As a format, is PDF “sufficiently accessible”?
From time to time one still hears this assertion: “While PDF is a useful medium for some situations; when it is used, there must be a more accessible alternative provided in order for the information to be available to people with disabilities.” Those who feel this way believe PDF as a format is insufficiently accessible… Read more
3 Reasons why PDF defines ‘hardcopy’
If you’re not sure whether the world really needs an electronic model for hardcopy documents, read no further; you are too young to “get” this post. No seriously, I’m not going to argue with someone who thinks hardcopy is “so 20th century” – that person probably has yet to file a tax return. So, leaving… Read more
PDF does ECM at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The FY 2012 Small Business Award at Oak Ridge National Laboratory was awarded to a company who used PDF to revolutionize contracts management for one of the nation’s premiere research laboratories. Using PDF technology – Adobe Acrobat and a few plugins – ORNL’S Business Services Directorate contracting system went paperless in 90 days; now all… Read more
The Matterhorn Protocol
Published in 2012, PDF/UA is the ISO Standard for accessible PDF files, software and assistive technology. PDF/UA defines, in specific technical terms, the precise features of PDF required to enable accessibility to the widest possible range of users. But what is PDF/UA, really? It’s not software; it’s simply a document that describes the correct use… Read more
The Technical Conference is Almost Upon Me
If you use PDF technology from a software or product-development perspective then you might have heard about the two PDF Association Technical Conferences this year. The first was in Germany, in June. 80 developers came together from all over the European Union to learn from three simultaneous tracks of sessions. A wide range of technical… Read more
JPedal: a Java library for content users
There are many types of tools for working with PDF technology. To the end-user many of these things may seem undifferentiated. Displaying a PDF? How could that be a big deal, right? In point of fact it’s not obvious; the software that creates a PDF is worlds apart from software that physically converts PDF code… Read more
The Portable Document Format at 20
I’m traveling to Königswinter in Germany next week to celebrate 20 years of PDF with my friends and colleagues at the PDF Association’s Technical Conference Europe 2013. If you can’t make it to Königswinter, no worries – there’s a North American Technical Conference and PDF/A Day coming to Seattle in August! Even without Adobe Systems’ massive… Read more
Crawford Technologies delivers PDF/UA solutions for transpromo and EOM applications
People call Crawford Technologies when they make a lot of documents. Organizations generating large volumes of statements, invoices and other transactional documents can turn to Crawford Technologies for mission-critical solutions for their document production workflows. From converting AFP to PDF, to on-the-fly printer-specific adjustments, transpromo messages and QR codes, Crawford’s been there and done that.… Read more
Three days of PDF!
The PDF Association’s Technical Conference North America 2013 and PDF/A Day this coming August is the first conference I’ve managed. But don’t let that dissuade you from attending! Adobe Systems’ Nora Cavillo, a fellow PDF Association Board member and conference co-organizer, will be there to make sure everything works out well! Happily, it’s not the… Read more
What’s Under the Rock? PDF in Document Management
SUMMARY: EDMS/ECM systems are stuffed with PDF files but treat them as functionally equivalent to TIFF images. As a consequence, customers are accepting inefficiencies and missing out on the power of PDF. A mature, highly capable technology, with numerous powerful features designed expressly for electronic document applications, PDF won the battle for the end user’s perception of “electronic… Read more
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