Acrobat Core API Reference

The API Reference (CoreAPIReference.pdf) lists all the objects, methods, and callbacks available to your Acrobat plug-in. It is a reference, so it doesn't offer deep explanations. For explanations of the concepts behind the API, consult the Acrobat Core API Overview (CoreAPIOverview.pdf).

PDF Reference

The most important document is the PDF Reference (PDFReference.pdf). The one that comes with the Acrobat 5 SDK is old, so visit http://partners.adobe.com/asn/tech/pdf/specifications.jsp and download the latest version.

Check the "what's new" section of the reference to get a glimpse of what was added to the corresponding version of Acrobat. In the PDF Reference Version 1.5 (that was released with Acrobat 6), new PDF features are described in section 1.2.

The PDF Reference sometimes refers to the PostScript Reference. Download this venerable document from http://partners.adobe.com/asn/tech/ps/specifications.jsp.

Look under Acrobat's hood, and explore the possibilities.

The Acrobat 5 SDK for Windows includes more than 26 documents, 15 interapplication (e.g., OLE, DDE) examples, and 52 Acrobat plug-in examples. Acrobat SDKs are also available for Macintosh and Unix. This material is the foundation for all PDF, Acrobat, and Distiller programming. And, it is freely available from http://partners.adobe.com/asn/acrobat/download.jsp. For a fee, you can also access the Acrobat 6 SDK.