adobe suite cheap

As a scrapbook enthusiast who fully believes in putting her computer and graphic programs to full use when it comes to altering pictures to fit my scrapbook layouts to perfection, I long ago became a fan of the software program Adobe Photoshop Elements. For the record, I am currently running version 3, though two newer versions are available. It has continued to meet my needs and I see no reason to run out and spend money on a new version just yet. Originally I chose it as a much cheaper alternative to the full fledged Adobe Photoshop, as it has always allowed for quite a large amount of photo editing, including such editing basics as converting color photos to black & white or sepia tone, and more playful alterations such as using artistic and special effect brushes.

Recently, I became aware of what is referred to as an Action when in discussion about graphic programs in general. An Action is a series of edits bundled into what appears to be a simple single action, but is actually a series of actions, allowing the software program the Action is run in, to alter your photograph in a much more detailed, yet much less time-consuming way than one would be able to do without the Action. If I have not lost you after that explanation, some examples of Actions that I have since used include turning a single photograph into numerous puzzle pieces or several photos into what looks like a film reel, all with little effort on my part beyond loading the photograph into my workspace and applying the chosen Action to it.

I had previously learned, wrongly, I might add at this point, that an Action could not be run in such a basic program as Elements, and needed a full featured program such as Adobe Photoshop. Thankfully I learned this was not so. While not all Actions made for Adobe Photoshop will run in Adobe Photoshop Elements, many will, some dependent on which version of Elements you are running too, so do keep this in mind if you decide to try out Actions in your own copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements.

To begin to use them, you first must install them into the correct directory and make sure that all elements of the Action are available for the program to read. This can involve various steps, some that beginning users might be a bit more reluctant to do than more advanced users, but really are not that difficult as long as the proper steps are followed.

For example, after installing a new Action to the proper file, double check that the Elements program itself is closed, then open the file Adobe on your hard drive, (on my computer, I left clicked once on My Computer, and double left clicked my C drive, which happens to be my local drive). From there I double left clicked Adobe Photoshop Elements (in my case Adobe Photoshop Elements 3), and continued to double left click Previews, Open Cache, open Effects Cache, and then selected and deleted the three files within. I then closed all of the folders. Once closed, you will reopen the program Adobe Photoshop Elements itself, so when the program loads, it will rebuild these three files you just deleted, in turn finding the newly installed Actions, and giving the program the opportunity to show the actions in the program's menus for easy access and use.

The simplest way to do any of this is to use a third party creator of an Action that has been designed for use in Elements. My favorites and the most straightforward Actions when it comes to installation I have found come from a website created by Panos Efstathiadis titled PanosFX. On this site are clearly written directions for downloading Actions to Adobe Photoshop Elements, and getting them up and running.

If you have always wanted to try some high-end graphic editing, but your budget cannot afford a high-end graphic program, this might be the solution to your dilemma, and all within even the tightest budget.

In response to two critical vulnerabilities in Acrobat and Adobe Reader 9.3, yesterday Adobe released the 9.3.1 update for both applications; users of the older 8.x versions can update to 8.2.1 to resolve the security issues. One of the two vulnerabilities addressed would allow a malicious PDF to make unauthorized cross-domain requests; the other could crash the PDF application and possibly allow an attacker to gain access to other parts of the system.

The first flaw is related to a Flash Player issue that was revealed last week; if you have not updated Flash to the latest version (10.0.45.2 as of this moment, see your version & current versions here) & you aren't blocking Flash, you should go get the latest build right away. Although you can configure auto-update notifications in Flash Player, it's not clear if Mac OS X clients are consistently getting these reminders to update.

Even though Mac users are far less likely to be targeted by malware than our Windows-using friends and family, vigilance is still critical. Security analysis firm ScanSafe reported that it saw the percentage of exploits delivered via PDF files rise from 56% at the beginning of 2009 all the way up to 80% in the 4th quarter, so keeping those Adobe apps current — or, better yet, using Apple's Preview app as the default PDF reader on Mac OS X — is only prudent.

The Acrobat and Reader Trust Model:
Acrobat and Reader 9, with Enhanced Security turned on, allows only same-origin data downloads and multimedia operations [see "Enhanced Security in Adobe Acrobat 9 and Adobe Reader 9"]. In practical terms, this means that if you open a PDF file in a browser and it contains a streaming video, as long as the video was added with the Acrobat 9 video tool and it is streaming in from the same server that hosts the PDF file, the video will simply play without the user being prompted with a security warning. This is exactly what you'd want.

However, if the user saves that same PDF file to their desktop, their copy of the PDF file is no longer in the same domain as the video, it's on the desktop but the video is still referencing the server. When the user opens the file from their desktop, they'll be prompted to "Allow" a connection to the server that is streaming video.

PDF with Streaming Video In Browser

PDF with Streaming Video opened from Desktop

If you are using hosted services or are streaming video from a server other than the one that hosts the PDF file, you can create a cross-domain policy file to allow other servers to be trusted. Below are two different links to the same file. The first will open the PDF file in a new browser window, the second will download the PDF file so you can open it from your desktop. The PDF file contains a Yahoo Map that references 4 different domains on the Yahoo servers. My cross-domain policy file is set up to allow cross-domain access to all four of those servers. So when the file is viewed from the browser, the first link, you get a very clean experience with no security warnings.

PDF file with embedded YahooMap In Browser
PDF file with embedded YahooMap opened from Desktop

If you open the file from your desktop after downloading it, the second link, your experience is quite a bit different. First, you'll be prompted to allow the PDF file to access my server which actually hosts the SWF that plays inside the PDF file.

Then the SWF will try to access some assets that I also have referenced on the server. You should click "Remember my action for this site" or you'll be prompted many times as the SWF accesses the same resource each time it places a pin on the map.

After all of that, you'll need to allow the SWF to access each of the four Yahoo domains that the Yahoo map API requires to generate the map.

With behavior this different, it's hard to believe that this is the exact same file. The difference in the behavior is simply due to the same-origin and cross-domain policy rules. When a PDF file is opened from the desktop, the PDF file itself is considered it's own domain. So, as long as all of the resources needed to play the multimedia in that PDF file are embedded, you won't see any security warnings. Unfortunately, this will never be the case with streaming video or any PDF file that uses web services. So - we had to come up with another solution.

Establishing Trust: Opting In

As I mentioned above, when a PDF file is opened from the desktop, it is considered to be it's own domain. Nothing that the PDF file references outside of itself will be considered trusted by default, additionally some of the most powerful and interesting JavaScripts will be disabled by default and require elevated privileges [add link to SDK definition] to run.

You can override these restrictions for content that is specifically trusted, in other words, content that you know where it's coming from and you were expecting to get it. As the PDF author you can take certain steps to help establish trust, which I'll discuss below, but - ultimately - your end users will need to opt in to trusting your content. The remainder of this article discusses how to help them do that.

Certify your Documents:
This is my preferred method of establishing trust. When the Adobe Reader or Acrobat opens a certified document and the certificate used has been trusted to allow for Dynamic content, Embedded High privilege JavaScript, your document will be able to function properly without security warnings regardless of where the user places the file. Additionally, the user will have the assurance not only that the document came from you but also that it has not been modified or tampered with while it was on the way to them.

The added benefit of certifying documents is that the user will only need to install and configure your certificate once, then all documents that are certified by you will work properly and without restriction.

To see how this works, download and configure my certificate by clicking on the link below.

Download my Certificate

When you open the FDF file, you will be prompted to import my contact information. Note: The contact information will be imported into Acrobat or Reader, not your contact management system. Click the "Set Contact Trust" button to configure my certificate further.

In the "Trust" tab, check all of the boxs and then click "OK".

After you see the import message, you can close out of all of the dialogs.

After installing and permissioning my certificate, try opening the certified version of the Yahoo Map example, you should be able to use it without security warnings.

Certified PDF file with embedded YahooMap opened from Desktop

You can get a certificate from one of Adobe's Certified Document Services (CDS) partners or use one of your own. One additional point to note is that the Adobe CDS service can be used to automatically certify to the recipient that the author's identity has been verified by a trusted organization and that the document has not been altered in any way. It does not automatically grant the additional permissions required to play unembedded Dynamic content or other high privilege operations. Your users will need to set these permissions manually as detailed above.

Read more about Adobe's Certified Document Services (CDS) and find a CDS partner

Because there is a fee associated with getting a certificate issued from our CDS partners, certifying a document my not be the best solution for all users. To get the same behavior as a certified document without using a certificate, Privileged Locations are an excellent option.

Privileged Locations:
Enhanced Security provides a method for specifying locations on your hard drive to store trusted content. Privileged locations can be a single file, a directory, or a host. You'll need to ask your users to create a folder on their desktop, assign that as a trusted folder in the Acrobat preferences and then to place any files that they receive from you into that folder. By saving your files to that special folder, they are opting in and those files will function without the Enhanced Security restrictions.

To specify a privileged location through the user interface see "Specify privileged locations for trusted content" in the Acrobat 9 help

Because Certified documents are secured and thus not fully editable in Acrobat, the Privileged Locations solution is best if you are creating PDF files with Dynamic content and your users will be modifying the file in significant ways. That is, something other than filling in form fields or commenting, which are the only two types of changes permitted by "certified" documents.

cheap software

adobe suite cheap

With Photoshop, you can pretty much do almost anything.� In essence, you're playing god of the computer art world, creating and editing whatever suites your taste.� If you want to play Zeus, then here are the steps to create lightning by using the tools that were already programmed in Photoshop.

Step 1: Making Clouds

You can't have lightning unless you got clouds, same in Photoshop.� First, create a new layer and name it Lightning.� You can name it whatever you want, but Lightning seems to be the most logical in this case.� Second, make sure your foreground and background colors are set to default, black and white, respectively.� This can be done manually, or you can just press D.� This is the same for both PC and Mac.

Once the colors are set to default, go to the Filter menu at the top of the window and choose Render, then Clouds.

Step 2:� Make More Clouds

Now, one cloud won't just create lightning, it's pretty harmless.� Again, same in Photoshop.� This time, instead of rendering another cloud, go back to Filter, Render, and then Difference Clouds.� Once that is done, go to the Image menu at the top of the window and select Adjust, then Invert.� This should result in something that looks like lightning.

Step 3: Finishing Touches

To finish, double click on the empty area to the right of the layer name, and then pull in the upper-left slider.� You'll want to split the sliders by holding down the Option key for Mac users and the Alt key for PC users.� The right half of the slider should be moved all the way to the right edge.� Next, grab the left edge of the slider and start moving to the right until you are satisfied with the look of the lightning.� To have an idea of how far you need to move it to begin making it look like lightning, you're going to have to move the slider almost all the way to the right as well.

As with Photoshop and many problems of life, there are multiple solutions and multiple paths.� This is just one of many ways to make lightning in Photoshop.� Fiddle around with this method and also combine it with other methods that you already know to make this lightning look more realistic.� After all, creating art is like magic, you can't give away all your secrets.

 

What next? Time to add or fix fields

Acrobat doesn't always do a perfect job finding form fields.

• Acrobat may find too many fields
• Acrobat may not find all your fields
• Acrobat might add the wrong type of field
• Acrobat might make a field too big or too small

Deleting and Sizing Fields

• To delete a field, simply select it and hit the DELETE key.
• To make a field larger, simply drag one of the "handles" to the desired size.

 

Adding new Fields to the Form

Acrobat allows you stamp several kinds of fields on top of the form as needed.

Here are the types you will use most often are:

• Text Fields
  Allow your patient to type whatever they want into the field

• Check Boxes
  Allow the patient to tick off an item

• Radio Buttons
  Allow the patient to select only one out of a series of options

• Regular Buttons
  Allow the patient to clear fields or submit a form via email.

You can add additional fields by clicking the Add New Field button at the top of the window

Acrobat offers several types of form fields. Select the type you want from the list and stamp it on to the document.

Changing the Text Fields

Text fields in Acrobat can hold thousands of characters of text. By default, if the text doesn't fit the field, Acrobat makes it smaller until it is eight points high. After that, Acrobat can (optionally) scroll the text in the field.

If you double-click on a Text field, you can change various options for it:

1. Font, size, color of the text
2. Allow or disallow multiple lines of text
3. Limit the amount of text in a cell
4. Formatting (e.g. make all phone number conform to a style like (888) 999-0000 even if the patient didn't type it in that way

Adding or Changing Radio Buttons

Radio buttons offer a mutually exclusive set of choices to your form. By using a radio button, you can ensure that the patient only chooses one out of an allowable set of options. For example, you can be either married or single, but not both.

O the sample form, Acrobat did not create fields for minor, single, married, at the top of the form. I've marked them with the red lines below.

Adding radio buttons is a bit trickier because Acrobat maintains them as a group.

Here's how to add a set of radio buttons:

1. Click the Add New Field button and chose Radio Button from the list
2. Stamp a Radio Button on top of the document
3. A yellow options window appears:

   A) Fill in the name of the group of buttons
   B) Fill in the name of the button that is being clicked
   C) Click the Add another button to group and then add the next radio button

Adding an Email Button

HIPAA rules state that doctors and healthcare organizations need to be extremely careful when transmitting patient data.

Fortunately, patients are not covered entities and can choose to convey information to you the way in which they are comfortable, including email.

Here's how to add an email button:

1. Click the Add New Field button and chose Button from the list
2. Stamp the button onto the form (usually in the upper right)
3. Give the button in name in the yellow options window, then click the Show All Properties link
4. Click the Appearance tab in the Button Properties Window
   Change the fill and border colors to your taste
5. Click the Options tab of the Button Properties window
   Fill in the Label field with the text you want to appear on the button face

6. Click the Actions tab of the Button Properties window
   A) Choose Submit a form from the Trigger pop-up menu
   B) Click the Add button
7. Make the following changes . . .
   A) Enter mailto: followed by the email address you wish to receive the form
   B) Click PDF The complete document
   C) Click the OK button
   
8. Click the Close button

Reader-enabling the Form

Normally, a patient using the free Adobe Reader software can view, print and navigate a document, but cannot save any changes. This limitation includes saving data patients have typed into the form.

However, if you have Acrobat 9 (Standard or Pro), you have PDF superpowers. You can "bless" a PDF for your patients so that they can save their information in the form.

This process is called Reader-enabling the document.

Here's how:

1. Open the form you wish to Reader-enable

2. Next choose the appropriate option based on which version of Acrobat you have:
   
   Acrobat 9 Pro:   Advanced> Extend Features in Adobe Reader . . .
   Acrobat 9 Standard: Advanced> Extend Forms Fill-in & Save in Adobe Reader . . .

3. Acrobat will prompt you to save the form.

January 28, 2010

Free eSeminars: Learn Acrobat Online

The always suave Mark Middleton and I will be hitting the "interwebz" for a series of educational eSeminars over next few months.

Not all of these eSeminars are legal-specific, but many of them offer content that may be of interest.

• All eSeminars are FREE
• 1-hour long
• Register Online for as many as you want

cheap software

Smoking is something that has come under deep scrutiny all over the United States in recent years, and many jurisdictions have banned it in public places like restaurants and bars. However, what happens when you set out to see on a cruise? Can you smoke, or will you need to leave your Marlboro Lights at home? Obviously, you can't just step off a cruise ship to have a cigarette, so this is a serious concern for smokers.

Thankfully, most cruise lines do allow smoking at least in limited areas on board. Because they don't want to lose the revenue they would generate from smokers, they have designated specific areas of their ships for the purpose of smoking. The issue here is that they don't want to alienate their non-smoking guests by allowing it everywhere, but they want to provide the option.

Where Can You Smoke on a Cruise?

The places where smoking is allowed on cruise ships depends on the cruise line you are using. For example, according to CruiseDiva.com, Carnival Cruise Lines allows passengers to smoke in cabins, casinos and certain lounges while aboard, but not in other common areas of the ship, while Disney Cruises does not allow passengers to smoke in their individual cabins, but they can use the balconies.

Obviously, it can be difficult to keep these rules straight if you are a fan of both smoking and cruising. However, you can get this information up front from the cruise line to help make your decision.

Where Can't You Smoke on a Cruise?

The most common area where smoking is not allowed aboard the ship will be anywhere that children like to congregate. Family cruises are intended to protect everyone's interests, so restaurants and indoor activities where children might be present will probably have no-smoking signs posted everywhere. However, adults-only areas such as bars will most likely allow smoking.

Additionally, as mentioned above, most cruises don't allow smoking in cabins and on private balconies, and if you break the rules, you will likely be charged a hefty fee for cleaning. The reason for this is that cabins are often difficult to ventilate on a cruise ship, which means that future guests might be bothered by the residual smell of smoke.

What About Cigars and Pipes

In most cases, smokers of all types will be treated the exact same way, and will have the same opportunities to enjoy their habits. The one major exception is for cigar smokers who choose cruises where cigar rooms exist, in which case they will be able to smoke there, but pipe and cigarette smokers will not. A cigar room is an area of the ship dedicated to the storage, sale and enjoyment of cigars.

In fact, many cruise lines have ships with humidors on board, as cigars can become a healthy source of revenue for the company.

Source:

CruiseDiva.com, Smoke on the Water

Stash Spotted! The 10 Weirdest Places Drugs Have Been Found

It’s not outer space that has NASA seeing stars. It’s cocaine!

There was no failure to launch at a NASA this week, as a worker discovered a bag of cocaine outside a bathroom in a secure part of a space shuttle hangar at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. Despite being all spaced-out, NASA has a zero-tolerance drug policy (and is now drug testing everyone with access to the area), so it’s an extra odd place to find some dope. Perhaps not the strangest or funniest, though. Check out some of the most memorable places (that don’t involve dead baby corpses) where drugs have been discovered.

In an ATM, February 2008
• An 18-year-old woman in Bremerton, WA accidentally placed her bag of meth in a deposit envelope instead of her money and tried to deposit it at a Kitsap Credit Union ATM. Silly junkie! Depositing your meth is the how you go through withdrawal!

————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

In fat rolls, September 2009
• A 5-foot, 220-lb. woman in Pontiac, MI, who’d been sentenced to jail time at her court hearing, tried to sneak her stash in with her by tucking it in some sweaty blubber—completely overlooking the standard strip search. Suddenly smuggling dope in through your anus seem less gross.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

In a public flower pot, September 2009
• Practical jokers in Millville, NJ put planted marijuana in a flower pot hanging from a lamppost on…wait for it…High St. Police eventually noticed the three-foot-tall plants sticking out and took them down, but it was high-larious while it lasted.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

In front of a donut shop, September 2009
• A man, who was apparently unaware of the strong bond between police and pastries, got caught dealing heroin out of a Marlboro Menthol cigarette pack in front of the local Dunkin Donuts in Easton, PA. Hey, some people like their donuts with sprinkles of heroin on top.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

In shark corpses, June 2009
• Drug gangs in Mexico City, Mexico tried to conceal more than a ton of cocaine slabs destined for the U.S. in the frozen corpses of sharks. When Naval officers discovered the stash, those responsible for the shipment claimed the drugs were a conserving agent. Coke—it does a shark body good!

————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

In stuffed animals, August 2009
• You know how they make teddy bears so cuddly? They slice the cute lil’ fuckers open and stuff ‘em full of heroin! At least that’s what a smack ring in the Bronx, NY did, filling Build-A-Bear dolls with dope before delivering them to distributors. With so much junk coursing through their bodies, we guess you could call them “unsteady bears”!

————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

In dogs, July 2004
• Dogs may be man’s best friend, but we don’t think they’re cool with drug dealers surgically inserting eleven containers of cocaine in them to smuggle from Colombia to the UK, as a northwest London couple did to some sweet pooches. Sometimes it’s absolutely right to bite the hand that feeds you.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

In a shipment of artichokes, September 2009
• In Peru, police uncovered four tons of high-grade liquid cocaine hidden amongst 8,000 cans of artichokes at the port of Callao. That’s one way to get kids to eat their vegetables.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

In a cast, March 2009
• A 66-year-old Chilean man, who had two fractured bones below the knee, tried to smuggle cocaine into Barcelona in his cast made out of cocaine! The man couldn’t catch a break, in part because he was also hiding coke in his luggage, a six-pack of beer, and the aluminum legs of two stools.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

In a submarine, October 2009
• In Guatemalan waters off the Central American Pacific coast, U.S. anti-drug agents and the Guatemalan Army intercepted three Colombians and a Mexican in a small submarine carrying ten tons of cocaine. That’s even more drugs than the Beatles fit in their yellow submarine!

————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

In a religious statue, May 2008
• U.S. customs officials with drug-sniffing dogs seized a 6.6-pound statue of Jesus Christ, which a Mexican woman had in the trunk of her car. It turned out God’s son was made from a mixture of plaster and cocaine, which gives a whole new meaning to the “most high.”

• CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE OF COMPLEX’S POLITICS & CRIME POSTS!

Trendhumper: Shearling Coats

Looking for a more sophisticated option than a super-shiny Moncler this winter? A shearling is a cold-weather banger that has both traditional appeal and old-school cred. This trend was started in the Midwest by ranchers, and has recently become more visible on city slickers this season. But whereas the classic look is more on that Marlboro Man tip, the current steez gets a little more Bishop Don Juan with it. But do you find the look pimpin’, pimpin’? Tell us if you co-sign Trey Songz, Brad Pitt and Snoop Dogg by voting HUMP or DUMP below…

cheap cigarettes

adobe suite cheap

With Photoshop, you can pretty much do almost anything.� In essence, you're playing god of the computer art world, creating and editing whatever suites your taste.� If you want to play Zeus, then here are the steps to create lightning by using the tools that were already programmed in Photoshop.

Step 1: Making Clouds

You can't have lightning unless you got clouds, same in Photoshop.� First, create a new layer and name it Lightning.� You can name it whatever you want, but Lightning seems to be the most logical in this case.� Second, make sure your foreground and background colors are set to default, black and white, respectively.� This can be done manually, or you can just press D.� This is the same for both PC and Mac.

Once the colors are set to default, go to the Filter menu at the top of the window and choose Render, then Clouds.

Step 2:� Make More Clouds

Now, one cloud won't just create lightning, it's pretty harmless.� Again, same in Photoshop.� This time, instead of rendering another cloud, go back to Filter, Render, and then Difference Clouds.� Once that is done, go to the Image menu at the top of the window and select Adjust, then Invert.� This should result in something that looks like lightning.

Step 3: Finishing Touches

To finish, double click on the empty area to the right of the layer name, and then pull in the upper-left slider.� You'll want to split the sliders by holding down the Option key for Mac users and the Alt key for PC users.� The right half of the slider should be moved all the way to the right edge.� Next, grab the left edge of the slider and start moving to the right until you are satisfied with the look of the lightning.� To have an idea of how far you need to move it to begin making it look like lightning, you're going to have to move the slider almost all the way to the right as well.

As with Photoshop and many problems of life, there are multiple solutions and multiple paths.� This is just one of many ways to make lightning in Photoshop.� Fiddle around with this method and also combine it with other methods that you already know to make this lightning look more realistic.� After all, creating art is like magic, you can't give away all your secrets.

Permissions

Properties that specify the actions that are available to users when the new policy is applied to a document.

Permissions for the Policy

(Optional) A list of string values that represent the permissions to add to the new policy.

If you provide a literal value, configure the following properties:

• Print: Permissions for printing the policy-protected document. Select one of the following permissions:
• Allowed: (Default) Allow users to print high- or low-resolution copies.
• Low-Res. Only: Allow users to print only low-resolution copies.
• Not Allowed: Users cannot print the document.
• Change: Permissions for changing the document. Select one of the following permissions:
• Alter Pages: Allow users to add pages, remove pages, and make changes to content.
• Any: (Default) Users can change the document in any way.
• Collaborate: Allow users to use the Collaborate features in Adobe Acrobat.
• Fill And Sign: Allow users to fill form fields, and digitally sign signature fields.
• Not Allowed: Users cannot change the document.
• Offline: Select this option to allow users to open the document when they do not have a connection to the LiveCycle ES2 server. This option is selected by default.
• Copy: Select this option to allow users to copy text from the document. This option is selected by default.
• Screen Reader: Adobe Acrobat has permission to add temporary tags to the PDF to improve its readability with a screen reader. This option is selected by default. You can clear this option only when the Copy option is not selected.

If you specify the value for Permissions using a variable, the variable is a list of string values. Each string value represents a permission. The following string values are valid:

• APS_OPEN_ONLINE: Allows users to open the document when they have a connection to the LiveCycle ES2 server.
• APS_OPEN_OFFLINE: Allows users to open the document when they do not have a connection to the LiveCycle ES2 server.
• PDF_ACCESSIBLE: Allows Acrobat to add temporary tags to the PDF to improve its readability with a screen reader.
• PDF_COPY: Allows users to copy text from the document.
• PDF_DOCASSEMBLY: Allow users to add pages, remove pages, and make changes to content.
• PDF_EDIT: Users can change the document in any way.
• PDF_EDITNOTES: Allow users to use the Collaborate features in Adobe Acrobat.
• PDF_FILLANDSIGN: Allow users to fill form fields, and digitally sign signature fields.
• PDF_PRINTLOW: Allow users to print low-resolution copies.
• PDF_PRINTHIGH: Allow users to print high-resolution copies.

Only certain combinations of the string values are valid. Limited combinations of print-related strings can be used. Limited combinations of editing-related strings can be included.

The following combinations of print-related permissions (PDF_PRINTHIGH and PDF_PRINTLOW) are valid:

• PDF_PRINTHIGH, PDF_PRINTLOW
• PDF_PRINTLOW

The following combinations of editing-related permissions ( PDF_EDITNOTES,
PDF_EDIT, PDF_FILLANDSIGN, PDF_DOCASSEMBLY) are valid:

• PDF_EDITNOTES, PDF_EDIT, PDF_FILLANDSIGN
• PDF_EDITNOTES, PDF_FILLANDSIGN
• PDF_DOCASSEMBLY
• PDF_FILLANDSIGN

For example, to enable high-resolution printing, filling form fields, and offline viewing, the list would include the string values PDF_PRINTHIGH, PDF_PRINTLOW, PDF_FILLANDSIGN, APS_OPEN_OFFLINE, APS_OPEN_ONLINE . When an invalid combination of strings is included, an exception is thrown.

When no list value is provided or an empty list value is provided, the default values are used. The equivalent list would contain the string values PDF_PRINTLOW, PDF_PRINTHIGH, PDF_EDIT, PDF_EDITNOTES, PDF_FILLANDSIGN, PDF_ACCESSIBLE, PDF_COPY, APS_OPEN_ONLINE .

How Big and Complex can you make your form?

I get asked this question often. Customers or partners develop very complex or large dynamic forms with many pages and large amounts of script. At what point do we cross the line and reach a level of complexity where Reader/PDF is no longer the right tool for the job?

There is no easy answer. The answer will be different for different users. But it is helpful to look at some of the stress points you’ll encounter with large forms.

Note that these notes apply to forms opened in Acrobat/Reader. The stress points for forms rendered on the server are much different.

1. Number of pages to render
2. File Size
3. Script size, complexity and development methodology
4. Script performance

Number of pages to render

One of the great properties of regular PDF files is that the file open time is constant no matter how large the PDF. The time to open a two thousand page PDF is pretty much the same as for a one page PDF. This is because Reader doesn’t load the whole PDF into memory and doesn’t read the bytes for page <n> until the user navigates to page <n>.

Dynamic XFA/PDF forms offer a different value proposition. The pages are shaped at form open time by the form data. Of course, there are great advantages to dynamic forms. But there are also associated processing costs. At form open time the entire form definition is loaded into memory. The entire set of data is loaded and merged with the form template. Reader performs enough of the layout to determine how many pages will be rendered. Then when you navigate to page <n>, Reader renders that page from the in-memory structures.

How many pages can Reader handle for a dynamic document? This depends on the complexity of the template. I’ve seen five page forms that take forever to open. I’ve seen a hundred page form open in a second. The limit is more related to the density/complexity of template and data rather than the actual number of pages.

Some form authors attempt to reduce file open time by hiding inactive pages. This strategy was effective in reducing form open time in Acrobat/Reader 7. But in Reader 8.1 when the form open algorithm was improved, the ‘page hiding’ strategy no longer makes a significant difference.

File Size

Dynamic XFA/PDF forms tend to be smaller than static documents. This is because of the template property of forms. For example: a hundred page static PDF will have a hundred pages of PDF mark-up. Whereas in the dynamic case, this could be one page of XFA mark-up that gets replicated a hundred times when merged with data. The latter will be a much smaller file. Nonetheless, dynamic documents can grow to the point where they begin to stress your system. The time to read and parse the documents happens very quickly – even for very large templates. However, the size of the template becomes more of a factor when there are security components in play. Operations such as Certification, Reader extensions and Signatures will perform comparison operations on ‘before-and-after’ versions of the form. The costs of these comparisons are proportionate to the size of the template.

So while there is no absolute threshold on file size, you will find the threshold is lower for certified/extended/signed forms.

Script size and complexity and development methodology

I have seen XFA/PDF files with tens of thousands of lines of JavaScript. Given that there is no debugger, you have to be pretty persistent to create this amount of script. If your big script library is well written, it may perform well enough, but the stress comes with the maintenance of the script:

• When you change the script, do you have the ability to rigorously test your changes? When you modify fields or subforms, will your script still work? Do you have test collateral that gives you code coverage for all the edge cases in your script? Do you have some form of automated testing? QTP anyone?
• Is your script maintainable? Or is the code ‘write-only’? Unless you have been disciplined in the creation of your library, you will have longer term maintenance issues when a new developer comes along to update an existing form.
• When you encounter problems with your script, are you able to isolate the problem when you ask for help? Your friends in our support organization are much better at solving problems with small, simple forms than with large, complex ones. If your script is modular and isolated into components then you’ll be able to ask for help much more easily than if your script is an inter-tangled mess.
• When you change script, do you preserve previous versions of your form? You need the ability to roll-back changes.

Again, there are no absolutes here, but if you want/need to write lots of script, you need to have the associated discipline in your development environment to make it maintainable.

Script performance

Large amounts of script do not necessarily imply poor performance. But poorly written script of any amount can kill form performance. A script that traverses the entire form hierarchy will have performance that is proportionate to the number of objects in the form. As the form grows, the script slows down. There are many 'best practises' for writing efficient script. It is very important to pay close attention to the contents of frequently executed loops.

Conclusion

But before you make a big investment in a form, make sure you consider the alternatives. You might be better off with a Flash form or an AIR application.  If you choose Reader/PDF, the maximum size and complexity of your form depends primarily on your own tolerances.  You need to decide whether the runtime experience is responsive enough.  You need to decide if you are getting the return on investment for your cost to develop and maintain the form. 

cheap software

Welcome to Sinau.Org. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!