American Baptist Churches of the Great Rivers Region

Advantages of PDF Format

I received the following email:

I've got a question for you. I have put together a newsletter using Microsoft Publisher. I want to email it to all the churches. When I go to transfer the file, it's like 10MB and takes 20 minutes to upload. It's only two pages and I have even done the colors in black and white for the most part. Any suggestion on how I can get it to transfer at a quicker speed? Thanks for your time.

This request points out the need for quicker transfers, but it also hints at the need for compatibility. These are just two advantages of the PDF (portable document format). The full program produced by Adobe is well worth the investment; however, the high price is often prohibitive. Thus a market has been generated for alternatives.

Here are some of the advantages of PDF:

1. Smaller files. When the person who sent me the email was able to find a way to convert the MS Publisher document to PDF it shrank from 10 megabytes to 187 kilobytes (0.187 megabytes). The smaller the file, the quicker the transfer. (This size reduction will be true when the conversion is from any windows program that generates editable text (for example: MS Word, MS Publisher; Word Perfect; Note Pad, etc). If you are attempting to scan in a graphic (including scanned text) the size reduction will not be as great unless you first convert the scanned in text to editable text.

2. Compatibility with Windows' Programs.  Not everyone has MS Publisher and there is no free Publisher viewer as there is for PowerPoint and Word. Even MS Publisher is not compatible with MS Publisher. The program is not forward compatible; that is, MS Publisher 97 will not open MS Publisher 2000 and MS Publisher 2000 will not open MS Publisher XP, etc.

3. Free "Reader" Software. PDF documents can be read with a free viewer/reader. (Click here for download) The receiver of the file will not have to spend up to $150 for the latest Publisher program or other program.

4. Cross-Platform Compatibility.  PDF files are readable by both Mactintosh and PCs ('wintel" = MS Windows on an Intel computer). According to the statistics about who is viewing web pages today, Macintosh users need this access.

5. Security vs Viral Infection.  PDF files are highly virus/worm/trojan horse resistant. Unless you have the full version, i.e. Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional, the chances for a PDF file carrying a virus to your machine are remote. (And if you do have the full version, make sure that you look at the full file name. Virus spreaders will sometimes make their virus program look legitimate such as naming it example.pdf.pdf. Any time there are two extensions like this (another might be example.doc.exe) do not open; delete immediately. If you have kept your anti-virus program up-to-date, it will most likely have caught this.))

6. Security vs. Changes. Adobe's Acrobat Program and a few of the others, give you the opportunity to deny access for anyone to change the document. You may also secure the document behind a password so no one but the one you send the document to (and to whom you have also sent the password) can open it.

7. PDF can contain hyperlinks. Whether you are using the document on your hard drive or as part of your web page, these links add a great speed advantage for navigation and indexing of documents.

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