Digital Workshop

first post folks, so be nice... how do i import a PDF into Opus, i,m still on ver 2.6 so i probably need to upgrade right

The great thing about the forum is that someone has almost certainly asked your question before, so it's worth spending some time searching.

Here's what bwpatrick wrote in 2004...

what a small world! hello Roger, it's John Culleton, just up the road in Stansted, thanks i'm looking at those options,

Or you could just use the DocView to embed the PDF file directly - this does require you and your end users to have Acobat Reader installed.

ahaa, that's better, can i have a few of these 'invisible' on the main page and link to them then

Hi John

Well, well, well... So you've been converted to Opus too. It's a great bit of software, as I'm sure you'll discover.

Best wishes

Roger

This post may not be directly on topic, but some forum members might find my experience useful.



Coincident with the last few releases of Acrobat Reader, there seems to be some compatibility issues with older PDF files and these new versions of Acrobat Reader.

I'm prepared to accept that this might well be the result of my over-active imagination but increasingly, clients have reported that older PDF documents (particularly those based on versions of PDF earlier than version 5) do not sit happily with current versions of Reader.

My solution to this is not new, but it might be worth repeating here in case others are having similar challenges.

1. These days there are more ways of creating PDF files than by using Adobe Acrobat. For example several stand-alone applications, and a few word processing packages support saving or publishing files to PDF. I use WordPerfect, and publish my files to PDF version 5.0.

2. Following recommendations from other Opus users, I downloaded a copy of PDF2EXE (free version) and use that to convert all the PDF files that I want to use in Opus, to standalone EXE files. These files have their own PDF reader, and are completely independent of Acrobat Reader.

During the conversion, I have the opportunity of setting many parameters that control how the resulting EXE files can be used. (Many more parameters are available if the pro version of PDF2EXE is used.) I set these parameters so that users can both view and print the EXE file.

3. When I need to incorporate a PDF file into an Opus pub, I use the Launch File action. Reminder: to make sure that Opus can find these files, place these files in the <SYSTEM_PUBLICATION_DIR>

While it's early days, since I started using PDF2EXE (and made retrospective conversions of PDF files) I have received no complaints about PDF incompatibilities.

yep pdf2exe files look better than Acrobat, is there any way of seeing all the pages though? bet i need the pro ver!

if i have to use Acrobat how the heck do you EXIT back to the menu without escaping?

I'm not sure what you mean by this.
When you display the exe created by pdf2exe, at the bottom of the screen you find information such as "Page 1/7". At the top of the screen, in the pdf2exe toolbar, starting from the left are these buttons: Print (if you enabled printing from the exe); first page; previous page; next page; last page; etc. Using the 2nd to 5th buttons lets you navigate through the pages. Somehow, I'm not sure that was what you meant.

Possibly, but possibly not. I've created many exe files, and haven't yet found the need to consider upgrading to pro. I've attached a screenshot of some of the features of pro, but I suggest you visit http://www.pdf2exe.com/pdf2exe_pro.html to see if it is what you need.
I also found the support good at answering questions about which version I needed.


The exe file can be closed in 2 ways: by using the standard windows "Close window" button; and by using the exit button provided in the exe file.

Check out Actions -> Launch -> File. Look at the very bottom of the dialogue box that appears, where you will see: "Close the publication once this program is running."

With this option checked, and the exe file closed, your original Opus pub will reappear. Is that what you were asking?

If you're asking about going to a specific page or place in a page, you're getting into a somewhat complex area that deals with bookmarks and passing parameters.

HTH

the pdf2exe file doesn't have the pages on the left like Acrobat that you can click and go to

if i use the PDF file i don't get any 'exit' or 'close window' options in Acrobat, i can only escape to the Opus project instead of going back to the menu

this is all with preview publication

On the subject of PDF's, is there any way that a file can be included within an opus presentation but is not required as an external file when the presentation is published to an exe?