PDF has a reputation as the boring, dependable file format – the one you reach for when you need a document to look exactly the same on every computer, forever. What gets forgotten is that PDF’s security model has been shaky since version 1.0, and its history includes an FBI arrest, a federal jury trial that helped define how the DMCA actually works, and – twenty years later – a fake GIF that hid a tiny working computer inside an image compression stream. This is that story, roughly in order, including the part where we were personally on the receiving end of it.

Have you got an Adobe PDF file that you can open but cannot edit, print or copy selected text to the clipboard? There is an easy solution: with just a couple of clicks, the file can be unprotected. Bad news: you’ll need software. Good news: we’ve built one for you.

From time to time we’re receiving questions regarding various technologies used in our products, especially Thunder Tables™ and GPU acceleration. Today I’d like to explain what exactly Thunder Tables™ is (and what it’s not).