Reader-specific PDF?

[marshmallow1304]

Has anyone else experienced this?


I recently opened an account with a new bank and I got the first email from them today. It contained a link to a quickstart guide in PDF format. I download the 3+ MB file, only to find that it refuses to be opened properly in anything other than Acrobat 9+ or Adobe Reader 9+, displaying


For the best experience, open this PDF portfolio in Acrobat 9 or Adobe Reader 9, or later.

Of course, that's not true because it then refuses to show the rest of the document, so it's more like


For the best only experience, open this PDF portfolio in Acrobat 9 or Adobe Reader 9, or later.



Really, dear bank? Really? I was under the impression that the point of having ISO 32000-1 (http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=51502) was that any standards-compliant PDF reader can read your PDF. But apparently you've got some sort of vested interest in forcing me to use Acrobat, which I will not do.

You might as well have just sent me a .doc. At least I can open it in OO.o.



/rant

[Phrea]

They are bullies I tell ya, Bullies !!

[dca]

When you're creating/converting to PDF from Publisher files, Word files, etc Acrobat Professional gives you the ability to make PDF size even smaller by removing compatibility with older Acrobat versions... Best practice (or rule of thumb) is to keep compat w/ Reader 7 onward but what the hell, it's a bank...

[Frogs Hair]

Open Office has a pdf import extension now.

[McRat]

I would reply:

"Due to security concerns with Adobe PDF formats, we regret that we can no longer accept these files. Please retransmit via FAX or ???. Thank you for your cooperation."

Yes, there are advanced Acrobat Pro Extended formats that are only supported by Adobe. The ISO spec is not all-inclusive AFAIK.

I've sent about 3 emails to Adobe requesting a Linux version of the retail Acrobat product line. If they want to be the standard bearer, they need to act like it.

[marshmallow1304]

Well, I bit the bullet and installed acroread. The file has a ton of animations and other nasty stuff. It looks like a flash applet vomited into a pdf. Clearly, this is not how a pdf should be used.

[LowSky]

I dont see the problem, Adobe is nice enough to create/support a Linux version of reader.
Use what works, or find a bank that believes in open standards.

[marshmallow1304]

I dont see the problem, Adobe is nice enough to create/support a Linux version of reader.
Use what works, or find a bank that believes in open standards.

I had never heard of a reader-specific PDF. I was under the impression that PDF was a standard and that any compliant PDF reader could read any PDF.

[Dragonbite]

Hope you are contacting the bank and informing them that they are not meeting standards compliance like you mentioned.

Might want to avoid saying you run Linux, as they may just write you off. Instead make a vague reference to the possibility of a Mac not being able to open it and they may react slightly better since Apple is perceived to having more users/clout than Linux, but is just as mysterious to the Windows-only users.

[McRat]

Full feature PDF's now have active content.

See if you can view this and rotate it (click and drag image):

Wait, that one is too big. I'll try another.

Nevermind, the PDF size limit on this site is pretty low. Not sure if I have a CAD model that small.

[marshmallow1304]

Hope you are contacting the bank and informing them that they are not meeting standards compliance like you mentioned.

Might want to avoid saying you run Linux, as they may just write you off. Instead make a vague reference to the possibility of a Mac not being able to open it and they may react slightly better since Apple is perceived to having more users/clout than Linux, but is just as mysterious to the Windows-only users.

I'll do that. I did read about similar situations on MacOS with the default PDF reader (I think it's called 'Preview').

[lisati]

Hope you are contacting the bank and informing them that they are not meeting standards compliance like you mentioned.

Good luck. I tried contacting Yahoo for a similar reason a few months back. The answers I got back were mostly automated nonsense, several of which had standards compliance issues as well.

[Dragonbite]

Good luck. I tried contacting Yahoo for a similar reason a few months back. The answers I got back were mostly automated nonsense, several of which had standards compliance issues as well.

Any communication is more effective than silent acceptance.

Plus, depending on the size of the bank (regional?) it may be more responsive than an internet tech company (Yahoo!).

[Dr. C]

Or one can go to the bank, close out the account and ask for cash. Then go to a competitor bank and deposit then funds there. If enough people do this a bank run may happen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_run

A bank that snubs even a small percentage of depositors is playing with fire.

[SerafeimG]

I tried different programs in order to open a portfolio file. Okular was the only one that could recognize all the included PDFs but it couldn't open them at once. I had to save them first one by one.
This is a hard job if there are many PDFs included in you portfolio but the only, as far as I'm concerned, open-source solution for reading PDF portfolios. :(

[Austin25]

I had this problem when I was trying to use our schools on-line history book.