As I read our PDF article on p. 39, all of my brain's Andy Rooney synapses fired simultaneously. I burst into managing editor Mayu Mishina's office. “Didja ever wonder who invented PDF?” I demanded. “Did it happen in a lab with a lot of Bunsen burners and hissing and bubbling test tubes? Was it one of those happy accidents, like when Alois Senefelder wrote out his laundry list or Fred MacMurray invented Flubber? Didja ever notice that PDF sounds like PF Flyers? Do you think that's the same person who owns those PF Changs restaurants?”

Fortunately, Mayu is used to these periodic fits and knew what to do. She calmly whacked me upside the head with Joseph Marin and Julie Shaffer's “The PDF Production Guide.” The 150-page book offers step-by-step instructions for fixing PDF problems as well as specific procedures for creating print-ready PDF files.

I like the book's clean design — “The PDF Production Guide” features an abundance of color screen-grabs and diagrams. Bold subheads make it easy to skim from topic to topic. Also, the book is coil-bound, so you don't have hold it open with your elbow while trying to fix your PDFs or eat a bowl of Malt-o-Meal.

Changing the way we work

Perhaps most importantly, I am prepared if Andy Rooney ever calls me with any PDF questions. Because after reading “The PDF Production Guide,” I know that John Warnock, Adobe's co-founder, first started thinking about the PDF concept in 1991. The challenge as Warnock saw it was to create “a universal way to communicate documents across a wide variety of machine configurations, operating systems and communication networks. The documents should be viewable on any display and printable on any modern printer.” Warnock predicted that a universal file format capable of addressing these issues would fundamentally change the way we work.

It sure has, although as Marin and Shaffer note, PDF was not initially designed for commercial printing. “PDF 1.0 had very little use in the realm of prepress for commercial print production (all images in PDF 1.0 files were converted to RGB color space, for example),” they write. “It wasn't until 1996, when Adobe released Acrobat 3.0 (and the corresponding version of the file format, PDF 1.2), that the first high-end print options were introduced. Support for CMYK color, spot colors, OPI and halftone functions now made PDF a potential means for the exchange of digital data between content creators and commercial printers.”

36 years of solving all of our problems

Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of ongoing standardization efforts, printers' customers will always find new ways to create bad files. But just as Warnock said it would, PDF is changing the way we work — and print. For more information on “The PDF Production Guide,” see gain.net.

Speaking of changes, you'll notice a few in this issue of american printer. Christy Bauhs, our art director, refers to them as “design tweaks,” but I think you'll agree these improvements exceed that description. It's a fresh new look and the perfect way to kick off 2004.

We also have another change: After 36 years of selflessly making our staff's lives easier, publisher's assistant Joan Smuda has announced her retirement, effective this February. During her american printer tenure, Joan has worked for six different publishers and about 50 salespeople and editors.

We have worked together for eight years, but it only took me a few weeks to learn some key Smuda facts. No. 1: Never mock the Green Bay Packers. Because if you do, after her team trounces the Chicago Bears yet again, Joan will dance a victory polka in your office that would make Frankie Yankovic weep with envy. No. 2: Joan knows everything. No. 3: She'll share this knowledge, but only if you stop making kielbasa jokes.

The bond that holds us together

As our publisher, Scott Bieda, says, “All of us who have had the pleasure to work with Joan recognize that she is truly the bond that holds our staff together. Her talents span from negotiating with vendors, supporting the sales and editorial staff to giving sound advice to the publisher on how to run the magazine better. But most importantly, Joan is a true friend.”

Amen. We'll miss seeing Joan in the office, but she promises to visit us often. No doubt wearing her cheesehead hat…