iText Summit 2012 by Mark Stephens, CEO/Developer at IDRsolutions, explaining "What you really need to know about the guts of your PDF files"

1. RIPPING YOUR PDF FILES
APART
What you need to know about what goes on inside your PDF files
Mark Stephens
Thursday, 29 March 12

2. RIPPING YOUR PDF FILES
APART
What you need to know about what goes on inside your PDF files
Mark Stephens
Thursday, 29 March 12

3. Mark’s Bio
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4. Mark’s Bio
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5. Mark’s Bio
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6. Mark’s Bio
Working with Java and PDF since 1997
Thursday, 29 March 12

7. Mark’s Bio
Working with Java and PDF since 1997
Founded IDRsolutions 1999
Thursday, 29 March 12

8. Mark’s Bio
Working with Java and PDF since 1997
Founded IDRsolutions 1999
Speaker at Seybold, Javaone, Business of Software
Thursday, 29 March 12

9. Mark’s Bio
Working with Java and PDF since 1997
Founded IDRsolutions 1999
Speaker at Seybold, Javaone, Business of Software
Thursday, 29 March 12

10. Mark’s Bio
Working with Java and PDF since 1997
Founded IDRsolutions 1999
Speaker at Seybold, Javaone, Business of Software
MA degree in Mediaeval History from St Andrews (how useless
is that)
Thursday, 29 March 12

11. Mark’s Bio
Working with Java and PDF since 1997
Founded IDRsolutions 1999
Speaker at Seybold, Javaone, Business of Software
MA degree in Mediaeval History from St Andrews (how useless
is that)
Ask me about Java, PDF, business or anything which happened before 1500 AD
Thursday, 29 March 12

12. BUT FIRST SOME KITTENS...
The support team at IDRsolutions are waiting for your call (maybe)
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13. The PDF reference guide
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14. Loading page 1124 of a file
Word
Read pages 1-1123 (time passes - scroll bar shrinks)
Found it (eventually)
Thursday, 29 March 12

15. Loading page 1124 of a file
Word
Read pages 1-1123 (time passes - scroll bar shrinks)
Found it (eventually)
PDF
Read the metadata refs table(s) - where do I find all the objects
Skip to page 1124
Thursday, 29 March 12

16. Loading page 1124 of a file
Word
Read pages 1-1123 (time passes - scroll bar shrinks)
Found it (eventually)
PDF
Read the metadata refs table(s) - where do I find all the objects
Skip to page 1124
PDF (in detail)
Read the refs table(s) - where do I find all the objects
Read the Root object - points to the Pages object
Read object for page 1124 (tells me the linked font, image,
content objects)
Draw it
Thursday, 29 March 12

17. Your PDF file is a Tree
A root linked to all the branches
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18. The PDF reference guide
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19. The PDF reference guide
Like you have never seen it before...
Thursday, 29 March 12

20. The PDF reference guide
Like you have never seen it before...
Thursday, 29 March 12

21. The PDF reference guide
Like you have never seen it before...
You can use vi or emacs if you prefer
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22. The PDF reference guide
End of the file
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23. The PDF reference guide
Like you have never seen it before...
Thursday, 29 March 12

24. The PDF reference guide
Thursday, 29 March 12

25. The PDF reference guide
Like you have never seen it before...
Thursday, 29 March 12

26. The PDF root object
Like you have never seen it before...
Thursday, 29 March 12

27. The PDF root object
Like you have never seen it before...
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28. PDF files on the web
Isn’t having the marker at the end a problem??
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29. PDF files on the web
Not if you create it properly
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30. Key takeaways from the PDF structure
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31. Key takeaways from the PDF structure
We do not need to load the whole file
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32. Key takeaways from the PDF structure
We do not need to load the whole file
It is equally fast to load any part of it
Thursday, 29 March 12

33. Key takeaways from the PDF structure
We do not need to load the whole file
It is equally fast to load any part of it
It is very easy to replace objects with new versions
Thursday, 29 March 12

34. Key takeaways from the PDF structure
We do not need to load the whole file
It is equally fast to load any part of it
It is very easy to replace objects with new versions
There are certain key locations - like at the end of a file
Thursday, 29 March 12

35. Key takeaways from the PDF structure
We do not need to load the whole file
It is equally fast to load any part of it
It is very easy to replace objects with new versions
There are certain key locations - like at the end of a file
You should not edit it in a text editor
Thursday, 29 March 12

36. Key takeaways from the PDF structure
We do not need to load the whole file
It is equally fast to load any part of it
It is very easy to replace objects with new versions
There are certain key locations - like at the end of a file
You should not edit it in a text editor
If you want to use PDF files across the Internet, there is a
special mode to make these load the most important parts
first.
Thursday, 29 March 12

37. Key takeaways from the PDF structure
We do not need to load the whole file
It is equally fast to load any part of it
It is very easy to replace objects with new versions
There are certain key locations - like at the end of a file
You should not edit it in a text editor
If you want to use PDF files across the Internet, there is a
special mode to make these load the most important parts
first.
Lots of features need you to setup the PDF file correctly.
Thursday, 29 March 12

38. Those PDF objects in more detail
All PDF objects have:1. An ID number
2. (Optional) A set of dictionary key pairs
3. (Optional) A block of binary data.
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39. Those PDF objects in more detail
All PDF objects have:1. An ID number
2. (Optional) A set of dictionary key pairs
3. (Optional) A block of binary data.
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40. PDF images are not Tiff, Png or JPeg
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41. PDF images are not Tiff, Png or JPeg
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42. A word on colour
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43. A word on colour
DeviceRGB
CalRGB
DeviceCMYK
ICC
Separation
DeviceN
DeviceGray
CalGray
Lab
Pattern
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44. PDF pages are ‘drawn’
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45. PDF pages are ‘drawn’
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46. PDF pages are ‘drawn’
0 0 0 1k set cmyk color of text to black
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47. PDF pages are ‘drawn’
0 0 0 1k set cmyk color of text to black
BT start of some text
Thursday, 29 March 12

48. PDF pages are ‘drawn’
0 0 0 1k set cmyk color of text to black
BT start of some text
/T1_01Tf Use the font defined as T1_0 elsewhere
Thursday, 29 March 12

49. PDF pages are ‘drawn’
0 0 0 1k set cmyk color of text to black
BT start of some text
/T1_01Tf Use the font defined as T1_0 elsewhere
0 Tc 0 Tw 0 Ts 100 Tz 0 Tr set other text properties
Thursday, 29 March 12

50. PDF pages are ‘drawn’
0 0 0 1k set cmyk color of text to black
BT start of some text
/T1_01Tf Use the font defined as T1_0 elsewhere
0 Tc 0 Tw 0 Ts 100 Tz 0 Tr set other text properties
7.5003 0 0 7.5003 272.1643 540.2979 Tm position onscreen
Thursday, 29 March 12

51. PDF pages are ‘drawn’
0 0 0 1k set cmyk color of text to black
BT start of some text
/T1_01Tf Use the font defined as T1_0 elsewhere
0 Tc 0 Tw 0 Ts 100 Tz 0 Tr set other text properties
7.5003 0 0 7.5003 272.1643 540.2979 Tm position onscreen
(L*) Tj draw the text L*
Thursday, 29 March 12

52. PDF pages are ‘drawn’
0 0 0 1k set cmyk color of text to black
BT start of some text
/T1_01Tf Use the font defined as T1_0 elsewhere
0 Tc 0 Tw 0 Ts 100 Tz 0 Tr set other text properties
7.5003 0 0 7.5003 272.1643 540.2979 Tm position onscreen
(L*) Tj draw the text L*
/T1_1 1Tf change font
Thursday, 29 March 12

53. PDF pages are ‘drawn’
0 0 0 1k set cmyk color of text to black
BT start of some text
/T1_01Tf Use the font defined as T1_0 elsewhere
0 Tc 0 Tw 0 Ts 100 Tz 0 Tr set other text properties
7.5003 0 0 7.5003 272.1643 540.2979 Tm position onscreen
(L*) Tj draw the text L*
/T1_1 1Tf change font
0.856 0 Td move to a different location onscreen
Thursday, 29 March 12

54. PDF pages are ‘drawn’
0 0 0 1k set cmyk color of text to black
BT start of some text
/T1_01Tf Use the font defined as T1_0 elsewhere
0 Tc 0 Tw 0 Ts 100 Tz 0 Tr set other text properties
7.5003 0 0 7.5003 272.1643 540.2979 Tm position onscreen
(L*) Tj draw the text L*
/T1_1 1Tf change font
0.856 0 Td move to a different location onscreen
( = 100) Tj draw the text = 100
Thursday, 29 March 12

55. PDF pages are ‘drawn’
0 0 0 1k set cmyk color of text to black
BT start of some text
/T1_01Tf Use the font defined as T1_0 elsewhere
0 Tc 0 Tw 0 Ts 100 Tz 0 Tr set other text properties
7.5003 0 0 7.5003 272.1643 540.2979 Tm position onscreen
(L*) Tj draw the text L*
/T1_1 1Tf change font
0.856 0 Td move to a different location onscreen
( = 100) Tj draw the text = 100
-0.324 -1.133Td move to a different location onscreen
Thursday, 29 March 12

56. PDF pages are ‘drawn’
0 0 0 1k set cmyk color of text to black
BT start of some text
/T1_01Tf Use the font defined as T1_0 elsewhere
0 Tc 0 Tw 0 Ts 100 Tz 0 Tr set other text properties
7.5003 0 0 7.5003 272.1643 540.2979 Tm position onscreen
(L*) Tj draw the text L*
/T1_1 1Tf change font
0.856 0 Td move to a different location onscreen
( = 100) Tj draw the text = 100
-0.324 -1.133Td move to a different location onscreen
[(whit)6(e)] Tj draw the text white (put a gap between t and e)
Thursday, 29 March 12

57. Thursday, 29 March 12

58. PDF myth - files are cross platform
Only if you create them properly...
Thursday, 29 March 12

59. Obfuscation for idiots!
No-one will be able to guess the secret password
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60. 20 seconds later...
And the password is....
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61. Lastly a plea
Not all PDF creation tools are equal
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62. In summary
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