Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition

PDF Files

Sooner or later, almost everyone with a personal computer encounters PDF (portable document format) files. Many a software manual, Read Me file, and downloadable "white paper" comes in this format. Until recently, you needed the free program called Acrobat Reader if you hoped to open or print these files. Windows users still do.

WORKAROUND WORKSHOP: Beyond Mac OS X Fax

As you'll discover pretty quickly, Mac OS X's built-in faxing feature is bare-bones, to say the least. For example, you can't design your own cover pages, and you can't open a fax you've sent to inspect it.

There are alternatives. For starters, the shareware world is a good place to shop. For example, you can try Page-Sender, Cocoa eFax, or any of the other shareware faxing programs listed at www.versiontracker.com. (Do a search for fax on the Mac OS X tab.)

PDF files, however, are one of Mac OS X's common forms of currency. In fact, you can turn any document (in any program with a Print command) into a PDF file—a trick that once required the $250 program called Adobe Acrobat Distiller. (Maybe Apple should advertise: "Buy Acrobat for $250, get Mac OS X free—and $120 cash back!")

But why would you want to do so? What's the big deal about PDF in Mac OS X? Consider these advantages:

• Other people see your layout. When you distribute PDF files to other people, they see precisely the same fonts, colors, page design, and other elements that you did in your original document. And here's the kicker: They get to see all ...