PDF

PrimoPDF (free) is a printer driver that creates PDF files from your documents, rather than printing them to paper. After install, whenever you choose the print option from an application, PrimoPDF will be listed along with your physical printers, print to file, etc. It's extremely easy to use and produces excellent PDFs--without the watermarks that some programs add.

The PDF format is great for sharing documents, but it can be a hassle, too. For example, have you ever received a PDF containing form data, only to find that Adobe Reader won't let you complete any of the fields?

If you like to review documents on your way to and from work, you likely know that you can use Apple's free iBooks app to read PDF files on an iOS device running iOS 3.2 or later. What you may not know is that with an easy-to-assemble Automator workflow, you can move a PDF directly from Apple's Preview to an attached iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. This workflow demonstrates the power of the Print plug-in.

Another day, another Adobe Acrobat vulnerability. I don't know about you, but Adobe's Update tool is a cheery presence on my computer, and I welcome its seemingly daily intrusion into my life to update software that I only use now and again.

There is certainly no lack of tools -- ones that are good and free -- to help you create PDF documents. But what if you have a job where you need to make new PDFs and your sources are already-created PDF documents? Or if you need to update your company's finished PDFs? The choice of applications that actually allow you to change a PDF after it was created is more limited.

After warning users earlier this week of a potential security risk in their popular Acrobat PDF software, Adobe is now cautioning users against installing a third-party patch that claims to address the issue. The vulnerability, detailed on Adobe's site, affects all versions of Adobe Acrobat and Reader for various OSes, including Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, and Android.

Adobe today warned users that attacks have begun exploiting an unpatched bug in its popular Reader and Acrobat PDF viewing and creation software.

Adobe has patched 17 critical vulnerabilities in Reader and Acrobat, including one that hackers have been using for nearly a month to commandeer PCs.

Web developers know PDF instances can be opened in browsers. More is possible, though: they can be opened to a particular page, zoom-level, image, and so on. Cameron shows a little of the code involved in programming such effects.

Foxit Software, the developer of a rival PDF viewer to Adobe's vulnerability-plagued Reader, released an update today that blocks some attacks with a "safe mode" that's switched on by default.

Microsoft should add a basic PDF viewer to Windows to help protect users from the spike in attacks exploiting bugs in Adobe's Reader, a security researcher said.

Several security companies warned of a major malware campaign that tries to dupe users into opening rigged PDFs that exploit an unpatched design flaw in the format