The Pros and Cons of PDF Files
•PDF stands for Portable Document Format.
•A PDF is a unique type of cross platform file format developed by Adobe. This means that self- contained documents retain their format and appearance on different hardware platforms and operating systems without requiring specific application software or fonts.
•PDF is a derivative of the PostScript language, inheriting the best features of PostScript and adds features that benefit a digital production workflow.
•PDF is Cross Platform, Navigational, Ultra-Printable, Ultra-Viewable and Smaller than other conventional document formats.
•PDF files have many of the same characteristics as HTML documents.
•PDF files need no translation, compression, or filtering on most popular Web servers.
•Documents created in generally any program that can print can create a PDF document.
•PDF provides the prepress community with:
- A structured data format, with consistent, predictable content.
- Minimal file sizes for efficient transmission and processing.
- Device-independent page descriptions.
- Files that can be viewed and edited* at almost any stage of production.
- Self-contained, independent pages within a document.
· When creating PDF’s, the user has the option not to embed fonts and to manually set the resolution and compression rate of images, which could result in PDF files that don’t print correctly.
* If the printer does not have the font, they can not do any editing on the layout. Also – if any color correcting is necessary the printer would need to have all the supporting files. Embedded files can not be edited.