Adobe PDF Tips Tricks

Extracting Blocks of Text from PDF

2009-10-27T03:46:00.001-07:00

Before you can copy sections of text in a PDF document to the Clipboard or another open document, you need to select the text in the PDF document. To select text in a PDF document, you use two of the three different tools found on the Selection toolbar, which is attached to the Basic toolbar:

Select Text tool (V): Use this tool to select lines or columns of text by dragging through them.
Select Table tool (Shift+V): Use this tool to select a table or block of text with its formatting by drawing a bounding box around the table or text block.

You can also use the TouchUp Text tool (press T to select this tool) to select a block of text defined by its underlying document structure tags, such as whole headings or whole paragraphs. True to its name, this tool should be used only when you need to extract small amounts of text from a PDF document. Like the text selection tools on the Basic toolbar, text selected with the TouchUp Text tool can be copied, deleted, edited, and placed in other program documents . When you use the Select Text tool to select lines or columns of text in a PDF document, you can then copy the selected text to the Clipboard by choosing Edit➪Copy or by pressing Ctrl+C (Ô+C on the Mac). After you’ve copied the text to the Clipboard, you can switch to a document open in another program and then paste the copied text into the file by using that program’s Edit➪Paste command or by pressing Ctrl+V (Ô+V on the Mac).

Encrypting PDF Files

2009-10-27T03:40:00.000-07:00

The last and most secure type of security that you can add to your PDF documents employs the Certificate Security system that you use to digitally sign documents, along with the list of Trusted Certificates in your user Digital ID file. When you encrypt a PDF document with Certificate Security, no one has access to the document other than those you specifically designate as recipients, and you can designate as recipients only those persons who are already on your Trusted Certificates list.
The steps for encrypting a PDF document with Certificate Security are as follows:

Choose Document➪Security➪Encrypt for Certain Identities Using Certificates. The Restrict Opening and Editing to Certain Identities dialog box opens.
In the Identity Directories list box, click the name of the person you want to add to the Recipients list box below, and then click the Add to Recipient List button.
Click the name of the newly added recipient to highlight it in the Recipients list box.
Click the Set Recipient Permissions button. By default, Acrobat grants the recipient full access to the PDF document whose user permissions include general editing, commenting and form field authoring privileges, the ability to print the document at any print resolution, and full copying and extraction privileges.
To restrict the recipient’s user permissions in some way, click the Restrict Printing and Editing of the Document and Its Security Settings button.
Limit the permissions by deselecting the Enable Text Access for Screen Reader Devices for the Visually Impaired check box and/or the Enable Copying of Text, Images and Other Content check box and/or by selecting new options in the Changes Allowed and Printing Allowed drop-down lists before you click OK.
Repeat Steps 3 through 6 (as they apply) to add your other recipients from the Identity Directories list box and set their user permissions in the Recipients list box.
After you’ve added all the recipients and set their user permissions, click the OK button. If the Certificate Security - Alert box appears, telling you that settings will not be applied until you save your PDF document, click OK. You can also opt to not show this dialog box in the future by selecting the Do Not Show This Message Again check box before you click OK.
Choose File➪Save to save the Certificate Security encryption settings for the current document. Alternatively, choose File➪Save As and edit the filename and/or folder location of the encrypted document before clicking the Save button. After you save your PDF file encrypted with Certificate Security, you can distribute copies to all the people you added to the Recipients list. When someone on the list tries to open the encrypted file, Acrobat displays the Select My Digital ID File dialog box, where the user selects his or her user Digital ID and enters his or her user password. When the user clicks the OK button to close the Select My Digital ID file dialog box, Acrobat checks the user’s public key against the certificate information (specifically the MD5 and SHA-1 fingerprints) in the encrypted file.

When Acrobat finds they match, it then opens the PDF document. The user then has access to the opened document according to user permissions that you set. To check these permissions, the user can right-click (Control+click on the Mac) the Document Encrypted key that now appears on the Document pane Status bar (a locked padlock on the left of the Status bar), select Document Security on the context menu, and then click the Security Settings button in the Document Properties dialog box.
If someone not on the Recipients list attempts to open a PDF document that’s encrypted with Certificate Security, upon logging in, he or she will receive the Certificate Security - Alert dialog box with the message You do not have access rights to this encrypted document. When the user clicks OK to clear this dialog box, the document will fail to open.

Comparing signed PDF documents

2009-10-27T03:36:00.000-07:00

Each time a person digitally signs a PDF document that already has one signature, Acrobat saves the changes and signature of each subsequent signatory in a special appended version of the file. You can then compare the various versions to note what changes, if any, each signatory made.
Acrobat notes when a PDF document that you’ve sent out for subsequent signatures comes back to you with changes by adding a Document Was Modified item to the Signatures palette. You can then display the details of the modifications by clicking the Expand button (with the plus sign on Windows and the triangle pointing to the right on the Mac). Note that the detailed change items shown in the expanded list are purely informational and do not perform as bookmarks.
To have Acrobat do a side-by-side comparison of the versions to let you visually compare the changes, select View Signed Version on the Signatures palette Options pop-up menu. Acrobat then displays the original version of the PDF file and the most current version in a Document pane. To compare the files side by side, choose Window➪Tile➪Vertically. You can then scroll through the pages, visually noting the differences. When you’re finished checking the changes, close the original version on the left by clicking its document window’s Close button and maximize the latest version on the right by clicking its document window’s Maximize button. If you would prefer, you can have Acrobat do a page-by-page comparison and locate all the changes between the latest signed version and the original. To do this, select Compare Signed Version to Current Document on the Signatures palette Options pop-up menu. Acrobat then performs a page-by-page comparison and creates a second PDF document containing only the pages that have changed. These changed pages are displayed side by side. When you have finished comparing these pages, you can close this newly created document by pressing Ctrl+W (Ô+W). You can then save it in its own PDF file by clicking the Yes button in the alert dialog box that asks you if you want to save the changes before closing. If you have no further need for this comparison PDF file, you can click the No button to abandon the comparison document and just return to the most up-to-date signed version of the PDF document.

Adding certificates to your Trusted Certificates list

2009-09-26T16:01:00.000-07:00

The way that you add the certificates that you receive to your Trusted Certificates list depends upon how you receive them. If you receive an e-mail message with a certificate attached, you can launch Acrobat, validate the certificate, and add the certificate to your Trusted Certificates list all by simply opening the certificate file attached to the message in your e-mail program (in most programs, you open an attachment by double-clicking the file attachment icon).
When Acrobat launches, it displays the Data Exchange File - Import Contact dialog box. To add the certificate to your list, click the Set Contact Trust button to open the Import Contact Settings dialog box. The Trust Signatures Created with this Certificate check box is selected by default. Click the Import button to import the certificate data and create a Digital ID certificate that will appear in your Trusted Identities list. If you have access to someone’s Self-Sign Security certificate file on your computer system, you can add it to your Trusted Certificates list by clicking the Import from File button in the Trusted Certificates portion of your User Settings dialog box. To do this, follow these steps:

Choose Advanced➪Manage Digital IDs➪Trusted Identities to open the Manage Trusted Identities dialog box.
Click the Add Contacts button to open the Select Contacts to Add dialog box, and then click the Browse for Certificates button.
Locate the certificate exchange file you want to import in the LocateCertificate File dialog box, and then click the Open button. The selected certificate data file appears in the upper list box of the Select Contacts to Add dialog box.
Click the Add to Contacts List button to display the certificate exchange file in the Contacts to Add list box below; then click OK.
Click OK to close the alert dialog box and return to your Manage Trusted Identities dialog box, where you see the name of the person you just added to your Trusted Identities list.
Click the Close button to close the Manage Trusted Identities dialog box.

Exchanging certificates with associates

2009-09-26T15:43:00.000-07:00

You can simplify the process of validating signatures in the PDF files you review by having all the review team members exchange copies of their Self-Sign Security certificates. Acrobat makes this easy by adding an export function to the Manage Trusted Identities dialog box. To open this dialog box, choose Advanced➪Manage Digital IDs➪Trusted Identities. Select your Digital ID from the list box in the Manage Trusted Identities dialog box and click the Export button to open the Data Exchange File - Export Options dialog box. Two radio buttons appear in the Export options section. The first is the E-mail the Data to Someone radio button that you can select to send a copy of your certificate to team members in a new e-mail message. The second is the Save the Data to File radio button that you can use to make a copy of the certificate file that others can import into their Trusted Certificates list. (For example, you can use this option if you and your coworkers are on the same network and share access to certain folders.)
When you select the Save the Data to a File radio button, Acrobat opens an Export Data As dialog box, where you can designate the drive and folder on which the copy of your certificate is saved (saved in a special Acrobat Self-Sign key file format that uses a .fdf file extension) when you click the Save button. When you select the E-mail the Data to Someone radio button, Acrobat opens the Compose E-mail dialog box, To send the e-mail, fill in the recipient’s e-mail address in the To text box, make any necessary changes in the default text provided in the message window, and click the E-mail button. Acrobat transfers the information into your e-mail client in order to send your certificate data to someone else.

Validating PDF digital signatures

2009-09-26T15:33:00.000-07:00

Whenever you add your own signature to a PDF document, Acrobat automatically uses your user Digital ID information to verify your signature as valid (indicated by the green check mark and the text Signature Valid underneath it). When you receive a document that has been signed by other people, their signatures will not automatically be recognized as valid when you open the PDF file.
You can then validate their signatures. As part of this process, you need to get in contact with the signatory and verify that one or both of the two socalled fingerprint numbers stored in the public key attached to the signature in your PDF document match the fingerprint numbers in the signatory’s public key stored as part of his or her certificate attributes on his or her hard drive. (The two fingerprints are made up of a combination of letters and numbers that make your software serial number look short; the first is called the MD5 Fingerprint, and the second is called the SHA-1 Fingerprint.) To validate a signature in a PDF document that you have open, follow these steps:

Open the Signatures palette and select the name of the unknown signatory you want to validate (indicated by a blue question mark before the name), and then select Validate Signature on the Signature palette Options pop-up menu.
If the unknown signatory has not been added to your list of trusted certificates, Acrobat next displays the Signature Validation Status dialog box.
Click the Signature Properties button. The Signature Properties dialog box appears.
Use the contact information (if listed) to get a hold of the signatory (preferably by telephone) to verify the MD5 and/or the SHA-1 Fingerprint numbers listed at the bottom of the Certificate Attributes dialog box. Click the Show Certificate button to view these numbers. To find these numbers to read off to you, the signatory must choose Advanced➪Manage Digital IDs➪My Digital ID, select their Digital ID in the Manage My Digital IDs dialog box, and click the Settings button to open the Set Digital ID Usage dialog box. The signatory then clicks the Show Certificate Details button to open the Certificate Attributes dialog box and view their MD5 and SHA-1 Fingerprint numbers.
If the fingerprint numbers on your screen match the numbers given to you over the phone, click the Trust Identity button. The Certificate Security-Alert dialog box opens, telling you that Trusting Certificates directly from a document is unwise.
Click OK to close the Alert box and open the Import Contact Settings dialog box.
Click the Import button and then click OK in the Import Complete dialog box to add the person to your list of trusted certificates and to validate the selected signature in the PDF document.

You can quickly validate individual signatures for the people you’ve added to your Trusted Certificates list by simply double-clicking their signature fields. Acrobat will quickly search your list and, upon finding the person’s certificate, display a Signature Validation Status alert dialog box, informing you that the signature is valid. You can also use this technique on your own signatures in the event that they show up as unknown signatures when you reopen the PDF document, even when your Digital ID file is open. To update all the signatures in your PDF at one time, simply choose Document➪Digital Signatures➪ Validate All Signatures in Document, or select the Validate All Signatures in Document option on the Signatures palette Options pop-up menu.

Signing a PDF document using a predefined signature field

2009-08-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

You can also digitally sign a PDF document by using a signature form field that’s already been added to it. To sign a document in a predefined signature form field, you follow these steps:

Open your Digital ID file by choosing Advanced➪Manage Digital IDs➪My Digital ID Files➪Select My Digital ID File. The Select My Digital ID File dialog box opens.
Select the filename of your user Digital ID in the Digital ID File dropdown list, enter your password in User Password text box, and click the OK button.
If the Signatures palette isn’t open and selected in the Navigation pane, choose View➪Navigation Tabs➪Signatures.
Click the name of the signature field you want to sign in the Signatures palette to highlight it, and then select Sign Signature Field on the Signatures palette Options pop-up menu to open the Apply Signature to Document dialog box.
Enter your user Digital ID password in the Confirm Password text box if necessary, and then modify the settings in the other options (Reason for Signing, Location, Your Contact Information, and Signature Appearance) as desired. Refer to Steps 5 through 10 in preceding post, “Adding a visible or invisible signature to a PDF document,” for details.
Click the Sign and Save button to save your changes and signature in the selected signature field in its current location with the same filename.

Alternatively, click the Sign and Save As button to open the Save As dialog box, where you can modify the file’s location and/or save it under a new filename.
As with the other methods of digitally signing a PDF document, after Acrobat finishes saving the signed document, the program displays an alert dialog box, informing that you have successfully signed it. As soon as you click the OK button to close the alert dialog box, you can see your signature in the signature form field. Figure shows you a PDF document after I signed a signature form field beneath the book title and byline.

Adding a visible or invisible signature to a PDF document

2009-08-24T07:39:00.000-07:00

When signing a document, you can sign it invisibly so that no signature form field appears in the PDF document, or you can sign it so that all your signature information appears (as designated in the Configure Signature Appearance dialog box), including any graphic that you’ve selected.
To sign a document, take these steps:

Open your Digital ID file by choosing Advanced➪Manage Digital IDs➪My Digital ID Files➪Select My Digital ID File.The Select My Digital ID File dialog box opens.
Select the filename of your user Digital ID in the Digital ID File dropdown list, enter your password in User Password text box, and click the OK button.
Choose Document➪Digital Signatures➪Sign this Document or, if the Sign Task button is open on the Tasks toolbar, click it and choose Sign This Document on the pop-up menu. If the Alert - Document Is Not Certified dialog box appears, you are given the opportunity to add a Certifying Signature to the document, which will be invalidated if unauthorized changes are made. To specify this added security feature, click the Certify Document button and follow the prompts; otherwise, click the Continue Signing button to open the Sign Document dialog box.
Select the Create a New Invisible Signature radio button, and then click Next to open the Apply Signature to Document dialog box. Alternatively, if you wish to sign the PDF document with a visible signature, select the Create a New Signature Field to Sign radio button, click Next, and then draw a signature field in the PDF document by dragging the mouse in the area you want to sign.
If you want to add the reason for signing the document, your location, or contact information to the signature information (that can be viewed in the Signatures palette), click the Show Options button to expand the Apply Signature to Document dialog box.
To include the reason for signing the document as part of the signature information, select the reason from the Reason for Signing Document drop-down list (such as I Am Approving This Document or I Am the Author of This Document). Note that you can edit the reason you select by clicking the insertion point in the text and then inserting or deleting text as needed.
If you wish to save your location as part of the digital signature information, click in the Location text box and enter your current location (as in Chicago or Corporate Headquarters).
If you wish to include contact information, such as your telephone number, so that coworkers can contact you if they need your certificate in order to verify your digital signature, click in the Your Contact Information text box and enter that information there.
If you’re using a visible signature, by default, Acrobat selects Standard Text as the Signature Appearance. To preview how this signature field will appear in the document, click the Preview button. If you wish to select a new appearance for your signature field, select its name in the Signature Appearance drop-down list. To create a new signature appearance, click the New button. To edit the appearance you selected in the drop-down list, click the Edit button, which replaces the Preview button when you select an appearance you created.
Click the Sign and Save button to save your changes and signature in the document in its current location with the same filename. Alternatively, click the Sign and Save As button to open the Save As dialog box, where you can modify the file’s location and/or save it under a new filename. After you click the Sign and Save button in the Apply Signature to Document dialog box (to save the file with the same name) or the Save button in the Save As dialog box (to save the file in a new location or with a new filename), Acrobat saves the PDF document with your signature and then displays a Certificate Security - Alert dialog box, informing you that you have successfully signed the document.

After you click OK to close this dialog box, you can verify that you’ve signed the document (if you used an invisible signature) by opening the Signatures palette by clicking the Signatures tab on the Navigation pane (if the palette isn’t already displayed in the Navigation pane). To display the detailed information you added to your signature (including the reason, location, and contact information), click the Expand button (the plus sign on Windows and the triangle pointing right on the Mac) to expand the signature information. If you used a visible signature to sign the document, after you click OK to close the alert dialog box, you can see your signature right on the document page. Note that the Signatures palette shown in this figure displays a list of the detailed signature information that also appears (much smaller) in the signature field to the right of the facsimile of my handwritten signature. You can always review the signatory information for a particular signature in its Signature Properties dialog box. You can open this dialog box for a visible signature by right-clicking (Control+clicking on the Mac) the signature field and then clicking Properties on the context menu. You can also open this dialog box (for an invisible or visible signature) by selecting the signatory’s name in the Signatures palette and then selecting Properties at the bottom of the Options pop-up menu.

Signing a PDF document

2009-08-24T07:18:00.000-07:00

After you’ve set up your Digital ID, you’re ready to use it to digitally sign off on PDF documents. In digitally signing a PDF document, you add a special signature form field to the document that contains the mark and signing information that you want displayed. The first time a document is signed by you or one of your coworkers, Acrobat saves the PDF file with the signature in a special append-only form. Every time someone digitally signs the document after that, Acrobat saves a new version of the file to which his or her editing changes and signature are appended.
Keep in mind that when you’re viewing a PDF document with multiple signatures, you’re looking at the latest version of the document with all changes since the first time it was signed. If you want, you can view the original version of the signed document side by side with the most current version by selecting the signatory in the Signatures palette and then selecting View Signed Version in the Options pop-up menu. You can also compare the changes between the original signed version and the current document (by selecting Compare Signed Version to Current Version on the same Signatures palette Options pop-up menu).
If you ever decide that you should manually save a PDF document that’s been digitally signed, don’t use the File➪Save command to do it. Use instead the File➪Save As command to save a copy of the PDF document under a new filename. If you use File➪Save to save a signed PDF document, you automatically invalidate all the signatures in it.

Palm handheld users take note!

2009-07-27T17:01:00.000-07:00

If you have a Palm handheld connected to your computer, you can use the Palm ™ Organizer button (no longer grayed-out when Acrobat detects graphic files on the device) in the Configure Signature Appearance dialog box to select a version of your handwritten signature as the graphic to be used in your digital signature in Acrobat. You can create this picture of your handwritten signature by writing with your stylus on the Palm screen and then saving the handwriting as a graphics file on your device. When you click the Palm Organizer button, you can then select the graphics file with your handwritten signature in the Palm Organizer dropdown list, which appears to the immediate right of the button.

Adding a graphic to your signature in a signature appearance

2009-07-27T16:58:00.000-07:00

Although they’re called digital signatures, they don’t look anything like signatures you’re used to seeing on documents, unless you add a picture of your handwritten signature. If you have an image of your handwritten signature or a particular picture that you’d like to use as your identifying mark, and the image is saved as a PDF file, you can add it by creating a signature appearance as outlined in the following steps:

Choose Edit➪Preferences or press Ctrl+K (Ô+K on the Mac) to open the Preferences dialog box in Acrobat. Click Digital Signatures in the list box on the left side of the Preferences dialog box to display the Digital Signatures options.
Click the New button. The Configure Signature Appearance dialog box appears.
Click the Title text box and enter a descriptive name for the new signature appearance you’re creating.
Select the Imported Graphic radio button.
Click the PDF File button. The Select Picture dialog box opens.
Click the Browse button to display the Open dialog box, where you open the folder and click the icon of the PDF file that contains the graphic of your handwritten signature, and then click the Select button to close the Open dialog box and return to the Select Picture dialog box.
Check that you’ve selected the correct image in the Sample area in the Select Picture dialog box, and then click the OK button. The Select Picture dialog box closes, and you return to the Configure Signature Appearance dialog box.
Check the preview of your digital signature in the Preview area. To remove various pieces of information from the signature display, deselect their check boxes in the Configure Text area of the dialog box. Keep your eye on the Preview area as you remove individual items.
When you have the digital signature looking the way you want it to appear in the PDF document, click the OK button to close the Configure Signature Appearance dialog box, and then click the Close button in the Digital ID File Settings dialog box.

Changing your password settings

2009-07-27T16:53:00.000-07:00

You can change the password you assigned to your Digital ID, or you can change your password timeout settings (that is, how often you’re prompted for a password when working with a PDF document that you’ve signed). Note that changing your password has no noticeable effect on your digital signature.
To change your password, follow these steps:

Click the Change Password button in the Digital ID File Settings dialog box for your Digital ID.
Click in the Old Password text box and enter your current password.
Click in the New Password text box and enter the new password you want to set.
Click in the Confirm Password text box and reenter the new password.
Click the OK button. An alert dialog box appears, telling you that your password has been successfully changed.

By default, Acrobat prompts you for your password each time you digitally sign a PDF document. If you don’t ever want to be prompted for your password when signing off on a bunch of PDF files, or you want the program to prompt again only after a certain time period has elapsed, you can change these password options as follows:

Click Password Settings button in the Digital ID File Settings dialog box for your Digital ID.
To not be prompted for your password when signing, deselect the Require Password to Access When Signing check box.
To select a time period before being prompted for your password, select the After radio button (the default is Always), and then choose a timeout setting on the After drop-down list. The settings on this list include a fair number of timeout intervals between 30 seconds and 24 hours.
Enter your password in the Enter Password (Needed to Apply the Change) text box.
Click OK. An alert dialog box appears, telling you that your password timeout has been successfully changed.

If you change the password and password time period settings for your Digital ID, don’t forget to replace all backed-up versions of your Digital ID (the .apd file) with the new version that contains your updated password settings. Should you forget to do this and ever have to rely upon a backup of your Digital ID, you’ll have to be able to reproduce your old password in order to log in and sign documents with it.

Making a backup of your Digital ID

2009-06-21T02:19:00.000-07:00

You should always make a backup copy of each Digital ID that you create so that if the original file saved in the Acrobat folder (Acrobat 6.0 on the Mac) ever becomes corrupted, you can use the backup to both sign documents and verify other people’s signatures. To make a backup of your Digital ID, click the Export button in the Digital ID File Settings dialog box for your Digital ID. Then in the Data Exchange File - Export Options dialog box, select the Save the Data to a File radio button in the Export Options area. Click the Next button to open the Export Data As dialog box, select the folder in the Save In drop-down list (preferably on another hard drive, if you have more than one drive on your system or are connected to a network), and click the Save button. Acrobat then displays Certificate Security - Alert dialog box, indicating in which folder you’ve successfully backed up your Digital ID file.

Modifying the user settings in a profile

2009-06-21T02:17:00.000-07:00

You can modify the user settings in your Digital ID at any time. You might, for instance, want to associate a graphic with your digital signature (especially one that is actually a picture of your handwritten signature). You also might need to change the password for a profile or want to back up the profile file or change the password timeout options.
Before you can change any settings for your profile, you need to take these steps:

1. Open your Digital ID file by choosing Manage Digital IDs➪My Digital ID Files➪Select My Digital ID File. The Select My Digital ID File dialog box opens.
Select the filename of your user Digital ID in the Digital ID File dropdown list, enter your password in User Password text box, and click the OK button. Acrobat automatically opens your Digital ID file.
Choose Manage Digital IDs➪My Digital ID Files➪My Digital ID File Settings to open your Digital ID File Settings dialog box.

Setting up your digital ID profile

2009-06-21T02:13:00.000-07:00

The first step to be able to use Certificate Security for digitally signing PDF documents is to set up your Digital ID. Your Digital ID contains your password, along with basic information about your role. You can set up multiple profiles for yourself if you digitally sign documents in different roles.
To create a new user profile, follow these steps:

Choose Advanced➪Manage Digital IDs➪My Digital ID Files➪Select My Digital ID File. The Select My Digital ID dialog box opens.
Click the New Digital ID File button. The Create Self-Signed Digital ID dialog box appears, as shown in Figure.
Edit the Name, Organization Unit, Organization Name, E-mail Address, and Country/Region text boxes, if necessary (only the Name text box must be filled in), in the Digital ID Details section of the dialog box. Note the profile name that appears in the Name text box is the name that appears in the Signatures palette in Acrobat 6 and is used in the naming of the Self-Signed Digital ID filename. If you select the Enable Unicode Support check box, Acrobat displays additional text boxes for entering Unicode values for extended characters next to the ASCII versions you just entered.
Select an RSA algorithm (either 1024-bit or 2048-bit) in the Key Algorithm drop-down list, and then select a purpose for your Digital ID in the Use Digital ID For drop-down list. Note that 2048-bit offers more security, but 1024-bit is more compatible with current encryption technologies. Your choices are Digital Signatures, Data Encryption, or the default Digital Signatures and Data Encryption.
Click in the Enter a Password text box and enter a password of six characters or more.
Press Tab to jump to the Confirm Password text box and then reenter the password.
Click the Create button to open the New Self-Sign Digital ID File dialog box. By default, Acrobat names the new profile file by combining the profile name with the .pfx file extension in the Security folder within the Acrobat 6.0 folder in Windows, and the Acrobat 6.0 folder on the Macintosh. If you wish, edit the filename before clicking the Save button to save the new profile and close the Create Self-Signed Digital ID dialog box.

Signing Off Digital Style

2009-05-24T05:04:00.000-07:00

The Certificate Security option in the Security Method drop-down list in the Document Properties dialog box enables you to digitally sign a PDF document or to verify that a digital signature in a PDF document is valid. Certificate Security is what is known in the trade as a signature handler that uses a private/ public key (also known as PPK) system. In this system, each digital signature is associated with a profile that contains both a private key and a public key.
The private key in your profile is a password-protected number that enables you to digitally sign a PDF document. The public key, which is embedded within your digital signature, enables others who review the document in Acrobat to verify that your signature is valid. Because others must have access to your public key in order to verify your signature, Acrobat puts your public key in what’s called a certificate that is shared. The Certificate Security uses what is known as a direct trust system for sharing certificates, because it doesn’t use a third-party agent (like VeriSign) to do this.

Checking a document’s security settings

2009-05-24T04:16:00.000-07:00

You can check the security settings in effect for any PDF document you open in Acrobat 6 or Adobe Reader 6 (of course, you can tell immediately if the file requires a user password because you must supply this password before you can open the document in Acrobat or Adobe Reader). To check the security settings in effect, you choose Document➪Security➪Display Restrictions and Security.
When you select this command in Acrobat, the program opens a Document Properties dialog box with the security settings showing, where you can both review and change the settings. When you select this command in Adobe Reader (choose File➪Document Properties and click Security in the list box to display the security settings), the program simply lists all the settings in effect. The security settings in the Document Properties dialog box contain the Security Method drop-down list that shows you the type of security in effect.
This list can contain one of these three options:

No Security: The document uses no protection at all.
Password Security: The document uses a user password and/or master password and possibly restricts the type of edits.
Certificate Security: The document is encrypted so that only trusted associates with digital certification can open and change it.

Beneath the Security Method drop-down list, you find a Document Restrictions Summary area that lists all the security options in effect. To the right of the Security Method drop-down list, you find the Change Settings button that enables you to change the security settings when either the Password Security or the Certificate Security option is selected in the Security Method drop-down list.

Protecting PDF Files

2009-05-24T04:07:00.000-07:00

You can password-protect the opening and editing of PDF documents at the time you first distill them (as part of their Security Settings) or at anytime thereafter in Acrobat 6. When you set the security settings, you can choose between two different levels of encryption:

40-bit RC4: Used for PDF files created when you set the encryption level to 40-bit RC4 (Acrobat 3.x, 4.x)
128-bit RC4: Used when you set the encryption level to 128-bit RC4 (Acrobat 5.x, 6.0)

40-bit RC4 encryption offers a lower level of file security but is compatible with Acrobat 3 and Acrobat 4. 128-bit RC4 offers a higher level of security (it’s a lot harder to hack into) but is compatible only with Acrobat 5 and Acrobat 6. If you’ll be sharing secured PDF documents with coworkers who haven’t yet upgraded to Acrobat 5 or 6, you’ll have to content yourself with the less secure, 40-bit RC4 encryption. However, if you’re dealing with highly sensitive, “for-your-eyes-only” material, you may want to upgrade everybody to Acrobat 6 as soon as possible, so that you can start taking advantage of the
more secure 128-bit RC4 encryption.

How to edit batch sequences?

2009-04-25T04:22:00.000-07:00

You can run, edit, or create new batch sequences from the Batch Sequences dialog box (shown in Figure) that you open by choosing Advanced➪ Batch Processing. To run a batch sequence from this dialog box, click its name in the list box and then click the Run Sequence button. To edit an existing batch sequence, click the name of the sequence in the list box and then click the Edit Sequence button to open the Batch Edit Sequence dialog box. From this dialog box, you can change the sequence of commands executed when you run the sequence with the Select Commands button, change which files are processed by the sequence from the Run Commands On drop-down list, and change where processed files are located in the Select Output Location drop-down list. For details on using these options, refer to the series of steps on creating a new batch sequence in the following post (the steps for using these controls are identical for editing and creating batch sequences).

Batch Processing to the Rescue

2009-04-25T04:21:00.000-07:00

For the final editing topic, I want to introduce you to Acrobat’s batch-processing capabilities. Batch processing (or batch sequencing as Acrobat refers to it) automates the editing process by enabling you to perform one or more actions on a group of PDF documents all at the same time. When you first install Acrobat 6, it comes with a number of predefined batch sequences. You can then edit these sequences or create your own to fit the work you need done by Acrobat. The key to successful batch processing is setting up an input folder in which you’ve moved all the PDF documents that need processing with a particular batch sequence and, if you’re going to run a sequence that makes changes to the PDF documents, setting up another output folder to hold all the processed files (which you specify as part of the batch sequence).

How to Merge PDF layers?

2009-04-25T04:18:00.000-07:00

When you merge PDF layers, you consolidate one or more layers into another single layer. The layer properties of this target layer specified by the author of the original document prior to conversion to PDF are applied to the merged layers. Like flattening layers, merging layers cannot be undone. For this reason, you should always work with a copy of the original PDF saved under a different name, unless you’re absolutely confident about your merging and flattening desires. To merge one or more document layers into another, follow these steps:

Click the Layers tab on the Navigation pane to display the Layers palette.
Choose Merge Layers on the Options pop-up menu at the top of the Layers palette. The Merge Layers dialog box appears, as shown in Figure.
In the Layers To Be Merged list box on the left, select the layers you want to merge. To make multiple selections, Ctrl+click (Ô+click on Mac) each layer name, and then click the Add button to move the selected layers to the middle list box. You can remove layers from the middle list box by selecting a layer name and clicking the Remove button.
Click the Add All button to select all layers for merging and move them into the middle list box or click the Remove All button to delete all the layers selected for merging in the middle list box.
In the Target Layer to Merge Into list box, select the single layer you wish to merge the selected layers into.
Click OK to close the Merge Layers dialog box, and then click Yes to close the Warning dialog box and merge your selected PDF layers.

After you’ve merged PDF layers and display the Layers palette in the Navigation pane, you’ll notice that the target layer still appears in the Layers palette list, but the merged layers do not. To view the target layer by itself, click all the Show/Hide Layer buttons (the eye icon) attached to all layers but your target layer. When the target layer is the only layer showing, notice that it displays all the elements of the merged layers in addition to its own. To restore the layer view to its original state, choose Reset to Initial Visibility on the Layers palette Options menu.
When you’ve flattened or merged the PDF layers in a document, you do have one chance to undo the supposedly undoable. If your first response to flattening or merging layers in your PDF file is “oops!” choose File➪Close or press Ctrl+W (Ô+W on Mac) and when the alert dialog box asks you if you want to save changes to the PDF before closing, click the No button. The next time you open the PDF document, it appears in its last saved state.

Flattening PDF layers

2009-03-28T04:15:00.001-07:00

When you flatten PDF layers, you remove any layers that aren’t visible and consolidate the rest into one layer. You might use this technique if you want to freeze a drawing or project at a certain stage of development in order to archive a non-editable version. To do so, follow these steps:

Choose File➪Save As to open the Save As dialog box.
Locate a folder destination in the Save In drop-down list and enter a new name for your flattened PDF document in the File Name text box. It is very important that you change the name of this file because flattening the layers in a PDF document cannot be undone.
When you’ve saved the PDF file under a new name, click the Layers tab on the Navigation pane and choose Flatten Layers on the Options menu at the top of the Layers palette. A Warning dialog box appears, stating This operation cannot be undone. Would you like to proceed?
Click Yes to close the Warning dialog box and flatten the document layers. The proof of your flattening action is exhibited in the Layers palette, which is now completely empty.

Editing Document Layers in a PDF File

2009-03-28T04:11:00.000-07:00

Now that Acrobat 6 supports document layers created in programs such as AutoCAD, Microsoft Visio, and Microsoft Project, you may one day find yourself staring at a PDF document with the new Layers palette overflowing with layers, just like the one shown in Figure. Fortunately, Acrobat makes it a breeze to select, move, edit, delete, and even merge and flatten document layers. Note that you can view document layers in either the Standard or Professional versions of Acrobat 6. If you want to edit document layers, you must have Acrobat 6 Professional version.

The good news is that Acrobat treats visible text and graphic objects on document layers in exactly the same way as regular objects in PDF documents. This means that even though a portion or even a whole object may reside on different document layers, Acrobat views the object as a single item for selection and editing. Because of this seamless view of document layers, you can apply the same tools and editing techniques to document layer objects that have been described in previous sections of this chapter. For example, you can use the TouchUp Object tool to select, move, or edit a layer object. Figure shows the selection of all the visible chair components in the drawing using TouchUp Object tool, even though some of the furniture is drawn on different layers.
You might occasionally encounter a locked layer in a PDF document. You’ll know because a padlock icon appears next to a layers name in the Layers palette in the Navigation pane. These layers were locked by the author of the original AutoCAD, Visio, or Project document and are visible for informational purposes only. You can edit the Layer name in these cases by right-clicking the layer in the Layers palette and choosing Properties on the context menu. In the Layer Properties dialog box, enter a new name in the Layer Name text box and click OK.

Checking the flow of a new article

2009-03-28T04:09:00.000-07:00

This Hand pointer with the arrow pointing down from a crossbar enables the reader to start reading the article at any place he or she chooses. You can use it to check the flow of your article. However, because you’re currently at the end of the new article you’ve just defined, you need to go back to the place where you defined the first article box before you click it, so that you can check the flow of the entire article from start to finish. Before you click this pointer and start checking the flow of the article, you may want to adjust the default fit-visible zoom magnification setting that’s currently in effect in Acrobat, because all articles in a PDF document apply the default fit visible zoom magnification setting to any article that you’re reading. To change this setting, press Ctrl+K (Ô+K on the Mac) to open the Preferences dialog box, click Page Display in the list box on the left, and enter an appropriate percentage value in the Max Fit Visible Zoom text box at the bottom of the dialog box (this starts out at a whopping 800%) before clicking OK. To check the flow of the article, click the Hand pointer with the arrow pointing down from a crossbar somewhere in the text of the first article box, and then continue to click the Hand pointer (which loses the crossbar while retaining the downward-pointing arrow) to view in succession each portion of every article box in the article. Acrobat lets you know when you’ve reached the end of the article (the last visible portion of the last article box) by adding a crossbar at the bottom of the downward-pointing arrow on the Hand pointer. When you click this Hand pointer, Acrobat returns you to the top of the article, and the page resumes the magnification setting currently in effect in the Document window (as shown in the Magnification text box on the Zoom toolbar).

Defining articles

2009-02-25T15:26:00.000-08:00

To add articles to a PDF document you’re editing, you divide a section of text into blocks by enclosing them in a series of boxes (invisible to the user when he or she reads the article) that control the sequence in which the text blocks are displayed in the Document pane. This sequence of boxes creates a navigation path through the text formally known as an article thread. You use the Article tool on the Editing toolbar in Acrobat 6 to draw the succession of boxes that create the article thread and define its order.
To define a new article in a PDF document, follow these steps:

Open the PDF document to which you want to add an article.
If the Navigation pane is open, press F6 to close it.
If the page view is not in Fit Page and Continuous page mode, click the Fit Page button on the Zoom toolbar and the Continuous button on the status bar of the Document pane.
Click the Article tool button (the one with a serpentine arrow icon) on the Advanced Editing toolbar, and then drag the cross-hair pointer to draw a bounding box that encloses the first block of text in the article (including all the text up to any excluded element, such as a figure you don’t want included or the end of the column).
After you have the first text block outlined in the bounding box, release the mouse button to add the first article box. This article box is labeled 1-1 at the top with sizing handles around the perimeter and a continuation tab (with a plus sign) at the bottom (see Figure 1). Note that the mouse pointer changes from a cross-hair to the Article pointer (with a serpentine arrow).
Scroll the page as required to position the Article pointer in the upper-left corner of the next block of text to be added to the article, and then drag the pointer to draw a bounding box around its text. Release the mouse button. The second article box, which is labeled 1-2, is created (see Figure 2).
Repeat Steps 4 through 6, adding as many article boxes as are required to define the reading path of the article.
To end the article, click the Hand tool (H) or press the Enter key (Return on the Mac). The Article Properties dialog box opens.
Replace Untitled in the Title text box with a descriptive name for the article. This name is displayed in the Articles palette that enables users to select the articles they want to read —
If you want, add a brief description of the contents of the new article in the Subject text box, the name of the author in the Author text box, and key terms, separated by commas, that describe the contents in the Keywords text box (terms that you can use in searching the PDF document).
Click OK to close the Article Properties dialog box. If you pressed the Enter key (Return on the Mac) to end the article, click the Hand tool or press H to select the Hand pointer, which hides all the article boxes in the article. Note that as soon as you select the Hand tool after defining a new article, Acrobat adds an arrow pointing down from a crossbar to the back of the Hand icon (which looks like a tattoo to me). This form of the Hand icon appears whenever a user positions the Hand pointer over an article that you’ve defined in a PDF document.