Preparing a document for on-screen viewing

With its small file sizes, platform independence, and online navigation, Adobe PDF is an ideal format for distributing documents electronically and viewing them on-screen. You can send Adobe PDF documents to other users as e-mail attachments, or you can distribute the documents on the web or on an intranet.

The following guidelines apply to electronically distributed Adobe PDF files:

Before putting Adobe PDF documents on a website, check to see that the text, artwork, and layout in the documents are complete and correct.
Make sure that table of contents entries, hyperlinks, and bookmarks are generated correctly. Table of contents entries are generated automatically from information in the Bookmarks panel.
Set up passwords and other security options.
Use a file name of no more than eight characters, followed by an extension of up to three characters. Many networks and e-mail programs shorten long file names.
Make sure that the file name has a PDF extension if users will view the file on a Windows computer or on the Internet.
To apply predefined Adobe PDF export settings for on-screen viewing, choose Smallest File Size.

Note: Adobe PDF files exported from InDesign documents that contain overprints or transparency effects are best viewed in Acrobat 5.0 and later, or Adobe Reader 7.0 and later, with the Overprint Preview option selected.