Re: [orca-list] Trying Quantal Quetsal Alpha 3

[Jason White <jason jasonjgw net>]

Kyle <kyle4jesus gmail com> wrote:
> I use pdftotext all the time with a good deal of success. As a side note, is
> there any similar tool yet that can convert a PDF document to an ODF format
> or Latex or similar open and unencumbered format that is not controlled by a
> single company? 

Pdftohtml is the only solution that comes immediately to mind. LibreOffice,
for instance, can create PDF files but it can't convert form PDF to anohter
format. (There is a means by which one can embed an ODF document in a PDF
file, edit the ODF document and regenerate the PDF file with edits applied.
This isn't the same as editing a PDF document, of course, because it requires
a PDF file with embedded ODF as a starting point.)
> These things are just as cross-platform and can be made just
> as secure. 

True, but they aren't a substitute for PDF; they don't meet the needs that PDF
satisfies.

PDF is essentially a page description format. It is designed to capture the
exact visual presentation of a document. Furthermore, the page "images" are
scalable in the sense that, when rendered, they will be appopriate to the
resolution of the output device, whether it be a low-resolution screen or a
high-resolution printer or typesetting machine. The fonts are usually
scalable, as are the vector graphics, details of the page layout, and so on.
The font outlines are embedded in the PDF file, so that the fonts used in the
document need not be installed on the recipient's machine. PDF can of course
be used to store rasterized images and fonts which aren't scalable, but by
design it's supposed to provide a scalable and exact visual "image" of the
document which can be viewed or printed on any device that supports PDF.

The essential point is that other file formats fall short of meeting these
requirements in various ways, which is why PDF has a legitimate role. This
also explains why, for example, modern versions of TeX produce output in PDF.

PDF is now an ISO standard. The visual rendering model is based on that of
PostScript, and it is customary now for people to distribute documents as PDF
files rather than as PostScript files. PDF offers greater accessibility in
that the full logical structure of a document can optionally be preserved; but
this is an add-on feature that lies on top of the basic functionality, which
is to provide visual "page descriptions".