Adobe Pdf Standards; Adobe Pdf Compatibility Levels - Adobe PHOTOSHOP CS2 User Manual

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS2
659
User Guide
See also
"Adobe PDF standards" on page 659
"To save an Adobe PDF preset" on page 663

Adobe PDF standards

Choose an Adobe PDF standard from the Standards menu at the top of the Adobe PDF Options dialog box.
Currently, the most widely used standards for a print publishing workflow are available in two different types of
PDF/X formats, PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-3. For more information on PDF/X, see the ISO website and the Adobe
website.
Does not use the PDF/X standard.
None
PDF/X-1a (2001 and 2003) PDF/X-1a is an ISO standard for graphic content exchange. PDF/X-1a requires all fonts
to be embedded, the appropriate PDF bounding boxes to be specified, and color to appear as CMYK, spot colors, or
both. PDF/X-compliant files must contain information describing the printing condition for which they are
prepared. PDF files created with PDF/X-1a compliance can be opened in Acrobat 4.0 and Acrobat Reader 4.0 and
later.
PDF/X-3 (2002 and 2003) Like PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3 is an ISO standard for graphic content exchange. The main
difference is that PDF/X-3 allows the use of color management and device-independent color (CIE Lab, ICC-based
color spaces, CalRGB, and CalGray) in addition to CMYK and spot colors. You can use ICC color profiles to specify
color data later in the workflow, at the output device. PDF files created with PDF/X-3 compliance can be opened in
Acrobat 4.0 and Acrobat Reader 4.0 and later.

Adobe PDF compatibility levels

When you create Photoshop PDF files, you need to decide which PDF version to use. You can change the PDF version
by switching to a different preset or choosing a Compatibility option in the Adobe PDF Options dialog box.
Generally speaking, you should use the most recent version (in this case version 1.6) unless there's a specific need for
backward compatibility, because the latest version will include all the latest features and functionality. However, if
you're creating documents that will be distributed widely, consider choosing Acrobat 4.0 (PDF 1.3) or Acrobat 5.0
(PDF 1.4) to ensure that all users can view and print the document. The following table compares some of the
functionality in Adobe PDF files created using the different compatibility settings.