ASX Company Announcements

• What is the PDF format? Do I need any special software?
• What are the benefits of PDF?
• What other changes have been made to news?
• Who gets access to PDF articles?
• Can I get a list of the live articles I have viewed?
• I don't like PDF, can we go back to the old version?
• What do the news icons mean?
• Why are some PDF announcements in colour, and some black and white?
• Why does it take longer for articles to download?

Back to main FAQ

What is the PDF format? Do I need any special software?

Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) is the standard for electronic document distribution worldwide. To read articles in the Adobe PDF format, you must install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software on your computer. You most likely have it already installed, but if not, you can download Adobe Acrobat Reader by clicking here.

What are the benefits of PDF?

The ASX is changing its company announcement rules so that by July 1 2003 all companies must publish their announcements as native PDF files. This will share many of the benefits of the image format and the text format, without their individual drawbacks:

• PDF articles will be released as soon as received by the ASX, like the fax images, but unlike text articles.
• Native PDF articles will be searchable like text, but unlike fax images.
• Native PDFs will be smaller (in file size and download time) than all of the fax images of an article.
• Native PDFs will print just like the original document: more clearly than both text and fax image articles.
• You will see all charts and diagrams, unlike text. And they will be more clear than the fax images.
• You will be able to zoom in to PDFs if the text is too small.
• Companies will be able to release announcements in colour if they choose to.
• PDF articles will not contain introduced transcription errors that sometime appear in the text articles

What other changes have been made to news?

The ASX is currently in the process of restructuring their news services. This means that our news products and pricing will be changing over the next few months.

A summary of changes is as follows:

• IDS (Fax image) service has been discontinued
• Text article service has been discontinued
• PDF service has been introduced to replace IDS and Text services
• Changes may be made to pricing plans to reflect the new ASX royalty scheme

Who gets access to PDF articles?

Users who used to get access to live fax images (IDS) will now get access to live PDF articles. Other users that were on delayed text will now get access to delayed PDF articles. See our pricing plan page for more details.

Can I get a list of the live articles I have viewed?

Yes, users with access to live articles can view a report of the live articles they have viewed. From the news headlines page, click on the live article counter (located at the top-right corner of the headlines table). This will bring up a detailed report of the articles you have viewed this month so far.

I don't like PDF, can we go back to the old version?

The ASX are discontinuing the text and fax based services in favour of a more complete and detailed report to the market using the PDF format. Unfortunately we will not be able to continue to offer these older services. However, historical text and fax articles will still be available to live-PDF plans. And historical text to everyone else.

What do the news icons mean?

	The ASX has deemed this article to be market sensitive
	This article is available as a PDF, click to view the PDF.
	This article is available as images, by scanning the original announcement fax. Click to view.
	This article is available as a plain text. Click to view the text.
	This article was released in the last 20 minutes and has been embargoed. It will be available after 20 minutes.

Why are some PDF announcements in colour, and some black and white?

Announcements are sent in two forms:

1. Native PDF files created by the listed company, and
2. Non-native PDF files, created from scanned copies of the announcements originally faxed to the ASX.

The non-native PDF files will always be black and white, as they are scanned by a black and white scanner. Native PDF files on the other hand are created by the listed company, in the colours that were intended for the document. Native PDF files are not always in colour. After 1st July 2003, all articles will be native PDFs

Why does it take longer for articles to download?

The previous (fax) version of the company announcements required you to view articles one page at a time. The new PDF articles download entirely in one go. This allows you to print and save the entire article easily, but may take longer to download. Native PDF documents will download much faster than those PDF documents that have been converted from scanned faxes, so after July 1st, all announcments will download mush faster.