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Posted by AES/newspost on November 27, 2004, 10:52 am
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In my (limited) experience, downloading a lengthy PDF file (a users
manual or a lengthy report) from a web site can take a fair amount of
time even on a fast connection, and readable content doesn't appear
until the full document has been downloaded.
Adobe Acrobat however allows PDF files to be Saved in a "Fast Web View"
format, supposedly as a way to get around these limitations and allow
page by page delivery and viewing of the document. Before I experiment
with this format I'd like to ask:
1) Does this Fast Web View format still contain all the information in
the original PDF document? -- or is there some loss of information, e.g.
reduced resolution of embedded graphics or loss of vector graphics
information?
2) Do some/many/most current browsers and/or their PDF plugins or
helper apps (Acrobat Reader?) support this Fast Web View format? --
particularly in allowing viewers to start reading initial pages while
the bulk of the document is still unloading?
3) As an alternative, when I put a lengthy PDF document (60+ pages) on
my own web site I could accompany it with a separate reduced-resolution
HTML-only preview version which viewers could scan through page by page
before deciding if they wanted to initiate the full PDF download.
I could for example use Acrobat to save the document as individual JPEG,
PNG or TIFF images, then make the individual pages into an HTML slide
show. For some viewers reading the preview version could be enough;
others, having scanned the preview, might download the full PDF file.
Does anyone have any advice on optimum ways to do this? In my limited
attempts at saving PDF pages as JPEGs, I get a lot of jaggies in text,
typeset equations, and vector graphics -- not unexpected, but are there
options and settings that will miminize this? Would PNG be a better
format?
[Just for reference my particular documents are already in landscape
orientation and contain text and typeset equations along with embedded
JPEGs, and EPS vector graphics. Everything is on white background with
RGB colors only; no fancy background colors, animations or the like. I
can assume that my intended viewers will have modern browsers and at
least SVGA screen resolutions.]
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Posted by Scott Bryce on November 27, 2004, 12:39 pm
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AES/newspost wrote:
> 1) Does this Fast Web View format still contain all the information in
> the original PDF document?
Yes.
> -- or is there some loss of information, e.g.
> reduced resolution of embedded graphics or loss of vector graphics
> information?
No.
The primary difference between formats is that Fast Web View format
organizes the information in the PDF file in a way that allows
individual pages to be located quickly. This way the reader app can
display page 1 without having to download very much of the document. It
can then make requests for specific parts of the PDF file, and display
pages while downloading a minimal amount of the document.
The PDF spec calls it Linearized PDF.
> 2) Do some/many/most current browsers and/or their PDF plugins or
> helper apps (Acrobat Reader?) support this Fast Web View format? --
Acrobat Reader does.
> particularly in allowing viewers to start reading initial pages while
> the bulk of the document is still unloading?
That is primarily what Fast Web View accomplishes.
> 3) As an alternative, when I put a lengthy PDF document (60+ pages) on
> my own web site I could accompany it with a separate reduced-resolution
> HTML-only preview version which viewers could scan through page by page
> before deciding if they wanted to initiate the full PDF download.
>
> I could for example use Acrobat to save the document as individual JPEG,
> PNG or TIFF images,
Which would probably be much larger than the PDF file.
> Does anyone have any advice on optimum ways to do this?
Use the Fast Web View format.
> In my limited
> attempts at saving PDF pages as JPEGs, I get a lot of jaggies in text,
> typeset equations, and vector graphics -- not unexpected, but are there
> options and settings that will miminize this?
No. It is inherent in the JPG format.
> Would PNG be a better format?
Yes, but it would be larger than the original PDF file, and probably
larger than the JPG file.
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Posted by Aandi Inston on November 27, 2004, 7:39 pm
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>1) Does this Fast Web View format still contain all the information in
>the original PDF document?
Yes.
>
>2) Do some/many/most current browsers and/or their PDF plugins or
>helper apps (Acrobat Reader?) support this Fast Web View format? --
>particularly in allowing viewers to start reading initial pages while
>the bulk of the document is still unloading?
Browsers don't really have PDF plug-ins; these are supplied by the PDF
reading software. But that's a detail. Adobe Reader (the new name for
Acrobat Reader) supports fast web view in any compatible browser.
That includes IE and some(?) Netscapes on Windows and Mac OS 9 (with
an older Acrobat Reader). Adobe Reader does not currently support
displaying a PDF file in a browser window at all.
>
>3) As an alternative, when I put a lengthy PDF document (60+ pages) on
>my own web site I could accompany it with a separate reduced-resolution
>HTML-only preview version which viewers could scan through page by page
>before deciding if they wanted to initiate the full PDF download.
Previews are always a good thing. However, I'm not sure that a
graphically intensive preview is.
----------------------------------------
Aandi Inston quite@dial.pipex.com http://www.quite.com
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