I agree totally with what Mike has said. One minor addition would be my
observation that files printed to PDF format using the full version PDF
writer (or distiller) end up considerably smaller than if printed directly
to PDF from WordPerfect (or Word) using the wordprocessor embedded PDF
printer. Hope this makes sense.
Oren Quist, SDSU
-----Original Message-----
From: Edmiston, Mike [mailto:edmiston@BLUFFTON.EDU]
Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2002 1:39 PM
To: PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu
Subject: Re: PDF files
I have been using Adobe Acrobat and PDF files for several years. Her=
e
are a few things I can say about it.
(1) You can buy the full Adobe Acrobat program for Windows or Mac for
less than $60 if you use academic pricing. This is available to
teachers K-12 and college. It is also available to full-time student=
s.
(2) The full Adobe Acrobat can edit PDF files, but is it rather tedio=
us.
*** quote from Adobe ***
You can perform last-minute corrections to PDF documents using the
touchup
text tool. You can choose from a variety of properties to apply to
selected text,
including font size, embedding, color scale, baseline shift, tracking=
,
word
spacing, and line alignment.
*** end quote ***
Take that "last-minute corrections" literally. For work I create, I =
use
Word, WordPerfect, VisualCadd, Excel, etc. and first save it in nativ=
e
format, then also print it to a PDF file. If I need to make changes I
never edit the PDF file. I edit the native version, then re-save bot=
h
the native and PDF versions.
(3)Although I can cut and paste text and graphics from a PDF file int=
o
my word processors, all formtting is lost and I don't generally consi=
der
this a worthwhile endeavor. At the present time I do not know of any
way to take the PDF version and read it back into Word or WordPerfect=
.
(4) WordPerfect can publish in PDF whether you are under the Mac
platform or the Windows platform. Word does not yet have this abilit=
y.
WP does a reasonably good job of getting the PDF output to look/print
properly. It might be just as good as the full-blown Adobe Acrobat
product, but I have not fully tested it since I do have the full Adob=
e
product and that is what I use. By the way, HP/Compaq is now bundling
WordPerfect and Quatro Pro with their computers instead of Word/Excel=
.
I have both the WordPerfect software and the MS software. I prefer
WordPerfect to Word. I find QuatroPro and Excel roughly equivalent.
(5) I mix a lot of graphics and equations with text. When using Adob=
e
Acrobat you can create a file using what Adobe call the Acrobat
PDFWriter or what they call the Acrobat Distiller. They recommend th=
at
the writer is okay and faster for text, but mixed text and graphics
works better with the distiller. I have found this is correct and I
always use the distiller.
(6) The reason for messing with PDF is so you can distribute document=
s
to other people and they will view it and print it the way you intend=
ed.
It works very well for this purpose, and it has been a blessing for m=
e.
I post my lab handouts, answer keys, etc. as PDF files. Students wit=
h
any computer can download these and they print with proper pagination=
,
properly sized graphics, correctly formatted equations, etc.
Having a total MS shop (or other) does not help in this regard if you=
do
not have soemthing like PDF. My college wanted to have various forms
on-line for students (and also application forms for prospective
students). Even if you post the Word or WordPerfect documents and le=
t
students load those, they won't necessarily print correctly because
students might be using different printers and have different fonts
available. We found that the only way to may sure the forms print
correctly for all users is to make the forms available in PDF format.
This really does work.
If you have to distribute documents to students or others, and all th=
ey
need to do is read it or print it, I think PDF is wonderful. If they
need to edit it, then you need something else, probably for them to h=
ave
the same software as you or at least a good match.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry and Physics
Bluffton College
Bluffton, OH 45817
(419)-358-3270
edmiston@bluffton.edu