PDF terminology

PDF

A document format that describes the appearance of each page. It can contain text, images, links, annotations and forms.

Selectable text

Text stored as text in the PDF, which you can usually select or copy. A photograph of text alone does not contain this information.

OCR

Recognition of characters in an image to extract text. The result needs proofreading. OCR is unavailable in BeauPDF.

PDF/A

A family of PDF formats intended for archiving. Compliance with a specific profile must be checked with a suitable validator. BeauPDF does not offer this conversion.

Resolution and dpi

Dpi expresses a density of dots per inch. At the same page size, a higher resolution produces more pixels and may increase file size.

Vector image

An image described by shapes and paths. It keeps sharp outlines when resized, unlike an image made of a fixed number of pixels.

Compression

Reducing file size by optimising its structure or images. Lossy recompression may reduce image quality.

Metadata

Information declared in the document, such as its title, author or the software used. It may be missing, inaccurate or contain personal data.

Watermark

Text or an image added to a page, such as “Draft”. This visible marking does not restrict access to the content.

Text signature

A visible name or text added to the PDF. The BeauPDF tool does not verify identity or create a cryptographic signature.

Redaction

Removing sensitive content from the file. Covering an item with a rectangle or cropping a page is not enough to remove it. BeauPDF does not offer redaction.

Interactive form

A PDF containing actual input fields, checkboxes or lists. A simple line drawn on a page is not an editable field.

Flattening

Incorporating the appearance of fields and annotations into the page. These elements are no longer interactive; the page’s text may remain selectable.

Password protection

Restricting the opening of a PDF with a password. It does not remove data from the document.

Technical validation

Checking the PDF’s structure. An error-free result does not certify its content, a signature or compliance with a PDF/A profile.

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