File won't open in Acrobat Reader 5. The viewer cannot decrypt the file. Could one get an, um, downgrade to a version Reader 5 can decrypt?
Mechamancy PDF Problem
- Thread starter mythusmage
- Start date
RangerWickett
Legend
What OS are you running? When the layout guy and I discussed what format to have the file in, I think it was determined that a very small percentage of people would be unable to upgrade to the necessary Adobe version. I thought that version was 4, not 5, but if you're having trouble using it with 5, I'd suggest you try updating to version 6 first. If that doesn't work . . . I seem to recall we had an alternative lined up, but it came up a few months ago. I'll have to look into it.
I'm using a Macintosh, OS 9. My machine can't use OSX. OS 9 can't use any version of Acrobat Reader newer than 5.1. At present I simply don't have the money to get a new Macintosh. Please note that I do not trust Microsoft's Windows software. Their Macintosh software is rather nice, but their Windows software is rather lacking.
About the only way I'm going to be able to upgrade to OSX, and all the new(er) software one can use on it is by holding a donation drive. One MacMini (about $500.00) plus one 17" or 19" monitor ($200.00 or $300.00 on sale). (Already have a trackball and keyboard, but I wouldn't turn down replacements.)
You like what I write ... (see sig in first post above).
About the only way I'm going to be able to upgrade to OSX, and all the new(er) software one can use on it is by holding a donation drive. One MacMini (about $500.00) plus one 17" or 19" monitor ($200.00 or $300.00 on sale). (Already have a trackball and keyboard, but I wouldn't turn down replacements.)
You like what I write ... (see sig in first post above).
RangerWickett
Legend
I've emailed the layout guy to tell him to check this thread out.
Marius Delphus
Adventurer
We are aware that this is a problem with OS 9 and we are looking for a solution we can fit into our ever-evolving standard operating procedure that will satisfy everyone. In the meantime, I've produced an Acrobat 5 version of Mechamancy for Ryan to distribute to customers who need one.
We do apologize for the inconvenience... but at the same time we're quite enamored of the "layers" feature in Acrobat 6, which eliminates the need for separate "print/lite" and "full color/screen" files, but which is also the very thing causing the problem Mythusmage (and anyone else with OS 9) is having.
I'm hopeful we'll come up with a more customer-pleasing solution before Fantastic Science is released (expect it Real Soon Now, as they say in the software industry
).
We do apologize for the inconvenience... but at the same time we're quite enamored of the "layers" feature in Acrobat 6, which eliminates the need for separate "print/lite" and "full color/screen" files, but which is also the very thing causing the problem Mythusmage (and anyone else with OS 9) is having.
I'm hopeful we'll come up with a more customer-pleasing solution before Fantastic Science is released (expect it Real Soon Now, as they say in the software industry
).Marius Delphus said:We are aware that this is a problem with OS 9 and we are looking for a solution we can fit into our ever-evolving standard operating procedure that will satisfy everyone. In the meantime, I've produced an Acrobat 5 version of Mechamancy for Ryan to distribute to customers who need one.
We do apologize for the inconvenience... but at the same time we're quite enamored of the "layers" feature in Acrobat 6, which eliminates the need for separate "print/lite" and "full color/screen" files, but which is also the very thing causing the problem Mythusmage (and anyone else with OS 9) is having.
I'm hopeful we'll come up with a more customer-pleasing solution before Fantastic Science is released (expect it Real Soon Now, as they say in the software industry
Thank you.
RangerWickett
Legend
Send an email to me at rangerwickett@hotmail.com. Can you receive large email attachments (up to 10 MB)?
Marius Delphus
Adventurer
"Reduce File Size" won't make a PDF readable in Acrobat 5 if you don't choose Acrobat 5 when using the feature. (There is a drop-down list of options in the dialog box that springs up.) If you want to preserve the layers -- which, again, we do like -- you choose Acrobat 6. If you choose Acrobat 5, it obliterates the layers; it just so happens that PDF layers are incompatible with Acrobat 5, and, again, it's the layers that are causing the problem with Acrobat 5.
The layers are there for a couple of reasons.
[aside] Of course, I'm always willing to revisit a choice like that for whatever reason. I'm not insensitive to issues with incompatibility and so forth, for example, and it certainly doesn't please me to offer something some of ENP's customers can't use, however highly I think of what I accomplished. (Obviously *I* think it's cool.
) So trust me when I say there has been some heavy thinking and a lot of conversation on this very issue. And as if that weren't enough, a technical glitch forced Fantastic Science into Acrobat 5, so now we have this experiment floating around out there and we'll see what people say once the reviews start rolling in. [/aside]
Erm... does that answer the question?
The layers are there for a couple of reasons.
The layers provide users with options to print whatever elements of the PDF suit their fancy/printer/budget, as constrained by the assignment of certain elements to certain layers -- but I set things up so that even the illustrations can be hidden to save ink/toner.
The layers let EN Publishing offer a single file that contains full-blown and bare-bones versions of the book (and several versions in between), rather than two or three files, which reduces download size and eliminates the possibility of opening the "wrong" file -- seems to me you'd need about six different Acrobat 5 PDFs to match the flexibility of one layered PDF.
The layers make for a neat "toy" the user can play with in Reader 6 or 7.
All in all, it sounded like a value-add to me. So after getting software that supported writing PDF layers and working the process out, I thought having the layers was smashingly cool. So that's the thinking behind going ahead and using the Acrobat 6 layers.The layers let EN Publishing offer a single file that contains full-blown and bare-bones versions of the book (and several versions in between), rather than two or three files, which reduces download size and eliminates the possibility of opening the "wrong" file -- seems to me you'd need about six different Acrobat 5 PDFs to match the flexibility of one layered PDF.
The layers make for a neat "toy" the user can play with in Reader 6 or 7.
[aside] Of course, I'm always willing to revisit a choice like that for whatever reason. I'm not insensitive to issues with incompatibility and so forth, for example, and it certainly doesn't please me to offer something some of ENP's customers can't use, however highly I think of what I accomplished. (Obviously *I* think it's cool.
) So trust me when I say there has been some heavy thinking and a lot of conversation on this very issue. And as if that weren't enough, a technical glitch forced Fantastic Science into Acrobat 5, so now we have this experiment floating around out there and we'll see what people say once the reviews start rolling in. [/aside]Erm... does that answer the question?
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