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Topic: Posting PDFs - HELP!!!! |
Chris Bauer
From:
Nashville, TN USA
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Posted 8 Sep 2003 5:33 am |
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Okay, okay, I know this is probably obvious to the rest of you... But, I need to post some PDFs on one of my websites and have no idea how to post them. Can any of you walk a novice through it?
THANKS!!! |
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Ernie Renn
From:
Brainerd, Minnesota USA
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Posted 9 Sep 2003 8:29 am
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Chris;
Load the pdf file to the site directory, then link to it. When the site visitor clicks the link, it'll come up, (as long as they have an Adobe Acrobat reader installed on their computer.) They could also right click on the link and select "Save Target As..." to save the file to their computer.
If you want the document itself to show up, you might have to use a screen capture program. (I've never tried this.) You could print the pdf and scan it.
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My best,
Ernie
www.buddyemmons.com
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 10 Sep 2003 5:11 am
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Chris, the following is suggestion, and not criticism...
Do you really have to use a .pdf? After wondering what those letters stood for, I finally decided it was probably "Pretty Darn Frustrating". Adobe has one nice feature, enlarging and reducing without the "getting blocky" effect. The downside is that it is a terrible memory hog, with images taking 10-20 times the space of a similar .jpg file. This translates to much longer download times, and ultimately, frustration for the viewer. I'd suggest .pdf's only if they're absolutely necessary.
If you feel you must use .pdf or .pdd Adobe files (instead of .jpg's), remember you're going to lose exposure to most dial-up users on the web (still a significant number) who don't want to wait through a 15-minute download just to look at two or three pictures.  |
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Chris Bauer
From:
Nashville, TN USA
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Posted 10 Sep 2003 2:21 pm
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Thanks for the responses, guys. Maybe I don't need to use .pdfs. I'm certainly open to suggestions on alternatives.
The use is for downloadable registration forms for the public seminars I offer. I need something that can be printed off without any significant reformatting. Right now, I have a form that can be printed from the website but it isn't terribly 'printer friendly'. Recommendations?
If it helps to see what I'm talking about, they're the registration forms at www.bauerseminars.com.
Thanks for your help!!!![This message was edited by Chris Bauer on 10 September 2003 at 03:23 PM.] |
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Jerry Gleason
From:
Eugene, Oregon, USA
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Posted 10 Sep 2003 2:41 pm
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While .pdf's don't offer any advantage over a jpg or gif for IMAGES, documents such as forms that contain mostly text are perfect for .pdf format. A .pdf file containing form data should be considerably smaller than a jpg, and vastly better quality. .pdf's contain embedded postscript code, completly different from an image file format.
This would not apply if you start with a scanned image of a form, only if the data is created as a computer document from a word processing or page layout program, then saved as .pdf. I love .pdf files! they have made my work so much easier. |
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Michael Holland
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 10 Sep 2003 3:34 pm
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Hi Chris,
Good advice here from all (thank goodness it isn't a steel guitar question ). PDF is a good option for forms and posting the pdf files is a no brainer. Just put them on your web space and link to them. The browser will prompt the viewer to download the file (or install Acrobat Reader). If you don't have the full version of Acrobat for creating the files, Adobe allows a trial of up to five docs that can be converted to pdf for free. I haven't done this, so I don't have personal experience, but HERE'S THE LINK if you want to check it out.
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Jerry Gleason
From:
Eugene, Oregon, USA
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Posted 10 Sep 2003 4:08 pm
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| Also, if you happen to be a Mac user, OSX allows any document to be "printed" as a .pdf file, you don't even need Acrobat (or Acrobat reader, for that matter, since the "Preview" application opens .pdf files). |
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Mark Ardito
From:
Chicago, IL, USA
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Posted 11 Sep 2003 6:05 am
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Although some people are bothered with the "slow" response time from the performance of Acrobat Reader or the download time for a .pdf file, people should start to get used to this. PDF files are not going anywhere. They are the main way people download forms off the internet. It is a SUPER secure way of making a document "read-only" and don't mess with this. My company uses PDF files for secure contracts and things like that. You would hate for a client to change a number on a contract. In PDF they can't.
As far as size goes...most PDF's I have seen are pretty small. Maybe a little bigger than a Word document. IMHO, .jpg files would be bigger and not as clear as the PDF file.
Mark
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Sho~Bud Pro I, Fender D-8 (C6&E13) http://www.darkmagneto.com
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Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
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Posted 12 Sep 2003 10:04 am
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Right. PDF files are not images. Here's a little bit of history.
In the 1980's, Apple came out with a wonderful laser printer that printed exactly what you saw on the screen. The magic technology was a computer language from Adobe called PostScript. The Mac generated PostScript code to describe the document (mostly fonts, margins, stuff like that) and sent it to the printer, which interpreted the code, "rendered" the document in memory, and then printed the result. The program in the printer that did this magic was the "PostScript interpreter".
PostScript was wildly successful, and made millions, maybe billions, of dollars for Adobe. There were a few technical issues with PostScript, though, that made it impractical as a document interchange format. To solve those problems, Adobe invented PDF, which stands for "Portable Document Format".
PDF is essentially PostScript with a wrapper. The wrapper solves the problem of moving the PostScript code from one kind of computer to another.
Since it's based on PostScript, you need a PostScript interpreter to view or print a PDF file. Adobe already had the best PostScript interpreter in the world (they invented PostScript, remember?). In an act of marketing genius, they embedded the interpreter in a free plugin for the popular web browsers. They decided that they would make their money licensing code that generates PDF to software manufacturers. The plugin is called Adobe Acrobat Reader.
I remember when PDF was in its infancy. I was on the Print Shop team at Broderbund at the time. The Adobe folks came for a meeting, and explained the benefits of PDF to us. The biggest selling point was the ability to embed a font in the document without trampling the rights of the font vendor. Very cool stuff. Their licensing fee was too stiff for our budget at the time, but I see that the latest version of Print Shop can generate PDFs. I guess they've come down in price.
You don't really need Adobe's code to generate PDF files. The format itself is in the public domain, but it's difficult to write. My current project generates PDF files using Java. The user still needs Adobe Acrobat Reader to view or print the files we create, but Adobe isn't making any money from the process.
I think it's wonderful that such an open document format exists, and I believe that it's here to stay. I advise everyone to stay up-to-date with Acrobat Reader, and to use Adobe products whenever they can.
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 Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax
[This message was edited by Bobby Lee on 12 September 2003 at 11:06 AM.] |
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Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
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Posted 12 Sep 2003 10:23 am
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As a side note, our reason for using Java to generate PDF files is not based on an unwillingness to pay Adobe. Earlier versions of our program licensed Adobe Document Server. Using Java was simply a better match for our underlying architecture. It improved the responsiveness of the site.
Our entire team uses Adobe Acrobat Professional on the desktop, though. Great program! Also, Adobe makes some of the best fonts in the world. They're pricey, but worth the money if you're a professional graphic designer.
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Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax |
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