We’ve all used Adobe Acrobat (www.adobe.com) to document
our ideas and projects in a transmissible digital format (the PDF
or ‘Portable Document Format’) and then share them
with colleagues. Hitherto this has been restricted to text plus
2D diagrams, photographs and sketches, and access to this material
has had little restriction, leading to possible breaches of intellectual
property (IP) rights. With the launch of Acrobat 7 earlier this
year, the graphics possibilities of the PDF have been greatly enhanced
- and this new software now addresses the thorny issue of document
security in a collaborative design and manufacturing environment,
which is so important during the early stages of the project.
Product
development these days involves interested parties working in concert
towards a swift project conclusion. These parties include consultants,
toolmakers, production specialists, designers working in a variety
of disciplines, those that hold the purse strings, patent experts
and even lawyers. The possibility of sensitive project information
and IP finding its way to competitors - either maliciously or wholly
inadvertently - is a real problem and one that can restrict the
flow of essential information among team members.
Adobe Acrobat
7 Professional gives engineering teams a number of tools to help
them manage projects more confidently. It also extends document
review, mark-up and commenting tools to those team members who
don’t
necessarily have this package, but instead use the free Adobe Reader
7 software. A significant feature is the ability to share live
3D data with team members. 3D CAD files can be embedded in a PDF
document and recipients are able to manipulate these files to obtain
different views of the design. The quality of these embedded files
is such that reviewers can zoom in to specific areas of the design
without any deterioration in resolution.
While these CAD files may
be quite large, the PDFs in which they are embedded are actually
quite small. The system uses the ‘Universal’ 3D’ file
format, supported by the 3D Industry Forum, so you can view and
manipulate embedded CAD files without having to purchase specific
software licences. As many people as necessary can review a document
and make their comments, with all reviews subsequently being accumulated
within a single document.
You can also create intelligent forms
in the PDF format using Adobe LifeCycle Designer, previously a
separate software product and now bundled with the new Acrobat
7 software. This wizard based module lets you produce any style
of form with dynamic elements such as lines or boxes that automatically
adjust according to content. The forms are XML-enabled for easy
interchange via the Internet. Interestingly, the SAP enterprise-wide
software system now bundles the Adobe form designer to encourage
the establishment of paperless document management systems.
Of particular
interest to designers is Acrobat 7’s IP protection systems.
These allow a document to be sent to a selected person while controlling
the rights of utilisation of the material; for example, ‘switching
off’ a document, wherever it happens to reside, and applying
audit controls such as how many prints can be taken and how many
times the document can be opened. You can apply settings to restrict
others from saving, copying or modifying a document, as well as applying
auto-expire dates or auto-open dates. It is also possible to revoke
older versions of a document and steer the team towards a current
version.
While on the subject of PDFs, it’s as well to know you can
find a number of low-cost (even free) utilities for creating these
files - www.expert-pdf.co.uk and www.pdf995.com being among them.
There are also some non-Adobe programs that have a built-in option
to save to PDF format. Among these are ACD Systems’ Canvas
(www.adeptscience.co.uk/products/dataanal/canvas) and TurboCAD
Canvas lets you impor technical images from a large range of file formats
(including AutoCAD), manipulate them and save them in an equally
large range of file formats. The software includes drawing, image
editing and dimensioning tools, as well as presentation, page layout
and web publishing tools. OK, its not Photoshop, AutoCAD, PowerPoint,
Quark Express or Dreamweaver, but it has enough of the capabilities
of each of these applications to meet most of the image handling
needs that a design enginee
might have.
Dr Know's recommended download is Canvas X - Enhance, Analyse & Present brochure - download yours today.