Why can’t I add ZIP files to a PDF Portfolio?
Ok – so this isn’t exactly a developer topic but the question has popped up in my inbox with enough regularity that I thought I’d write an article about it.
You can try to add a ZIP file to a PDF Portfolio but then you see the warning dialog to the right. If you choose to click "OK", the ZIP file will be added to the PDF Portfolio. Great!
Actually – not so great. No one will be able to open or extract the ZIP from the Portfolio unless they hack their registry (Windows) or plist (Mac). So even though you were able to add the .ZIP file, it’s of very little use if you plan on sharing that PDF Portfolio with a broader audience.
The list of embargoed file types is a lot longer than just ZIP. You see the same warning if you attach EXE, VBS, BAT, DLL, or JS because they are associated with malicious programs, macros, and viruses that can damage your computer; the list goes on and on.
PDF Portfolios use ZIP Compression:
So here’s the good news, when you add a folder full of files to a PDF Portfolio guess what happens. That’s right – Acrobat uses ZIP compression to bundle them up. You don’t actually need to go through the process of zipping a folder full of files and then add the ZIP to the Portfolio. Just skip the zipping step add the folder directly to the Portfolio. The file size of the PDF Portfolio and a ZIP with the same set of files in it is virtually identical plus you get a great Flash UI to help people find what they need inside the Portfolio.
Can not read pdf file with photoshop, how can I do?
Joel responds:
You can’t – PDF Portfolios cannot be read by Photoshop at this time. You can, however, extract the individual PDF files from the PDF Portfolio and open those in Photoshop.
Hi,
I think it would be useful to say here anyway, how to open the zip files from PDF portfolio, when you get one. You need to change your registry settings.
It’s true zipping the files is not necessary, but it’s not so danger as attaching exe files, so I think it should be rather allowed or just showing a warning.
Go back one step and ask yourself this: What is the point of being able to attach a zip file and then not being able to open it. Beats me…
Many enterprise customers choose to tune their installation of Acrobat/Reader to allow for the opening and extracting of ZIP files but because ZIP files can contain anything… including malware, we have decided to disable the ability to open a ZIP by default. It can be enabled by the end-user and we assume that if they make that choice, they’ll be careful when they use ZIP.
Lori, that being said, how do I “tune” acrobat to allow the viewing of ZIP’s? I’ve just upgraded to X Pro so have very little experience with Acrobat. thanks, Ron
You’d need to remove .ZIP from the list at the following registry location but that’s not something I advise.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\10.0\FeatureLockDown\cDefaultLaunchAttachmentPerms\tBuiltInPermList
It can be enabled by the end-user
Great! I just cant an information how.
Tbh I use Adobe to archive Lotus Notes and I just cant go through every single mail and convert the zip files so plz
How can I allow zip attachments on my Acrobat reader?
Thx
You’d need to remove .ZIP from the list at the following registry location but that’s not something I advise.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Adobe Reader\10.0\FeatureLockDown\cDefaultLaunchAttachmentPerms\tBuiltInPermList