Basic Question RE: Acrobat & .PDF Files

[ElijahBaley]

Hi

I just wondered if someone could help to clear up some confusion that I have with Adobe Acrobat and .PDF files.

I have always thought that .pdf files were created so that documents and images originally produced with various different and expensive programs can be converted to a universal format and read with the freeware Acrobat Reader, thereby negating the need for the end user to have to own the program that originally produced the source document - the downside being that .pdf files are not 'editable' and are really just a 'snapshot' of the original.

However

It seems that some .pdf files are huge complex rich graphical files which are of a quality that professional printers are able to use and are not mearly a 'snapshot' of a source image/doc.

So are thses the same type of .pdf files, or are they something completely different? why would someone send a 100MB .pdf file to a printer instead of a Quark doc and supporting image files?

Thanks for any help,

Regards

EB

 

[blueark]

PDFs come in all shapes and sizes. When creating them, you can set the output quality you want, the resolution of images, the compression level, etc. One group of settings might suit internet use, while another group could create a PDF that's suitable for high-end printing.

There are a few advantages (in theory) over sending, say, a Quark document with supporting files. The most obvious is that you only have to send one file. You don't have to worry about whether or not you've collected all the fonts, both in the Quark document and in the linked images. You don't have to go through your document downsampling images that are unnecessisarily large.

Of course the downside is that if there is something wrong, you can't just ring up your printer and ask them to change it (well, sometimes you can). If you don't add any bleed, or if you do your impositioning wrong, the printer will have a hard time correcting it.

It all depends on your relationship with your printer whether or not you go this route. Communication is the key....