Creating PDF Files

One of the biggest time-savers the suite offers is the capability to create PDF files directly and consistently. PDF files are commonly used to get client and manager approvals, and to create proofs. PDF files are also accepted by a large majority of printers and service providers, and the format is now accepted by virtually every magazine or newspaper publisher for submitting advertisements.

By the Way

In reality, consistent PDF creation is only half the story. All Adobe Creative Suite applications can also open or place PDF files. PDF in, PDF out.

The truth is, many different settings are available when you save a PDF file. For example, you can choose from different compression settings, color settings, print-specific settings (such as crop marks and bleeds), and even password security settings. To avoid having to go through all the settings each time you wanted to create a PDF file, Adobe added PDF Presets, which was a way to save your PDF settings. However, these presets weren't consistent across applications.

In previous versions, each individual Adobe application had different PDF settings, making it confusing and difficult to get consistent PDF creation across all the applications. For example, a PDF saved from Illustrator could be very different than a PDF saved from InDesign. And because the PDF settings themselves were different, you couldn't even try to create similar PDF presets yourself within each application.

With Adobe Creative Suite 2, all applications now share the same PDF presets. This means that you can open Illustrator and save a PDF preset, and then open InDesign and use that very same preset (see Figure 4.43). Settings are now similar, allowing for consistent and reliable PDF creation.

Figure 4.43. Defining a PDF Preset in InDesign CS2.