Date:         Mon, 17 May 1999 14:06:35 -0400
Reply-To:     msz03@HEALTH.STATE.NY.US
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
From:         Mike Zdeb <msz03@HEALTH.STATE.NY.US>
Subject:      More on PDF CUT-AND-PASTE / SUGI Proceedings on CD
Content-Type: multipart/mixed;
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I got some feedback on the suggestions I made to SAS-L about how to
cut-and-paste text from single columns in the SUGI Proceedings on CD.  I
know of at least one SUGI 24 paper where this won't work and for those of
you who are interested, the ability to cut-and-paste is PDF-document
specific.   Without going into a lot of detail, some PDF documents just
look like text, but are really graphics.  If you are having problems with
text cut from a SUGI paper ending up as gibberish when pasted into another
program, the PDF paper is probably graphics and just looks like text.  Some
papers are a mix of text/graphics, though it all looks like text.  Finally,
some papers are all text.  The text versus graphic  has to do with fonts in
the original document and the options selected in the Adobe software used
to create the PDF file from the document (there are font substitution and
font embedding parameters).  I'm not exactly sure, but it might also have
something to do with fonts available on the PC you are using to view the
document.
 
Anyways, one way to see if a PDF is graphics or real text is to us the FIND
function to search for text that you can read on the screen.  If FIND can't
locate a word that you can read, the PDF (or, I guess, maybe just the word
you are searching for) is a graphic version of text - that means that
cutting and pasting probably won't work.
 
PS  For those of you submitting papers to NESUG '99, stick to standard
fonts (arial, helvetica, times, courier).  I prepare the proceedings-on-CD
for NESUG and know that 'cut-and-paste' plus the FIND function are rendered
useless when you start using odd fonts (e.g. Garamond, Book Antiqua).  Even
the SAS Monospace font causes problems.  If you'd like to try a ...it sure
looks like text but really isn't text... PDF file, use Acrobat to view the
attached file and search for any letter or number.  This file started with
a Word Perfect document that used the SAS Monospace font.
 
(See attached file: test.pdf)
 
Mike Zdeb
NYS Department of Health
ESP Tower-Room 1811
Albany, NY   12237
P:518/473-2855  F:630/604-1475
 
test.pdf [application/octet-stream]