• Posted Sept. 9, 2015, 12:34 p.m. - 8 years, 7 months ago

PDF Glossary of Terms

Glossary of Terms

Ever been working with a PDF editor and wondered what the terms being used mean? Redaction, CMYK, Reflow… they might sound like a foreign language (or techy language) to some, but we’ve put together this glossary in case you want to know more…

  • CAT  –  Computer Assisted Translation
  • Clone  –  The process of recreating a duplicate version of a document, or a “cloned” version
  • CMYK  –  Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key – four inks used in colour printing
  • Converter  –  A tool used to convert one file type to another, i.e. a Word document to PDF
  • Encoding  –  Text characters that are convered to a format that can be transmitted to other users and read
  • ePUB  –  Electronic Publication
  • e-Signatures  –  Digital signatures used on documents to verify the sender
  • Highlights  –  The digital equivalent of using markers to highlight text on a paper document
  • HTML  –  HyperText Markup Language
  • Interactive  –  The ability to allow users to interact with a document; for example, filling in a digital form
  • JPEG  –  Image file type
  • Object locking  –  Locking an object on a PDF in place so it cannot be moved
  • OCR  –  Optical Character Recognition
  • OmegaT  –  Free cross-platform CAT tool
  • Overset text  –  Text within a PDF that does not fit and has no room allocated within the document
  • PDF compression  –  The process of reducing the size of a PDF for purposes such as emailing to another person
  • PDF portfolios  –  Multiple PDF files assembled into a integrated PDF unit
  • Redaction  –  The process of editing text for publication within a document
  • Reflow  –  The process of when text in a digital document automatically moves to fit the page
  • Reformat  –  The process of reformatting text within a PDF to match the rest of a document
  • Renumber  –  The process of renumbering the pages of a PDF document when new pages have been added/old pages deleted
  • RTF  –  Rich Text Format
  • Scan-to PDF  –  The method of scanning a paper file and saving the digital outcome as a PDF file
  • Source file  –  The original file containing the information later converted to PDF format
  • Spacing  –  The spacing between words in a text section of a document
  • Stamp  –  The same methodology as rubber stamping a paper file; stamping a PDF to state document approval, receipt etc
  • Sticky notes  –  The equivalent of post-it notes but for digital documents. These allow users to leave comments on a document
  • Subset fonts  –  Fonts within a PDF that that are embedded and require other users to have the same font on their machines to edit the copy
  • Thumbnails  –  A small preview image of larger images on a document
  • Virus  –  A malicious piece of code that can be embedded into a document, and when released steal private information from a computer
  • Watermark  –  A faint design that can be placed onto a document to identify the original creator
  • XML  –  Extensible Markup Language