[WEB4LIB] Re: Adobe mysteries

[Chris Gray]

Adobe only displays part of a file at a time.  The apache Web server can
be set up to deliver only as much of a large .pdf file as the user needs
to view a particular page and send the rest of the file as requested
without resending what it's already sent.  I forget the details, but we do
it with our server for eReserves.

Chris Gray
Library Systems
University of Waterloo


On Mon, 4 Feb 2002, Daniel Noonan wrote:

> Regarding splitting the files what I would do is just save it as a
> different file name (xyz-1.pdf vs xyz.pdf for example)  and then just
> delete the appropriate pages from each file and make sure any bookmarks
> i created were accurate -- you would probably want to create a bookmark
> in each to link to the other.  This way you would not have the problems
> you are experiencing with the exporting it may take a few minutes
> longer, but it is probably worth it.  Remember, before posting any files
> always do a "Save As" instead of "Save" as it compresses the file and
> gets rid of unnecessary file space.
> Thanks -- Dan Noonan
> 
> Stacy Pober wrote:
> 
> > I am just starting to use Acrobat files and I have two questions:
> >
> > 1) Why do files created in Acrobat 4 and 5 look so crummy in the
> > Acrobat v.3 reader?  Is there any way to 'fix' this?  (I can't
> > control the version someone is using on their home computer, and
> > there are a lot of people who haven't upgraded from v.3).
> >
> > 2) When you choose "Export" and then request that the program delete
> > the pages, does it really save it in some history list?  I ask
> > because we had a weird experience today.  We decided to split a
> > pdf file into two sections because of file size concerns. Went
> > into Acrobat, exported (and chose 'delete' in the Export menu).
> > Saved the original file. Saved the Exported file.  The original
> > file, when viewed in Acrobat, looked fine and had the right
> > number of pages - but the file size had not changed at all.
> >
> > When we went in and instead chose to export the full document to
> > a new file, the file size was correct.  My best guess was that
> > Acrobat saved the deleted pages in a section of the file that
> > contains revision history so you can 'undelete' it.  But I have
> > no evidence of that.  It's just a wild guess.
> >
> > Anyone know what caused that?
> >
> > --
> > Stacy Pober
> > Information Alchemist
> > Manhattan College Libraries
> > Riverdale, NY 10471
> > http://www.manhattan.edu/library/
>