TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:PDF Files Not Bitmaps From:"George F. Hayhoe" <gfhayhoe -at- SCESCAPE -dot- NET> Date:Tue, 17 Sep 1996 22:24:48 -0400
Oolong said, "When you use Acrobat Exchange, you are making a bitmapped
image of each page."
PDF files are not bitmaps. Test the validity of this statement by viewing
or printing a PDF file which utilizes an unusual font on a system which
doesn't have a full-fledged version of Adobe Type Manager installed, but
only the "generic" fonts included with the Acrobat Reader. Acrobat will
display an approximation of the original font--either a serif or sans serif
font as appropriate, with the original font's character widths
preserved--but it won't be the original font.
It's more correct to say that a PDF file is *like* a PostScript file. It
contains page descriptions--the information needed for the Acrobat engine
to display or print renderings of the pages at the highest resolution
possible for the target display or print device, and with the greatest font
fidelity possible given the Type 1 fonts installed on the target device.
Searchable archives located at http://www.documentation.com/
ALL questions or problems concerning the list
should go to the listowner, Eric Ray at ejray -at- ionet -dot- net -dot-
