pdf portfolios · portfolios, so the whole portfolio needs to be downloaded before any content can...

PDF Portfolios

Karl Heinz Kremer

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khk@khk.net@khkremer

http://www.khk.net/wordpress/spectrum2010

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Outline

• Some History

• What Are Portfolios

• How to Create Portfolios

• Some Use Cases

• Demonstration

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A Short History

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PDF

• Announced in 1993

• Improved Since Then

• Now an Open Standard: ISO/IEC 32000

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PDF Attachments

• Embed a File in PDF Document

• Easy to Attach - Hard to Open

• Scriptable

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PDF Binders

• Introduced in Acrobat 5

• “Normal” PDF Files

• Other Formats get Converted to PDF

• Bookmarks to Navigate Documents

• Binders can be created in Acrobat Standard

• Still Available in Acrobat 9

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PDF Packages

• Introduced in Acrobat 8

• PDF Attachments with a (much) better UI

• Different file formats can be in a Package

• Documents can be opened from within a Package

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PDF Portfolios

• Introduced in Acrobat 9

• PDF Packages on steroids

• Predefined layouts

• Custom layouts

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So, What is a Portfolio?

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Document Container

• Can Contain (almost) any Other Document

• User can Open or Extract Documents

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User Interface

• Predefined User Interfaces delivered with Acrobat

• Portfolios automatically contain a navigation mechanism.

• Custom User Interface is possible

• Adobe Flex Builder/Flash Builder Required

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Multi-Media Container

• Play Movies

• Embed Flash Animations

• Embed Flash Programs

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Binder vs. Portfolio

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Who Can Open It?

• Binders are PDF Files - All PDF Readers Can Open a Binder

• PDF Portfolios can only be Opened by Acrobat or Reader 8 or 9

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PDF vs. Non-PDF Embedded Files

• With a binder, the user only has access to the PDF content. The original application files are no longer available.

• Depending on the security settings, the user can extract an application file from a Portfolio.

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Security

• A Binder is one PDF file, and therefore only has one set of security settings: All or nothing.

• Every PDF file in a Portfolio can have it’s own security settings.

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Printing

• With a Binder, the user has to select a subset of pages when an individual document needs to be printed. The user needs to know which pages constitute that document.

• The PDF Portfolio allows to print any individual document in the portfolio (as long as printing is allowed).

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Accessing Documents

• In a Binder, the user has to select a subset of pages when an individual document needs to be extracted. The user needs to know which pages constitute that document.

• The PDF Portfolio allows to extract any individual document in the portfolio (as long as the document security allows this).

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Forms

• A Binder is one PDF document, therefore all form fields in it are considered part of one form.

• The PDF Portfolio can contain multiple forms.

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vs.

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Acrobat Support

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Acrobat 9 Standard

• Acrobat 9 Standard can create PDF Portfolios, but is limited to the “Grid” layout.

• Acrobat 9 Standard can of course display any PDF Portfolios created with any other version of Acrobat 9.

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Acrobat 9 Professional

• Acrobat 9 Professional can create PDF Portfolios with all available layouts.

• It can also use custom layouts for Portfolios.

• Supports batch processing of individual documents in a Portfolio.

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Acrobat 9 Pro Extended

• Even though it’s more expensive, and has a much longer name, as far as Portfolios are concerned, Pro Extended is just like Pro.

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Acrobat 8/Reader 8

• Portfolios can - with some limitations - be displayed in Acrobat or Reader 8

• Acrobat 8 cannot create Portfolios, but when a Portfolio is opened in Acrobat or Reader 8, a special cover page is displayed, informing the user about compatibility issues and suggesting an upgrade.

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How Do We Make One?

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Two Options

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Merge Files

• Creating a Portfolio means to select all the files that will go into a Portfolio at once.

• Make sure to select “PDF Portfolio” in the upper right corner - otherwise Acrobat will create a Binder.

• Modify order of files in Merge dialog - but can be changed later via the Index column.

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Assemble PDF Portfolio

• When assembling a Portfolio, add one or more files at a time.

• Documents can be organized in folders.

• The order of files in the Portfolio is determined by any of the columns.

• These Portfolios do not contain the Index column, it must be created manually if desired.

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Modifying Portfolios

• Regardless of how a Portfolio was created, the Modify function works the same way.

• Modify looks like the “Assemble” interface - it actually is the “Assemble” interface.

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Files That Don’t Go Into a Portfolio

• For security reasons, some file types cannot be added to a Portfolio:ZIP, EXE, VBS, JS, BAT, DLL

• These files could carry malicious code.

• Author can circumvent the protection to add the files, but nobody will be able to do anything with these files (cannot extract or run).

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Document Preview• If the MS Office suite is installed, MS Office

documents can be previewed in a portfolio in Acrobat or Reader.

• Such documents can be modified within a portfolio.

• Preview relies on the operating system preview capabilities and does not work on a Mac for MS Office files. Users can however open these files regardless of the preview capabilities.

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Searching• Searching is supported across all files in a

portfolio.Serach can be accelerated by embedding the index into the portfolio.

• There is a slight difference in how search results are getting displayed:

• In a PDF document, the search term in the document is highlighted

• In a MS Office document, the document is opened, but the user has to find where the found term is located.

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Security

• When security is added to a Portfolio, this is done on the Portfolio level, not to the embedded files.

• If files need to be secured, that can be accomplished by running a batch process on all documents in the Portfolio.

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Tidbits

• PDF files can be optimized for web viewing – this allows an improved user epxerience (e.g. faster loading of the first page).

• This optimization is not possible with Portfolios, so the whole Portfolio needs to be downloaded before any content can be displayed in a web browser.

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More Tidbits

• Portfolios can be branded across all embedded documents (e.g. with a common header)

• Portfolios can be built automatically with Adobe’s server products – in Adobe Acrobat, Portfolios are always build manually.

• There is no limit to the size of a Portfolio

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Use Cases

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Training MaterialCourse material is often more than just onedocument: The actual course in a book, samples,tests, supporting material. All that can be wrappedinto one PDF Portfolio for easy access and navigation. A training company can use a custom layout so thatall documents distributed will look and feel thesame.

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Closing Binder

After e.g. a real estate closing all the documents involved will be distributed in a “binder”. This can be done much cheaper and easier with a PDF Portfolio.

Watch an e-seminar athttp://blogs.adobe.com/acrolaw/2008/10/creating_electronic_closing_bind.html

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Project Documents

Every engineering project creates a huge amountof documentation like project plans, requirementsand design documents, schedules and userdocumentation. All these documents can be kept in one PDF Portfolio for easy access.

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EMail Archives

• Acrobat 9 does support the creation of portfolios as email archives, extracting emails from Outlook or Lotus Notes.

• EMail archives are searchable.

• EMail attachments get converted to PDF attachments.

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Gallery of PDF Portfolios

The following web site hosts a number of different PDF portfolios:http://www.acrobatusers.com/gallery/pdf_portfolio

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Demo

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