242 Publishing and Sharing
Publishing as PDF
PDF (short for Portable Document Format) is a cross-platform WYSIWYG file
format developed by Adobe to handle documents in a device- and platform-
independent manner. The format has evolved into a worldwide standard for
document distribution which works equally well for electronic or paper
publishing.
Although PDF excels as an electronic distribution medium it is also an excellent
format for delivering a drawing file to a professional printer using PDF/X
formats, targeted for graphic arts and high quality reproduction. Your print
partner can tell you whether to deliver PDF/X-1 or PDF/X-1a (DrawPlus
supports both)—but from the DrawPlus end of things you won't see a difference.
In either mode, all your drawing's colours will be output in the CMYK colour
space, and fonts you've used will be embedded. A single PDF/X file will contain
all the necessary information (fonts, images, graphics, and text) your print
partner requires.
If professional printing is required, you'll need to select Prepress options (via the
Print dialog's Prepress tab) before choosing to output your drawing.
To export your document as a PDF file:
1. Prepare the document following standard print publishing guidelines,
taking the distribution method into account.
2. Choose Publish as PDF... from the File menu and check your export
settings. (To export the whole document using default settings, you won’t
need to change any settings.) Make further last-minute changes (for
example, a custom setting required by your print bureau).
3. Review General, Prepress, Compression, Security, and Advanced tab
settings and modify if necessary (see online Help for more details).
When preparing a PDF/X file for professional printing, choose either
"PDF/X-1" or "PDF/X-1a" in the General tab's Compatibility drop-down list
(General tab), as advised by your print partner.
