In this latest release from Adobe, Acrobat 4 offers a wide variety of options for creating PDF files, a popular format for printing, the Internet, tutorials, and CD-ROM. One of the things that makes the PDF file format so popular that those who receive your files will experience your documents as you have created them.
September 2, 1999
In Windows, you can download Web pages and convert them to PDF files. You can provide the URL in Acrobat 4 directly, or as I mentioned earlier, you can use drag and drop. How your new PDF document will appear on screen will depend on the method used to download web files.
To use Web Capture, you need to install Internet Explorer and have the Internet Properties dialog box configured for Web access. Additionally, the Proxy Server box on the Connection tab must have a valid proxy address if you are accessing the Web through a firewall in an enterprise environment. After that, you can use the browser of your choice. Also, make sure that your version of Internet Explorer has the Internet Properties dialog box. If not, you will need to upgrade to a current version which you can download from the Microsoft web site at: http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/
To use Web Capture, choose File: Open Web Page in Acrobat 4, or choose Tools: Web Capture: Open Web Page. A dialog box appears with several options, among them: a place to type in URL's, Levels 1 and more or Get Entire Site, Only Get Pages Under Same Path and Stay on Same Server. A further option is Conversion Settings. Some options are: Create Bookmarks to New Content, Put Headers and Footnotes on New Page, Add PDF Structure and Page Layout. This screenshot shows the Open Web Page and the Conversion Settings dialogs respectively.
While you can view Web pages in Acrobat as they are being downloaded, you cannot make any modifications until the process is complete. When downloading web pages it's necessary to be aware that Web sites can have multiple page levels. Downloading a large site could take quite a bit of time, so the option of different page levels is very valuable here. At this point, JavaScript and Java applets in HTML pages are not supported. In this screenshot is the Web Developer's Journal site, downloaded into Acrobat 4.
Using Structured Bookmarks
When a PDF document is created from Web pages, Structured Bookmarks are generated if Create Bookmarks for New Content is selected when downloading. Structured Bookmarks are initially all at the same level, but they can be rearranged and nested in groups. It's important to note that the family relationships between bookmarks is maintained. Moving or deleting a parent Structured Bookmark will move or delete the children Structured Bookmarks as well. To avoid problems, keep the navigation pane open to view Web pages and the Structured Bookmarks at the same time.
Refresh Downloaded Web Pages
Web pages downloaded to the PDF format can be refreshed in order to gain the latest information from a web site. Refreshing downloads the entire site again, and Acrobat builds a new PDF file, listing pages where the information has changed. The changed pages are listed as bookmarks under the name New and Changed Pages. Be aware that this option will work only if Save Refresh Commands were selected when you first downloaded the pages.
Preparation for Distribution
Before sending out your PDF documents, ensure that that all text, layout, links, bookmarks, etc are functioning properly. A good rule of thumb is to treat your documents as if you were planning to print them. It’s a good idea to think about the file names and sizes along with supplying search information, passwords, and security if necessary. When preparing your documents, it's also a good idea to prepare several small ones with links, rather than a large document. Smaller documents will load faster and users can click on the links that interest them.
Naming Conventions
When naming your files, it's a good idea to use the MS-DOS convention of eight characters followed by an extension of up to three characters. According to Adobe, if your files are transferred among computers, this is the best way of making certain that your documents retain their PDF extensions.
In the next section, we'll see how to optimize files to minimize load times, and clue you in on practical stuff like prices and system requirements.
This article is in three parts:
