PDF Files

14.6. PDF Files Sooner or later, almost everyone with a personal computer encounters PDF (portable document format) files. Many a software manual
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PDF Files14.6. PDF FilesSooner or later, almost everyone with a personal computer encounters PDF (portabledocument format) files. Many a software manual, Read Me file, and downloadable whitepaper comes in this format. Until recently, you needed the free program called AcrobatReader if you hoped to open or print these files. Windows devotees still do.PDF files, however, are one of Mac OS Xs common forms of currency. In fact, you canturn any document (in any program with a Print command) into a PDF file—a trick thatonce required the $250 program called Adobe Acrobat Distiller. (Maybe Apple shouldadvertise: Buy Acrobat for $250, get Mac OS X free—and $120 cash back!)But why would you want to do so? Whats the big deal about PDF in Mac OS X?Consider these advantages: • Other people see your layout. When you distribute PDF files to other people, they see precisely the same fonts, colors, page design, and other elements that you put in your original document. And heres the kicker: They get to see all of this even if they dont have the fonts or the software you used to create the document. POWER USERS CLINIC Beyond Mac OS X Fax As youll discover pretty quickly, Mac OS Xs built-in faxing feature is bare- bones, to say the least. For example, you cant design your own cover pages, and you cant open a fax youve sent, in order to inspect it. There are alternatives. For starters, the shareware world is a good place to shop. For example, you can try Page-Sender, Cocoa eFax, or any of the other shareware faxing programs listed at www.versiontracker.com. (Do a search for fax on the Mac OS X tab.) • • (Contrast with the alternative. Say youre sending somebody a Microsoft Word document. If your correspondent doesnt have precisely the same fonts you have, then hell see a screwy layout. And if he doesnt have Word or a program that can open Word files, hell see nothing at all.) • Itsuniversal. PDF files are very common in the Macintosh, Windows, Unix/Linux, and even Palm and Pocket PC organizer worlds. When you create a PDF file, you can distribute it (by email, for example) without worrying about what kinds of computers your correspondents are using. • It has very high resolution. PDF files print at the maximum quality of any printer. A PDF file prints great both on cheapo inkjets and on high-quality image-setting gear at professional print shops. (Right now youre looking at a PDF file that was printed at a publishing plant.) • You can search it. Although you may be tempted to think of a PDF file as something like a captured graphic of the original document, it has several key differences. Behind the scenes, its text is still text; Spotlight can find a PDF in a haystack in a matter of seconds. Thats an especially handy feature when you work with electronic software manuals in PDF format.Note: All right, that joke about a free copy of Acrobat is an exaggeration. Mac OS Xalone creates screen-optimized PDF files: compact, easy-to-email files that look goodonscreen but dont have high enough resolution for professional printing. For high-endpurposes and more optimization for specific uses (Web, fancy press machines, and soon), you still need a program like Adobe Acrobat, Illustrator, or InDesign.14.6.1. Opening PDF FilesTheres nothing to opening up a PDF file: Just double-click it. Preview takes over fromthere, and opens the PDF file on your screen.14.6.2. Creating PDF FilesOpening, schmopening—whats really exciting in Mac OS X is the ability to create yourown PDF files. The easiest way is to click the PDF pop-up button in the standard Printdialog box (Figure 14-10). When you click it, youre offered a world of interesting PDF-creation possibilities: • Save as PDF. Mac OS X saves your printout-to-be to the disk as a PDF document instead of printing it. • Save PDF as PostScript. You get a PostScript file instead of PDF. (PostScript is a format preferred by some designers and print shops. It consists of highly precise what to draw instructions for PostScript laser printers.) • Fax PDFfaxes a document instead of printing it, as described on the preceding pages. • Mail PDF generates a PDF, and then attaches it to an outgoing message in Mail. Great for exchanging layout-intensive documents with collaborators who dont have the same fonts, layout software, or taste as you. • Save as PDF-X creates a specialized PDF format, popular in the printing industry, thats extra compact because it contains the minimum data needed to print the document. • Save PDF to iPhoto creates a PDF version of the document and then exports it to iPhoto. Thats not such a bad idea; iPhoto is great at managing and finding any kind of graphics documents, including PDFs. Tip: Remember that once you send a document or layout to iPhoto, you can turn it into a custom-printed book, calendar, greeting card, or postcard. • Save PDF to Web Receipts Folder is one of the simplest and sweetest features in all of Mac OS X. You use it when youve just ordered something on a Web site, and the Print This Receipt screen is staring you in the face. Dont waste paper and ink (and, later, time trying to find it!). Instead, use this command. You get a perfectly usable PDF version, stored in your Home Documents Web Receipts folder, where you can use Spotlight to find it later, when you need to consult or print it because your gray-market goods never arrived. • E ...