[Web4lib] Optimizing PDF's for online viewing?

[Gilman, Mark]

I am trying to persuade a unit within our organization to consider
distributing a newsletter in a way that makes it more usable for the
vast majority of us who read it online.  Currently, they are simply
emailing it to a large number of readers as a PDF file attachment that
is several megabytes in size.  Obviously, it would be better for them to
simply upload it to the web and send just the URL.  That's a no brainer.
(And implement byte-serving to speed up the download.)
 
It is in optimizing the PDF's for online viewing that I hope to
influence them to either the 8-1/2 x 11 style aspect ratio in favor of
something in landscape mode which can actually be read online without
constantly having to pan vertically and fiddle with the view
percentages.  It seems like we are in the dark ages yet with PDF's
online.  I find netLibrary to be just awful.  
 
Some years ago I recall having stumbled upon some PDF's that were very
nicely done.  The aspect ratio was perfect.  It seems as if there would
be good info around somewhere on best practices for setting up PDF's to
be read online, but I find only cursory information.  In an ideal world,
I suppose PDF would be used mainly as a way to share documents for
printing.  In reality; however, more-and-more organizations simply dump
their multi-hundred page docs online as PDF's and consider they have
"published" their information. Certainly, this is what the Government
Printing Office and other agencies tend to do.
 
Am I overlooking something here?  Where is the push for best practices
in optimizing PDF's for online viewing? Why can't we at least get the
aspect ratios right?  I have access to Acrobat, but I don't use it much
so it may be that there may be well known solutions. (And I do realize
that documents are generally better generated using some other
application and then taken into Acrobat for further processing.)
Pointers toward relevant resources or good examples will be gratefully
received.  I wonder if Acrobat can be made to present info in one format
for viewing and another for printing, in a manner analagous to an XML
transformation or analagous to using different CSS style sheets for
different clients.
 
Regards,
Mark 
 
Municipal Reference Librarian / Acting Library Webmaster
Dallas Public Library