[deque-ubeta] Tip of the Day
- From: Bill Diamond <bill.diamond@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: deque-ubeta@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 15 May 2004 17:04:32 -0400
In the last tip of the day, we discussed workflow processes for managing
transformation of PDFs. We touched on the core workflow, which can
include
1. Convert the PDF to postscript
2. Regeneration of the PDF into a modern specification, like 1.4, 1.5 or
PDF/X
3. Preflighting the new PDF with a preflighting tool such as those from
Markzware or Enfocus
4. Testing image export by using Acrobat's Export Images function
Older PDFs and those produced by consumer-oriented engines can cause a
lot of headscratching. Even professional quality PDF engines can have
their moments. Sometimes, it's not the engine that causes the problem.
It's the output from the application to the PDF engine that starts
trouble.
One way to get a jump ahead on managing transforming of complex PDFs is
through tagging. Tagging in PDF is somewhat similar to the use of tags
in HTML and XML. It helps you emphasize and decide the structure of the
document. You decisions about how to tag a PDF can have a great deal of
benefit as you use Undoc for PDF.
Generally, to do tagging of a PDF today, you'll need to use Adobe
Acrobat 5 or Acrobat 6. One step that I generally recommend to users is
that if your PDF is of a recent vintage, first run it through Undoc for
PDF and transform it to HTML Why?
Here's a useful trick. When Undoc transforms a recent version PDF into
HTML, it'll do a fair amount of tagging for you. So, take that HTML
output and use Acrobat's File->Open Web Page command. For less complex
documents, you'll see that a fair amount of tagging is picked up by
Acrobat just from this step. Then, you'll want to open up the Tags
palette in Acrobat. If you have complex tables in your PDF, you'll want
to use Deque Ramp Ascend to make those tables accessible.
This is probably just a starting point. From here, you'll want to
explore Adobe Acrobat's tagging tools. Of particular interest is the
"Touch Up Order" tool on the toolbar. This tool lets you set the order
in which elements are reviewed. This is very handy when you're dealing
with a PDF where a story continues across multiple pages. Tag the story
frames, graphics and other elements and set the tag order. When you
transform the document with Undoc for PDF, you'll have a cleaned up
document flow.
Bill
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