Monday
Sep222003
Why you should use PDFs
Monday, September 22, 2003 at 08:23PM TIP OF THE DAY
Why you should use PDFs
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1. THE CASE FOR PDF
You should convert your documents to PDF format before handing them out. Distributing Word .doc files can lead to all sorts of embarrassing situations. If you're going to send a .doc file to someone, or post it on the Web, seriously consider converting it to PDF before you let it go.
Word stores a lot of junk in .doc files, and you can get bit - bad - if you let a .doc file with a checkered past out of your grasp. Recently we've seen an instance where flotsam and jetsam in a Word .doc helped to change the course of politics in the UK http://www.woodyswatch.com/office/archtemplate.asp?v8-n27 . Microsoft was embarrassed by junk in a Word doc when a bogus "Mac to PC convert" was found to be an employee of a PR agency hired by Microsoft to pull the wool over unsuspecting eyes http://www.woodyswatch.com/office/archtemplate.asp?v7-n50 . There are many, many more examples. (Heck, back in February 1997, I was infected by the first Word 97-specific macro virus, W97M/Wazzu.A, by opening a document that I download from Microsoft's Web site. Microsoft posted an infected marketing .doc file. PDF files don't contain macro viruses!)
Word isn't the only culprit: Outlook 2002 can "brand" .docs with personally-identifiable information, too. Outlook doesn't have the temerity (or, it would seem, the brains) to brand PDF files. But Word documents sent attached to email messages using Outlook 2002 pick up a lot of potentially embarrassing information (see http://www.woodyswatch.com/office/archtemplate.asp?v7-n53).
Simon Byers, a security researcher at AT&T, recently downloaded 100,000 Word docs from the Web and found all sorts of hidden information (http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994057 ). Byers used automated tools, but if you want to look at the text buried inside a document - or the log of all the people who made edits to a Word 97 or 2000 document - all you have to do is click File | Open, Click File | Open, in the Files of Type box, choose Recover Text From Any File, then navigate to the file and open it. Pay special attention to the text at the end of the file.
2. WHAT IS PDF?
A PDF file isn't anything at all like a Word document.
A Word .doc contains all sorts of things: text, formatting, macros, revisions, histories, links to other files, histories of links to other files, and heaven-knows-what-else. A PDF ("Portable Document Format") file is more like a snapshot of a printout: a representation of what the printed document should look like.
First, a PDF file can contain fonts, so if you create a PDF file with WoodrowGothic 17-point bold, you can be sure that whoever prints the file will see precisely the fonts you intended. Second, PDF works. It's become ubiquitous. Even the U.S. Internal Revenue Service uses PDF for all of its forms.
3. WORKING WITH PDF FILES
Adobe gives away its PDF viewer/printer. Free. The Adobe Reader, as it's called, can be downloaded at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readermain.html . The Readers is a remarkably stable piece of software, and I install it on all of my machines, without hesitation. You should, too.
Of course, Adobe isn't giving away the Reader out of the goodness of its heart. They want to sell you Adobe Acrobat, the program that lets you create, search, and modify PDF files (for about US $450). Acrobat also lets you create fill-in-the-blanks forms, which can be filled in by anybody with the free Reader. For more info about Acrobat, see http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatpro/main.html .
There are many, many programs that create files in PDF format: PDF is a well-documented file format specification, and (according to Adobe), 1,800 companies now make products that use the PDF format.
One of our long-time advertisers, Document Automation Developers, sells a program called MakePDF (about US $40) that lets you save a Word file directly in PDF format - you don't need Acrobat; it's as simple as clicking on a Word menu. If you don't need all of Acrobat's features, and prefer to work in Word (or Outlook, Notes, Eudora, and more) look at http://www.docauto.com/MakePDF.htm .
4. PDF IN THE FUTURE
You're going to hear PDF mentioned more often, as an alternative to Word .doc files. There are just too many Word documents with embarrassing hidden information running around. PDF is simple, cheap, reliable and ubiquitous.