Which File Formats do You Use for Presentations?

Multiple Document Formats for Viewers

Fran Adams

Regardless of the software you finally choose to produce your study, the best option is to convert it into more than a single file format. Files are typically produced in either in Microsoft PowerPoint (ppt) or Microsoft Word (doc) and then converted into Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format. This is the greatest advantage of having an electronic document; files in a multitude of formats can be produced from a single file.

By having the study produced in a minimum of two or three common formats such as doc, ppt or pdf, viewers may choose either version depending on the software installed on their respective computers. This will address the needs of more than 90% of viewers.

One caveat – remember that a document may not look or act ‘exactly’ the same when saved in different formats or opened in different applications. Our goal is to get the document to look as close to the same as possible – it need not be exactly the same. Don’t be put off by small differences as long as the overall meaning of the information is not changed by the appearance.

Using the Save As Command.

Don’t know what formats might be produced from your application? Using the ‘Save As’ command is often the quickest way to determine that. Depending on the application, formats from images like Joint Photographic Experts Group (jpg), Tagged Image File Format (tif or tiff), etc.) to text (doc, txt, etc.) can be generated quickly and automatically.

And don’t forget, there’s always the software program’s ‘Help’ function that may be searched using terms such as ‘export’, ‘import’ and ‘file format’.

The Available File Types.

Once you’ve decided which formats to produce, include each format version of your study in a separate folder, within the master folder. Each folder should be appropriately named and placed on the same distribution media.

Let the user decide which file format is best for them using their existing computer and software. More work for you, but an excellent option for users.

PDF Authoring

Al Gore, Compulatelist

PDF authoring programs historically have been expensive. Adobe’s Acrobat Pro costs $449 (upgrade $229). However, there are several free programs readily available that provide simple PDF creation capability. These are PDF Creator, an open source program from www.sourceforge.net and CutePDF from CutePDF at www.cutePDF.com. Neither program includes any annoying watermarks or pop up ads.

From a standard application, generating a PDF is the same process as printing to a regular printer. These programs install a special printer driver so you select the PDF printer rather than the normal printer when you want to create a PDF.

Once created, PDF files can still be modified. You can add, delete, or rearrange pages. You can add bookmarks to facilitate navigation, perform OCR as mentioned earlier, and include hyperlinks for internal or external (computer or Internet).

Software 995

Software995, www.pdf995.com offers a collection of three free programs, if you accept an ad that appears briefly when the program starts, that includes the printer driver but also a utilities that can perform most of the tasks above, no OCR, plus other features. However, since you use this program like an external utility (not executed while the file is viewed) some tasks like adding links is not very user friendly. You can eliminate the ads for $9.95 for each module or $19.95 for the entire suite.

Also, some programs such as OpenOffice and scanner utility software (like my Epson) include a save to PDF feature as well.

Adobe Acrobat, www.adobe.com, as one would expect from a program that costs $299, packs a lot of function and ease of use features. In addition to the printer driver with numerous options to control PDF file size, Acrobat can create and modify PDF’s real time. You see the results instantly such as adding or deleted pages. One of my favorite features is the ability to save multiple web pages.

For example, if there is a Web article that would span multiple web pages, you can open these from within Acrobat rather than the browser and and then follow the links to add the subsequent pages very quickly. The links on the Web page can be easily activated to allow navigation either internal to the document or to the Web.

The other advantage is the entire Web page is captured since Acrobat will shrink the Web page to the desired format like 8.5-in by 11-in or A4. If you wanted to print a Web page using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) and the web page exceeds the 8.5-in page/A4 width, IE will just let it run off the side of the page. Mozilla’s free Firefox, www.getfirefox.com, can shrink to fit that eliminates this problem as well.

Acrobat also supports converting scanned documents to text using a built-in OCR tool. This allows you to search for text in these files after the OCR process. PDF’s can be combined to have a number of documents from different sources in a single PDF. This would be handy for someone doing a research project since the information would be easier to find.

If you are serious about using the PDF particularly for digitizing printed documents, consider Nuance’s (formerly ScanSoft) PaperPort 10, www.nuance.com. This program has been around for some time but it recently adopted PDF as its primary storage format instead of its original proprietary format so the product is much more useful. The program’s primary mission is to capture hard copy documents using a scanner in PDF format and then organize them along with other digital documents on your hard drive in a single unified view using a built-in document management function. Documents are displayed by thumbnail images. The PDF creation aspects can be used independently for purposes stated earlier.

The program costs $99 for the basic version. If you were looking for a program to all your digitize documents, online or hardcopy, this could be applied to philatelic uses, this could be one worthy of consideration.

In summary, the PDF file has come of age. It is an essential tool in reducing the need for printing documents and archiving hard copy and digital documents. Many features can now be obtained without having to purchase any software.

Getting Text into your Computer

Fran Adams

Preparation of text for use in Digital Philatelic Studies is a must. With prepared text as your building blocks, the assembly of your work will go a lot smoother and result in a much more presentable DPS.

Word Entry

Most text is put into digital format by typing it into a computer using a word processing program like Microsoft (MS) Word. There are two additional ways to get your text into digital format: scanning typewritten or printed pages and subsequently using optical character recognition (OCR) software to convert the scan into text or by dictation using voice recognition software.

We’ll stick with a word processing program, ‘MS Word’ for this exercise, as that’s what most people will be using. Three major reasons for using word processors are their spelling, thesaurus and grammar checking functions. Once you have your text entered into your word processor, use these tools to ensure your text is as correct as you can manage.

Word Tools

If your word processing program doesn’t know a specific word, look it up in a dictionary before pressing the ‘add to dictionary’ button. Once you’ve added a misspelled word, it will continue to accept the misspelling until you edit the ‘user dictionary’ of your program.

In addition to spell check, the thesaurus can be a very effective tool in your arsenal of word processing functions. Ever get stuck for just the right word? Enter a word you might use and see what turns up – it’s often the word you had on the tip of your tongue but couldn’t remember.

Grammar checking is another standard function that may prove valuable. Leaving grammar check active during your text input will point out things the computer believes may be wrong word usage. You can ignore it of course, but it often makes suggestions you should think about.

Text should be double-checked for spelling or grammar mistakes and saved in the proper format – before being inserted into the study.

Using some of the other word processing tools such as grade level analysis, word count, etc. could be interesting, but in the short term, we’ll stick with the big three.

Invisible Formatting Code

Each program uses ‘formatting code’ embedded in the document to make your text display the way you want it to – that’s formatting. The information you enter is not simply text, but rather text with invisible ‘formatting code’ attached that you normally don’t see or think about. You’ll only see some of it if the ‘Show Code’ function is turned on in your word processor.

MS Word is notorious for including formatting information when text is cut from a Word document and pasted into a document generated by another application such as PowerPoint. The invisible formatting code is to blame.

Saving the file in text only format

To prevent this aggravation, save the document in a ‘Text Only’ format (.txt). This action will strip all the invisible formatting code from the text and leave only the words. Cutting and pasting sections of text from a .txt file allows it to be formatted by the other program, PowerPoint in this instance, and introduces no surprises to figure out or frustrate us.

Enter all your text, spell and grammar check it, and then save it as a ‘Text Only’ file. Formatting the text will take place in the PowerPoint template and the final document.

Portable Document Format

Al Gore, Compulatelist

The PDF (Portable Document Format) is now a de facto standard worldwide and there have been many benefits in using PDF. Now, with its widespread adoption, there are a number of programs available at little or no cost that take advantage of this format’s capabilities so this technology is available to all to use. This article will discuss PDF program uses applicable to stamp collecting.

Created by (Adobe), PDF is modeled after the PostScript language (a page description language) and is device- and resolution-independent. Documents in the PDF format can be viewed, navigated, searched, and printed from any computer as well as forwarded to any other computer.

PDFs retain their appearance, as it was created on the originator’s computer, on the destination computer using Adobe’s Acrobat Reader.

Microsoft has announced support for PDF in the next release of Microsoft Office but Microsoft has also announced a competitive format called Metro.

The net is, if you can print it, you can save it in the PDF format to lock in the appearance. Also, PDF files are usually smaller than the native file formats. The recipient also does not have to deal having any special fonts installed on their system to view it correctly.

A newsletter produced in Microsoft Publisher has a typical Publisher .pub file size anywhere from 10 MB to 25 MB depending on the graphics in the publication. A high quality PDF version of the newsletter is only 3 to 4 MB. File size can vary dramatically on the number and types of images and the settings for image compression.

An additional advantage is the PDF can be more than a graphic image of the document. The text and graphics can have an identity so they can be copied from the PDF for use elsewhere.

However, these feature can be disabled by the author. For example, the CD-ROM versions of Scott’s Stamp Catalogue use PDF but it does limit user actions to searching and printing but not copying.

Click to view fake Confederate provisionals.

In addition to creating digital documents from applications like newsletters you can also use PDF to capture hard copy documents. The PDF can simply be a container for a graphic file like a scanned image but you can also pass the image through OCR (optical character recognition) program to convert the document into text with programs such as Adobe Acrobat. This is useful for archiving existing documents or converting them into an electronic format to save space or allow searching.

If you have a box or folder in a closet or file cabinet full of aging clippings from periodicals and journals, you can digitize these to reduce the clutter. For example, if you have been saving the Stamp Identifier articles in Linn’s Stamp News you could scan each article and then combine them into a single PDF to create an electronic book.

Other uses include converting older printed newsletters to a digital format, capturing album or exhibit pages for archival or research purposes in color, or saving backups of important hardcopy financial records.

For information you receive or find through the Internet (e-mail, discussion groups, and Web sites) that you may create printed copies to keep, consider creating a PDF instead. I use this for saving receipts of electronic transactions. One rarely needs a printed copy.

These can be stored on your computer for later use in case of a problem. You can be also to print articles from Web pages to PDF rather than creating a hard copy. The PDF saves the color as well so this also saves on expensive inkjet printing ink.