ISBN for your PDF document

The registrant of the ISBN have the credit of publishing your book. By purchasing unique ISBN, you may also get the privileges of a publisher. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number, which is a ten-digit number. Your published book must have one to identify from other books on net.ISBN must be printed on the cover of book, so get one before going to public about your book.
Try to think of a name for your publishing house and visit http://www.isbn.org to apply an order for ISBN publisher prefix. This prefix will be used in all your ISBN numbers. You must purchase a package of 10, 100, 1,000, or 10,000 ISBN numbers. The larger the package the cheaper the price for individual ISBN number

Publishing a book involves good coordination on many resources in your disposal. Let's presume that each step will require twice as much time as your expectation and you should have your book ready on time.

When you obtain the ISBNs, you will receive online account information. Use this online account to implement ISBN to your book. You cannot reuse an ISBN for more than one book. After the book ISBN is assigned, go to Books in Print at http://www.bowkerlink.com and list your book for free.

How to quickly show the content of a group of PDF files in HTML page?

If you have some PDF files and you want your visitor able to browse its content you need to create a PDF document portal. This would enhance the experience of your visitor in your site, which enable the to browse the PDF file, without downloading once at a time.

Follow this procedure
1. Download pdftk and pdfportal
2. Extract the content to your PHP-enabled web serve
3. Edit pdfportal.config.php to refer the location of pdftk on your system.
4. Let's assume you copy the pdfportal files in http://localhost/pdfportal/ and the PDF files are located in http://localhost/PDFcollection/, view this directory using the portal, pass it to pdfdir.php with this path:

http://localhost/pdfportal/pdfdir.php?dir=/PDFcollection/

pdfdir.php calls pdftk's dump_data operation to create info files for every PDF in this directory, as needed. It then uses these plain-text info files to create an informative HTML summary page.

In this way you can very quickly display the name of your PDF files and when the user click on its title it would show the contents.

How to create PDF document portal in webpage?

PDF document portal in webpage, would allow you to display the PDF document based on its sections. It would greatly enhance the viewer's ability to select the best content based on their preference.
1. Download pdftk
2. Download pdfportal
3. Download pdftotext
3. Unzip pdfportal, copy the contents to your web server which support PHP
4. Edit pdfportal.config.php to refer the location of pdftk and pdftotext in your webserver
5. If you can't install pdftk or pdftotext on your web server, use pdftk and pdftotext on your local machine to create the necessary data files and then upload these data files to your web server. Read pdfportal.config.php for details.
6. Let's assume the pdfportal files is copied in http://localhost/pdfportal/ and the location of the PDF document is http://localhost/pdfportal/sample.pdf, use this path to view PDF using the portal by passing it to pdffile.php

http://localhost/pdfportal/pdffile.php?pdf=/collection/sample.pdf

pdffile.php tells pdftk to create http://localhost/collection/sample.pdf.info, if it isn't exist. pdffile.php then uses the converted plain-text info file to create an HTML page. An info file is simply the output from pdftk's dump_data operation

Open your PDF's document portal. If pdffile.php can find pdftotext on your computer (see pdfportal.config.php), it does two things. It uses pdftotext to convert your PDF into a plain-text file, and it activates its search interface. It stores the plain-text file in the same directory as the PDF file.

When you submit a search, pdffile.php scans this text file to discover which PDF pages contain your search terms. It reports search hits in reading order. If the PDF has bookmarks, these are used to organize the results. Click a link and the PDF opens to that page.

How to extract the keyword of your PDF documents?

Knowing your PDF keywords is important to write excerpts and descriptions of your documents. Large PDF document would make it hard for you to decide the best keyword for your PDF document.
Follow these procedures

1. Convert your PDF into a text file which would ease the keyword analysis, download xpdf.

2. Unzip, and copy pdftotext.exe to any folder you want. Macintosh OS X users can download a pdftotext installer here.

3. Run pdftotext from the command line, the command format of pdftext is the following
pdftotext input.pdf output.txt

4. Download the keyword extractor here, the downloaded file is 'kw_index-1.0.zip

5. Extract the file, use the following command format
kw_catcher {window size} {report style} {text input filename}

Window size= too small will make you miss the keyword, too high would result in high number of noise words (and, if, or....), try 12 as default, adjust accordingly.
Report Style= fill in with 'frequency'
text input filename= input file, the converted text file.

For example,
kw_catcher 12 frequency sample.txt

How to create Windows shortcut for a PDF page?

Ordinary Windows shortcut only able to be directed to a specific PDF file, not to a specific PDF page. The ability to create a shortcut for a PDF page would certainly enhance your productivity.

Follow these steps,
1. In the Windows File Explorer menu, select Tools>Folder Options and then click the File Types tab.
2. Select the Adobe Acrobat Document (PDF) file type and click the Advanced button (in Windows XP and 2000) or the Edit button ( in Windows 98).
3. Double-click the Open action to change its configuration.
4. In the Edit Action Dialog for the Adobe Acrobat Document file type, fill in the values just like in the table below.

Field name	Field value
DDE Message	[DocOpen("%1")] [DocGoTo("%1",%2=0)]
Application	acroview
DDE Application Not Running
Topic	control

Based on the DDE message, Acrobat opens the PDF file initially at the first argument (%1) and then to go to the page in the second argument (%2). If %2 is not available, Acrobat will open the PDF in the first page (page zero).

Click OK, OK, and Close, and you are now have a shortcut for a specific PDF page.

How to enable specific page bookmarking to online PDF?

Web browsers are normally unable to bookmark online PDF pages, use this tips to fix that.

• Goto http://www.pdfhacks.com/shortcuts/ , download shortcuts-1.0.zip.
• Extract and copy 'shortcuts.api' file to the Acrobat's plug_ins folder. The folder is usually located in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 5.0\Acrobat\plug_ins\
• Restart Acrobat
• There would be a submenu in Acrobat Plug-Ins menu and a new button called 'Create Shortcut to This Page' in the navigation toolbar
  

How to use this new feature?
When you find the PDF page you like, click the new button and an internet shortcut would appear in the bookmark folder of your browser. When you activate this bookmark, the web browser will automatically goto the specific page of an online PDF, instead go to the front page of the online PDF file.

You can convert this bookmark to Mozilla by selecting File>Export and Import in Internet Explorer.
However if the browser unable to display the bookmarked page after you run the bookmark, try these tips.

• In Internet Explorer, your browser should be configured to open shortcut in new window configure by opening Tools Internet Options . . . Advanced and then removing the checkmark next to the "Reuse windows for launching shortcuts" option.
• On Mozilla, click the Reload button or select View Reload after you activate a shortcut.

How to add bookmark capability in Acrobat Reader?

Web browsers have the ability to bookmark PDF pages, yet curiously Acrobat Reader does not have that capability.
Download the javascript file called 'bookmark_page.js' here
Extract the file and put into the javascript folder at your Acrobat installation directory.

How to use this new feature?
1. When you find the PDF page you want to bookmark, press the three keys combination (Alt V 5)
2. To call for a bookmarked page use the three keys combination, (Alt V 6)
3. To delete a bookmark, select View>Remove Bookmark, you will be given a list of bookmarks, delete any bookmark you want.

How to extract components of PDF files?

PDF files may contain components such as tables that can be easily copied into Excel
Download pdftk

Use these commands to use pdftk

pdftk  document.pdf  unpack_files

If the PDF is protected, you must fill in the password:

pdftk  document.pdf  input_pw  fill the password here  unpack_files

How to use thumbnails effectively in Acrobat?

- In thumbnail view, draw a rectangle to select a group of pages. You may remove or add pages by holding down the Ctrl key (Shift on the Macintosh) then click single pages to add or remove them to your selection. Right-click on this pages selection and you will find many operations that can be utilized.

- You may also drag and drop the thumbnails image to a new location within the document. This would permanently move a page into a new location.

- To copy the pages, follow the above step but holding down the Ctrl key and then click-and-drag the selection to the location you want. The pages would be copied into a new location.

- To copy the pages from one PDF file to another, open both target and source PDF thumbnails so they both are visible in Acrobat. Click-and-drag the selected page into the target PDF.

- To move the pages from one PDF file to another, open both target and source PDF thumbnails so they both are visible in Acrobat. Click-and-drag the selected page into the target PDF.

How to speed up thumbnails view in Acrobat Reader?

If you widen the thumbnail view, more thumbnails image would be visible and they are organized into rows and columns.

If you think that the thumbnails seem to be displayed too slowly, you can try to select 'Embed All Page Thumbnails' from the Options (or Thumbnail) menu. Then Acrobat will save these thumbnail images into the PDF file. You may undo this feature by selecting 'Remove Embedded Thumbnails'.

Creating Slide-Show in Acrobat Reader

Download the Javascript file here
Put this file into 'javascript' folder inside your Acrobat Reader installation directory.
Open the Acrobat Reader and you will find a new option at 'View' pulldown menu, called 'Page Turner'. You may adjust the speed by selecting 'Faster' or 'Slower'

Use Page Down to fast forward
Use Page Up to rewind

Select 'Stop Page Turner' to deactivate the slide show.

How to know the function of an Acrobat plugin?

You want to remove your plugins, but don't know which plugins to remove? Acrobat explain the function of each plugins in the Help dialog. Click on one of these plugins and it will provide you with the file name, basic description, and the plugin dependencies. It is good to read help file, because it provides a simple list of Acrobat plugins functions.

Go to this list and write the file name of the plug-ins you do not need. Close Acrobat and use your file manager to go to the plugins directory, move the unneeded plugings from 'plug_ins' into 'plug_ins.unplugged' folder. Then open Acrobat and test its new configuration.
You may not need these plugins and you may remove them as you wish

Accessibility Checker,
Catalog,
Database Connectivity,
Highlight Server,
Infusium,
Movie Player,
MSAA,
Reflow,
SaveAsRTF,
Spelling,
Web-Hosted Service.

How to speed up Acrobat Reader?

Adobe Acrobat Reader and its complements provide standard features that take form as modular plug-ins. These plugins are automatically run when Acrobat loaded. You may speed up the start up process of Acrobat.

A really straightforward technique is to hold the Shift key during the loading of Acrobat, which prevents all plugins to load. A more permanent solution is to prevent unwanted plug-ins to run in the first place,

Do note that if you exclude these plugins, Acrobat may function improperly. If a PDF file seems to be defective, try viewing with the entire of Adobe plugins loaded.

How to deactivate plugins?
Acrobat (Reader) load the plugin when the application starts. On Windows, Acrobat looks at a specific directory and tries to examine the files in it. This directory is named 'plug_ins' and it usually located in

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\plug_ins\
Or:
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\Reader\plug_ins\

Under Windows, these plugins are often called *. API, but they are actually DLL files .
In the Macintosh, plugins are located the Acrobat Package. Control-click (or right-click if you have a two-button mouse) on the icon for Acrobat, and choose Show contents in the menu. A window with a folder named subjects would appear. There would be another sub-folder called plug-ins, which contains the Macintosh version of the similar plug-ins.

Create a folder named plug_ins.unplugged in the same directory or folder where plug_ins (or plug) located. In order to avoid these plugin loaded by Acrobat, you need only to move the plugins from plug_ins to plug_ins.unplugged.

Reading PDF file with Ghostscript

The tools for Ghostscript is an alternative to a number products released by Adobe. It uses the PostScript processor, which works on PDF files.

PostScript is the ancestor of the PDF and its complements. It is a programming language which focuses on the pages for describing how it is to be printed, while PDF is descriptive in its manner. You can convert PostScript/PDF and vice versa. Many systems printers and the handle both PostScript and PDF, the most commonly used exchange format between computers.

Although usually Ghostscript may run from command line or can be integrated with other available processes, you can also utilize it as a rendering engine for some viewers. Ghostview and GV is supported by Unix and VMS, MacGSview is a viewer used in Macintos. GSview supports OS/2, Windows and Linux. You must install the ghostscript before installing the GSview. The GSview once installed, it will directly open Encapsulated PostScript (EPS), PostScript and certainly PDF.

GSview does not provide nifty features. The toolbar at the top navigation offers basic features such as zoom and search (eyes). If you browse the menu, you will find plenty of PostScript utility functions. GSView is a great tool if you want to work with both PostScript and EPS files, because it allows you to explore these files as if they were PDF. GSView is also a very nice tool if your file that is behave abnormally, because it provides a wealth of detail about the errors of handling the PostScript and PDF. For many users, it is too simple to be useful, but even it lacks in eye candy, it has a hidden power.

Reading PDF file with Mac OS

If you currently own a Macintosh computer running OSX, the operating system fortunately includes a lite PDF reading application that allows you to view PDF files without Acrobat Reader.

Apple with its latest OS, Mac OS X integrates PDF everywhere. Icons and other elements of applications are PDF, rendering the system is closely linked to the data model used by a PDF file, and any application that can print can also generate PDF files.

Preview application is installed on the Macintosh at Macintosh HD:Applications:Preview. It may read a variety of graphic formats, including JPEG, BMP, TIFF and GIF, as well as (of course) PDF. You can open PDF files in Preview by selecting File>Open. . . , or by dragging the icons to the Preview application, or (if Acrobat is not installed) by double-clicking.

The interface is a lot simpler than the Acrobat Reader software in Windows, even so the options are user-friendly. Preview may also display thumbnails of pages, which is nice for quick navigation. Preview also supports the creation of PDF integrated into Mac OS X.

Also, File >Export menu in Preview allows you to save PDF files or graphics that you need into various PDF formats. If you need to convert them to JPEG format to a PDF file, a PDF file or a TIFF, it is an handy option. (It should also be noted that the screen shots taken in Mac OS X's Command-Shift-3 or Command-Shift-4 options are saved to the desktop as a PDF. These PDF files containing bitmaps, just as if they were created in TIFF format and exported into PDF files through Preview.)

The Adobe Reader

Any Web sites that use PDF files usually include an icon Get Adobe Reader along with the PDF files. If you use Windows, Mac OS 7.5.3, Mac OS X, Linux, HP-UX,Solaris, AIX, OS / 2, , Palm OS, Symbian OS or Pocket PC, Adobe there is always an PDF reader for you (Different platforms frequently provide different versions and have different capabilities, but they still provide basic PDF reading functionality.)

You can obtain latest reader int http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html Choose a language, platform, and the connection speed. Each version has slightly different installation instructions. Adobe Reader installer will be integrated into your web browser to allow online PDF reading.

However new versions are not always better. If you want an older version of Acrobat Reader, visit http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/reader_archive.html

After the Reader is installed, whenever you click on the website that links to PDF files, the Reader would run to allows you to view PDF files, most often within the browser window itself.

The Reader allows you to zoom, adjust view options, select and copy a box of text, but unlike the commercial version of Acrobat Reader, it does not provide a way to create or edit PDF documents.

To ensure that you get the best reading experience always set the layout defaults to a single default page and zoom to the top Fit.

About this blog

Many people believe that Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) in its proprietary format is used for unchangeable content delivery where readers can print or display information on the screen conveniently. That may be the way of thinking for most of people who work with it, yet there are many thing that can be done with Adobe's pdf.

PDF started its release in the early 90. At that time, Adobe provided free Adobe Acrobat Reader, PDF, across the Web as an alternative to paginated HTML. PDF has taken the place Adobe PostScript language files as an exchange format.

Acrobat PDF format has become a standard for digital information. Adobe publishes its specifications, to allow developers create their own tools for creating and utilizing PDF. For example Ghostscript software, a software toolkit for work with PostScript and PDF files. OpenOffice.org allows users to create PDF files from its applications, and Apple has integrated PDF closely with Mac OS X, including its own PDF reader and tools for printing PDF from any application.

Many people treat PDF documents as finished products, it is enough to read or print, but you can create and edit PDF many ways to improve your productivity. Adobe Acrobat product family, beyond the Acrobat Reader, includes a variety of tools for creating and editing PDF files, but there are many other tools and products for working with PDF, many are explored in this blog.