Nomenclature Suggestion

[PHK]

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The Comments (all types: Highlight, Callout, etc,) have a property that can be toggled yes/no that is now called "Printable". That label understates, it seems to me, what the choice is doing. It is more than just whether or not the object can be printed. Is it not toggling the function of converting the object from non-content to content? And, if so, would it not be more appropriate to have that option titled "Convertable to Content", "Flattenable", or something else? "Printable" minimizes the option's functionality and is subject to underuse particularly for users (like me) who do very little printing of our PDFs. A more accurate and broader property title might encourage users to infer a broader range of possibilities.

[Dimitar - PDF-XChange]

Hello FringePhil,

Thank you for your suggestion.

I will forward it to our developers for consideration.

Regards.

[PHK]

Thank you for considering this suggestion and passing it along, Dimitar.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, PHK

I believe that the sole intent of this function, according to the Specification, is to define if a specific comment can be printed. While we do offer a way to control printable and non-printable items separately during a "flatten all comments" action, this is not the purpose of the printable property, and it cannot prevent you from flattening the comment.

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Infact the reason we offer this option for flattening is so that the printable property can be easily respected, since the flattening process will remove these options. The option presented by the flatten comments tool, is designed to allow you to flatten everything which should be printable, without accidentally causing all the "intended as non-printable" items to suddenly become unintentionally printable.

Given the above, I am fairly certain that this will not be changing, but I will leave Dimitar's discussion with the Dev team open to see what they think.

Kind regards,

[PHK]

I believe that the sole intent of this function, according to the Specification, is to define if a specific comment can be printed.

While we do offer a way to control printable and non-printable items separately during a "flatten all comments" action, this is not the purpose of the printable property, and it cannot prevent you from flattening the comment.

I don't know what the intent was but I have drawn some inferences on how it works in my use. And I have found that toggling Printable off does protect Comments from being flattened. This is useful because I do not always remember what Comments might exist in a file when I flatten, resulting in unintended flattening which is a real bore. Opting 'no' for Printable when I create the Comment assures its continuing existence through future flattenings which might be a long time after the Comment was created and beyond my memory span.

And if you think about a multiple-user environment for documents (not my case) where different people are working on the same document possibly including flattening, wouldn't it be nice to have a way to protect Comments from unwanted flattenings?

The option presented by the flatten comments tool, is designed to allow you to flatten everything which should be printable, without accidentally causing all the "intended as non-printable" items to suddenly become unintentionally printable.

The Flatten tool found in the Comments context pop-up menu is useful. As there is no explicit Don't Flatten tool, I find the Printable option tool a useful analogue without imposing on the developers to do something like making the Flatten Comments tool a togglable yes/no option tool. I humbly thought it would be easier for DevTeam to re-label Printable than to design a yes/no option for Flatten Comments but then who am I to say?

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, PHK

but I have drawn some inferences on how it works in my use. And I have found that toggling Printable off does protect Comments from being flattened

I am sorry to say this, but in this instance, that inference is incorrect. It may be how you are choosing to using these options personally, but there is no "protection" that occurs here.

For clarity, the printable option does not "prevent" flattening in any way, shape, or form. You can choose not to flatten these items, but you absolutely could also flatten them if you wish (immediately making them printable again), and there is no way for us to ensure otherwise while the comment remains usable/editable.

We also have no control over how other software handles flattening of these items. So labeling it as anything other than a "printable" control (as defined by the spec), could lead to other conflicts/issues/misunderstandings.
Beyond that, as I have mentioned many times here on the forums, we cannot arbitrarily add properties. The Spec is quite strict here so adding a property for handling flattenability, when the spec does not define any such item, would likely lead to damage of the comments in question, upwards of data loss or file corruption.

Anyone frequently using flattening commands in our software should be aware that printable/non-printable is a control method we offer (from the dialogue above), and can inform others to use it as such if they wish to handle the controls this way. But I need to emphasize that the "printable" property, is not a preventative option, so it would be a misnomer to change this options name or description in any way.
You can also flatten any comment via the right click menu after it was selected (individually or as part of a group), which entirely bypasses the option to omit printable items...

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Kind regards,

[PHK]

Thank you, Daniel, for pointing out the errors in my post and your discussion of how things work.

In my defense, I must explain my thinking. In my post, I failed to explain that my Flatten Annotations option is always this:

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For me, that has the effect of 'protecting' those Comments that I have optioned Printable to No.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, PHK

No worries, I understood the use case for it, and had a hunch that was your situation, hence the explanation.

Have a great day!