Specifications

Because the format is documented and freely available, RTF is readable by more software than
Word’s binary format. Be aware though that users opening a complex RTF file in older ver-
sions of Word or different word processors will often see somewhat different results. Each new
version of Word introduces new keywords to RTF, so older implementations will usually
ignore controls they do not understand or have chosen not to implement.
From our original list, an RTF certificate would be easy to design using Word or another word
processor; able to contain a variety of different elements such as vector and bitmap images;
give a high quality printout; can be generated easily and quickly; and can be delivered elec-
tronically at low cost.
It will work with a variety of applications and operating systems, although with somewhat
variable results. On the down side, an RTF document can be easily and freely modified by any-
body, which is a problem for a certificate and some other types of document. The file size
might get moderately large for complex documents.
RTF is a good option for many document delivery applications, so we will use it as one option
here.
PostScript
PostScript, from Adobe, is a page description language. It is a powerful and complex pro-
gramming language intended to represent documents in a device independent way—that is,
a description that will produce consistent results across different devices such as printers and
screens. It is very well documented. At least three full-length books are available, as well as
countless Web sites.
A PostScript document can contain very precise formatting, text, images, embedded fonts, and
other elements. You can easily generate a PostScript document from an application by printing
it to a PostScript printer driver. If you were interested, you could even learn to program in it
directly.
PostScript documents are quite portable. They will give consistent high-quality printouts from
different devices and different operating systems.
There are a couple of significant down sides to using PostScript to distribute documents:
• The files can be huge.
• Many people will need to download additional software to use them.
Most UNIX users will be able to deal with PostScript files, but Windows users will usually
need to download a viewer such as GSview, which uses the Ghostscript PostScript interpreter.
This software is available for a wide variety of platforms. Although it is available free, we do
not really want to force people to download more software.
Generating Personalized Documents in Portable Document Format (PDF)
C
HAPTER 30
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GENERATING
PERSONALIZED
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