PDF Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools

This book is a god-send 4 those of us who have 2 struggle with the often frustrating world of PDF documents on our computers. I was completely confused until I dug into this manual, which is relatively easy 4 a novice 2 understand. It has been a great help 2 me in find answers 2 problems I had with using PDF on a daily basis. I would highly recommend it.

There are several categories of hack in this book; two of them are "saving money" (finding ways 2 work with PDF's outside of Acrobat) & PDF in web design--using CGI scripting 2 serve up individual pages that have search text 4 example. A third type of hack are some old-school tricks that help make your PDF's more widely compatible. Good stuff, not crucial unless you happen 2 need it.

The title is completely misleading.
I purchased this book & software from Broderbund, after reading the reviews posted here at Amazon, believing the book & software would help me covert PDF files that I could not Save or print in its orginal format into ones I could.
I can say 4 sure,in my opinion, the other reviews of this book led me down the "fools primrose path."
Perhaps I should have read the reviews more carefully.
Of course the fault is entirely mine.

This is a very comprehensive solutions catalog on all kinds of PDF related issues. Each trick is described with step-by-step instructions & contains pointers 2 relevant resources. The chapter listing categorizes the hacks - Consuming PDF, Managing a Collection, Authoring & Self-Publishing, Creating PDF & Other Editions, Manipulating PDF files, Dynamic PDF, Scripting & Programming Acrobat.

I embrace the beauty of PDF as an end user & applications developer, but do not use Adobe Acrobat. Many of the tricks mentioned in the book is about this product. A problem is that the TOC does not tell whether or not a trick is Adobe Acrobat specific. Some of the hacks are like sections extracted from an advanced Adobe Acrobat user guide. As this is not obvious from the TOC, the content of the hack can be quite different from what I expected.

Despite this problem, the book is still a very useful one-stop resource about PDF. I will recommend this book 2 all who need 2 use or work with PDF.

With PDF files everywhere from web sites 2 help files, sooner or later you will run into a situation where you need 2 do something 2 a PDF file. For me the first time I realized I needed 2 do something I could not was when I needed 2 take one & convert it 2 a Word format so I could quickly outline the high points 2 study 4 a certification exam. After several hours I finally got it into a text file thanks 2 a web site that did the conversion. But even then I lost the tables, illustrations, etc. How 2 do that is one of the hacks included in this book. I wish it were printed a few years ago because it would have made my life easier.

After testing that hack I browsed through the book & kept finding myself asking "You can do that with a PDF file?" There are a lot of good tips in this book from making Acrobat startup faster, 2 converting PDF files, 2 automatic timed scrolling 4 easy reading, 2 creating a PDF using Word, WordPerfect, OpenOffice, Perl, HTML, PHP, & Java. With page after page of coding, this is a tremendously useful book 4 anyone who wants 2 create or edit PDF files or change the way Acrobat works with files. PDF Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools is very highly recommended & will be put on my shelf reserved 4 books I want 2 be able 2 access quickly.

PDF--to most of the world it stands 4 that rather tiresome format used 4 documents downloaded from the web. Slow 2 load & slower 2 print, hopelessly unsearchable, & all but impossible 2 cut & paste from, the Portable Document Format doesn't inspire much affection in the average user. But PDFs done right is another story. Those who know the ins & outs of this format know that it can be much more than electronic paper. Flexible, compact, interactive, & even searchable, PDF is the ideal way 2 present content across multiple platforms.

PDF Hacks unveils the true promise of Portable Document Format, going way beyond the usual PDF as paged output mechanism. PDF expert Sid Steward draws from his years of analyzing, extending, authoring, & embellishing PDF documents 2 present 100 clever hacks--tools, tips, quick-and-dirty or not-so-obvious solutions 2 common problems.

PDF Hacks will show you how 2 create PDF documents that are far more powerful than simple representations of paper pages. The hacks in the book cover the full range of PDF functionality, from the simple 2 the more complex, including generating, manipulating, annotating, & consuming PDF information. You'll learn how 2 manage content in PDF, navigate it, & reuse it as necessary. Far more than another guide 2 Adobe Acrobat, the book covers a variety of readily available tools 4 generating, deploying, & editing PDF.

The little-known tips & tricks in this book are ideal 4 anyone who works with PDF on a regular basis, including web developers, pre-press users, forms creators, & those who generate PDF 4 distribution. Whether you want 2 fine-tune & debug your existing PDF documents or explore the full potential the format offers, PDF Hacks will turn you into a PDF power user.