The Adobe XML architecture

Enhance the security of sensitive information

The Adobe XML architecture offers enterprises a step-by-step migration from manual, paper-based workflows to streamlined, automated processes that accelerate the flow of business-critical information between employees, customers, suppliers, and constituents.

Adobe Intelligent Documents combine the familiarity, security, and visual fidelity of PDF with the business logic and data exchange capabilities of XML. As a result, anyone can fully participate in mission-critical business processes by leveraging the free and ubiquitous Adobe® Reader® software.

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The architecture leverages the capabilities of XML and PDF to support a variety of business applications, while offering connectivity to systems through a variety of industry-standard and Adobe technologies.

The Adobe XML architecture can help you:

• Maximize the ROI of your enterprise technology investments
  
  
• Meet regulatory compliance requirements and increase user adoption through enhanced presentation capabilities
  
  
• Support industry-standard schemas for arbitrary XML, such as those for finance, insurance, or government
  
  
• Improve customer satisfaction by supporting convenient, offline completion of forms
  
  
• Add business logic to forms to improve data quality

Technical white paper (708 k)

FAQ — Adobe XML architecture (146 k)

XSL-FO

The eXtensible Stylesheet Language Formatting Objects (XSL-FO) set of specifications enables publishers to incorporate XML-based data to produce visually rich, compound documents.

Developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the XSL family of specifications enables developers to use the same styling properties as Web pages to create precisely formatted multipage documents. XSL-FO is supported by Adobe® Document Server software, which businesses can use to generate customized PDF documents, such as financial planning guides or technical user manuals, in response to specific customer requests from Web-based applications. The combination of Adobe Document Server and XSL-FO lets organizations develop high-volume, customized publishing solutions that can:

• Incorporate features such as footnotes, sidebars, tables, cross-references, graphics and images, and page break controls into documents
  
  
• Define specific layouts and styling for a printed page and flow XML data into them
  
  
• Print unique content that uses graphics and text from the same neutral XML sources

What is XSL-FO? When should I use it? (565 k)

XMP

Adobe Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) is an open, standards-based enabling technology that fosters the capture, preservation, and interchange of metadata (information that describes files) across digital media and workflows.

XMP uses XML to describe metadata. Since it is designed to exist within any file format, XMP provides customers a flexible and powerful solution for intelligently managing digital media. Fully customizable and extensible, XMP allows workgroups and organizations to tailor metadata necessary to energize their production and publishing workflows.

Adobe XMP can help your organization:

• More efficiently manage and automate media by allowing workgroups to tune the metadata to their needs
  
  
• Protect existing and future technology investments
  
  
• Fully leverage, extend, and customize your implementations
  
  
• Express data in XML, enabling it to be understandable by the users and systems that depend on it
  
  
• Preserve metadata throughout the course of the workflow