This book details the most current specification of Adobe Systems' Portable Document Format (PDF), the de facto standard for electronic information exchange. PDF enables documents created on any platform or with any application to be reliably viewed and printed anywhere. More than 200 million copies of the PDF-based Adobe Acrobat Reader application have been distributed around the world.

Updated and expanded specifically to document the new features of PDF 1.4, as incorporated into Acrobat 5.0 and Adobe's products for Network Publishing, the book introduces and explains all key aspects of the PDF format, including the Adobe imaging model and the relationship of PDF to the PostScript page description language and PDF architecture, syntax, graphics operators, fonts, and rendering. In addition, the book looks in depth at PDF's sophisticated interactive and document interchange features.

New to this edition is in-depth coverage of the new transparent imaging model, which allows text, images, and graphics to be painted with varying degrees of opacity. Other key topics covered include: Tagged PDF for image and text recovery, search and indexing, and conversion to RTF, HTML, or even speech Advanced JBIG2 image compression support Improvements to bookmarking and annotations Accessibility of content to those with disabilities Enhancements to interactive forms, such as multiple-selection list boxes, XML form submissions, remote collaboration, and digital signatures Metadata streams, a new metadata architecture

Comprehensive, authoritative, and up-to-date, PDF Reference, Third Edition is an essential resource for all developers writing programs that read or generate PDF files, and for any professional working with PDF in business, prepress, graphic design, or other applications.