New PDF creating software.

[Dimwhit]

Bummer ID didn't work out for you. I kind of had the opposite experience. But that seems par for the course these days with software/computers. Some people have fantastic experiences, some don't. I certainly don't begrudge people sticking with Quark. It's a powerful program. I haven't used it since v4.01.

 

[Henry]

This may sound strange, but one program I've had good success with PDF's is CorelDRAW. I'm still stuck on Version 9 (too cheap to buy the latest and greatest), but for smaller PDF's, it works well. However, for PDF's over 64 pages or so, It does not do as well. I've been using it for small-scale in-house work at my job, especially since it handles the Vector Objects from DRAW in a very filesize-amenable output.

 

[Prest0]

I use InDesign, so all the bookmarks, etc. are identified in the ID document. When it's exported to PDF, that's it.

Wow. I've GOT to figure how to do that. I used Pagemaker 6.5 for layout on Last Rites with TOC markup in the styles. That got me an automated TOC at the beginning, but I had to create the PDF bookmarks one at a time in Acrobat 5.0. What settings did you use to generate the bookmarks when you exported from InDesign? I'm upgrading to Pagemaker 7.0 before I start work on Weekend Warriors, so hopefully a similar function will be there.

 

[Dimwhit]

Wow. I've GOT to figure how to do that. I used Pagemaker 6.5 for layout on Last Rites with TOC markup in the styles. That got me an automated TOC at the beginning, but I had to create the PDF bookmarks one at a time in Acrobat 5.0. What settings did you use to generate the bookmarks when you exported from InDesign? I'm upgrading to Pagemaker 7.0 before I start work on Weekend Warriors, so hopefully a similar function will be there.

Actually, the way I do it at least, the bookmarks are generated automatically based on the TOC contents. I'm sure it can be done more in-depth than the way I handle it, but it works great for me. My bookmarks basically duplicate the TOC in my doc.

In InDesign, there is an export to pdf that bypasses distiller. And for me, if makes great pdfs. Anyway, there is a 'include bookmark' checkbox that will do it. It will also generate all hyperlinks, too, based on how they were defined in the document.

 

[Fast Learner]

InDesign PDFs can be troublesome for some (even many) professional RIPs (high-resolution output for print) and even some (though few) laser printers. InDesign's built-in PDF generation uses some Postscript commands that just aren't available in earlier RIPs, even RIPs that were released just a few years ago.

The solution (and this is a hassle) is to use Acrobat to re-process the PDF that InDesign generates (if you want the cool auto bookmarks and such) or use Acrobat Distiller to create the PDF as a print job out of InDesign.

Unfortunately that means you need both InDesign and Acrobat. I'm fortunate to have been able to purchase both but that's a pretty pricey solution. I suspect PDF995 or a similar product could be used in place of Distiller in one of the above solutions but you'd lose the cool bookmarking (because such products can't re-process PDFs the way Acrobat can).

In my opinion (as a Quark fantatic for many years, including teaching it at a professional level), InDesign still kicks Quark's buttocks with aplomb, but the RIPping problem is something you unfortunately have to work around.

 

[Dimwhit]

In my opinion (as a Quark fantatic for many years, including teaching it at a professional level), InDesign still kicks Quark's buttocks with aplomb, but the RIPping problem is something you unfortunately have to work around.

Yeah, InDesign still has to work things out with the professional print shops, but they're coming around. Mainly, it requires newer equipment. But more and more are taking them. I haven't had any issues yet. Some do, some don't. I think it's the luck of draw, more than anything.

In my opinion (as a Quark fantatic for many years, including teaching it at a professional level), InDesign still kicks Quark's buttocks with aplomb, but the RIPping problem is something you unfortunately have to work around.

I agree. I used Quark for years. I received a free (legal!) copy of InDesign 2.0 and gave it a try. I haven't touched Quark since.

Not to get this thread off on a Quark vs InDesign debate or anything.

 

[zenld]

Since we seem to have all of the experts here, I have a stupid question. I am relatively new to Acrobat and am adding bookmarks. How do I get the trees? Whenever I add a new mark it makes it at the same level.

Just to display my ignorance before one and all.

zen

 

[Cergorach]

While I liked working with InDesign, I went through HELL with the output. File sizes were stupendously huge, printing was rife with errors and bizarre incompatabilities at the printer, etc.

I have gone back to Quark XPress 5 and will probably be switching to 6 soon.

What version of ID did you use?

I find that ID2.02 produced smaller file sizes than Acrobat5, Acrobat 6 works a lot better with compression of files (even for older versions).

I almost never print directlty from ID, i first convert it to PDF, then i print...

 

[Cergorach]

Since we seem to have all of the experts here, I have a stupid question. I am relatively new to Acrobat and am adding bookmarks. How do I get the trees? Whenever I add a new mark it makes it at the same level.

Just to display my ignorance before one and all.

zen

Annoying isn't it ;-)

Just select it and drag it to the name you want it under, should then show up as a tree. Creating nav trees under Acrobat 4+5 was not a very intuative deal, haven't tried it with Acrobat 6 yet...

 

[mythusmage]

What I see is another bunch of people too clueless to tell potential customers what platform their products are for.

"You mean people use something besides Windows?"

"Well, Duh."

(Sorry, but the attitude shown by companies such as this bugs me.)