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What are the virtues of the .pdf file?

Discussion in 'Other PC Software' started by Pat Alley, 2005/02/03.

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  1. 2005/02/03
    Pat Alley

    Pat Alley Inactive Thread Starter

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    From what I read it appears a .pdf format is superior to an ordinary MS Word .doc file format. Why is this? I can read a .pdf file. Can I write in .pdf format?

    Kind regards,
    Pat
     
    Pat Alley,
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  2. 2005/02/03
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

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    PDF is a file type associated w/ Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader. It can contain web links and links to data within the PDF file itself. It can also contain forms in which data can be typed, such as irs tax forms.

    One main advantage is that desktop publishing docs in PDF format can be viewed as the author intended by anyone on any computer that has Acrobat Reader or Acrobat. Whereas Word docs to be viewed as intended require MS Word, a MS Office component. (the Wordpad application that ships w/ XP now cannot view DOC files, it converts them to RTF when opening them)

    PDF has more features that DOC does. It also, to date, cannot contain a virus as DOC files can.

    A disadvantage is that to create a PDF file, one needs to use the full blown Adobe Acrobat software package, quite expensive, or use an open source program that has the ability to export the document in PDF format (Open Office). There are also other paid for products that can create and export PDF files.
     
    TonyT,
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  4. 2005/02/04
    irdreed

    irdreed Inactive

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    As TonyT says some programs can export in PDF Format and WordPerfect is one that has this capability.
     
    irdreed,
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  5. 2005/02/05
    Pat Alley

    Pat Alley Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thankyou Tony for that very informative summary and to you irdreed for the postscipt.

    Kind regards,
    Pat
     
    Pat Alley,
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  6. 2005/02/06
    Johanna

    Johanna Inactive Alumni

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    FWIW,
    I have Adobe Acrobat 6, and I would be lost without it. pdf (portable document file) are smaller than doc or rtf files, and they can be locked, or made available for editing. Links can be active, or not (your choice), notes can be kept in the margins, not seen by a "regular" reader. In a click or two, I can copy a webpage, or any file, neat and clean, and toss it in a folder for later. pdf files are easy to share with others, too, but they can't change them if they only have a "reader ". Readers are free, so the format is convenient.

    AA pdf writer calls itself a "printer ", and as long as you treat it like one, it's cooperative. It doesn't "print" to hard copy, though, it makes you a "savable" (is that even a word??) file, offers a default name, and will let you preview what you've saved. pdfs don't handle some graphics files well (gifs come to mind) but text is usually not an issue. It will apologize for not rendering images properly if it can't identify them, but for me, it's usually the ads on the webpage that it balks at. So what, I didn't want them anyway!

    AA6 is a big improvement over previous versions. Not trying to be a commercial, but Adobe Acrobat is a stable, well written program, that has no substitute other than a complicated collection of other software. The main drawback to AA is its price. For a company, it is a good investment, for an individual, it may be hard to justify.

    Johanna
     
    Johanna,
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