"PDF" - Portable Document Format...what is it? How does it work? What does it mean for me?

With the gracious permission from Mr. Rick Wise, Director of Printing at University of Missouri, below is a link to information given by Wise in a recent presentation on PDF. We hope it answers some of your questions about PDF.

Also below is a link to the Adobe Acrobat™ web site, where you can find more information, and even download the free Acrobat™ Reader.

Printing Services now employs a new Computer-to-Plate (CtP) system to create printing plates. We no longer output digital film on a laser imagesetter. The new CtP images the metal printing plates directly from the customer file. We now save money and time in preparing printing plates, with greater accuracy and quality. And our new color proofs more closely match the printed sheets than ever before.

However, the CtP is particular about the types of files it will accept. For example, the CtP will not accept Microsoft Publisher or WordPerfect files at all. In fact, there are few PC files it will accept. That's not so great for most of the world.

PDF offers a possible way around the incompatibility problem. By using Adobe PDF Distiller one can convert a document to a pdf file, including those not accepted by the CtP. The CtP will output pdf files. Adobe Distiller is a part of the Adobe product line and is fairly pricey.

In addition, a great way to send us files is to do it online. Click on our "Ordering" page or home page. There you'll find a button for Online Ordering. Through our online ordering system, your document will automatically be converted to the pdf format, sent to us immediately and even return an electronic proof to your computer within minutes.

With our new Online Ordering process customers do not need to invest in Acrobat Distiller or other software, much less learn how to use it. Placing a printing order online can be simple and quick. Just remember, PDF files are not editable, so we usually cannot make any changes or corrections to the PDF document.