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Re: PDF



Just a quick note of caution re PDF to anybody planning on using it for
long-term preservation. (What follows is just an eensy-bit self-serving,
but the point is valid: rendering files accurately to PDF is not a sure-
fire thing.)

One of our clients decided to preserve final record-copies of electronic
documents (Word, Excel, etc) in PDF format in their "electronic vault".
Pretty savvy folks, they realized that the **faithful** rendering of
documents into PDF is not like rolling off a log. Files needed to be
checked for adherence to agency standards and for elimination or
amelioration of internal features that can result in inaccuracies. Rigorous
quality checks and work flow features were built into the "Rendition
Server" which we developed and enhance for them.

Now that our little plug is over, let me say that PDF is a terrific way to
maintain appearance, portability and searchability in a reasonable file
size. But, creating PDFs in large volumes from disparate sources requires a
good deal of care if 100% accuracy is to be maintained.

Chris Muller
www.mullermedia.com

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