Saving PDF documents

Note: The term save in this discussion does not mean actually saving a file to disk. It means that the result stream is structured in such a way that it can subsequently be saved as a PDF file.

The save options are specified by the save attribute of the PDF result element:

•	Incremental: Performs an incremental save. This means that changes to the document are placed at the end of the file and the bytes corresponding to the original file are unchanged. Use this option to maximize the speed of the save operation.

In the Assembler service, incremental saves are relative to the base document (see About base documents). That is, the bytes in the result stream begin with the original bytes of the base document, followed by updates.

•	Full: Performs a full save, which means that the file is restructured so that duplicate and obsolete information is removed. This results in a smaller file size than when doing an incremental save. Use this option if you need to minimize the size of the result PDF file.

Note: Typically, an incremental save takes less time to perform than a full save. However, when deleting pages from a document (by specifying page ranges), there is not a significant performance difference in the current version of the Assembler service.

Since the bytes corresponding to the original base document are not preserved, all digital signatures in the document, including those applying to certification and rights enabled for Adobe Reader, are invalidated.

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FastWebView: Restructures the file so that it is optimized for viewing on the web. This optimization (called linearization in the PDF Reference guide) allows individual pages to be loaded quickly, without the need to read the entire file. Use this option if you need to minimize the size of the result PDF file; FastWebView results in the smallest file sizes.

This type of optimization is considered a full save because incremental updates are incorporated into the file when it is restructured. As with Full, all digital signatures in the document, including those applying to certification and rights enabled for Adobe Reader, are invalidated.

When the value of save is unspecified, the Assembler service follows this behavior: