PDFs go 3D with new file compression

The world's most popular compressed document format is to encompass 3D CAD designs. Tom Shelley reports Adobe Acrobat, the world's most widely used software for delivering compressed document files is to include the ability to compress 3D CAD files, typically, the company says, by about 25 times. Adobe V 7.0 will base its 3D PDF capability on U3D, which is an open XML format, full details of which are available from www.3dif.org, the 3D Industry Forum. The forum is led by Intel, and founder members include: Adobe, Boeing, Dassault Systemes, UGS, Hewlett-Packard, PTC, Microsoft and SolidWorks. The first CAD vendor to take V 7 on board with its 3D capability is to be Bentley Microstation. It is already possible to integrate Adobe Acrobat V6 with AutoCAD in such a way as to send either retain layers in the PDFs or flatten all layers . Because it is intended to be used for confidential data exchange over the Internet, a great deal of attention has been paid to security issues. Options include encryption and password access. By making use of Adobe Policy Server, authors and IT administrators can control who can view a document and whether recipients can modify, copy, print or forward it. These permissions can be changed after the document has been distributed, both providing security and preventing access to out of date versions of designs. Documents can also be made to accessible only from a specific date, and also expire on a specific date, or if need be, revoked immediately. To further speed collaboration, it is possible to select documents of different types, including CAD models, if compatible, right click them and combine them into a single PDF file. Adobe