PDF/A-1 vs. PDF/A-2

PDF/A is an archiving standard that was published in 2005 by ISO. PDF/A-1 was based on the original Adobe PDF 1.4 version. This version set the standard for ensuring that PDF content could always be visually reproduced regardless of future changes to viewing and printing technology.

PDF/A-2 was released by ISO in July 2011. PDF/A-1 files are compliant archive documents and do not need to be converted to the new standard. PDF/A-2 does not replace the PDF/A-1 standard.

So, what is the difference between these two standards you might ask.

PDF/A-1 is based on PDF version 1.4 (based on Adobe PDF specifications).

PDF/A-2 is based on the ISO standard 32000-1 and takes advantage of features that came after the Adobe PDF 1.4 specification.

What is new in PDF/A-2:

1. JPEG2000 compression (benefits for scanned color documents)
2. Embedded PDF/A files via collections/portfolios
3. Transparency
4. Optional content (layers): useful for mapping or engineering drawings or documents with multiple languages (implement different content on different layers)
5. Unicode support (PDF/A-2U)
6. Object level XMP metadata (new requirements for custom metadata)
7. Comments and annotations (defined list of acceptable and prohibited annotation and comment types for PDF/A-2)
8. Digital signature rules defined.

If you need the features and benefits of the new standard you can start creating or converting your PDF files to PDF/A-2b using Solid PDF Tools version 7.3.

Read more about PDF Standards here.

Solid PDF to Word for Mac Updated

We've released an update for Solid PDF to Word for Mac: version 1.3.

Mountain Lion OSX (v10.8) support has been added with continued support for OSX v10.6 and v10.7.

Solid PDF to Word for Mac also includes improved heading/style detection, table of contents reconstruction and hierarchical list reconstruction for PDF to Word and PDF to HTML. We have also updated our Solid OCR engine with the latest improvements.

This update is free for all current v1 license holders.

Solid Converter PDF 7.3 Released

Solid Documents has just released version 7.3 of Solid Converter PDF and Solid PDF Tools. Improvements in version 7.3 include:

• Solid OCR (optical character recognition) now supports 8 languages (English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish).
• PDF to Word: heading/style detection, table of contents reconstruction, hierarchical list reconstruction.
• Complete rework of PDF to PowerPoint reconstruction including transitions, master slides and PowerPoint specific layout engine.
• Great improvements to PDF to HTML conversion to take advantage of table of contents reconstruction and style detection. Single page output with navigation frame or multiple linked HTML pages for navigation.

Download Solid Converter PDF - 15 day fully functional trial version (we only watermark output while in trial mode)
Download Solid PDF Tools

Macworld reviews Solid PDF to Word for Mac

Great little article about our Mac software product (Solid PDF to Word for Mac) on Macworld:

How to convert PDFs to Word (and other formats)

Thanks Kirk McElhearn for the review!

Securing your PDF Content

PDF files can contain information with varying levels of sensitivity.

You may have posters, flyers, calendars, etc. that you wish everyone to open, print and use as needed. Or you may have documents that only a few key individuals should be able to open. You may also have files that you want people to be able to view, but not change using a PDF editor (invoices or banking statements come to mind, as you don't want people to remove a couple zeros from a bill you sent them).

PDF files can be secured easily, restricting the options of most users. Please note that no encryption technology [wikipedia.org] is perfect, and there is software available that people can use to illicitly crack PDF files. The steps below can make it much harder for people to open or alter your documents, but they will not make it impossible.

This guide assumes that you have Solid Converter PDF installed. If you have not purchased the program, you can download a free 15 day trial.

Read more »

PDF: Electronic Recycling

Did you know that PDF files are environmentally friendly? Not only do they save trees and time by being secure electronic documents rather than printed papers cluttering up the desk, but they can be recycled and reused!

With tools such as Solid Converter PDF and Solid PDF Tools, you can easily extract and reuse content from PDF files that you or others have created. This includes being able to extract tables to Microsoft Excel, convert the content to Microsoft Word or extract images to a separate file.

Don't need to recycle the whole PDF file? You can also extract single pages into a new PDF file or selectively extract images and/or text into Word or Excel.

Microsoft Office Document Imaging (MODI) can be used with 2010

Did you upgrade your Microsoft Office ® software from 2007 to 2010 and find that our OCR didn't work like it used to?

Fact: Solid Documents uses the Microsoft Office ® MODI API to recover text from scanned documents. When Microsoft Office 2010 was released we found that Microsoft had removed MODI from their Office suite. We went looking for why they did this and found it is because MODI produces .tif files which violate the TIFF standard and are usable only by the Microsoft Office Document Imaging (MODI) products.

Tip: Since our software creates PDF and not TIF, and only uses the character recognition in MODI, you can still use MODI from Office 2007 with your Office 2010!

Here's how:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982760

How to use MODI in 2007 Office together with Office 2010

To use MODI in 2007 together with Office 2010, use one of the following methods:

• If you do not have 2007 Office system installed on a computer that has Office 2010 installed, you can install only MODI from the 2007 Office system setup. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start the 2007 Office setup process.
2. Click Customize.
3. On the Installation Options tab, select Not Available for all items except for the items under Microsoft Office Document Imaging, and then click Install Now.
4. Click Close.
   

• If you perform a standard upgrade to Office 2010 from 2007 Office, MODI will be removed together with 2007 Office. Therefore, to keep MODI you have to keep the 2007 Office installation. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start the Office 2010 setup process.
2. Click to select the I accept the terms of this agreement check box, and then click Continue.
3. Click Customize.
4. On the Upgrade tab, click the Keep all previous versions option, and then click Install Now.
5. Click Close.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Office_Document_Imaging

Alternatives to MODI for Office 2010 Users

If running Office 2010 which lacks MODI, there are these alternatives (among others):

• Follow Microsoft's suggestions which includes an installation of only the MODI software from Microsoft Office 2007. (This installation process might also work with earlier versions of Office): http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982760
• Install the Alterna-TIFF viewer: either ActiveX control (for IE) or browser plug-in (for other browsers): http://www.alternatiff.com/
• Install Black Ice's TIFF Viewer and plug-in: http://www.blackice.com/TIFFViewer.htm
• Install Cartesian Product's CPC viewer: either CPC View ax (ActiveX for IE) or CPC Lite pi (plug-in for other browsers): http://www.cartesianinc.com/Products/CPCLite/