Mark Stephens

  https://www.idrsolutions.com Mark founded the company and has worked with Java and PDF since 1997. The original creator of the core code, he is also a NetBeans enthusiast who enjoys speaking at conferences and reading. He holds an Athletics Blue and an MA in Mediaeval History from St. Andrews University.

   



193 Stories by Mark Stephens

Why writing a PDF parser is such a ‘challenging’ task (part 234)

In theory the PDF file format is specified in detail and is very precise. In practice, you meet alsorts of ‘interesting problems’ – the...
1 min read

How are PDF files protected?

Access to PDF files can be secured so that not just anyone can open them. This is achieved by encryption – the bytes in...
1 min read

What are PDF Image Masks?

The PDF Mask features offer a whole set of functionality to allow complicated image drawing to happen. Rather than just sticking an image on...
1 min read

How much memory does your Java application use

I wanted to investigate the memory usage of our Java application to see how much memory was being used for a task – in...
1 min read

How are text links defined in a PDF file?

When you are viewing a PDF file, you may well notice that (like a web page) there are blue clickable links. These are defined...
1 min read

What are PDF Xref tables?

What are PDF Xref tables? Xref tables are part of the original PDF file specification and one of the features which gives the PDF...
1 min read