Meeting proposed for late 2003,
somewhere in London Transport Zone 1

The Acrobat User Forum has so far concentrated on hard copy aspects of PDF. During Digital Solutions 2003 there will be a new emphasis on forms and data. The Defra example shows that Reader Extension software can be imagined in the UK. So far the case studies have been mostly in the US where Adobe are concentrating on the wider use of Acrobat in enterprises and government. Adobe UK are now organising a series of meetings to explain the possibilities in the UK. These are described as 'Gathering intelligence' and there is detail at www.adobe.co.uk/boardroom . Here is a link to 'Managing Business Issues' if you just want a PDF.

The Acrobat User Forum could re-launch with a new focus on the technical and organisation aspects of the new features. The original membership was mainly concerned with design and print. The issues around this are largely resolved. So people are still interested in principle but not probably enough to make time for meetings. The new software will probably require some study before it is working well so there could be more to talk about.

(There is a crossover of interest for people who want to link the Job Definition Format, XML etc. with the original Job Ticket information aspect of PDF. However this is probably something to come back to once the server software is more widely known for IT people in general.)

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Future Working Group

Currently the AUF has a very small working group. New people would be very welcome, particularly with technical knowledge.

More details will be available later. Please get in touch if you would like to book a place or be involved in the working group. There may be an online version for people who could not make an evening meeting in London but would still like to know about developments.

Will Pollard 01392 660639 auf@eudoramail.com PO Box 134 Exeter UK EX1 2WB

Membership fees

There have been no fees paid in the last two years as reserves were available. There is a current offer of a year’s membership for £10. This bargain offer may be revised after October so joining before could be sensible.

Back to Digital Solutions page

PS Personally I think there are lots of people using PDF for hard copy who would be interested in data, but I may be unusual in this. The Adobe approach seems to be aimed at two different audiences and maybe they know what they are doing.