Adobe Acrobat PDF is the #1 solution for cross-platform exchange of formatted files -- and with Acrobat 4.0/PDF 1.3, PDF becomes an even more powerful solution for secure Web document delivery, prepress, and other key applications. PDF Reference, Second Edition is Adobe's authoritative technical guide to the PDF format: essential for any developer who wants to write programs that read or generate PDF files, and for any advanced user who needs to understand PDF files in depth. Adobe engineers introduce every key aspect of the PDF format, including the relationship of PDF to PostScript; the Adobe imaging model; file compression; font handling; and PDF architecture. The book covers all four components of a PDF file: objects, file structure, document structure, and page description. It contains practical recommendations for optimizing PDF files; detailed coverage of new PDF 1.3 features such as encryption and Web capture; and much more. Appendices include example PDF files, predefined font encodings, compatibility notes, language and country codes, and other essential information for developers and advanced users.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From the Inside Flap
The origins of the Portable Document Format and the Adobe(R) Acrobat(R) product family date to early 1990. At that time, the PostScript(R) page description language was rapidly becoming the worldwide standard for the production of the printed page. PDF builds on the PostScript page description language by layering a document structure and interactive navigation features on PostScript's underlying imaging model, providing a convenient, efficient mechanism enabling documents to be reliably viewed and printed anywhere. The PDF specification was first published at the same time the first Acrobat products were introduced in 1993. Since then, updated versions of the specification have been and continue to be available from Adobe via the World Wide Web. This book is the first version of the specification that is completely self-contained, including the precise documentation of the underlying imaging model from PostScript along with the PDF-specific features that are combined in version 1.3 of the PDF standard.
Over the past seven years, aided by the explosive growth of the Internet, PDF has become the de facto standard for the electronic exchange of documents. Well over 100 million copies of the Acrobat Reader application have been distributed around the world, facilitating efficient electronic access to and sharing of information. In addition, PDF is now the industry standard for the intermediate representation of printed material in electronic prepress systems for conventional printing applications. As major corporations, government agencies, and educational institutions streamline their operations by replacing paper-based workflow with electronic exchange of information, the impact and opportunity for the application of PDF will continue to grow at a rapid pace. Adobe offers a collection of PDF-based applications, the Adobe Acrobat products, that provide a broad range of capabilities for its customers. Adobe Acrobat provides the basic tools to create and enhance documents prepared by essentially any software product on the popular operating system platforms. The Acrobat Reader, available free of charge for downloading from myriad Web sites (including Adobe), is frequently bundled with consumer products to provide paperless documentation that customers can view on-line or print to paper. Acrobat Capture converts paper documents into PDF format, using state-of-the-art character recognition combined with a highly compressed representation of graphics, enabling the conversion of legacy information into electronic form. A significant number of third-party developers and systems integrators offer customized enhancements and extensions to the core family of products.
The emergence of PDF as a de facto standard for electronic information exchange is the result of concerted effort by many individuals in both the private and public sectors. Without the dedication of Adobe employees, our industry partners, and our customers, the widespread acceptance of PDF could not have been achieved. We thank all of you for your continuing support and creative contributions to the success of PDF.
Chuck Geschke and John Warnock
March 2000 0201615886P04062001
From the Back Cover
The official guide to the Portable Document Format! This revised and expanded book from Adobe Systems describes the Portable Document Format (PDF), the native file format of the Adobe® Acrobat® family of products. These products enable users to exchange and view electronic documents easily and reliably, independently of the environment in which they were created. PDF builds on the PostScript® page description language, layering a document structure and interactive navigation features on PostScript's underlying imaging model. Aided by the explosive growth of the Internet, and with well over 100 million copies of the Acrobat Reader application distributed around the world, PDF has become the de facto standard for electronic document exchange. Since the PDF specification was published in 1993, updates have been available from Adobe via the Web. However, this book is the first publication of the specification that is completely self-contained, including the precise documentation of the imaging model from PostScript along with all the PDF-specific features combined in version 1.3 of the PDF standard. This comprehensive specification has been extensively reorganized and revised to ensure that it is complete and accurate. Book Highlights:
* Explains the overall architecture of PDF and the imaging model it shares with the PostScript language
* Presents the PDF syntax at the object, file, and document level
* Includes coverage of graphics operators, fonts, rendering, interactive features, and document exchange
* Lists all the operators used in describing the visual content of a PDF document
This authoritative and up-to-date book is an indispensable resource for application developers building PDF generator applications that create PDF files directly. It is also the best source for information needed to write PDF consumer applications, which read existing PDF files and interpret or modify their contents. The enclosed CD-ROM contains the entire text of this book in PDF. 0201615886B04062001
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good In Depth Technical Reference.,
By A Customer
This review is from: PDF Reference (2nd Edition) (Paperback)
This is definitely a reference that you will want to keep on hand when you are delivering work for a client. Very in depth technical information about formatting, output options. Forms are included along with in depth use of graphics, fonts, objects. There may be too much information for someone who is just trying to get the basics done. For those of us who like to know the ins and outs of a program without actually coding it, it is a good resource.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
PDF (Pretty Doggone Fine) Document Reference,
By Jim Clement "ScorchMonster" (Honolulu, HI United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: PDF Reference (2nd Edition) (Paperback)
If you just want enough information to cover the basics, this is not a book you will want to have. But if you want to get an in-depth knowledge of Fonts,Forms, Formatting, Graphics, Objects, and Output - - this is one of the most detailed references you will find about the Portable Document Format (PDF). Clear, Concise, and Encyclopedic in Scope. As with all published works there are some errata, and Adobe wisely allows you to download the corrections or a complete edition from their web site. If you regularly work with PDF files, this book will prove most useful to have on your shelf.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
good book, lots of bugs,
By ylfdag "gb" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: PDF Reference (2nd Edition) (Paperback)
Go to Adobe site to download the errata. You can also download the book if want.It has been reorganized to make it self-contained and more readable. However, lots of bugs (some are documented in the errata) occurred durring the transition. I tend to believe that the PDF 1.3 spec of March 11 1999 has less bug, albeit preserving the old chapter layout. Also note that since Acrobat 5.0 is out, there would be a PDF 1.4 spec with JBIG2 support. Maybe the Acrobat 5.0/PDF 1.4 would mature after a while. Overall, it's a better book after the restructuring.
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