Portable
Document Format (PDF)
Turning your layout into a PDF is not difficult. It involves printing not to an actual printer, but to a PostScript file. This file is then run through Adobe Systems' Acrobat Distiller. The result is a PDF file. Created so documents could be shared across hardware platforms, Portable Document Format (PDF) has become very popular. From tax forms to complex color layouts, PDF is widely used, and is common on the Web.
 What
is PDF?
PDF is a file format that can contain all of a layout's components, including text, images and fonts. Formats like TIFF and EPS are also file formats, but these are only for images. Most users first heard about PDF by its three-letter extension at the end of PDF filenames. When these documents are double-clicked on most computers, Acrobat Reader software launches, and the user can view the document.
While Acrobat Reader is free and available from Adobe (www.adobe.com), the software for making PDF files, Acrobat Distiller (part of Adobe Acrobat), is not. If you want to make PDF files you will need to purchase Adobe Acrobat software.
Unlike documents created in page-layout or image-editing files, all components, including images and fonts, can be included in a PDF document. Originally designed to not be editable at all, PDF files are only marginally editable now. This property can be good or bad, depending on the document's purpose.
I am thinking
about sending PDF files to clients as proofs. Is this a good idea?
Soft proofing using PDF is one of the more popular uses of the file format. Instead of sending screen shots, faxing pages, mailing electronic files and all their parts, or sending proofs via courier, designers can instead email PDF comps to clients.
There are pros and cons of soft proofing using PDF. Color fidelity is an issue with the format; PDF files should not be used to judge critical color. The best way to judge color is still from a printed proof.
But the speed, flexibility and ease of using Acrobat to produce proofs should not be ignored. For some designers, this has been a longtime component of their workflow, while others are still discovering the advantages of emailing proofs to clients. Editors can use the editing and/or annotation features of the Acrobat software and email their corrections back to content creators.
Security features can be used to stop unauthorized changes from being made or unauthorized people from seeing the contents of a PDF. This is especially useful for legal papers and corporate correspondence.
 How
do I make PDFs for proofing?
Making a PDF for proofing is not difficult. It involves printing not to an actual printer, but to a PostScript file. This file is then run through Acrobat Distiller, which is a part of the Acrobat software suite. When the PostScript file is distilled, the result is a PDF file.
In Acrobat Distiller, you
can customize the output for your needs. For soft proofing and then emailing
a comp to a client, you might select ScreenOptimized from the Job
Options pop-up menu. You can experiment with the different settings and
manually configure job options to your needs. If you want to distill many
files, you can establish hot folders and assign different job options
to each folder.
I read that Acrobat is good for checking files before printing. Is this true?
Checking files to be sure they will print is called preflighting. While making a PDF is one way to preflight a file, it is definitely not the best way. Using a preflight utility such as Preflight Pro from Extensis (www.extensis.com) or FlightCheck from Markzware (www.markzware.com) will do a much better job of collecting files, fonts, scans, and checking the integrity of a layout.
But distilling a PostScript file of your job is a good way to test its suitability for high-resolution output. While the file may print to your ink-jet printer, LaserWriter or color proofer, sometimes a job going to a high-resolution output device will fail for no apparent reason. Running a PostScript file through Distiller can spot even the slightest bit of PostScript nonconformity. If your print job can get past Distiller, then it very likely will pass through a RIP. While doing this adds an extra step in the prepress workflow, it's better than trying to fix a PostScript problem once it shows up during a high-resolution RIP.
 Why
bother with Distiller when I can just use PDFWriter?
For very simple pages, using PDFWriter is just fine. PDFWriter (PDF Maker on the PC with Microsoft Office products) is sufficient for non-proofing applications. But for documents that are graphics-intensive, or for soft proofing, definitely use Distiller.
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