What is the Jaws PDF Creator?

Jaws System's PDF Creator's sole purpose is to offer simple, efficient and cost effective PDF creation. The Jaws PDF Creator generates PDF files that can subsequently be used with Adobe Acrobat® reader, or any other third party PDF tools. PDF files produced by the Jaws PDF Creator are fully compliant with the PDF 1.3 specification published by Adobe.

PDF was originally developed to allow users to create format-rich documents that are application and platform independent. Initially aimed at solving cross-platform compatibility issues, PDF is now becoming recognised globally as the ideal electronic document format for corporate intranets, the World Wide Web, e-mail and CD-ROM.

Just as important, the richness of the graphics model which PDF shares with PostScript makes it ideal for the publishing industry where it is now widely viewed as the optimum format for future digital workflow.

How Does it Work?

Jaws PDF Creator operates in two modes:

1. It installs as a printer in the Windows or Macintosh Printing System allowing users to 'print' to a PDF file directly from any application. In this mode the Jaws PDF Creator looks to the system exactly like a PostScript printer connected to a physical port, and combines the simplicity of Adobe PDF Writer with Adobe Distiller's ability to interpret arbitrary PostScript® and EPS files. Features Comparison vs. Acrobat
2. It appears as an icon on the desktop allowing drag and drop conversion of any PostScript® or EPS file directly to PDF.

Jaws PDF Creator ships with three pre-defined configurations which will optimise the PDF file for high resolution production printing, printing to desktop devices or publishing on the web. Users can also define and save custom output configurations.

If you use Word 97 or Word 2000 under Windows, a Word macro is automatically installed that allows you to create PDF files. Rather than using the Print command to create a PDF file (which effectively only creates a picture of the document), use the "Jaws PDF Creator" menu. The 'Settings' sub-menu determines the elements of the Word document that will be converted, and also their appearance in the PDF file.

Who should use it?

Corporates: With the rapid growth of corporate intranets and electronic document management systems many corporations are now standardising on PDF for their internal document standard. PDF is ideal for simple document exchange, the creation of document databases and efficient document archival. The Jaws PDF Creator offers a user-friendly, cost-effective solution, which can be installed on every employee's desktop.

Graphic Artists and Print Publishers: The biggest problem facing the publishing industry is not just the complexity of using Postscript, but also its lack of predictability and reliability. Many publishing companies now believe that PDF is the most promising format for future digital workflow.

As a result graphics professionals and customers of the franchised print shop chains are increasingly being asked to submit work in PDF format as publishers move to a PDF workflow.

Web publishers: Web sites have evolved from advertising billboards to vital channels for information distribution. It is not unusual for a large corporate site to offer over 100,000 pages of information, much of it in the form of technical papers, manuals and product information designed for downloading. PDF is ideal as it offers very compact files retaining all the original format. With millions of documents requiring conversion to PDF the Jaws PDF Creator is the cost-effective way to improve accessibility by delegating PDF generation to the author's; desktop.

Which Platforms is the Jaws PDF Creator available for?

• Windows 95/98/NT4/2000 or later for Intel
• Macintosh 8.1 through 9.x

Jaws Systems Pedigree in PDF

Jaws Systems has been an acknowledged technology innovator in the PostScript® field since its Jaws Level 2 interpreter was first released in 1991. Jaws has been able to distil PostScript® into PDF since the format was first released. A native PDF rendering facility was also added to Jaws in 1994, and to this day most of the competing interpreters still use the less flexible approach.