Pdf Reference: Adobe Portable Document Format Version 1.4

ISBN 10: 0201758393 ISBN 13: 9780201758399

Publisher: Addison-Wesley, 2002

Synopsis

Intended for developers and programmers, this guide to Adobe Systems' Portable Document Format (PDF) details the current specification of the application. It introduces and explains the major aspects of the PDF format, including the imaging model, architecture, syntax, graphics, operators, fonts, and rendering. Twelve pages of color illustrations demonstrate key applications. A companion CD-ROM contains the text in PDF. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

About this title

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

Edition details

• Publisher: Addison-Wesley
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0201758393
• ISBN 13: 9780201758399
• Binding: CD-ROM
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 945
• Editor: Adobe Systems