PDF Reference: Version 1.4 (3rd Edition) [Hardcover]

Adobe Systems Inc. (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0201758393 | ISBN-13: 978-0201758399 | Publication Date: January 3, 2002 | Edition: 3

Adobe Acrobat PDF is the #1 solution for cross-platform exchange of formatted files -- and with Acrobat 5.0/PDF 1.4, PDF becomes even more powerful. Reflecting Adobe's latest enhancements, The PDF Reference, Third Edition is the definitive technical guide to PDF 1.4. 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, and contains practical recommendations for optimizing PDF files. It also introduces Tagged PDF, which allows reliable recovery of text, graphics, and images in PDF documents, supports reliable search and indexing, and enables conversion to RTF, HTML, or even speech. Other key topics include: advanced JBIG2 image compression support; improvements to bookmarking and annotations; new trigger events; forms enhancements; new metadata architecture; and Referenced PDF, which allows PDF documents to reference each others' content. This book is essential for any developer writing programs that read or generate PDF files, and for any support professional or advanced user working with PDF in business, prepress, graphic design, workflow, or other environments. The CD contains the entire text of the book in PDF.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

PDF Reference Version 1.4 is a thorough, updated reference for software developers looking to incorporate PDF capabilities into their applications. These could be PDF producer apps (those that "save to" PDF directly) or PDF consumer apps (those that read PDFs and allow users to modify their contents). The book includes all the material covered in the previous edition on version 1.3, as well as items new to 1.4. Those new features include a filter for decoding JBIG2-encoded data, enhancements to encryption and interactive forms, ability to import content from one PDF to another, additional viewer preferences and trigger events, and accessibility support for disabled users.

The book includes a general description of PDF architecture and a comparison to the PostScript language, and explanations of the following: PDF syntax at the object, file, and document level; graphics operators; facilities for presenting text in the form of character shapes or "glyphs" defined by the font; how device-independent descriptions render the page to match the output device; version 1.4's transparent imaging model (which allows objects to be painted with varying degrees of opacity); interactive features; and how PDFs can incorporate higher-level information useful for the interchange of documents among apps. A PDF version of the entire book is included on the companion CD. Also, the index is lengthy and detailed--a definite plus for any reference.

The book is surprisingly readable despite its highly technical content. However, it's unlikely that general graphics professionals who only create and print PDFs will need this reference. It tells how PDFs work (right down to the syntax, operators, and PostScript), not how to work with PDFs. On the other hand, developers who are creating applications that will read and/or generate PDFs will find this an essential addition to their bookshelves. --Angelynn Grant

From the Back Cover

The official guide to the Portable Document Format.

This book details the most current specification of Adobe Systems' Portable Document Format (PDF), the de facto standard for electronic information exchange. PDF enables documents created on any platform or with any application to be reliably viewed and printed anywhere. More than 200 million copies of the PDF-based Adobe Acrobat Reader application have been distributed around the world.

Updated and expanded specifically to document the new features of PDF 1.4, as incorporated into Acrobat 5.0 and Adobe's products for Network Publishing, the book introduces and explains all key aspects of the PDF format, including the Adobe imaging model and the relationship of PDF to the PostScript page description language and PDF architecture, syntax, graphics operators, fonts, and rendering. In addition, the book looks in depth at PDF's sophisticated interactive and document interchange features.

New to this edition is in-depth coverage of the new transparent imaging model, which allows text, images, and graphics to be painted with varying degrees of opacity. Other key topics covered include:

• Tagged PDF for image and text recovery, search and indexing, and conversion to RTF, HTML, or even speech
• Advanced JBIG2 image compression support
• Improvements to bookmarking and annotations
• Accessibility of content to those with disabilities
• Enhancements to interactive forms, such as multiple-selection list boxes, XML form submissions, remote collaboration, and digital signatures
• Metadata streams, a new metadata architecture

Comprehensive, authoritative, and up-to-date, PDF Reference, Third Edition is an essential resource for all developers writing programs that read or generate PDF files, and for any professional working with PDF in business, prepress, graphic design, or other applications.

0201758393B11262001

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 976 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 3 edition (January 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201758393
• ISBN-13: 978-0201758399
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,345,526 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Buy This Book !!, September 7, 2004

By 

M. J. Sprout "Designer and Artist" (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: PDF Reference: Version 1.4 (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

You can download a FREE PDF version of this book from Adobe's web site!! Then you can print it out at work if you absolutely must have a hard copy ...

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Would be an excellent book if ..., January 8, 2002

By 

Jian Huang (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: PDF Reference: Version 1.4 (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

Based on PDF Reference Version 1.3, this Version 1.4 adds new content and has corrected lots of printing errors and bugs in the previous version. The most significant part is the introduction of the transparency imaging model, which is covered by an entire chapter as well as parts of other chapters. However, the whole book does not have any example regarding the transparency model. In Appendix G, the example G.3 (same as the one in Version 1.3) shows a default opaque model. It would have been nice if there were a corresponding example of the transparency model. A good simple example wins over thousands of words.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost all you ever wanted to know about PDF files, January 11, 2003

By 

John C. Dunbar (Sugar Land, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: PDF Reference: Version 1.4 (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

I bought the version 1.3, 2nd Edition. Using the Python programming language I was able to quickly generate a working PDF that follows one of their examples in the appendix. This program was then used to generate reports from Python.

The book contains a lot of information, as there appears much to be covered in the PDF format. This book is clearly a very well thought out affair. I wished there were more examples in the book - or a similarly related book. Still, this book is definitely up to Adobe's normal quality level.

John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX