Car & Bike Monthly have been reviewing and discussing cars and bikes (yes, on a monthly basis) for generations, and their accumulated hundreds of back issues contain a tremendous array of information on every model of car and bike ever to pass along this country's roads. In recent years, their website has become an increasingly prominent part of their business, receiving a great number of hits from visitors browsing the web for information about this car or that bike. However, the feedback section on their site regularly includes requests for old reviews and discussions, from second-hand buyers to classic car and bike enthusiasts; consequently, the editors have decided to embark upon the mammoth task of placing pre-web content online.

Copy-typing this information from the pages of back issues isn't feasible, given the time it would take, so Graeme - who's in charge of the project - has considered scanning in pages and using optical character recognition software to produce text that he can insert into the site. However, although this would certainly work, Graeme would rather include the original pages, to put the older reports into context and to add a contemporary visual appeal. To make the transition from a plain scanned document to easily accessible and useful online content, he's using Adobe Acrobat.

With Acrobat, it's easy for him to present content that will be attractive without diminishing the fundamental intent: to provide information to visitors. Those visitors will want to be able to get as much from the content as they would if it was originally created text, and for information to be as easily accessed.

We've already mentioned optical character recognition as a means to convert printed content into data. Acrobat provides Graeme with the same technology to gain more from the text, without changing its classic stylings; the text isn't visibly altered, but the user's computer understands it as data, so visitors to the site can easily search through the original text to find what they want. This also makes life considerably easier for Graeme - being able to search text means that he doesn't have to read through every article in every magazine to find what he wants. He can easily identify, for example, a manufacturer's past models to compile a feature on past and present views of that marque. Or he can search through the wealth of back issues to find if certain criticisms or praise appear regularly in reference to a particular vehicle; the editorial staff can then use this information to bring a greater depth to their copy.

When Graeme scans the pages in via Acrobat, they'll be saved as .pdf files. This brings a number of advantages. The key reason for establishing the .pdf format was to ensure that documents can look the same across all platforms, without individual technologies altering the formatting, and Graeme's project is wholly reliant on formatting remaining consistent with the original, ensuring the contemporary feel that he hopes will add a strong visual appeal and an effective gimmick to attract visitors to the site. On the other hand, Graeme may want to highlight individual phrases within the articles he uploads - and Acrobat will allow him to do that without altering the wider document in any way.

There is another key benefit of using .pdf files. Graeme knows that his readers, and particularly those he's looking to reach, may not always be viewing his site on their home computer. He needs content to be accessible to as many people and through as many different technologies as possible. Fortunately, the .pdf is an all but universal format, standard for all operating systems and browsers and increasingly so for smartphones and other mobile devices. What's more, Acrobat can help Graeme to ensure that files comply with web content accessibility guidelines to assist those of varying disabilities and abilities - such as providing high-contrast or enabling large type display.

With Adobe Acrobat, Graeme can ensure that high quality printed content can be used online without any detriment to user or publisher, and with no depreciation of quality - and a short training course could help you bring the same benefits to your business. Whatever content you're creating, Acrobat can transform your company's visual impact, and ensure that everyone sees it in the way you'd planned.