Key Terms

Don't let unfamiliar terms discourage you from learning all you can about Adobe Acrobat. If you don't completely understand what one of these words means, flip to the indicated page, read the full definition there, and find techniques related to that term .

Accessibility

When used to refer to PDF files, means document accessibility for vision- or motion-impaired users. Page 168

Actions

In Acrobat they include displaying specific document location, executing menu commands, playing multimedia files, running JavaScript, and so on. The term specifically refers to such actions taken in response to user input, such as clicking a button. 94

Bookmark

A special type of navigation link that appears in the Bookmarks panel of the navigation pane, rather than in the document itself. 118

Browser-based reviews

A review process where the PDF is stored in one location, usually on a shared server, and accessed by the reviewers via a web browser. 50

CGI (Common Gateway Interface) applications

Small applications that run on web servers. They perform a variety of tasks , including accepting incoming data and storing it in database form. 153

Cropping

The process of trimming away unwanted areas around the perimeter of a page or a selected portion of a page. 32

Digital editions

Books in digital format which can be displayed on a computer or handheld device. 158

Digital signature

A unique digital identifier that allows a user to certify that a document has been created, reviewed, or approved. Digital signatures are used in much the same way that handwritten signatures are used. 6

Dynamic forms

A type of interactive form that adjusts to the amount of content to be displayed and how much information is entered by the end user. 135

eBook

The traditional term for digital editions. 158

eEnvelope

An unencrypted PDF file that contains encrypted attachments. 91

Email-based reviews

A review process where PDFs are sent by email as an attachment to recipients for commenting. 50

Embedded fonts

Fonts whose information is stored within the PDF file itself. This ensures that the fonts will display and print correctly even if the user does not have the fonts installed on his computer. Page 45

Exclusive groups

Groups of radio buttons among which only one button can be active at a time. A common example would be a multiple choice questionnaire. Each question would have an exclusive group of responses, among which the user can choose only one. 143

Extracting

When executed on a page or range of pages, it creates a new PDF file that contains those pages. The selected page or pages may be deleted from the original document, if desired, during the process. 34

Footer

Text or images that appear at the bottom of a range of printed pages. 43

Form elements

Refers to all the objects on a form that allow user input, such as text boxes, radio buttons, check boxes, drop-down lists, and so on. 134

Header

Text or images that appear at the top of a range of printed pages. 43

HTML

Stands for Hypertext Markup Language, a language used to define how text and images are displayed on the Web. 134

Interactive forms

Forms that allow end users to enter data directly into a form and have it electronically delivered either by email or to a database. 135

Job options

The term used in previous versions of Distiller for default settings. These settings files still use the . joboptions suffix. 204

Links

In Acrobat they are clickable areas that perform an action. The most common types of links are navigation links, which take you to a new location, but links can also run JavaScript, execute menu items, play sounds or video, and so on. 94

Misregistration

The result of poorly aligned printing passes , it results in unwanted gaps or between colors. 178

Multimedia

Refers to digital content other than text or static graphics, including audio, video, and animation. Page 110

OCR

Stands for Optical Character Recognition which is a software technology that recognizes text shapes in scanned documents and converts them to editable text. 194

OCR suspect

Any word or text character that has been flagged by an OCR (optical character recognition) application as possibly misrecognized. Common culprits are 8s recognized as capital Bs, 0s (zero) or Os (capital O) as capital Ds, etc. 199

Page description language

A software language that describes the text and images on a page mathematically for precise reproduction on a printer or other output device. 203

Paper capture

The process of creating PDF files from scanned documents. 194

PDF (Portable Document Format)

A cross-platform file format created by Adobe Systems for sharing files independently of the application that created the file or the operating system of either the file creator or the file viewer. This format preserves the font, image, and formatting integrity of the original source document. 3

PDF forms

PDF documents that contain form fields that allow the viewer to enter data directly into the document. PDF forms can also contain interface elements such as buttons, check boxes, and lists the viewer can use to choose from a set of responses. 6

Plug-ins

Small software programs that extend the capabilities and functionality of a host application. 210

Poster

A still image used to represent the content of a video clip. It is often the first frame of the video, but it can also be a piece of concept art. 110

PostScript

A page description language that allows printers to output text and images exactly as they appear onscreen. 203

Preflighting

The process of checking your document for suitability with a particular printer or output process. 8

Registration

Refers to the alignment of the paper during the printing of different colored inks. In a perfectly aligned print job, all colors print directly on top of each other. 178

Source document

The original document file from which a PDF is created. The source document is unaffected by the conversion process. Page 22

Static forms

Forms with a fixed area for data display and input. If the information entered into a static form is more than the space allows for, the information is not captured. 135

Structure or document structure

Information stored in a PDF file's internal document database that dictates how each document element (paragraphs, images, and so on) is displayed. 170

Structured bookmark

A bookmark that is tied to its destination page so that moving or deleting the bookmark also moves or deletes the destination page. Structured bookmarks can be created only in structured PDF files because the relationship between the structured bookmark and destination page is based on the logical structure tree found in structured PDF files. 125

Structured PDF

Files that contain additional information about the various elements (images, blocks of text, and so on) in the PDF file. This structure improves the reflow of the document on handheld devices and is used by accessibility technology for viewers with vision or motion impairments. 125

Style

A set of formatting instructions that can be quickly applied to selected text. Styles are a common feature in word processing and page layout applications. 29

Tab order

Order in which fields in a form or accessibility-tagged document objects (paragraphs, columns , images) are made the focus of the cursor or the display. Cursor focus moves the cursor to that field; display focus displays the object onscreen. 170

Tags

Invisible (to us) blocks of information about each individual document element in a PDF file. 125

Transparency flattening

A process of analyzing partially transparent, overlapping objects and converting them into individual non- overlapping objects that have the same appearance as the previously overlapping objects. 189

Trapping

A technique used to compensate for misregistration. With trapping, objects are adjusted so that they intentionally overlap. This helps to avoid the gaps of white space that often appear in misregistered print jobs. 178