PDFs Get More Nimble Grand Forks ND

Posted by : Matt Lake

Here's an exercise in generating a blank stare from average computer users around the office: Ask them what PDF stands for. A high percentage will probably be able to tell you that you need the Acrobat Reader to open a PDF file. Many will probably roll their eyes at how slow that darn reader is to open in their Web browser when they click on a PDF link. Some may even say that you need a program from Adobe called the Acrobat Distiller to make one.

But despite the fact that it's a Pretty Darn Familiar format, there's a Paucity of Definite Facts about it. One is the fact that PDF stands for Portable Document Format, which is designed to reproduce documents faithfully, with fonts and images and page layout identical no matter what platform your computer runs on, and no matter whether you own the program the document was created with. But that's not the only area of ignorance surrounding PDF files. For example, none of the statements in the opening paragraph is entirely true.

Although Adobe created Acrobat and its portable document format more than a decade ago, Adobe's products are not the only way to make or look at a PDF file. And thanks to the recent introduction of the Acrobat 7platform, PDF files are no longer as slow to load as they used to be. And that's enough to make any finger-drumming file freak breathe a sigh of relief.

Pretty darn fast reader

You don't need to lay down a nickel to improve your Adobe Acrobat experience. Hie yourself over to A...

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