In this lab, you will learn how to:
A basic working knowledge of Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Word.
20 minutes
Acrobat 9.0
Microsoft Word 2007
Further along in this lab, you will edit Lab1.pdf as a Word Document. In order to do this, you must know how to export a PDF file to a word file.
While creating structure in Acrobat is an option, it is better to create and analyze the basic structure using Word. Traditionally, developers working with Word have used font sizes to determine the structure of text element; however, it is recommended to provide structure through meta-data by using the Style drop down in Word (see Image 15).
The style menu provides structuring data to a document, and behaves in a similar manner to working with fonts. Denoting which text is a heading and which is a paragraph will be beneficial later on, especially when working with complex layouts, such as multi-column layouts. As mentioned before, it is also beneficial when the document is resized in Acrobat or Acrobat Reader, because the document can then reflow to fit the width of the available screen. Without structure, none of this would be possible.
If you are interested in a quick glance at how the file is structured in Word, you can turn on 'Outline View' (see Image 16).
Outline view has several options which are beyond the scope of this lab, but one that is worth mentioning is the ability to change the level at which an element is defined. There are several ways of doing this:
Image 17: Toolbar for changing text level in Outline view of Word
Essentially, the further left an element is when in Outline view, the more important it is.
From here, if you are using Adobe Acrobat 6.0 or below, you can use the Make Accessible Plug-in, which will fill in a structure hierarchy underneath the Root tag.
Adobe offers a
'Make Accessible' plug-in.
that works with Acrobat 5.0 and 6.0 and is designed solely to provide structure
to a document. It is a time-saving easy option to use when making a document
more accessible. Also, the plug-in auto-detects most everything, and can be adjusted
later if necessary.
After running this plug-in, you should now see that the tree hierarchy has filled in - denoting header information as well as paragraph information. If you cannot see the elements, select the plus box next to the Tags Root to expose the child elements. (see Image 20).
End Archived InformationThe tag tree actually represents the order in which things are read. This is an important feature, which demonstrates that the data is separate from its presentation.
In the Acrobat Tag Tree, you have the option to drag the tags to different locations, effectively changing their reading order. This task will not be apparent in the document itself. Where it is obvious is when the document is read by a screen reader.
Image 21: Normal reading order of the Declaration of Independence
Image 22: Revised reading order of the Declaration of IndependenceFor example, by changing the tag tree of the Declaration of Independence, you have changed the way it is read. Compare the reading order of the original tree structure of the Declaration of Independence (see Image 21) to the revised reading order where the paragraph starting "We hold these truths to be self-evident" was shifted to the be the first thing spoken (see Image 22).
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1 KB).The next page discusses creating alternative text in PDF files.
College of Architecture (COA)
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User Agreement
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Lab: Structure in PDF
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