January 13

The Lenawee PC Users Group met Friday, January 13th, 7:30 pm at the Lenawee County Library with thirty-two members present.

President Pat Madziar started the meeting with introductions by all attendees and a sign in sheet was passed around.

The pop-up for this meeting was given by Pat Madziar on:

1. New operating system to be named Vista will be out later this year.

2. New version of Office (12) will also be out later this year.

3. Hard drive size is expected to be in tetra bytes soon.

4. One of the trends at this years Las Vegas show was Media Centers where phones, palm pilots, etc. will be able to be merged.

5. A new virus that is buried in graphic programs is circulating but Microsoft now has a patch for it.

From our program survey, members indicated that they are interested in learning more about how to use and make PDF files, which have the ability to compress all kinds of text and pictures into files that can be opened and viewed on any computer. Making PDF files is easy when you have the proper software, and free viewing software from Adobe is ready available for download. PDF files are compressed for easy storage and transmission over a network, and the reader software expands them and displays them in their original form. Members were also interested in the more general topic of file compression. Other file compression techniques are used for compressing the files that contain digital information to run programs, all kinds of text documents, pictures, video's, audio files, etc. PDF files were the top one-third of the survey. The largest interest shown was in backing up files and this will be covered at the next meeting.

The topic of the meeting was “Put your Files on a Diet with File Compression!” with Pat Madziar as presenter . He stated that the latest issue of Smart Computing, February 2006 contains an article on this subject. If you do not subscribe to this magazine the Lenawee County Library does and it is available to you. Pat presented the most useful information and gave live demos on how they work. Emphasis was placed on how they can be used by members to help manage files on their computers. See Pat's PowerPoint presentation here.

Pat began with an history of Adobe Acrobat:

• 1990 -- PDF concept invented

• 1992 – unveiled at Comdex (large computer show)

• 1993 – First Adobe Acrobat software sold

• 1994 – Decision to offer Adobe Acrobat Reader for free

• 1995 – First internet use (plug-in developed for Netscape Navigator)

He then described some of the pros and cons:

PDF File Details
Source: Smart Computing February, 2006

Benefits:

• “Works” on all computers

• Keeps all formatting from original document

• Can combine multiple files and types into one .PDF

• Doesn’t require that users have same software (eg: PowerPoint)

• Can be password protected

• Search capabilities (words, bookmarks, etc.)

Pitfalls:

• Users can’t create and edit files without special software

• “Full-featured” software has many more capabilities than described to the left, but is expensive

– Adobe Acrobat 7.0

• Standard version: $299

• Professional version: $449

He then told about what lower cost PDF software was available:

Lower Cost:

1. ScanSoft PDF Converter Professional 3 ($99) http://www.nuance.com/ products/

2. Nitro Professional ($99) http://www.nitropdf.com/

3. ABBYY PDF Transformer ($49.99) http://www.abbyy.com/

4. Solid Converter ($49.95) http://www.soliddocuments.com/

Free:

5. PrimoPDF http://www.primopdf.com/

6. CutePDF Writer http://www.cutepdf.com/

7. PDF ReDirect http://www.exp-systems.com

Pat demonstrated how to convert to PDF (Word, Excel, etc.), create (multiple files/types) and Edit using the PDF Converter Professional 3, by Adobe Acrobat.

He also explained the uses for Adobe Acrobat Standard 7.0:

1. Capture PDF documents from your scanner & internet

2. Create eBook

3. Create PDF forms and use JavaScript

4. Add multimedia elements (eg: sound, movies, etc.)

5. Create PDF documents for the internet

6. Add comments to, mark up PDF documents

7. Optimize documents for printing, CD-ROM, and Web

8. Use digital signatures and added security

He explained file size reduction as shown below:

Examples

PowerPoint (.PPT) to .PDF

– PowerPoint file 396 kb

– .PDF file 228 kb

Difference 168 kb (42.4%)

Excel Spreadsheet (.XLS) to PDF

– Excel file 19 kb

– .PDF file 11 kb

Difference 8 kb (42.1%)

PDF Capability is built into other software such as:

1. Income tax preparation

2. Genealogy programs

3. Microsoft programs

PDF files can be used to:

1. Send digital photos to individuals with limited computer skills.

2. Send files to people who don’t have the software program on their computers to open the file.

3. Send files to individuals with Apple/Mac computers.

4. Group files on a single topic (eg: vacations, genealogy research, business/financial activities, etc.)

5. Prepare files for projects to be sent to a commercial printer.

Pat then talked about how file compression and showed examples, he explained WinZip file compression software and described how the program works, where to purchase or get free as shown below.

Purchase Free

1. WinZip 10.0 - $29.95 1. 7-Zip 4.32

2. Stuffit 9.0 - $39.95 2. ACC Zip

3. PKZIP 9.0 - $29.00 3. PowerArchiver

4. ACDZip 4.32 - $19.95 4. JustZIPit

5. Snap Zip Compression - $29.95

Pat ended his program with uses for file compression such as; reduce the size of email file attachments shorter transmit and download times; archive old/seldom used files; consolidate multiple files into one and Increase storage space (computers with small hard drives).

Pat had a question and answer period after which he updated members on what the individual SIGS were doing at their next meetings.

Put Your Files on a Diet!