At 08:37 AM 8/22/98 -0400, Sandy Miller wrote:
>I don't know
>how difficult it would be to convert the catalog pages (Quark docs, on a
>Mac of course!) to pdf, but I'd think that this would be one way they
>couldn't be fouled up! Yes, we'll probably do the html (it's really just
>a two-column format now), but they also want a way for students and
>prospective students to print it out. I've used pdf files to read
>on-line documentation in many instances and haven't had a problem. And,
>yes, it's nice to be able to print it.
Sandy,
I use Pagemaker 6.5. Like a number of other products, it comes with a .pdf
printing function that I wouldn't recommend using to make .pdf files
(there's a lack of control of optimization). Instead, the better way to
make .pdf files is to print your doc (regardless whether Quark, Word, etc.)
via a postscript printer driver tailored to kind of document you are
printing (color pix, text, etc.). This results in a printer file (.prn)
which can be converted to a .pdf file using Acrobat Distiller. Since my
files are sent to my printers in electronic format (they print from .pdf
docs), what I see during prepress is what I get back in hard copy. As to
usability of .pdf files for online viewing, that's more or a less a matter
of hardware (enough ram and screen resolution). Clicking on anything in an
html doc linking to a .pdf file will open Acrobat Reader automatically if a
compatible and properly set browser is used (both IE and NS 2.0+ allow for
this). Setting up in such a manner leaves relatively little room for
"dummies guides." True, we've already discussed the computer literacy of a
lot of people using computers. But if they've Acrobat Reader installed and
their browser is properly configured, the process of opening a .pdf doc is
transparent to the user (short of the click on the link).
>Doesn't everyone have a laser
>printer of some sort by now?
Not necessarily, but that doesn't mean a .pdf file can't be copied to a
floppy or zipdisk or stored on the network, for printing via a computer
that is connected to a laser printer.
Jan Cohen
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