How This Book Is Organized

This book is divided into seven chapters, each of which is described briefly here:

Chapter 1, Consuming PDF

This chapter discusses various tools for reading PDF files and teaches you how to make these tools more convenient to use. It also describes ways in which you can get the information you want out of Acrobat and into other applications.

Chapter 2, Managing a Collection

Reading and working with individual PDF files often leads to having a collection of files. This chapter provides tools and techniques for keeping track of what's in all those files and for presenting them to users looking for information.

Chapter 3, Authoring and Self-Publishing: Hacking Outside the PDF

Most PDFs aren't created directly as PDFs; they start in other formats and then are converted to PDF. PDFs also feed into a lot of other processes, from printing to e-book distribution. This chapter examines techniques for creating rich sources of PDF content and looks at things you can do with PDF files outside of the usual viewing and printing contexts.

Chapter 4, Creating PDF and Other Editions

There are lots of different ways to create PDF files and useful ways to supplement your PDFs with the same information in different formats. This chapter looks at a variety of tools and techniques you can use to create your own PDFs.

Chapter 5, Manipulating PDF Files

Once you have PDF files, you might want to do more to them. This chapter shows you how to perform such techniques as splitting PDF files, encrypting documents, attaching data, reducing file sizes, building indexes, and working with bookmarks.

Chapter 6, Dynamic PDF

PDF files don't have to be static representations of documents created once. This chapter shows you how to make PDF itself more active through its forms capabilities and teaches you how to use a variety of different tools to generate PDFs from your data on the fly.

Chapter 7, Scripting and Programming Acrobat

Adobe's Acrobat family of applications remains at the heart of much PDF creation and processing. This chapter includes techniques for automating common tasks and stretching these applications in new and different ways.