborating with Acrobat

Acrobat provides robust document reviewing, tracking and collaboration tools. In this lesson, you'll learn how to

electronically initiate a review cycle, add comments, track and manage shared reviews and initiate web

conferencing.

Introducing Acrobat.com

Welcome back. Now that you know how to create PDFs, optimize them for web

viewing or printing and secure them, you're ready to learn how to share them

with others for purposes of review. This lesson first explores Acrobat.com, a

website designed for group collaboration and file sharing. You'll learn how to

set up a free account on Acrobat.com, and then use a few of the modules that

make collaboration a breeze: Share, Adobe ConnectNow and Adobe

Buzzword. All you need is an internet connection and a web browser.

Creating an account on Acrobat.com

1. Open a web browser and go to Acrobat.com. Or, in Acrobat, click the

Collaborate button on the toolbar and select Go to Acrobat.com.

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2. Click Begin in any of the applet windows. You're prompted to sign in

using an Adobe user name and password.

3. Click Sign Up!. In the Sign Up window, enter your email address, a

password and other personal information. Read and agree to the

Services Agreement, and then click Begin.

4. Check your email client for an email from Adobe, and then click the

validation link in the email. You're directed to the Acrobat.com website

where you can sign in.

Once you've validated your email address, you can begin using any of the

Acrobat.com modules.

Sharing files

The Share module, shown in Figure 5-1, lets you and others share and

exchange many different types of files, such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft

Excel, Adobe InDesign and, of course, Adobe PDF. Just click the Upload

button on the toolbar, browse for a file and click Open.

Figure 5-1: Share interface.

Enlarge image

Adobe allows you to store over 5 GB (gigabytes) of files.

Adobe ConnectNow

Adobe ConnectNow is a tool available through Acrobat.com that lets you and

your team collaborate in real time over the web. With Adobe ConnectNow, you

can perform document reviews, share computer screens and video, incorporate

audio and teleconferencing, use whiteboards and more.

To use Adobe ConnectNow:

1. Click Begin in the Adobe ConnectNow applet window on Acrobat.com.

2. You're prompted to sign in using an Adobe user name and password.

Click Enter Meeting to begin.

3. In the Welcome to Adobe ConnectNow! window, Adobe displays a URL

(uniform resource locator) for your meeting room based on your name,

by default. Because you will send this URL to others to invite them to the

shared meeting space, you may want to change the URL to reflect a

project title or another unique identifier. To change the URL, click the

Customize Your Meeting URL link and follow the prompts.

4. The Welcome to Adobe ConnectNow! window reappears, as shown in

Figure 5-2. Click Close.

To invite users to your meeting space, click the Send Email Invitation Now link

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in the Welcome window. A new message window opens in your email client,

with the meeting space URL in the message body.

Figure 5-2: Welcome to Adobe ConnectNow! window.

Enlarge image

The Adobe ConnectNow window appears, as shown in Figure 5-3.This your

main interface for web-based meetings. Use the buttons in the middle of the

screen to invite participants and share your screen. The tools along the right

side of the screen enable you to use your computer's camera to display video,

see a list of participants signed in, chat with participants during the meeting and

record shared notes. For more information on conducting an Adobe

ConnectNow meeting, click the Meeting and Help buttons at the top of the

screen.

Figure 5-3: Adobe ConnectNow interface.

Enlarge image

To end a meeting and sign out of Acrobat.com, select Meeting > Sign Out.

Adobe Buzzword

Adobe Buzzword enables you to open many different types of files, and invite

others to review those documents online without requiring the software and

associated fonts to be installed on their computer. To open a document in

Adobe Buzzword:

1. In Adobe Acrobat, select Collaborate > Create Buzzword Document.

Acrobat opens a web browser window and connects to Acrobat.com.

2. Enter your Adobe ID and password in the Adobe Buzzword pop-up

window, and then click Sign In.

3. If a message bar appears at the top of the browser window prompting

you to run a Microsoft runtime script, right-click the message bar and

select Run ActiveX Control. Click Run when prompted.

4. To upload a document from your PC for others to review, select

Document > Import from the menu bar. The screen changes, and then

the Select file to upload by buzzword.acrobat.com window appears.

Navigate to a file on your computer, select it and click Open.

5. With the document open in Adobe Buzzword, click Share in the lowerleft

corner of the window. The Share window appears, as shown in

Figure 5-4.

Figure 5-4: Adobe Buzzword Share window.

Enlarge image

1. Type the email addresses of your reviewers in the appropriate fields,

and select a role for each reviewer. Your choices are Co-author,

Reviewer and Reader. The Co-author role offers the most permission,

whereas the Reader role lets reviewers view and comment on the

document without making changes. Click Next.

2. The Share window expands to include Subject and Message fields,

much like an email client. Enter a subject, type a brief message to your

reviewers and click Share.

The recipients receive an email notification with a link to the document saved

on Acrobat.com. They must sign in with an Adobe ID and password to access

the document.

Now that you know how to access Acrobat.com and use some of its tools, read

on to learn how the PDF review process works in Adobe Acrobat 9.

Using Acrobat 9 to review PDFs

Although all of the tools for reviewing, commenting on and managing PDFs are

available on Acrobat.com, many people prefer to use the Acrobat software to

accomplish a lot of the same tasks. Much like its online cousin, Acrobat can

manage the document review process via email or the web.

Participants using Acrobat 6.0 or higher or the free Adobe Reader 7.0 or

higher may participate in the electronic review process.

Initiating an email review

When you initiate an email-based PDF review, participants receive the PDF

document along with applicable review information embedded in the document.

The recipient then uses Acrobat to make comments on the file itself and returns

the revisions to the originator via email.

The process of initiating an email-based review is quite straightforward:

1. In Acrobat, open the PDF document you'd like others to review. This file

will become the master file—you'll merge comments from the reviewers

into this file.

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2. Click the Comment button on the toolbar, and then select Attach for

Email Review.

If you haven't already configured Acrobat with your personal information,

the Identity Setup dialog box appears. Enter your identifying information

into the fields, and then click Complete.

1. The Send by Email for Review Wizard starts. In the Getting Started

screen, select a PDF to send for review. Click Next.

2. In the Invite Reviewers screen, enter the email addresses of the people

you'd like to participate in the review. Separate multiple email addresses

with a semicolon or hard return. You can also select recipients from your

email client's address list by clicking the Address Book button. Click

Next. The Preview Invitation screen appears.

3. Make any changes you'd like to the default message, and then click

Send Invitation.

Depending on the email software you're using, you may see a warning that

an application is attempting to send email on your behalf. This is a standard

security precaution and should not be cause for alarm.

1. When you receive the outgoing mail notification message, click OK.

All of the recipients you've selected will receive an email message inviting them

to participate in the review along with the appropriate PDF file.

See how to initiate an email review of a PDF file. (1.0 MB)

Initiating a shared (browser-based) review

Shared reviews offer an added collaboration advantage over email-based

reviews: Reviewers may actually see (but not modify or delete) each other's

comments in real time in a web browser. This enables members of the review

team to interactively collaborate during the review process. You can use

Acrobat.com to host a shared review, or use your own internal server.

If you plan to use the document review features of Acrobat 9 on an internal

server, you should consult your system administrator about implementing the

collaboration technology necessary to support these features. It may involve

creating a shared location on a network folder, setting up a Microsoft

SharePoint workspace or creating a secured portion of your existing web

server.

Starting the review

The process of initiating a shared review is similar to that used to initiate an

email-based review:

1. Open the PDF file you'd like others to review. This document becomes

the master file.

2. Click Comment, and then select Send for Shared Review. The Send for

Shared Review Wizard starts.

3. In the first screen, choose how you want to collect comments from your

reviewers by selecting an option in the drop-down menu at the top of the

screen, as shown in Figure 5-5. For this example, select the

Automatically download & track comments with Acrobat.com option and

click Next.

Figure 5-5: Deciding how to send the PDF file to your reviewers.

Enlarge image

1. Enter your Adobe ID and password, if prompted, to sign in to

Acrobat.com.

2. The next screen, shown in Figure 5-6, resembles an email client

window. Fill in the email addresses of the people you'd like to participate

in the review in the To field. To cc: other people, add their email

addresses in the Cc field. In the Access Level drop-down list, select

Open access or Limited access to configure whether anyone who knows

the URL can access and download the file or just specific recipients,

respectively. To change the deadline of the review, click the

ReviewDeadline link and change the date and time, or select No

deadline. Click OK to close the Change Review Deadline dialog box. In

the wizard, click Send.

Figure 5-6: Inviting reviewers, setting access rights and applying a review

deadline.

Enlarge image

Acrobat processes the review requests. The document is saved on

Acrobat.com and on your computer. Participants receive an email with the text

you entered (or the template text) as well a link to the file.

See how to initiate a shared review of a PDF file. (1.4 MB)

The next step in the PDF review process is commenting on documents. That's

covered in the next section.

Commenting on documents

If you're invited to participate in a PDF review, you'll find the process quite

simple. When you receive an invitation to an email-based review, there's an

attached PDF file that contains the details necessary to configure Acrobat for

the review. Simply open this file and Acrobat should open and walk you through

the review process. As you learned in the last section, an online shared review

email invitation includes a link to Acrobat.com.

You should see a copy of the PDF file, along with the document message bar

and the Comment & Markup toolbar, similar to Figure 5-7.

Figure 5-7: The document message bar and Comment & Markup toolbar

appear automatically.

Enlarge image

If you're participating in a shared review, click the Check for New Comments

button on the message bar to insert comments into your PDF that have been

made by other reviewers.

You can work on the document even while you're offline. Just open the

document in Acrobat, click the Server status button on the far right side of the

document message bar and select Work Offline.

When you're ready to update the master document, click the Server status

button again, select Work Online and then click the Publish Comments button

on the document message bar. Your comments are transmitted to the master

PDF file on the server, and you receive comments from other document

reviewers, if any.

The toolbar contains the following tools you can use to review the PDF

document.

Sticky Note tool

This tool enables you to insert balloon-style comments in the text. After

selecting the tool, click the portion of the document on which you'd like to

comment. The Sticky Note tool opens a balloon window where you type your

comments. It automatically inserts your name (as registered with Acrobat) and

the current date and time. An example of a comment inserted using the Sticky

Note tool is shown in Figure 5-8.

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Figure 5-8: A Sticky Note tool comment.

Enlarge image

Text Edits tool

This tool enables you to actually modify the text contents of the document.

Choose to insert, replace or delete any text contained within the PDF

document. The edits you make are temporary; subject to review by the

document originator. An example of a text edit made using this tool is shown in

Figure 5-9.

Figure 5-9: Example of using the Text Edits tool.

Stamp tool

This tool enables you to place seals on the document. When you select the

tool, you can choose from a number of different stamps in several different

categories. You can use the Stamp tool to add standard document markings,

such as Confidential, Draft, Received or Approved. Some of the stamps also

include dynamic content based on your identity, the current time and your

company name. An example of a stamp is shown in Figure 5-10.

Figure 5-10: Example of the Stamp tool.

Highlight Text tool

This tool enables you to highlight text in the document. An example of a portion

of text highlighted using this tool is shown in Figure 5-11.

Figure 5-11: Example of highlighted text.

Other tools

The other tools located on the Comment & Markup toolbar enable you to add a

callout or text box, add arrows and other shapes to call attention to parts of the

document and draw freehand shapes (Pencil tool). Just hover your mouse

pointer over each tool to read its description.

That's the document review process in a nutshell. When you're finished with the

review, click Send Comments (email review) or Publish Comments (shared

review) to reply to the review initiator.

Next, learn how to track and manage reviews.

Tracking and managing reviews

After you've initiated a review, you need to manage the process, tracking the

edits made by various reviewers and deciding which ones to keep in the final

PDF document. Acrobat facilitates this process with an automated review

tracking and management functionality.

Using Tracker

Acrobat's Tracker functionality lets you keep tabs on all outstanding reviews

using a single interface. Click Comment > Track Reviews on the main toolbar,

and then select a document n the left pane, as shown in Figure 5-12.

Figure 5-12: Tracker window.

Enlarge image

Review Tracker enables you to see the current status of all requested reviews.

You can also use it to send a message to all reviewers, remind those who

haven't completed the review that it's outstanding and invite additional

reviewers to participate in the review process.

Reviewing comments

After you've received all of the appropriate comments, you can use Acrobat to

review those comments and decide which changes you will and won't

incorporate into the master document. In the Tracker window, click View

Comments and then click Check for New Comments. Acrobat combines

Comparing PDFs

You may sometimes need to

compare two PDFs, such as

a newer version to an older

version of the same file, to

determine the differences

between them. The Compare

feature in Acrobat 9

highlights and comments on

changes between two

documents. Just select

Document > Compare

Documents. The Compare

Documents dialog box

appears. Browse to select

the older document, and then

the newer document. Select

the type of document they

represent, such as report or

spreadsheet, presentation or

illustration, or a scanned

document. Click OK.

Acrobat processes the files

and generates a list of the

changes. The contents are

displayed in the Compare

navigation panel.

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comments from all reviewers into the master document.

When you're reviewing the master document, you'll see various reviewer

comments scattered throughout the document based on the location the

reviewer placed each comment. If you don't feel like browsing through the

entire document searching for comments, Acrobat provides a master list—the

Comments list panel—at the bottom of the document. This panel contains a

complete list of all comments made by all reviewers in sequential order

throughout the document. When you click a comment (or use the Next and

Previous buttons to navigate), Acrobat automatically shows you the comment in

its proper context.

As you read each comment, you can click the Reply button to reply to the

comment, or delete the comment by clicking the Delete button (trash can).

Merging comments

Merging all reviewers' comments into the master file is a fairly simple process.

If you're conducting an email-based review, open the PDF you receive from

each reviewer, review the comments, delete those you don't want and then

click Merge Comments onto Master PDF. Acrobat automatically opens the

original (master) PDF file and inserts the reviewers' comments. If you're

conducting a shared review, the PDF file stored on the server will automatically

contain all current reviewer comments.

Moving on

In this lesson, you learned how to use Acrobat's document review features to

coordinate activity among multiple document reviewers. In Lesson 6, you'll

learn how Acrobat supports the professional printing process. Before you

continue, take the time to complete the assignment and quiz for this lesson.

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Assignment #5

In Lesson 5, you learned how to use Acrobat's document review functionality. For this

assignment:

1. Select a PDF file that you're currently working on and would like other users to provide

comments.

2. Initiate an email-based review of that document among multiple reviewers.

3. After the reviewers have sent you their comments, incorporate them into the original

PDF.

(Optional) Go to Acrobat.com. If you don't already have an Adobe ID and password, create a

new account. Set up an Adobe ConnectNow meeting space, invite at least two friends or

associates and try out the tools.

Quiz #5

Question 1:

Adobe ConnectNow enables meeting participants to share screens and video, but you must use Tracker to

conduct shared reviews.

A) True

B) False

Question 2:

Which of the following applications allow a reviewer to participate in a PDF document review initiated by an

originator using Acrobat 9? (Check all that apply.)

A) Adobe Acrobat 6.0

B) Adobe Reader 6.0

C) Adobe Acrobat 5.0

D) Adobe Reader 7.0

Question 3:

True or False: Adobe Buzzword lets you review many different file types online without requiring the software

and associated fonts to be installed on your computer.

A) True

B) False

Question 4:

True or False: When using the Text Edits tool to insert, replace or delete text in a PDF that you're reviewing, the

edits you make are permanent.

A) True

B) False

Question 5:

Which command do you use to start the Tracker feature in Acrobat 9?

A) Select Reviews > Track.

B) Select Comment > Track Reviews.

C) Click the Track Reviews button.

D) Click the Merge Reviews button.

Printing to PDF and professional printing

Acrobat is the preferred file format for service bureaus and print shops. This lesson will give you system and

color management tips, and show you how to prepare and package complete PDFs for your printing provider.

Preparing your system

Over the past decade, Adobe's PDF format has become extremely popular. In

fact, almost everyone has Adobe Reader installed on their system, making PDF

the de facto file exchange format for the internet. What you might not know

about Acrobat is that it has also become the format of choice for professional

designers and printers working with their clients. In fact, Acrobat has a number

of specialized color and print process-management features designed to

support professional printing. Although you learned how to optimize a PDF in

Lesson 3, this lesson takes a look at additional print-related features and

teaches you how to use them to create printer-ready output.

Before you begin exploring Acrobat's professional printing features, it's

important that you take some time to properly prepare your system. As you're

probably aware, different output devices (monitors, printers and so on)

represent colors in different ways.

If you don't have experience with color calibration, you may wish to seek

assistance from someone familiar with the process.

Calibrating your monitor

Monitors are notorious for their distortion of colors. Indeed, if you've never

calibrated your monitor before, it's likely that it's far off from standard color

schemes. The best way to calibrate your monitor is to use an ICC (International

More about color

calibration

To find out more about

calibrating monitors, read

the Calibrate Your Monitor

article on the About.com

website. For more

information on the

International Color

Consortium, visit the ICC

website .

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Color Consortium) color profiling utility. Two common utilities are:

Adobe Gamma

Apple monitor calibration

These tools offer a cost-effective way to calibrate and maintain your monitor's

color profile. Consult the documentation supplied with the utilities to determine

the appropriate procedure for calibrating your monitor. If you're looking for the

best color calibration solution, you may wish to consider purchasing a

dedicated hardware monitor calibration tool.

Understanding output device color profiles

Just as you need to calibrate your monitor, you also need to provide your

operating system with device-specific color profiles for each of your output

devices. If you're using a high-end output device, you may normally obtain

these color profiles from the device manufacturer.

These profiles are sometimes included on a disc included in the device

documentation package.

When you obtain the color profile, place it in an appropriate location for your

operating system. These locations are:

Microsoft Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP:

Windows\System32\Spool\Drivers\Color

Mac OS: Library Color Sync/Profiles

The use of color profiles helps ensure that the colors you see on your monitor

(assuming it's been properly calibrated) match the output you receive from your

printer (or other output device).

Next, dive into color management concepts and learn how to tweak Adobe

Acrobat's settings.

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Understanding color management

Acrobat offers a comprehensive color management facility designed to support

those users that need advanced color management capabilities. In this section,

you'll learn about color models, as well as how to use Acrobat's predefined

color settings and how to create customized working spaces.

Color models

It's important that you have an understanding of the common color models

used in the printing industry. The three common models are named after the

colors they use and are as follows:

RGB (Red, Green, Blue): Uses the three additive colors to represent the

space of available colors. It measures the amount of light reflected back to

the eye. When working with paper, this represents the colors of light that

reflect off the paper back into the eye. On a computer monitor, the RGB

values represent the colors that are emitted by the monitor and received by

the eye.

Combining additive colors creates white.

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CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, blacK): Takes the opposite approach to the

RGB model and measures the amount of light absorbed by the paper. Cyan,

magenta and yellow together are known as subtractive colors because,

when combined, they create pure black—the absence of color. In the printing

industry, the CMYK model is used to implement four-color process printing.

Grayscale: Used to describe black-and-white images. In this model, each

pixel is assigned a brightness percentage where 0 percent is black and 100

percent is white.

These color models are the foundation of color printing. A solid understanding

of them is essential if you plan to work with professional printers.

If all this talk about color models and color management schemes doesn't

make sense to you, don't worry about it. Your professional printer can help

you work through the process of getting Acrobat ready to create printerready

output. After all, once you're up and running, it will certainly make

your printer's life easier.

Predefined color management

You can meet the vast majority of your color needs with Acrobat's predefined

color management settings. To access this portion of the Acrobat preferences,

select Edit > Preferences, and then select Color Management in the left pane.

You'll see the Preferences window shown in Figure 6-1.

Figure 6-1: Color Management settings.

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The Settings drop-down list defaults to North America General Purpose 2;

however, you should change it depending on the type of equipment used by

your printer and the specific application you're working on. Most users in the

United States leave it set to the default or select the North America Prepress 2

setting. Either of these settings use the CMYK model to implement color

settings that comply with the SWOP (Specifications for Web Offset

Publications). Other options include:

Custom

Europe General Purpose 2, Europe Prepress 2, Europe Web/Internet

Monitor Color

North America Web/Internet

Color Management Off

Japan Color for Newspaper, Japan General Purpose 2, Japan Magazine

Advertisement Color, Japan Prepress 2, Japan Web/Internet

Photoshop 5 Default Spaces

Consult your printing provider to determine the appropriate settings to use for

your environment.

Customize working spaces

If you're using a specialized output device, you may want to create your own

working space rather than using one of the predefined color management

options. You do this using the same preferences pane used to select a color

management option. Select Custom from the Settings drop-down list in the

Color Management Preferences window, and then specify the appropriate

working space options under the RGB, CMYK and/or Grayscale drop-down

menus.

There's a lot to learn about color management, and this section just scratched

the surface. You can dive deeper into color management settings by applying

different settings to the same document and saving the file using different file

names. Send some test copies to a printer and see the results for yourself. The

next section covers some tips for preparing your output for a print shop.

Preparing for the printer

Acrobat includes a number of techniques designed to ensure that your

document is ready for professional printing. In this final portion of the class,

you'll examine some previewing techniques and learn how the PDF/X format

supports the professional printing process.

Previewing color separations

Acrobat enables you to view color separation plates on your monitor before the

printer prepares them. If you've properly calibrated your monitor with an ICCcompliant

profile, the colors you see on your screen should exactly match those

produced by your printer.

To preview color separations, select Advanced > Print Production > Output

Preview. The Output Preview dialog box appears with Separations selected in

the Preview list, as shown in Figure 6-2. In the Show drop-down list, select

various settings and watch how the document in the background changes to

represent the requested view.

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Figure 6-2: Output Preview dialog box.

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When you're finished, click the Close (X) button in the upper-right corner of the

Output Preview dialog box to close it.

Previewing transparency flattening

Acrobat also enables you to preview how a document will look after it's been

flattened. To access the transparency Flattener Preview dialog box, shown in

Figure 6-3, select Advanced > Print Production > Flattener Preview.

Figure 6-3: Flattener Preview dialog box.

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You may adjust the flattener settings using the controls that appear along the

left side of the dialog box. After you've made the appropriate settings, click

Refresh and the new preview of the image appears on the right. You may

modify the settings as many times as you like. Just click Refresh each time

you'd like your preview updated. When you're finished, click the Close button in

the dialog box.

Next, walk through the steps for preflighting a document, which ensures it is

free of problems and ready for the print shop.

Preflighting documents

Acrobat's true professional printing power comes in its ability to perform a

thorough preflight inspection of a document prior to transmitting it to a

professional printer. This inspection analyzes the document for any possible

problems that might arise during the printing process.

It's important to note that preflight inspections merely report possible

problems to you. Preflighting a document does not correct any deficiencies

in your PDF. You have to adjust those manually.

When you're ready to run a preflight inspection of your document, select

Advanced > Preflight to initiate the process. This process can take a few

minutes to complete. The Preflight dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 6-4,

prompting you to select a preflight profile.

Figure 6-4: Preflight dialog box.

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When you request a preflight inspection of a document, Acrobat takes a list of

predefined document rules and compares your document to those rules,

seeking any potential deficiencies. Those rules are contained in the many

preflight profiles you may pick from during the preflight inspection. The preflight

profiles offered by Acrobat include:

Acrobat/PDF version compatibility (with Acrobat 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7)

Create PDF layers

Digital printing and online publishing

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PDF analysis

PDF fixups

PDF/A compliance

PDF/E compliance

PDF/X compliance

Prepress

To run the preflight inspection, select the appropriate profile and click Analyze.

Acrobat conducts the inspection, which may take a significant amount of time,

depending on the complexity of your PDF file. After the inspection is complete,

the Preflight dialog box appears containing the results of the inspection, as

shown in Figure 6-5.

Figure 6-5: Preflight dialog box with inspection results.

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The preflight inspection results include a remarkable amount of detail about any

potential problems encountered during the inspection. You may locate a

potential problem in the document by clicking each item in the preflight results.

You may also drill down into the results to get detailed information by

expanding each node of the tree using the + icons. An example of an expanded

preflight inspection error node is shown in Figure 6-6.

Figure 6-6: Expanded Preflight inspection error.

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Your printer may request that you include a copy of a preflight validation report

when you transmit your final PDF file. You may obtain this report by clicking

the Create Report button in the Preflight dialog box.

PDF/X, PDF/A and PDF/E

PDF/X (Portable Document Format Exchange), PDF/A (Archive) and PDF/E

(Engineering) are ISO (International Organization for Standardization)

standards used for the exchange of PDF documents among organizations.

PDF/X files contain all of the information necessary to generate output and are

ready for the printer. PDF/A files are stripped of some PDF features, making

them more suitable for long-term archiving purposes. PDF/E files are geared

toward engineering documents and include dynamic content and 3D elements.

Your printing provider may request that you provide all output in PDF/X format.

There are two main types of PDF/X documents:

PDF/X-1a: Supports CMYK and spot-color processing only. This format does

not allow transparency or layer functionality.

PDF/X-3: Supports CMYK, spot colors and the use of ICC and Lab color.

PDF/X-4: Supports the same elements as PDF/X-3 but includes

transparency and layers.

PDF/X-4p: Supports the same elements as PDF/X-4 but, where the

destination profile is Output Intent, references the intended printing condition

rather than embedding the information.

To create a PDF/X output file, click the Standards button in the Preflight dialog

box. Select the Save as PDF/X option, shown in Figure 6-7, and click Continue.

Select the PDF/X standard you wish to use (X-1a, X-3, X-4 or X-4p) and click

Continue.

Figure 6-7: Preflight: Save as options.

Enlarge image

The Preflight dialog box shows the actions to be taken, and enables you to

create a conversion profile by selecting the checkbox at the top of the window,

as shown in Figure 6-8. Click Save as, and then select a folder and enter a file

name in the Save As dialog box. Click Save.

Figure 6-8: Creating a preflight profile.

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The results of converting the PDF to PDF/X format are shown in Figure 6-9.

Figure 6-9: Preflight dialog box results after selecting PDF/X-1a as the format.

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If problems were encountered during the conversion, Acrobat lists them in the

Preflight dialog box. Correct the settings and run the conversion again. When

you're finished, your document is preflighted and ready for the printer.

Moving on

Congratulations! You've now reached the conclusion of this class on creating

PDFs with Adobe Acrobat. In this lesson, you learned how to use Acrobat's

advanced functionality to interact with professional printers. Before you shut

down the computer, take the time to complete the assignment and quiz for this

lesson. They'll reinforce the concepts you learned in this class and help you

make the most of Acrobat.

Assignment #6

In Lesson 6, you learned a number of color and print process management techniques

supported by Acrobat that can assist you with preparing files for professional printing. For this

assignment:

1. Select a file that you would like to have professionally printed.

2. Run a preflight inspection of the file. Select a few different settings, such as Compatible

with Acrobat 5 and PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-4 to see how your document stacks up.

3. Correct any problems and run the preflight inspection again.

Quiz #6

Question 1:

Which color model is based on the additive colors?

A) CMYK

B) Grayscale

C) CMK

D) RGB

Question 2:

Which color model is based on the subtractive colors?

A) CMYK

B) Grayscale

C) CMK

D) RGB

Question 3:

True or False: You can use a hardware device to calibrate your monitor.

A) True

B) False

Question 4:

Which of the following file formats are supported in Acrobat 9? (Check all that apply.)

A) PDF/X-1a

B) PDF/X-3

C) PDF/X-4

D) PDF/X-4p

Question 5:

True or False: The PDF/X-1a format supports use of CMYK, spot colors, transparency and layers.

A) True

B) False

Question 6:

True or False: Preflighting a document corrects any problems before you send the file to the printer.

A) True

B) False