PDF Research Adobe Acrobat Uses...
Transfer Files
Proofing
P/S Utility
Presentations
WWW
Archiving
Forms
EDMS

Transfer Files...

  1. Required Components
  2. Create Files For Your "Color Fax Machine"
  3. AP AdSEND Ad delivery system
  4. Saving B&W Faxes to PDF
  5. Converting PDF to Word
  6. Spread The Word

Color Fax Machine

Combining the use of PDF files with Email or other net technology, provides the user with, in effect, a "color fax machine."

Webster's New World Dictionary defines a facsimile (or "fax") as"the transmission and reproduction of graphic matter by electrical means."

The graphic arts industry has greatly expanded from the use of computers to create graphics and the use of telecommunications devices to send and receive faxes and digital files.

One capability that has been missing is the ability to send high resolution proofs in full color that can be viewed, enlarged, and printed at variable sizes - functions that are missing even in black & white using standard fax machines. Even if some super color fax machine was available, it would require that all potential receivers (clients) had the same machine for receiving the pages.

Standardization across the industry on the PDF format is changing all that. For most of us, approximately $200 in investment delivers the capability of sending severely compressed files, in color, with all fonts embedded, regardless of the creation program or computer platform. All the receiver (or client) would have to do is download and install the appropriate free Adobe Acrobat Reader® to be able to view, detail proof, and print out a paper copy of the file on virtually any printer.

Furthermore, clients that use the Adobe Acrobat suite of programs (Distiller, Exchange, Catalog) are able to annotate files in a workgroup environment and send them back for changes, all electronically.

Hewlett-Packard proves the color fax machine concept by offering a new scanner/modem/color laser printer hardware combination called the HP 9100C Digital Sender. This workgroup device loads up to 50 b&w or color sheets into a hopper, scans the sheets, and converts them into PDF files which it then transmits to either email addresses as attachments, or sends to other JetSend compatible devices for output as color fax prints. It can also scan individual pages on its glass platen.

1. Required Components

If you are reading this page on the internet then that means you have:

  • access to a computer and an Internet Service Provider
  • use of a modem and transmission line
  • email capability
  • free download access to internet utility software and viewers

The only components you may be missing for using your computer as a "color fax machine" are:

  • PDF conversion software - PDFWriter and/or Acrobat Distiller®
  • receivers (clients) who have Adobe Acrobat Reader or Exchange installed
  • the knowledge how to use all of the preceding components as a "color fax machine."

Component Availability

Acrobat Distiller® is currently being bundled with Adobe PageMaker 6.5 and the 6.5 upgrade.

PDFWriter and Acrobat Distiller® are modules of the Adobe Acrobat package that can be purchased directly via mail order for about $200.

2. How To Create Files For Your "Color Fax Machine"

There are two quick ways to create a PDF file:

  1. Save or Export the file directly in the PDF format from a growing list of programs - Adobe Illustrator 5.x and above, PageMaker 6.5, etc.
  2. Choose PDFWriter (available in the Adobe Acrobat package) as the print driver. Instead of printing to a printer, the file will be output to the PDF format - works well for Microsoft Word, Excel. Does NOTwork well for programs using Postscript - QuarkXPress, Photoshop Clipped Paths, imported Illustrator files, etc. The other risk you run is that the fonts will not be embedded which means that the receiver may not be able to see the fonts.

The "clean" way to create a PDF file is to:

  1. Save your source file, regardless originating program, as a Postscript file with the fonts embedded. The file may be many pages in length.
  2. Open Distiller and select the appropriate "Job Options" regarding font embedding and particularly "Compression." For proof e-mailing we recommend 72dpi compression resolution.

Modify the file in Adobe Acrobat Exchange®:

  1. Open Exchange and edit your files - add other pages, crop, rotate, create links and bookmarks, append notes, etc.
  2. "Save As" an optimized file and add security passwords if desired. Optimizing reduces the size of the PDF file and adds byteserving (a.k.a., linearization) - which means that the end user will be downloading files one page at a time while the full document downloads in the background.

E-mail it to your client.

  1. Attach the file to an e-mail message to the person(s) you are sending them to.
    (If you need e-mail software, download Eudora Lite for free from C/Net's download.com).
  2. Suggest that they buy Adobe Acrobat for their computer so they can annotate the file and send it back to you.

3. AP AdSEND ad delivery system

The Associated Press has made the distribution of ads via PDF a very profitable business. AP AdSEND is an advertising distribution service that will take a PDF file of an advertisement and distribute it via the internet to any of 1,400 newspapers that receive the service.

If you go to their site, you can:

  • Order a free demo CD of the service
  • Read about a new release from Adobe concerning Composite Color-Adobe Acrobat 3.02
  • See a listing of newspapers that currently subscribe to AdSEND's system of PDF distribution.

How AP AdSend Works...

1 - Create Your Ad

Simply create your ad using any combination of software programs. When your ad is ready, store the ad using Adobe Acrobat®. Acrobat will compress your ad to make it easier and faster to transmit. The compressed file will include all fonts and final form graphics, ensuring precise reproduction of your ad across a wide range of typesetters.

 

2 - Fill Out the Delivery Ticket

Use AP AdSEND software (provided by AdSEND to fill out the electronic delivery ticket and address the ad to the newspapers you need to reach, indicating insertion date and any special instructions. AP AdSEND software transmits the ad to AP's central computer system, the AP AdSEND Hub, via modem, ISDN or dedicated T1.

3 - AP AdSEND Hub Receives the Ad

Your incoming ad is captured by the AP AdSEND Hub that ensures there are no transmission errors. The AdSEND Hub is managed by a professional support staff available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

4 - AP AdSEND Hub Routes the Ad

The ad is relayed to AP's communications system for delivery to the newspapers you designate.

5 - Newspapers Receive Your Ad

Newspapers receive ads either via satellite or through a dial-up computer system. In both cases, advertisers receive electronic confirmation that the ad has been delivered to the newspaper.

Then your ad goes to print.

3. Saving B&W Faxes to PDF

A little known capability of Acrobat Exchange is its ability to open electronic faxes (saved in the Group IV compression format) and save them as image PDFs. This would allow the user to combine faxed information with other PDFs for distribution as email or through EDMS systems. To achieve this, simply Import/Image from Exchange's File menu and select the fax file you wish to convert. In some cases, these faxes can be converted to text by using the Capture plug-in.

4. Spread the Word

Everyone in the graphic arts community benefits when the facility to transmit proofs is enhanced. Fax machines made remote servicing possible and this application of PDF and Acrobat Reader® will greatly improve communications between all parties in the design, creation, and proofing of graphics compositions.

Here are two ways you can help spread the word about "color faxing":

  1. Add a link to the Adobe Reader® download page and this page in your website.
  2. Forward an e-mail to your contacts advising them of the benefits of this approach and the ease with which they can gain "color fax" capability.

To make it easier, you can copy and paste the following text:

We are advising all of our e-mail addressees to add "color fax" capability to their computer. Please take the time to visit the Adobe Reader® download site (http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html) to get the latest version of their software appropriate for your computer.

Return to PDF Research Companion home page.
a production of Performance Graphics
©1998 The Miller De Wulf Corporation