Type | Name | Platform | Version | Price | URL | Remarks |
Complete websites | Adobe Acrobat Professional | Windows/ | 6.0.1 | 5187.50 DKK | 30 day trial version can be down-loaded for Windows |
Conclusion |
Adobe Acrobat Professional archives complete web pages based on keying in a URL, after which the website is downloaded and saved. The strength of Adobe Acrobat Professional lies in its archiving format 'PDF' (Portable Document Format), which can be viewed on all platforms and is probably a relatively future-oriented format. The archiving attained with this programme is not perfect. Often relatively many elements of the archived web pages are lacking, and at the same time it often happens that the content elements are not correctly positioned in the archived version, so that the experience of the web page is far from the same as the original experience on the browser. Although some pages are remarkably correctly archived, the archived material appears relatively chaotic and incomplete. In addition, setting options are extremely limited, resulting in archiving where the programme either easily includes irrelevant web pages or fails to include a sufficient number of pages. A further disadvantage is the fact that the programme first downloads all the archived material to the computer memory, after which it is stored on the hard disk. Finally, it should be noted that Adobe Acrobat makes up the archived web pages as paper pages, in formats such as A4, A3, etc., so that a web page does not appear as it does on the browser. Finally, we must conclude that the cost of procuring Adobe Acrobat Professional is very high, compared to its ability to archive web pages. |
Recommended settings |
Choose 'Create PDF/From Web page' from the 'File' menu. Here, the archiving can be limited to a number of levels that the program is to archive ‘down’ in the hyperstructure. There have been problems in this test when archiving very large web sites (such as www.dr.dk), in that Adobe Acrobat Professional occasionally closes down abruptly before archiving is completed, so that the entire archiving process is cancelled! For this reason it is recommended that archiving be done in smaller portions, and that archiving is done on a computer with a powerful memory. For the same reason it is suggested that max. 4 levels be archived ‘downward’ in the structure, and that the fields 'stay on same path' and 'stay on same server' be checked (as needed for each archiving process). Note that the archived material must be saved (manually) on the disk after downloading the web pages to memory – the archived material is not saved until this has been done. |
Archiving speed | |||
Archiving time (min) | File size (MB) | Archiving speed (MB/min) | Degree of presence required |
53 | 4.2 (compressed) | 0.08 | Low-middle |
Test details |
Tested by: Bo Hovgaard Thomasen Tested by archiving: http://www.dr.dk/, http://www.dr.dk/kroeniken, http://www.dr.dk/nyheder/html/nyheder/baggrund/tema2003/krise/index.jhtml |
The following have been evaluated according to the following scale for the number of archived elements: 0=none, 1=few, 2=average, 3=most, 4=all
The following have been evaluated according to the following scale for the number of archived elements: 0=none, 1=few, 2=average, 3=most, 4=all
Structure | |||
aa | 2 | aa | |
aa | Cascading Style Sheets | 2 | The archived web page follows CSS only to some degree. Type fonts incorrect on many pages. |
Page composition | 2 | Correct positioning of elements on archived pages varies. Thus, many pages are not archived with correct page build, although a number are. | |
Background | 4 | All backgrounds are archived | |
Pop-up-windows | 0 | The programme cannot archive pop-up windows | |
Archiving of all the desired web pages | 2 | The programme archives far from all web pages linked to from the chosen starting-URL | |
Movement between elements in the structure | |||
Link | 2 | aa | |
Print/writing | Textual link | 4 | All textual links are active, but many of the pages or elements referred to are not archived, and refer instead to an online location. |
Pull-down menu | 0 | The pull-down menu is archived, but does not act as a link in the archived version | |
Formulas such as login | 0 | The formulas are archived but do not act as a link in the archived version. | |
Image | Animation | 2 | Only very simple animations, such as animated gif-images, are archived, while the more complicated are omitted, although the archived animations act as links. |
Graphics | 3 | Archived graphics usually act as links. | |
Photo | 3 | Archived photos usually act as links. | |
Moving images | 0 | Moving images are not archived, and therefore do not act as links. | |
Link target | 2 | aa | |
Print/writing | Text | 4 | All text is archived. |
Image | Animation | 1 | Only very simple animations, such as animated gif-images, are archived, |
Graphics | 3 | Most graphics are present in the archived material. | |
Photo | 3 | Most photos are present in the archived material. | |
Moving images | 0 | Moving images are not archived. | |
Other | - | aa | |
Sound | aa | 0 | Sound is not archived |
Automation | 4 | aa | |
aa | Automatic redirection | 4 | Automatic redirection is archived. |
Movement in elements in the structure | |||
Automatic + inherent | 1 | aa | |
Print/writing | aa | 1 | Movable print/writing archived only as snapshots. |
Image | Animation | 2 | Animation archived only to some degree. |
Moving images | 2 | Moving images archived only to some degree | |
Banner ads | 1 | Animated banner ads archived only to a slight degree. | |
Sound | Background sound | 0 | Sound not archived |
Banner ads | 0 | Sound not archived | |
Automatic + online | 1 | aa | |
Print/writing | Chat as reader | 1 | Chat archived only as snapshot. |
Image | Moving images | 0 | Elements requiring online connection cannot be archived. Moving images archived only as static images. |
Sound | aa | 0 | Sound not archived |
User intervention + inherent | 2 | aa | |
Print/writing | Archived chat | - | Not tested |
Mouse-over | 0 | Mouse-over is not active in the archived version.. | |
Quizzes | 1 | User intervention is only possible by following links in the archived version, so that more complicated elements in the form of quizzes can usually not be archived. | |
Clickable maps | 4 | Clickable maps are correctly archived and function | |
Image | Non-streamed image (such as slide show, clickable map) | 3 | Usually function in the archived version |
Games | 0 | Games cannot be archived with Adobe Acrobat. | |
Quizzes | 1 | User intervention is only possible by following links in the archived version, so that more complicated elements in the form of quizzes can usually not be archived | |
Clickable maps (w. zoom or activation) | 4 | Clickable maps are correctly archived and functional. | |
Mouse-over | 0 | Mouse-over is not active in the archived version. | |
Sound | Non-streamed sound (e.g. activated in games, quizzes, etc.) | 0 | Sound not archived |
Mouse-over | 0 | Sound not archived | |
User intervention + online | 0 | aa | |
Print/writing | Chat (as participant) | 0 | Elements requiring online connection cannot be archived. |
Polls | 0 | Elements requiring online connection cannot be archived. | |
Test-yourself | 0 | Elements requiring online connection cannot be archived.. | |
Image | Streamed images | 0 | Elements requiring online connection cannot be archived. |
Games | 0 | Elements requiring online connection cannot be archived. | |
Sound | Streaming (both activated and live) | 0 | Elements requiring online connection cannot be archived. |
Non-movable elements | |||
aa | 3 | aa | |
Print/writing | aa | 4 | All print/writing is archived |
Image | aa | 3 | Most images are archived |
Sound | aa | 0 | Sound is not archived |
The test was carried out by graduate student Bo Hovgaard Thomasen during the period from July-December 2004, and its premises and main results are explicated in the text Test of software and strategies for micro-archiving websites.
Note: We do not have the resources to offer technical support or other advice on the use of the tested archiving programme beyond what can be found on this web page.
